Final Fantasy IV Advance ReviewIntro: Today I'm reviewing Final Fantasy IV Advance. I absolutely loved this game from the moment I picked it up to when I started this review. Overall this is an excellent game. It has monsters, magic, leveling up, a fantastic story, and catchy music. What more can you want? I loved everything in it. I would only make a few changes to it like more enemy drops and a higher drop rate. PLEASE give it a try. I'm sure you wont be upset unless you have RPG's or don't like final fantasy.
Graphics 8/ 10: The graphics in this game were great! Especially for a GBA game. It was clear so I could easily read everything and it didn't glitch once for me. A lot of other games had minor glitches, but this one didn't have any. At a glance most people would say they were bad and move on, but it isn't for it's time. If you take some time to pay attention to it's detail you will appreciate more retro games. Two examples:
[img]http://www.vizzed.com/videogames/gba/screenshot/Final%20Fantasy%20IV%20Advance-1.png [/img]
[img]http://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/retro/user_screenshots/saves23/234355/GBA--Final%20Fantasy%20IV%20Advance_Feb15%2020_09_29.png[/img]
Clearly the graphics can't be missed. Pixel by pixel all I see is true beauty.
Sound 10/ 10:
Great. Far better than other GBA games. This game had music that I actually hummed to. Not many games do that. As soon as you start the game you will be hooked. I really like the title theme and the boss battle theme. Sometimes I even hum it when I'm not even playing and sometimes I played the game just so I could hear the music. This is the main reason I loved this game.
Addictiveness 8/ 10: This game was very addicting at first, but I started playing it less and less later on. It gets repetitive constantly training. It's really hard to beat the game if you don't train. I highly recommend you do. Customizing my characters was really addicting. Me personally can spend hour after hour finding the right equipment. This part never got boring. I liked seeing the different combinations and seeing the type advantages. Yeah some weapons have a certain element and are strong against certain enemies. It will give you at least a few hours non stop playing. Trust me ;).
Story 9/ 10: The story was pretty good. It's very deep. Simple words cannot fully describe it. You just have to play it to feel deeper emotions. SPOILER ALERT
You are Cecil a dark knight from the nation Baron. It's strong military and legendary air units, the Red Wings, make it a very tough nation. After the king gets corrupted he commands Baron to steal the world's crystals. If he gets all of the crystals the world as we know it will change... You Cecil don't believe in his ways so he leaves Baron and tries to stop them. Cecil also has to save his friends and try to help the other nations with crystals. With your partners Rydia, Rosa, Cain, Porom, Palom, Edge, and a few others you need to put an end to this madness.
END OF SPOILERS
Depth 10/ 10:
This game was pretty lengthy. A little too much if you ask me. It has lots of weapons, spells, and places to go. There isn't much more you could add to this. If you try to collect everything you'll be here for a long time. In each battle you have lots and lots of options. You can use the character's special moves, black magic, white magic, and items. Like palom and porom have a special twincast move. If they both are in battle they can cast a very strong spell. It takes a while to charge, but it will be worth it if you are fighting a tough boss. Rydia the summoner also can use summon magic. The can summon various monsters to fight for you. Like the cockatrice summon summons a cockatrice to battle. The cockatrice will cast petrify and will defeat an enemy with 100% accuracy unless it is immune to petrify.
Black magic is basically offensive magic. It is used by black mages and summoners. It can do a lot of damage, but it has a longer charge time and it costs mp. White magic is healing magic. It will heal your team right up. White mages use this. Both black and white magic also have other magic that don't really fit their description. Some white magic doesn't heal and some black magic doesn't hurt the enemy. Like the white magic ensuna takes away all bad status effects. And the black magic toad turns the enemy into a toad. There are lots of items. Each have different uses and can replace some magic.
Difficulty 7/ 10: Well in the beginning this game is very easy, but in the end it gets hard. Soon you will have to level up a lot, get better weapons, and be prepared. I'm sure you don't want to spend minute after minute grinding (leveling up) when you could of saved yourself earlier. Train early and whenever you have time. Also be aware of the time limits. Each spell you cast has a certain amount of time you have to wait for it to be used. Don't have all of your units charging their attacks. They will be vulnerable and you wont be able to do anything.
Overall 10/10: I loved this game. You will be happy with the time you spend in it. The amount of content in it is so exceptional it will keep you busy for a long time. The first few towns can take a day to finish if you take your time, train, and just have fun. There are lots of things to notice. You might even find a secret passageway and get a few useful items you wouldn't of seen before. If you read above and still aren't satisfied with the game sorry, but I'm sure most of you will give this game a try and will enjoy it. Thanks for reading :). Happy gaming.
Graphics
8 Sound
10 Addictive
8 Depth
10 Story
9 Difficulty
7