Final Fantasy 4: Complete Collection
Platform: Playstation Portable
Tested with: 5.50 Prometheus 4.
This was one of the major remakes of the Final fantasy Series ported for the Playstation Portable. It features the updated graphics Engine from the first 2 PSP remakes: Final Fantasy 1 and 2 Anniversary Edition and it's played in a 16:9 screen resolution at 480 by 270. This FF is probably the most remade game of all the FFs apart from the FF 1 and 2: Anniversary Editions. It has been remade for the SNES, the GBA as FF4 Advance, the Playstation 1, the Nintendo DS, WonderSwan, the Wii for the After Years, Mobile Cellphone version and of course the Playstation Portable release is the latest one.
This game consists of both games: the original FF4 and the Wii's After Years, plus an added plot element called the Interlude whose storyline lies between the two. So this game is actually 3 games in one 800 MB Package.
The main plot is exactly the same as all other FF4 remakes and re-ports. Cecil, a Dark knight, comtemplating what's between good and bad, decides to fight for justice and for the good of all mankind. The storyline also features other prominent characters like Rosa, Rydia, Kain and Edge who play a major part in the storyline.
The Basic Mechanics of the Final Fantasy Overworld based system remain standard as per most of the FFs from the SNES/GBA ports. However, the developers, SquareEnix incorporated a few added tweaks to the system like being able to switch between idling characters during battle to perform a specific move before moving to the next character which is good.
Other tweaks and features also include a bestiary as standard, and also the setting to change the way how the Background music is played: one preset arranged from the original SNES release, and the preset arranged from the Wii Release, the After Years. Auto-Dash is also included as a togglable setting and this game as of the Japanese Release can be played in 3 Languages: Japanese, English and French. Most bugs that were found in all the other ports have been basically ironed out. Also challenges and other post-game missions have been included as well, in particular the After Years.
The music is composed originally by the revered Nobuo Uematsu for the SNES release, but arrangements improve so did the next releases on the various ports. And now you can toggle between the SNES version and the Wii version of the music.
Just some tips and tricks from me: to get the best of the storyline, you should play original FF4, then the Interlude, then the After Years (tale by tale from top to bottom) in that order, so you will definitely know the flow of the storyline. If you like all the Final Fantasy 4 remakes, then this game is strongly recommended. All I can tell you is that I simply enjoy the game a lot. So in summary:
"Definitely Worth playing, highly Recommended"
Final Fantasy 4 has left behind a great Legacy and impression amongst major reviews: calling it one of the greatest video games ever made of all time. Millions upon millions of copies of this game in various remakes have been released, plus another 3 million for the After Years. None of the reviews made about this game in any port have ever fallen below 80% approval rating. It has craft a legend of a lifetime. It's worth saving 800 megabytes of your storage media, and considering the amount of content in this game, I give it a big thumbs up.
Rating: 9/10
