When Childhood Dream Comes True: Final Fantasy IV on the DS

My favorite games of all time were the Final Fantasy games on the Super Nintendo. I was younger then, less jaded, more welcoming. I could accept a cliche story line (back then, I probably didn’t have enough of a literary background to know what was cliche) and the silliness that is Final Fantasy. I’m not going to go into “what’s wrong with games today” or anything like that, but I just everybody to know that I liked Final Fantasy above all else. I have never since had such a connection to a video game.

So, now we flash forward to the years 2008 and with me, a bitter old man who’s bitching about some wossname or other. Video Game no longer have that magic associated with it like my Super Nintendo days but rather a release where I can take some pent up energy and frustration and vent it out of my thumbs. It’s a social experience where I can digitally see my friends or make some ears bleed by singing in Rock Band. I don’t have 16 hours day to play games anymore, now that I have bills to pay and chores to do (who am I kidding, I probably do chores once a month). Anyhow, point is, video games are now mundane.

So, with the remade Final Fantasy IV on the DS, I knew I was going to buy it. I’ve liked much of the series, even though I haven’t completed the last few games of the series. I don’t think they’ve gotten worst, but I’ve become less interested in them. So, what does this game bring to the table that the past few hadn’t?

It’s simple really. I enjoyed the original immensely, but with the game remade in 3d, they can add actual characteristics and facial expressions to the story. Emotions are no longer conveyed with the character either spinning around or running back and forth across the screen quickly. They now have more than 2 facial expressions (before, the characters only had “normal” and “surprised”). I had to use my imagination for all the missing elements (and not the good way of imagining that one would when reading a book, but rather the way that one would imagine when watching and Ed Wood movie.)

I truly liked the characters from Final Fantasy IV. To see them come alive, to hear their voice, adds a new quality that really successfully brings a new experience to it, and at the same time maintains the nostalgic feel of my memories.

Even though the game is great, I think the visuals are limited technology wise (probably by the DS hardware). Cecil looks like he’s on the Atkins diet gone wild and they’ve lost the classic “Big head/little body” of the original. Graphical challenges aside, it still plays pretty well and I’m looking forward to it.

All in all, I’m thrilled. The best word to describe how I feel about this game remake is glee.