Final fantasy iv

The player controls a group of characters who travel the world and perform various tasks, which in turn leads to the further development of the story. Moving between locations, which can be a variety of cities and dungeons , the heroes interact with non-player characters , fight with opponents: monsters and villains. Almost all battles, with the exception of boss fights, take place on the principle of random encounters , that is, enemies are not visible and attack through a random number of steps taken by the team. In the battle mode, the player is free to choose actions available to the characters from the list: attack, use items or special skills, defend, retreat, etc. For the first time in a series, a group can simultaneously include five heroes, while in the previous three games the squad was limited to four characters ^{[ 4]} .

The most important characteristic of heroes, as well as their opponents, are hit points (HP). A monster deprived of life immediately dies, a game character left without HP goes into knockout, after which it must be brought to life by another character, either in battle or at the end of the battle. If all the heroes present in the battle squander life points to zero, the game immediately ends in a loss , after which it must be resumed from the last save . Health can be restored with the help of special healing spells, healing items, or through relaxation in the hotels that are present in each village. In the cities there are also stores selling various equipment (weapons and armor), which, when used in battle, increases or decreases the damage inflicted by opponents. Equipment is configured through the menu, in addition, the group can be set up - physically strong heroes are placed in the front row, support characters and magicians in the back. The sequence of quests and events of the game is absolutely linear , a rigidly defined plot develops progressively from beginning to end, only occasionally interrupted by third-party tasks that are optional for execution ^[5] .

In the fourth part, the Active Time Battle (ATB) combat system was developed for the first time, developed by Hiroyuki Ito , a designer together with battle planners Kazuhiko Aoki and Akihiko Matsui . Its essence lies in the symbiosis of the classic turn-based system used in the previous three games, with real-time battles - without a rigid sequence of moves. If earlier characters and monsters made moves strictly in turn, now the sequence of actions depends on the speed indicator of certain units, as well as on the player’s reaction, since when a menu with a set of commands appears, the game does not stop and the opponent does not wait until the player makes his a choice. At the same time, the options left the possibility of activating the “standby mode”, which, when turned on, stops the battle during the player’s turn, allowing you to think about actions for as long as you like. Subsequently, this combat system will be applied in many subsequent parts of Final Fantasy ^[6] .

The personal characteristics of each character, his specialty , strengths and weaknesses are set in advance, unlike previous games in the series, where the characteristics of the characters were assigned by the player. Eight of the twelve characters can use magic , which is divided into destructive "black", restoring "white", the magic of the call of various creatures and "ninjutsu" - a combination of attacking and supporting abilities used by one single character. All spells and tricks for each hero are also set in advance and added to the arsenal either after reaching certain levels, or after some story events. The rest of the development of the team takes place in the traditional way for role-playing games, experience points are awarded for victory over opponents, which lead to an increase in the level and, accordingly, characteristics that directly affect the course of battles ^[7] . In connection with the transition of the game to a more productive console, the graphics of Final Fantasy IV are significantly improved compared to the previous parts. An interesting innovation was the Mode 7 technology involved here - this video mode unique to Super Nintendo made it possible to create complex visual effects during spell casting and made three-dimensional flight on an aircraft ^[8] .

Environment and characters

Most of the events of Final Fantasy IV take place on Earth, the Blue Planet, which, however, is completely fictitious and has nothing to do with the geography of the real Earth . The surface of the planet is inhabited by humans, while the dwarves reign under the earth. There is an artificial moon in the planet’s orbit, created long ago by an alien race for the purpose of salvation, since their home world was destroyed and turned into an asteroid belt . The inhabitants of the satellite themselves are in a dream, expecting that sometime favorable times will come, they will be able to descend to Earth and live together with people in peace and prosperity. The planet also has a second moon, natural, but it is not involved in the plot and the characters do not have the opportunity to visit it ^[9] .

