Final Fantasy IV (Android) Review

By Aria DiMezzo 17.05.2015

Review for Final Fantasy IV on Android

Final Fantasy IV on Android is a port of the remake that graced the Nintendo DS, with only slight changes, following in the footsteps of the recent PC version, all of which were preceded by a glorious 2D update of the original SNES RPG on the Game Boy Advance. Lauded by all, Cubed3 included, it controlled beautifully, had spectacular music, voice acting, and graphics, but is this one port too many, or is the charm still retained and does the inclusion of an Augment System that provides new ways to steamroll through enemies help improve the adventure? All will be revealed…

The Final Fantasy franchise has always focused heavily on story, and Final Fantasy IV is no exception. It follows Cecil the Dark Knight as he comes to terms with his past, throws off the mantle of evil, and rises like a phoenix to save the world. Along the way, he assembles a ragtag group of normal-people-turned-heroes, shenanigans ensue, and much fun is had by all.

A large part of the playtime consists of random battles, and these can be brutal on the first playthrough, when the party has very few Augments. The game offers a Hard difficulty, and the best time to play this is indeed during the first time out because properly distributed Augments severely hinder the overall challenge. This being one of the hardest Final Fantasy releases of recent years, though, even Normal proves to be tough in a normal New Game.

Final Fantasy IV assigns each character a class, and nothing can be done to change that except to give them Augments. Most of the possible actions in Final Fantasy IV did become Augments, and there are many abilities that can be acquired through Augments that are unavailable otherwise. It is never explained how to earn these, many can be lost forever, and very few are earned automatically, so it is highly recommended to check out a guide.

Screenshot for Final Fantasy IV on Android

Featuring a party that can contain up to five characters, battles tend to move more slowly than the average RPG, but a proper setup of characters can render it irrelevant that four people must act before Rydia can summon Bahamut again. Augments provide a ton of character customisation, and setting a specific ability, spell, or item into the Auto slot allows for Auto-Battle: characters will go through the motions of using whatever ability, spell, or item is listed in the Auto slot every turn, making grinding for rare items much more bearable.

Speaking of rare items, though, Square Enix went a little overboard with this incarnation, as nothing in a single-player RPG should ever have a 0.4% drop rate. Although the Treasure Hunter boost doubles this rate to 0.8%, it still requires a very long time to acquire rare items. It's possible to assemble ten complete sets of the rare Onion gear (the pieces of which scale to the level of whomever has them equipped), but it's really not worth it. Proceeding with the Namingway side-quest also requires an item with this obscenely low drop rate, and completing this extra mission is necessary for some of the most useful Augments.

There is a lot to see and do, nonetheless, and being able to skip cut-scenes makes replays much easier to stomach. The inclusion of two hidden bosses makes New Game Plus even more worthwhile, and it's also the only way to get some of the Augments.

Screenshot for Final Fantasy IV on Android

Cubed3 Rating

9/10
Rated 9 out of 10

Exceptional - Gold Award

Rated 9 out of 10

Final Fantasy IV would be worthy of a perfect score if its difficulty scaled a bit based on Augment configurations, but it is ridiculously easy through New Game Plus and New Game Plus Plus. There is also the issue with item drop rates being far too low for a game that isn't an MMORPG, and the borderline necessity of these extremely rare items definitely hurts the entertainment factor. Final Fantasy IV on Android, however, is definitely worth a look, or four.

Developer

Square Enix

Publisher

Square Enix

Genre

Turn Based RPG

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10 (1 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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