Technical Information

Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Release Date: July 19, 1991 (Japan)

In North America, this Final Fantasy was released as Final Fantasy II, since up to that point only one game in the franchise had been released there. In the original chronology, however, it is actually number IV.

Final Fantasy IV is a turn-based JRPG that tells the story of Cecil, the captain of a group known as the Red Wings.

Cecil invades the city of Mysidia with his men and, after turning against the population, they seize the city’s crystal.
Without understanding why he has to steal artifacts and involve innocent people, Cecil questions the king about the reasons behind it all. Furious at being confronted with such a question, the king removes Cecil from his position and, together with Kain, sends him to the city of Mist.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

The graphics are extremely simple, so simple that I would classify them as something very close to NES-level visuals, just with a larger color palette.
This is especially noticeable in areas where many tiles are placed together, as their composition is quite basic.
However, the character avatars are slightly more detailed.

The enemies are very distinctive, giving the game a rather eccentric feel.

What bothered me the most was how primitive the menu system is (okay, I’ll cut it some slack since this was the first Final Fantasy on the SNES). The way items are organized and how character status is viewed is pretty bad. Everything is always done “one by one.” Using the L/R buttons for navigation was not yet possible in this game.

The dialogue text boxes are large and, in most cases, have line breaks that make them aesthetically unappealing.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

The soundtrack is fantastic, with each moment featuring engaging music that represents the aura of each place or situation very well.

Personally, the only track I felt could have been a bit more energetic was the battle theme. I found it somewhat slow and a bit bland when representing combat.

Honorable mention: the final boss theme, not only is it very good, but it also features a very well-crafted bass line.

Gameplay

A great story—very engaging, full of surprises, and packed with charismatic characters.
Some moments felt a bit childish to me, such as the king’s outrage over Cecil simply asking why they were stealing the crystal. You know that feeling when a story comes across as a bit silly? That’s it.
That said, this doesn’t ruin the plot at all, it’s more a matter of the script not being as well developed, leaving some points rather superficial.

The gameplay itself is good: no NPCs wandering around and getting in your way, and no endless dialogue sequences.
Battles are turn-based, and each character has a specific ability.

I found the difficulty to be moderate. As long as you train your characters, you won’t have much trouble defeating the bosses.
A good game, I enjoyed it a lot. I finished it in approximately 21 hours.

Replayability and Game Retention

It’s not the kind of game that made me feel like replaying everything immediately, but it certainly stirred a lot of emotions in me and sparked a strong desire to relive it again soon.
Overall, it was a very unforgettable experience for me, and if you like it, you’ll definitely want to play it again at some point in the future!