A total of 12 game characters in the game, each has a unique name, character, specialization and background. The protagonist of the story is Cecil Harvey, the dark knight and commander of the Red Wings, an elite airborne unit in the service of the kingdom of Baron. He carries out the king’s tasks, traveling to various parts of the world, while at the same time, his best friend Cain Highwind, commander of dragoons , makes an equally successful military career. At home, Cecil is waiting for his beloved Rosa Farrell, an archer and part-time white magician. Cecil's aircraft was built by a local design engineer named Sid Pollendina. During the adventures, many other characters join the protagonist squad, including Ridia, a young monster summoner from the village of Mist, Tella, the legendary sorcerer from Misidia, Edward Chris von Muir, the prince of Damzian and vocation bard, as well as Young Fang Lyden, the head of the monks The plot. Other characters include the black magician Palom and the white magician Porom, the twins from the magic village of Misidia, Edward "Blade" Jelardine, the ninja from Eblen, and finally Fusoya - the guardian of the lunar race for the period while she is in a dream. The main antagonist is Zemus, one of the inhabitants of the moon, who seeks to destroy all of humanity so that his people can inhabit the planet. To implement his cunning plans, he manipulates the sorcerer Golbez ^[10] .

History

The plot begins with the attack of the “Red Wings” on the city of Misidia in order to take possession of the Water Crystal located there. After a successfully completed mission, Captain Cecil takes an interest in the king about the reasons for such an aggressive policy, the king of the kingdom Baron is extremely dissatisfied with the curiosity of his subordinate, lowers him in rank and gives a new assignment - to deliver the parcel to the nearby village of Mist ^[11] . Together with his friend Cain, the main character arrives at the appointed place, but fiery monsters are suddenly released from the parcel, which leads to the complete destruction of the village. Young Rydia, the only survivor of the fire, rages in an earthquake, at the end of which her friends are separated ^[12] . Cecil regains consciousness and delivers the wounded Reedia to a small town, where the Baron’s soldiers are trying to kidnap the girl, but the hero protects her ^[13] .

It soon turns out that Rosa, Cecil's beloved, followed him and is now seriously ill with desert fever. In addition, on the way there is the sorcerer Tella, who went to Damzian Castle in search of his escaped daughter Anna ^[14] . Suddenly, the castle is attacked by the “Red Wings”, Anna dies, and Edward, her lover and local prince, explains the reason for what happened - the air forces of the kingdom, now under the command of a certain Golbez, made this attack to steal the Crystal of Fire ^[15] . Tella alone goes into retaliation, seeking revenge on Golbez for the death of her daughter ^[16] , while the rest of the characters find a cure for Rosa and go to the city of Fabul, hoping to protect the Wind Crystal. Along the way, a martial artist Young joins them, just as dissatisfied with the aggressive actions of the kingdom. As expected, soon “Red Wings” appear on the horizon, with Cain in their ranks, he defeats his friend Cecil and takes the crystal, while Golbez captures Rosa, who tried to intervene, ^[17] .

The trip back to the Baron is interrupted by the attack of the sea monster Leviathan , as a result of the shipwreck, the characters are separated, and Cecil finds himself in the city of Misidia. The hero understands that in order to defeat Golbez he must climb a high mountain, repent of all his crimes and become a holy paladin ^[18] . During the ascent, he meets the twins Palom and Parom, who agree to help him, as well as the old Tellu, who is looking for the forbidden spell "Meteor" - only with him can he defeat the villain ^[19] . Cecil becomes a paladin, Tella finds a spell, although she cannot use it because of the enormous destructive power. Arriving in the capital of the kingdom, the heroes observe that all subjects are dominated by the charms of Golbez, and even the king is replaced by a terrible monster ^[20] . Fighting with the villain's henchmen, the team retreats in the aircraft of Sid, a local engineer, while the twins Palom and Parom sacrifice their lives to save friends, turn into stone statues. Cain suddenly appears on the ship and invites Cecil to bring the Earth Crystal in exchange for Rosa’s life ^[21] . Nothing else remains, the characters find the Earth Crystal, give it to Cain, and he invites them to the tower, where the hostage is held. At the very top, Golbez receives the coveted crystal and tries to escape, Tella at the cost of her own life conjures the Meteor, but the spell only weakens the villain - this, however, is enough to lose control of Cain ^[22] . Freed from the spell, the dragoons help save Rosa, and the characters from the ruined tower are sent back to the Baron.

