10th March 2010, 7:46 AM
Yeah, FFIV:TAY does suffer from that linear path that Square Enix seems to be obsessed with nowadays. While there is an overworld, most of it is inaccessible throughout most of the game. Even when you have an airship, rarely can you actually, y'know, use it. It might take you to the next area you need to go for the story, but it's automatic. In Rydia's Tale, I believe, you're able to explore the underworld map freely with the airship, but you don't get that sort of freedom in the overworld until the final chapter, The Crystals.
It also isn't until the second half of the Crystals chapter that you can actually choose your party. That marks the first time in FFIV history that you're able to choose your own party as the original game did not allow this. At this point, the game suffers from an over-abundance of characters, most of whom are pretty much useless at this point (and probably too under-leveled to bother with). Assuming you revived Calca and Brina in Rydia's Tale and all the ninjas survived in Edge's Tale, you should have a total of 22 characters by the end of FFIV:TAY (and you probably thought FFVI's 14 was pushing it).
One problem I had with TAY was that much of it was rehashed from the original game: same maps (some of the areas were even traversed multiple times throughout different tales and so by the end of the game, you'd be really sick of that Water Passage between Kaipo and Damcyan), same bosses a lot of the time, etc. On the flip side, it did push forward the character developments and relationships from where they left off in the original FFIV. It resolved the darkness in Kain's soul, it developed the relationship between Rydia and Edge, and it gave more exposure to lesser characters from the orignial game such as Palom and Porom, Edward, and Yang. (I also liked that the idea of the Epopts was expanded upon through Leonora; they, and Troia in general, served very little purpose in the original game.)
Another nitpick I have about the game is that nothing is revealed about the story until the very last chapter. The antagonist is constantly referred to as "Mysterious Girl" and we don't even find out who or what she is until toward the very end of the game. Most Final Fantasy games reveal these things slowly, but this one keeps you in the dark throughout the bulk of the adventure. This probably has to do with the fact that all the chapters happen simultaneously and the order is interchangeable. (On that note, why didn't the American release do like the Japanese release and release Kain's Tale later on? Kain is evil and diabolical throughout most of the tales, and yet because you've already played Kain's Tale, you already know what's going to happen. Kain's Tale also leads into a cliffhanger that isn't resolved until The Crystals.)
But back to the story... once it finally was revealed, it seemed kind of reminiscent of Chrono Trigger to me: an entity from space analyzing life and evolution on various planets for its own benefit and then becoming a destructive force that threatens to destroy the planet? Yup, heard that one already. It's Chrono Trigger without the time travel. In fact, the Bands (probably the most innovative part of this game's battle system) are essentially a rehash of Chrono Trigger's Dual and Triple Techs (with the addition of Quadruple and Quintuple Techs now due to the larger parties).
For all my nitpicking, I did enjoy the game. I'd only recommend it to fans of the original Final Fantasy IV though.
It also isn't until the second half of the Crystals chapter that you can actually choose your party. That marks the first time in FFIV history that you're able to choose your own party as the original game did not allow this. At this point, the game suffers from an over-abundance of characters, most of whom are pretty much useless at this point (and probably too under-leveled to bother with). Assuming you revived Calca and Brina in Rydia's Tale and all the ninjas survived in Edge's Tale, you should have a total of 22 characters by the end of FFIV:TAY (and you probably thought FFVI's 14 was pushing it).
One problem I had with TAY was that much of it was rehashed from the original game: same maps (some of the areas were even traversed multiple times throughout different tales and so by the end of the game, you'd be really sick of that Water Passage between Kaipo and Damcyan), same bosses a lot of the time, etc. On the flip side, it did push forward the character developments and relationships from where they left off in the original FFIV. It resolved the darkness in Kain's soul, it developed the relationship between Rydia and Edge, and it gave more exposure to lesser characters from the orignial game such as Palom and Porom, Edward, and Yang. (I also liked that the idea of the Epopts was expanded upon through Leonora; they, and Troia in general, served very little purpose in the original game.)
Another nitpick I have about the game is that nothing is revealed about the story until the very last chapter. The antagonist is constantly referred to as "Mysterious Girl" and we don't even find out who or what she is until toward the very end of the game. Most Final Fantasy games reveal these things slowly, but this one keeps you in the dark throughout the bulk of the adventure. This probably has to do with the fact that all the chapters happen simultaneously and the order is interchangeable. (On that note, why didn't the American release do like the Japanese release and release Kain's Tale later on? Kain is evil and diabolical throughout most of the tales, and yet because you've already played Kain's Tale, you already know what's going to happen. Kain's Tale also leads into a cliffhanger that isn't resolved until The Crystals.)
But back to the story... once it finally was revealed, it seemed kind of reminiscent of Chrono Trigger to me: an entity from space analyzing life and evolution on various planets for its own benefit and then becoming a destructive force that threatens to destroy the planet? Yup, heard that one already. It's Chrono Trigger without the time travel. In fact, the Bands (probably the most innovative part of this game's battle system) are essentially a rehash of Chrono Trigger's Dual and Triple Techs (with the addition of Quadruple and Quintuple Techs now due to the larger parties).
For all my nitpicking, I did enjoy the game. I'd only recommend it to fans of the original Final Fantasy IV though.