Square Enix has a history of creating fantastic RPGs. As time has passed, they too have evolved into creating games with outstanding graphics, numerous cutscenes and lengthy gameplay. So what happens when they want to throw it back to the old days?
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, that's what. Does it live up to the Final Fantasy name, or is it a let-down?
The story of
4 Heroes revolves around four central characters: Brandt, Jusqua (Brandt's friend), Yunita (Princess Aire's bodyguard) and Aire (princess of Horne). The game begins on the morning of Brandt's 14th birthday in the town of Horne. That marks the day in Horne where boys become men upon presenting themselves before King Horne. Brandt's mother wakes him up and sends him on his way to the castle.
When Brandt arrives at Castle Horne, the king is distraught. His daughter, Princess Aire, has been kidnapped by the (wicked) Witch of the North, and to prove his worth, the King asks Brandt to find her. Brandt joins with Jusqua, and in the Witch's mansion, they meet Yunita who helps them slay the witch and save the princess and return to Horne triumphant. Except upon arriving in Horne, everyone is turned to stone. Brandt and Jusqua stay behind to figure out what happened, and Jusqua takes Princess Aire to safety. Thus the adventure begins...
Read: I'll get you my pretty! And your little dog, too!Throughout the adventure, the party is temporarily aided by other NPCs, but the four main characters will eventually reunite. As the story progresses, the party is awarded various crowns that will not only change their outward appearance, but also aide them in battle.
If you've played any other
Final Fantasy game that uses a job system (III, V, X-2, XIII and XIII-2, and the Tactics games), you'll be somewhat familiar with how the crowns work. Put on the Hero crown and you become very strong. Put on the Black Mage crown and you become a magical offensive powerhouse. Put on the Bandit crown and you can get steal items from enemies. You get the idea. You can still use spells regardless of your crown, but they will cost more ability points (AP).
AP, you say? Well, let's explain the battle system. It's very simplified. Each character has five AP at their disposal. All of your available actions are listed on the touch screen. Each action uses at least one AP, the exception being Boost (restores one AP and also has your character defend). If you attack, you use one AP. At least one AP is restored per round (certain skills restore more).
Now that we have that out of the way, battles play out similarly to other turn based games. They are random (grumble). You choose your actions in a round, your characters perform that action and then AP is restored. The kicker is that you don't choose which enemy (or ally) that you are using that action on. The game determines that for you, and while it usually get the allies' action right (who you want to heal), the enemy I often wanted to attack ended up not getting scratched. A little frustrating, but not infuriating. Once you get the hang of the battle system, you can set it into auto-mode (by pressing X during a battle) and set each character's pre-determined actions. This is helpful when you're wanting to grind.
That's a really big egg you have there!After a fight, you don't earn gold, gil, or whatever. You get gems. Gems serve two purposes. First, you can sell them for gold to buy other items. Second, you can use those gems to upgrade your crowns (to learn new abilities) or weapons, armor and shields. This is crucial, especially in the latter half of the game.
4 Heroes can be controlled with either the d-pad or with the stylus. I found myself playing with the d-pad more frequently, but I alternated between the two schemes and they both work just fine.
Graphically, the game is a sight to behold. There aren't any CGI cutscenes, but Square Enix and Matrix Software did a terrific job of creating a vast world using cel-shading. It looks on-par with
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (on a technical level). It was also a nice touch to make every weapon, piece of armor, and crown give each character a unique look. All enemies are animated and the game never slows down. The music is decent, though none of the tunes are particularly memorable. The sound effects are good enough. There are no voices.
The bottom line is that this isn't a game for everyone. It's hard, especially the latter half of the game if you haven't prepared your equipment. I almost set this game down several times...but I'm glad I didn't. Beating the final boss was satisfying, especially after getting destroyed by several of the later bosses. The main quest will last between 30-40 hours (it took me around 36 to finish). If you like RPGs and want a challenge, don't pass this one up.
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