Cain explains the goals of the villain - Golbez collects crystals in order to open a message between the planet and the moon, but in addition to the already existing four, he will need four more dark crystals in the dungeon world ^[23] . Heroes descend underground and find out that two dark crystals are already captured, and for the third “Red Wings” they are fighting with the dwarves. The characters help the dwarves repel the attack and leave the dungeon, while Sid disappears, trying to seal the dungeon, to protect it from future interventions. The characters travel to the Babille Tower, the place where all the crystals are stored, but fall into the trap set up by Golbez, which drops them back into the dungeon world. There the struggle for the last eighth crystal is unleashed, the villain again takes control of Cain’s consciousness and with his help leaves the confrontation as the winner ^[24] . The heroes become aware of the existence of the “Moon Whale,” an ancient ship designed specifically for traveling to the moon, they find it and go into space after Golbez ^[25] .

On the moon, the characters meet a sage named Fusoy, who says that Cecil's father was in fact a representative of the lunar race ^[26] . He also explains that all this time Golbez himself was in the grip of the spellman of the moon, Zemus, who manipulated earthlings in order to activate a giant robot that could destroy all of humanity ^[27] . Returning to the earth, with the support of the armies of two worlds, aboveground and underground, the detachment disables the robot, while Fusoy dispels the spell over the consciousness of Golbez, and it turns out that Cecil is his older brother ^[28] . The characters again go to the moon and with the support of Golbez kill Zemus, as well as the evil spirit released after his death - Zeromus ^[29] . Fusoya and Golbez decide to stay on the moon and wait for those times when earthlings can live peacefully with the lunar race ^[30] . The epilogue shows Cain standing on top of the mountain, while the rest of the heroes celebrate the wedding of Cecil and Rosa, who are now the rulers of the kingdom of Baron.

After finishing work on Final Fantasy III in 1990, the company's management decided to create two new parts of the series at once - one was to be released for the Nintendo Entertainment System , the second for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , which had just appeared on the market, under the name Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V, respectively. However, due to financial difficulties and tight deadlines, the game for NES was eventually abandoned, concentrating all the production facilities on the project for a more productive system. The first few frames of the NES version were published in some Japanese magazines, but this did not go further, and the name Final Fantasy IV passed to the SNES version ^[31] . The leading designer of the fourth part was Takashi Tokita , for whom this game was the first full-fledged work in Square. Prior to this, Tokita was leaning towards a career as a theater actor, but, engaged in this project, changed his mind and decided to become a “great creator” of video games ^[32] . Hiromichi Tanaka , the chief designer of the previous part, also took part in the development, in particular, he proposed a fundamentally new battle display system that allows giving characters to teams without using any menu interface. This idea was abandoned, but many of its principles were later implemented in Secret of Mana , a role-playing game with action elements ^[33] . In total, the development team consisted of 14 people; it took them about a year of continuous work to create Final Fantasy IV ^[34] .

The authors of the main ideas still belong to the game designer Hironob Sakaguchi , for example, it was he who came up with the name of the air forces of the kingdom of Baron “Red Wings” ^[35] . Sakaguchi was responsible for the entire concept as a whole, while Tokita planned specific plot events and drew pixel graphics. The young designer noted that they had to work with great stress, and without the utmost concentration they would never be able to bring this project to the end. According to Tokita, Final Fantasy IV was developed with the idea to borrow the most successful ideas of the previous parts: the profession of Final Fantasy III and the narrative of Final Fantasy II . Four bosses, corresponding to the four traditional Japanese elements and subsequently become a kind of symbol of the fourth part, were present in the very first game ^[34] . There is also a significant impact of the competitive Dragon Quest series , especially Dragon Quest II ^[36] . The main idea for the plot of Final Fantasy IV was the “movement from darkness to light”, which was manifested in the image of Cecil, and the emphasis on family and friendly relations between a large number of heterogeneous personalities ^[37] . Among other things, the idea clearly appears that "one brute force does not solve anything" ^[35] . Tokita considers the fourth part to be the first truly dramatic game in the series and the first Japanese role-playing game with “so deep characters and plot” ^[38] .

