When something is too good to be true, it's "Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light"

Fantastic artwork. This mini poster actually comes packaged with

the game, sans Japanese title. (image sourced from www.gamersmint.com )

OVERVIEW

The good: Effective aesthetics, above average flavor text, interesting take on turn based combat, fun and easy character class system

The not so good: Extra bad event design

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There are some games you just want to love so badly. Square-Enix / Matrix Software’s Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light is one such game. Directed by Square/soft veteran Takashi Tokita, with concept artwork rendered by Akihiko Yoshida of Ogre Tactics and Final Fantasy Tactics fame, Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light is marketed as a JRPG heart throb for those who grew up during the 8-bit/16-bit gaming transition.

Out with the new, in with the old

FF:4HOL has a animated feature-like aesthetic that

makes spectacular use of the DS's limited pixel depth.

(image sourced from www.gamesteady.com)

FF:4HOL’s character models, like Matrix’s other FF games, are big headed polygonal interpretations of the super deformed sprite-based characters of yore. Your characters, while not as customizable as those in Dragonquest IX, will change appearance based on their equipment options and their class. The textures are pretty flat, vanilla. However, the art direction uses a pastel palette with simple shaders that give the game a very clean graphical presentation on the DS's low resolution displays. Combined with its hybrid chiptune score, the FF:4HOL’s overall aesthetic is quaint, colorful and nostalgically cozy.

Having followed Takashi Tokita’s Twitter updates on the project, it seems that he had a guiding hand in the game’s dialog, or ‘flavor text’ as he called it. It really shows, as the characters are simple and archetypical like those from early JRPG casts, which helps the game avoid the contemporary JRPG tendencies for convoluted narratives. Despite the simplicity, the characters are written with a distinct and fun voice, narrowly undermining any yearning for voice acting.

The game design is cast from the same mold as its spiritual predecessors designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi. There is a world map through which you traverse to reach dungeons and towns; throughout the map and the dungeons there are random encounters. At face value, the battle system consists of rudimentary turn based combat. However, the designers added something called the AP (action point) system, which helps sets the game apart from earlier Final Fantasy titles.

Immaculately clean battle command interface.

Action Points are represented by the yellow spheres.

(image sourced from www.thetanooki.com)

The frugality of battle
The AP system is interesting. It completely eliminates the all-too-common Magic Point (MP) paradigm, which would often be a tedious bear early on in most JRPGs and later become a moot point due to the sheer ease by which the player accrued MP. In contrast to this, the AP in 4 Heroes of Light is absolutely necessary for every action made in battle and for using healing spells on the world map. The player has to balance their AP use efficiently by knowing when you charge and knowing what actions are most cost effective given a battle’s conditions. While this is probably the greatest challenge that the game presents, it is made manageable by making your AP gauge visible, and by limiting your maximum amount of AP to 5 points.

A class system fit for royalty?

Interest for the game’s battle mechanics are further augmented by the Crown System, which is a class system similar to those from Final Fantasy III and V. Each major boss battle concludes with an omniscient talking crystal who rewards the heroes with one to three Crowns. These Crowns determine several things: the character's statistical aptitudes (Strength, Intelligence, Spirit, etc.), what special abilities are available to the character, which attributes are improved when the character levels up, and the character’s general appearance. Additionally, Crowns grant new abilities as you improve them with the assorted “gems” that monsters drop in battle.

Bad news

Remember when I said how I want to love this game so badly? Well, like any good relationship, this one is of the "love/hate" variety.

Everything about the game's presentation is so warm and welcoming: dressing up your characters in adorable hats, stamping out monsters with fantastic new abilities, partying up with a robust variety of NPCs. Unfortunately, FF:4HOL has its share of shortcomings -- some of them being disproportionately maddening -- which can impede the player's ability to enjoy the game.

Though the inventory icons are plain-
Jane, each piece of equipment has a
unique 3D model once equipped.
(image sourced from www.gamesteady.com)

Now, I love class systems. I think that they enhance character development by allowing the player to shape their characters in accordance to their impression of the character's personality. However, earlier Final Fantasy titles that incorporated the ability to change classes also allowed characters to retain certain abilities, even when assuming a new class. This might mean mastering the ability, as required in Final Fantasy Tactics.

