One to be Born, From a Dragon... those were the most legendary words of my childhood. This game cemented me into a path of gaming for all of time. And for that I am forever grateful. Now the Review!
Graphics - 16 bit sprites doing their job. From the small character animations to the fading/flashing of light(representing confusion or flashbacks). This game finds a way to convey its message. The graphics were not that bad for the its time but I also wouldn't say they were "great". My favorite part about the graphics are the in-battle character sprites. They look cool as they are but they always look better before they attack or while defending. Some also look pretty funny while they are"KO'd". The final battle looks awesome enough to bump my rating to an 8.
8/10
Sound - The best part of a great game. An absolute masterpiece in my opinion. From the opening song you know your starting an epic journey and it doesn't stop there. The music does a great job to help tell the story throughout the way. The emotion and adrenaline you feel are mirrored by the music and that is part of why graphics weren't the bottom line of gaming in the early 90's. Easy 10 for me here. I still play this game after 20 years because of the music. Listen to Battle with the Four Fiends if you want an example.
10/10
Addictiveness - For an JRPG, addictiveness only goes as far as you think the game is good. I have beat this game beginning to end over 100 times and still come back for more. Nostalgia can only carry so much weight. It's just a good game.
7/10
Story - Betrayal, Envy, Revenge, Atonement, Forgiveness, Sacrifice, Courage, Pride, Love.. It has everything a great story needs. On the surface it's your classic "Good vs. Evil" tale. But each character brings something to the table here to add to the story. I never felt like a character was forced on me. Cecil is your main character. He is a Dark Knight for the Kingdom of Baron, the strongest military nation He has both his own Inner Conflict and the worlds Outer Conflict to deal with. The life of a Dark Knight...
9/10
Depth - Not a whole lot in terms of Depth here. The hardcore RPG player will make sure he/she beats the few optional bosses to acquire Weapons/Armor/Summons. Or he/she could go after some "rare-drops" like the ever elusive Pink Tail. The reality is that Square had yet to introduce the Mini-Game to the series yet. If you decide to go after some rare drops bring your lucky charm. Their is a 1/20 chance an item will even appear! After that you have a 1/64 chance of getting the rarest drop! Those combined odds bring you to having a .4% chance, good luck.
7/10
Difficulty - The US got "Final Fantasy IV - easy type" as Final Fantasy 2. If you have played other RPG's it won't be much of a threat. If you haven't it's not a terrible starting point. Easy learning curve, Attack, Spell or Item. Bosses are easier and you get a "heal" item which covers most status ailments opposed to each status affect having its own item. Makes things much easier. Even for a novice it shouldn't be to tough.
The ATB-Active Time Battle- added a new element of difficulty to the series. No longer could you sit and think out every decision as long as you wanted. Thinking on the fly was must and a bit more skill was needed for battles. The faster pace is welcomed in my book and is still being utilized to this day.
6/10
Overall - The game is a classic from the Golden Era of Gaming. I love the specific character classes, it gives your crew more personality. Tellah isn't attacking for 9,999 and Yang isn't going to learn Cure3. Each guy has his/her own strengths and weaknesses you must learn to exploit. I tend to like games like this better than the ones where every character becomes essentially equal(FF5, FF7, FF8, FFX, etc.).
The music is fantastic, the game is colorful and can be beat in as low as 4 hours by experts! So it moves along quite fast. One grinding session a third the way through the game is enough to win... Bahamut helps too...
9.4