The initial scenario turned out to be too large and did not satisfy the capacity of the cartridges, so it had to be reduced in a hurry. Tokita noted, however, that only “extra dialogue” was removed, while all the key events for the plot remained untouched. At the same time, he later admitted that some of the elements turned out to be “unclear” or “insufficiently developed”, remaining such until the future reprints for other consoles. For example, from the very beginning they were going to include a complex dungeon in the game, opening closer to the end of the passage, where for each hero there would be a separate test. As a result, neither this time nor capacity was enough for this dungeon, and it appeared only after 14 years in the version for Game Boy Advance called “Moon Ruins” ^[34] . Thanks to the transition to a more productive console, the artist Yoshitaka Amano got the opportunity to create more detailed illustrations compared to the previous parts, to more clearly express the individuality of a character ^[39] .

Musical accompaniment

Composer Nobuo Uematsu has traditionally written music. He called the process of creating the soundtrack painful, accompanied by a lot of trial and error, noting also that the team in charge of music spent several days in the Square office, sleeping in sleeping bags ^[40] . The musical series received positive reviews, reviewers praised primarily the high sound quality of the compositions, achieved despite technical limitations ^{[5] [41]} . “The theme of love” turned out to be so successful that it fell into the program of general Japanese schools ^[42] . Uematsu still performs many of the tracks in the game at various concerts ^[43] .

In Japan, three albums were released with music from the game . June 14, 1991 released the complete original soundtrack Final Fantasy IV: Original Sound Version , containing all 44 audio tracks ^[44] . October 24 was followed by Final Fantasy IV: Celtic Moon , on which selected compositions are presented in arrangements inspired by Celtic motifs ^[45] . The third album, released on April 21, 1992 under the title Final Fantasy IV Piano Collections , is a collection of tunes performed by Tosiyuki Mori solo on the piano. This release gave rise to a whole series of Piano Collections albums, each subsequent part of Final Fantasy has a similar acoustic collection in its discography ^[46] . Many songs were later included in various Square music compilations, for example, the rock band The Black Mages created by Nobuo Uematsu recorded Theme of Zeromus for one of their albums, and the vocal version of Themes of Love was included in Final Fantasy: Pray . Songs are often performed in live performances on music from video games and are featured in companion live albums. In particular, “Red Wings”, “Theme of Love” and “The Final Topic” in 1991 were performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra ^[47] . For the tour of Distant Worlds - Music from Final Fantasy, “The theme of love” was played by the Royal Stockholm Orchestra ^[48] , the songs were on the set list of the Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy series , where they were performed by the New Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra ^[49] . Several remixes were released by the independent, but officially licensed group Project Majestic Mix, which specializes in mixing music from games ^[50] . Some compositions appeared in various fan-made dojo albums ^[51] , repeatedly appeared on numerous collections of cover versions of thematic sites like OverClocked ReMix ^[52] .

North American localization

The previous two parts of Final Fantasy were not published in North America , therefore, in order to keep the sequence of numbers, during the translation the name of the game was changed from Final Fantasy IV to Final Fantasy II . In subsequent reprints, however, the numbering returned to the original. The English version retained the plot, graphics and music of the original source, but at the same time, developers, trying to meet the requirements of novice players, significantly reduced complexity ^[53] . The dialogue and background of some characters has been reduced due to technical limitations related to the capacity of SNES cartridges. For example, the background of Cain and the description of his relationship with his father, as well as the motivation of Zemus in his plans for the colonization of the Earth, completely disappeared ^[54] . Among other changes - the removal of explicit references to Judaism and Christianity , potentially obscene graphic illustrations. The magic called “ Holiness ” was renamed “White”, references to prayer disappeared, in particular, the “Tower of Prayers” in Mysidia became the “Tower of Desires”, although one of the white magicians inside still calls it the original name. In the story, some characters die, the localization authors changed these scenes in such a way that there were no direct references to their death in the dialogs ^[55] . Nintendo of America censored the translated version in accordance with its standards, since the American rating organization ESRB did not exist at that time ^[56] .