Unfortunately, the FF:4HOL's Crown system-- for god knows what reason-- gives you no such option. I may have to play the game through again and experiment with different combinations of classes, but as far as I can tell you need to be a Black or White Mage to effectively use their respective magic spells-- some of which being tied to the Crown itself, in which case the spell is only usable when wearing that Crown. Additionally, each character has their own unique default attribute aptitudes (Brandt being a well suited fighter, Jusqua being great at magic attacks, Aire being the best ehaler, and Yuta seeming to be a well-rounded wild card), so the player may find it hard to relieve their Black and White Mages of their crowns. While this didn't ruin the game for me, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing out on a little more diverse gameplay.

That may have been the most severe drawback concerning gameplay. I wish that was all I had to say about the game's stumbling blocks, but there's one stain on the game's otherwise glamorous presentation that just cannot be overlooked. While the FF:4HOL's flavor text helps illustrate its characters beautifully, there are so many instances in which the dialog has failed to deliver crucial in-game information. This became glaringly apparent within minutes of starting a new game:

Getting ready for some bullshit.

(image sourced from: www.gamesteady.com)

You begin the game with control over Brandt, a spirited boy who must see his king for his rite of passage into adulthood. The king explains to Brandt that his daughter has been abducted by a witch, and that Brandt's rite of passage will involve rescuing the princess with the help of Brandt's friend, Jusqua. Jusqua, however, does not enter stage right and join the party. So, I decided that I would search the entire town over (which is surprisingly sprawling) for the second addition to my party. Not only do I not find Jusqua, but there isn't one person in town who has any information as to his whereabouts.

So, I figure that maybe I'll meet him at the witch's mansion. I trek north and solo my way through the cave which precedes the mansion. Toward the end of the cave, I encounter a swirling purple mass with sinister eyes. This is the first time I see this object on screen: I'm not sure whether I should talk to it, or whether it is some sort of on-screen obstacle that I'm supposed to avoid. Being that it looks really pissed off, I figure that I'll try and circumvent it completely. So, I begin making my way around the evil cloud, and while it does try and follow me, I outrun it pretty easily. No sweat!

Finally, I get to the mansion. But before entering, Brandt says to himself something to the effect of "this place looks dangerous, I need Jusqua's help" or something. At this point, I'm getting slightly irritated. So, I make my way back through the cave, carefully side stepping the evil coud once again, as I didn't want to risk dying and starting over again. I search the town high and low, once again, just in case I missed something. No luck. I even search the world map for another town, but all I find is an impregnable desert filled with some serious bad news enemies. I've leveled up FIVE times at this point. Where the hell is my second party member?!

While no NPC or event gave me any indication that Jusqua would be in the cave, I decided that I'd check it out anyway. I didn't miss any areas, treasure chests, nothing. Finally, I arrive at that stupid purple mass with the evil eyes again. I figure, what the hell, I've saved my game and scoured every available area, dying and trudging through this cave again will be little consequence compared to the entire ordeal that is "finding Jusqua." So I walk up to the purple cloud and trigger a boss fight. Lo and behold, Jusqua pops in and helps me fight the boss.

What? Seriously? If Jusqua was going to be in this cave, then why the hell wasn't there a clue that told me so? If I am supposed to fight this boss in order to get Jusqua into my party, why the fuck would I be able to AVOID the boss encounter? Absolutely ridiculous! Can you chalk this up to my own stupidity? I don't know, maybe. But this ain't my first rodeo. I never had a problem with Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI in grade school. There's definitely something else at work here.

Key details about your quests are omitted throughout the game. You will run into events that cannot be triggered without a particular quest item that was only available in a store one town back. You will find yourself in a town filled with NPCs rambling off vague information from which only Adam West's Batman could deduce a clue. You will discover and gain access to dungeons that should not be available at that part of the game. Originally, I thought the game's real weakness was that it required so much grinding. It's not really the case. You grind because you can't figure out where the hell to go! When it comes to this aspect of game design, FF:4HOL falls flat on its face. Even juxtaposed beside all the game's pluses, this flaw can really sour your experience.

Bottom Line

The game has its moments, and those moments are great. There are some towns, battle environments and dungeons that are built so efficiently given the DS's capabilities, that they actually catch you by surprise. Graphically, I really couldn't ask much more of the game. But every time you feel like you're having a good time, FF:4HOL's game design flaws appear out of nowhere, like a fat little bully jamming a stick into your bicycle spokes.

I can't say that I don't recommend this game. Play it. Admire the cheerful aesthetic. Have fun accessorizing your characters. Enjoy exploring the character classes. Savor those charming exchanges between NPCs. But be wary of some seriously frustrating grind sessions, because beyond the game's show and shine there is always some bullshit waiting around the corner.