Final Fantasy IV has many different remakes and reissues. Before all, the so-called Final Fantasy IV Easytype , a version with significantly reduced complexity, was designed for the youngest Japanese players. Some changes have been made to the game balance, making it even easier than even the American simplified version. Specifically, the authors increased the attacking power of the weapons used by the characters and increased the protective characteristics of individual armor and equipped accessories ^[53] .

On March 21, 1997, the game was reprinted in Japan for the PlayStation , the porting was carried out by Tose , Kazuhiko Aoki was the chief designer and director, and Fumiaki Fukaya and Akihiro Imai were the producers. This version is practically no different from the original, with the exception of some adjustments from Easytype . There were opening and closing videos created using FMV technology, as well as the ability to quickly move around in locations and the ability to save anywhere in the world map ^[57] . On March 11, 1999, the game was included in the Final Fantasy Collection , which also included the PlayStation versions of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI ^[58] . The collection was accompanied by a five-thousandth collection edition, which, in addition to the game disc, included also a designer alarm clock, designed in the style of “Last Fantasy” ^[59] . In North America, the PlayStation version was released in 2001 on a disc called Final Fantasy Chronicles paired with the game Chrono Trigger . In Europe and Australia, the same version was released a year later on Final Fantasy Anthology , paired with the fifth part of the series. The gross errors of the previous English translation were corrected, but some phrases like “ You spoony bard! "- preserved unchanged ^[60] . The same version was later adapted for the WonderSwan Color handheld system, while sprites and backgrounds improved, the port is notable for increased detail and a more developed color palette ^[61] .

This was followed by the port for the Game Boy Advance portable device, also made by Tose - this portable version was released in all regions in 2005 and 2006 under the name Final Fantasy IV Advance . In Japan, a limited edition was also distributed complete with the Game Boy Micro console, on the front side of which the characters of Cecil and Cain were depicted ^[62] . The graphics got even better, minor changes touched the musical range. The team of localizers completely reworked the English translation, significantly expanding the plot component and restoring some previously lost narrative details ^[53] . The name of unique abilities and spells was brought into line with the Japanese original, for example, the magic of "Bolt2" returned to the original version of "Thundara" ^[55] . New dungeons with rare samples of weapons and armor were added, where, among other things, you can fight the strongest monsters in the game ^[53] .

In 2007, for the twentieth anniversary of the Final Fantasy series, the game was remade with fully three-dimensional graphics and released for the Nintendo DS handheld console. In addition to the polygonal environment, this version received several noteworthy innovations, including voice dubbing of characters, additional mini-games, and minor changes in gameplay. Matrix Software , previously engaged in the creation of a similar remake of Final Fantasy III , is responsible for the development, and the development team was led by people from the original composition of the authors: Takashi Tokita took on the role of executive director and director, Tomoy Asano was the producer, the design of the battles was completed by Hiroyuki Ito. The substantially transformed cat-scenes of the plot events were planned by the animator Yoshinori Canada ^[63] , music was rewritten by composers Junya Nakano and Kenichiro Fukui ^[64] .

Since August 2009, the original version became available for download via the Virtual Console service for subsequent games on the Wii console ; in 2010, the same versions appeared for North America and the PAL region ^[65] . At the same time, a version intended for mobile phones with i-mode technology support went on sale. All the innovations added to the previous releases are also present here, in addition, the players have access to a new exclusive dungeon that opens after the game’s storyline has been fully completed ^[66] . In 2011, the fourth part was released on the PlayStation Portable pocket console as part of the Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection , where the game is presented along with its sequel to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years , as well as with additional short episodes showing the events that occurred immediately after the end of the original Final Fantasy IV and creating a smoother transition to The After Years . The graphics in the Complete Collection are two-dimensional, although all textures are redrawn in higher resolution; the music is rearranged with the addition of several new tunes (the game also has the option of choosing the original 8-bit soundtrack), the composer Masashi Hamaudzu was involved in arranging the soundtrack ^[67] .

Sales of the original Japanese version amounted to 1.44 million copies ^[77] . World sales on March 31, 2003, taking into account remakes for the PlayStation and WonderSwan Color, totaled 2.16 million copies, of which 1.82 in Japan alone and 0.34 in other regions ^[78] . In 2007, before the release of the NDS version, around 3 million copies were sold worldwide ^[10] , as of May 2009, an additional 1.1 million were added to this quantity ^[79] .

Many observers called Final Fantasy IV among the greatest games of all time, noting the appearance of many elements that would later become traditional for most Japanese role-playing games, praise was given to the “concept of continuous dramatic narrative” first used here ^{[73] [74]} . Describing the merits of the fourth part, reviewers most often write about graphics, gameplay and music ^{[53] [73]} . Often it is called one of the first role-playing games with a complex plot ^{[7] [41]} . Nintendo Power magazine described Final Fantasy IV as the “new standard of excellence” in role-playing games ^[80] , and later it placed the game in ninth and twenty-eighth places on its list of “Nintendo's 100 Greatest Games” in the 100th and 200th issues, respectively ^{[ 81] [82]} . An extremely positive review was published in March 1992 by GamePro magazine - the publication awarded the game the maximum possible score ^[68] . In 2005, the IGN portal ranked fourth in twenty-sixth place on the list of the greatest games of all time - the highest position among all Last Fantasies, but in the same ranking in 2007, it ranked it only fifty-fifth, skipping ahead of Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy Tactics ^{[83] [84]} . Based on a 2006 readership vote by Japanese magazine Famitsu , the game was named the sixth best ever released ^[85] . Among the negative qualities, the poor translation quality of the English SNES version, which is replete with errors and abbreviations ^{[41] [53]} , and the lack of flexible character customization ^[64], are usually called.

Final Fantasy Collection sold 400 thousand copies and in 1999 took 31st place in the Japanese game chart ^[86] . Famitsu weekly awarded him 54 points out of 60 — six experienced reviewers rated each using a ten-point system ^[59] . Final Fantasy IV Advance was also praised by reviewers ^[69] , although some noted the graphics were not high enough for modern games, especially compared to Final Fantasy VI ^{[53] [70]} . Despite the fact that the translation into English was completely reworked, some fans still found errors and inaccuracies in the text that arose during localization ^[73] . The version for Nintendo DS was awarded positive ratings primarily for visual performance, as well as for innovations in gameplay and new cut scenes ^{[87] [88] [89]} . Anatoly Sonin, a critic at Country Games magazine, called this version “one of the most beautiful games on DS”, noting that by today's standards it’s still a bit outdated: “The imaginative storyline was just good, and the heroes turned from stunning into adequate " ^[76] . Final Fantasy IV claimed the title of best role-playing game for NDS in 2008 according to the IGN website, but in the end lost to another Square Enix game - The World Ends with You ^[90] .

Final Fantasy IV has a direct sequel called Final Fantasy IV: The After Years , released in 2008 for FOMA 903i mobile phones connected to the NTT DoCoMo carrier ^[91] . The game takes place 17 years later and describes the adventures of Seodor, son of Cecil and Rosa, who, along with old characters and some new ones, goes on a journey to interfere with the plans of another villain seeking to destroy humanity. The gameplay as a whole remained the same, but some new elements were added, for example, the combat system is directly related to the phases of the moon , changing after visiting the hotels. They affect the physical and magical powers of both characters and opponents, and different monsters that come across during the journey correspond to different phases ^[92] . There is also a “ligament system” similar to that found in Chrono Trigger , it allows several heroes to attack at the same time, inflicting huge damage on enemies. The game was published in separate parts, each of which, as a rule, came out once a month and was dedicated to a certain character ^[93] . In 2009, The After Years appeared on the WiiWare service ^[94] , in March 2011 a release for the PlayStation Portable took place, where it was presented along with the original game as part of the Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection ^[67] .

• Final Fantasy IV (jap.) - Official site version for Nintendo DS
• Final Fantasy IV (jap.) - The official website of the version for mobile phones
• Final Fantasy IV Advance (jap.) - The official website of the GBA version
• Final Fantasy IV (English) - profile in a specialized encyclopedia based on Wikia
• Final Fantasy IV - Russian section on Final Fantasy Forever