The Final Fantasy IV DS thread

[y2kev]

The random battle difficulty is a bit off, but the boss battles are not too tough if you go in with the right strategy. I'm surprised at how things I thought impossible work when you use a cocktail of buffs and debuffs and time things well.

Still, they should've given us a difficulty option.  I just want to play the game normally and not at some fucktard crazy hard setting.  I don't have the patience anymore for this kind of shit.

I knew when I played the Japanese version that most people weren't going to like this. I gave up on it then. It's not really fun early on.

[demi]

The joy of TWEWY (the better game, which it will now be called) is that you can set your own difficulty. Have some sort of chest to thump? Set it to max nut crusher. Want to enjoy the delicious gameplay and awesome art and spritework? Then by all means, set it as such.

[Vizzys]

hmm I got past that dark elf last night

everyone was dead except cecil who had 63hp

I knew I was pretty much fucked until the last attack with the sword did the trick, amazingly

first boss that has come close to beating my party

amazing luck

[TakingBackSunday]

I almost lost at the Octomammoth 

Cecil was the only one alive with 6 HP.  6!

I haven't really gotten to a point where the game is super hard though.  I'm at the mountain where Rydia uses Fire for the first time, and the difficulty has ramped up a tad.  I'm gonna try and get my party above 20 and then tackle it.

This is pretty great, I love it.

[Himu]

The joy of TWEWY (the better game, which it will now be called) is that you can set your own difficulty. Have some sort of chest to thump? Set it to max nut crusher. Want to enjoy the delicious gameplay and awesome art and spritework? Then by all means, set it as such.

TWEWY sucks. Stupid scratch and sniff gameplay. Horrible main character. The works.

[Crushed]

So, before I get the game, I want to check with you guys.

Who set the Battle Speed to 6?

[cubicle47b]

I don't have much free time right now so this is the first time I'm getting in with the game since Wednesday.  I played through the Baron sewer break-in and killed Cagnazzo.  Random battles were really easy down there except for the guards who you only run into on one screen.  Both boss fights were a bit of a pain in the ass as it took me far too long to learn/remember how to win.  On the snake arm guy I killed a couple party members with reflected spells and then it took me a while to get everyone in good shape to use twin spells.  On Cagnazzo I went through about 12 phoenix downs before I started stopping tsunamis and learned to avoid status effects.  It's nice to have boss fights that are more than just using your best attacks/spells 5-10 times.

[FatalT]

I don't have much free time right now so this is the first time I'm getting in with the game since Wednesday.  I played through the Baron sewer break-in and killed Cagnazzo.  Random battles were really easy down there except for the guards who you only run into on one screen.  Both boss fights were a bit of a pain in the ass as it took me far too long to learn/remember how to win.  On the snake arm guy I killed a couple party members with reflected spells and then it took me a while to get everyone in good shape to use twin spells.  On Cagnazzo I went through about 12 phoenix downs before I started stopping tsunamis and learned to avoid status effects.  It's nice to have boss fights that are more than just using your best attacks/spells 5-10 times.

Blargh, just fought against him and got annihilated. I need to grind a bit to get my levels up. One problem is that I had no MP or anything before that boss battle in the first place. Silly me. I had no problems with the snake arm guy because I just used 2 twincasts against him and he was goooone.

[cubicle47b]

You can sleep in Cecil's room between the two boss fights BTW.

I killed the dark elf last night.  On the first try I got killed by his second form.  On the second I just cast shell right before he went into his second form and then it wasn't too bad.  I went into Zot and the random battles were fairly easy until I ran into the frozen animals.  They cast blizzard (or w/e) back to back and after that only Cecil was left standing so of course my party wiped.

[The Sceneman]

I think it's the 2D art in EO2. Very classic. It just brings the love back. FF4 is just a big rape scene. The ruin of a classic. The end of an era. You don't want to get involved with that.

I loled at 'big rape scene'

and there are no fucking bugs in EO2, just no easily abusable broken abilities

[cubicle47b]

The tower of Zot was surprisingly easy.  The delta sisters barely touched me and Barbariccia was the easiest of the fiends so far.  I think I prefer this version to the original.

[TakingBackSunday]

cubicle, what are your levels man?  You've been having a fairly easy time.  What was your levels around the time you got to the mountain after the Antlion cave?

[Van Cruncheon]

i was 23 cecil, 22 rydia, 16 rosa and 16 edward at the mount hobs myself -- haven't had any problem in the game so far, although i'm just getting started. it's definitely harder than the original, but not detrimentally so. as for mount hobs: remember, cure/cura damage undead.

[TakingBackSunday]

Oh fuck, thanks for reminding me, I completely forgot they were undead. 

I'm around the same levels as you, actually.  Just wanted to be sure before I continued.

[cubicle47b]

I made it to the moon.  Level range is 51-58.  I haven't done any grinding but I do explore every part of the map so there's often a lot of backtracking.  Random battles are easy (I actually rarely use more the prayer) except for a few combinations (2-3 creatures that do absurdly overpowered aoe's).

You're in for some interesting boss battles.  The doctor in the tower of babel randomly reverses what your abilities do.  It was a pretty frustrating fight because of the switching back and forth.  When reversed he'd do a "healing" attack that would hit everyone for 1200 hp and phoenix downs would resurrect someone only to do 80 dmg to them immediately so they'd fall back over.  So I have characters hitting themselves or other people in the party for healing and then he'd reverse and I'd kill myself (same with queuing a heal right before he happened to reverse).  Also, I solo'd Rubicante with Cecil because even with shell the only people who could survive his main fire attack were Cecil and Kain (because of their ice armor and hp) and I accidently let Kain die.  I tried a couple times to get the group up but realized it was pointless after the second time.  The boss in the sealed cave managed to kill one of my party members before I finished him and I had everyone hasted, all melee berserked, and Rydia casting her best summon the entire time so it would appear I'm not too far ahead of the leveling curve.

Anyway, I'm done for the night.

[demi]

Is the CRYSTAL SWORD in it? I loved earning that. FFIV is the best Final Fantasy, hands down. Shame this version is poop. Must replay.

[CurseoftheGods]

I'm playing it with an EXP modifier because I hate grinding in RPG's. I am loving it so far.

[AdmiralViscen]

The joy of TWEWY (the better game, which it will now be called) is that you can set your own difficulty. Have some sort of chest to thump? Set it to max nut crusher. Want to enjoy the delicious gameplay and awesome art and spritework? Then by all means, set it as such.

Where was this attitude when I didn't want to grind in BD hard mode

[demi]

You're not honestly comparing BD's hard mode to this

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

It took me awhile to adjust to it but I'm coming around on this game.  I just passed the Tower of Babel and while I'm still running into shit that just seems cheap (like those blue monster dog things in the Tower of Zot that would cast blizzard on you twice in a row) and the low level point of entry for some characters pisses me off 'cause the game is forcing you to grind, I'm having more fun with it now than I did earlier.  I still would've liked a difficulty option at the title menu but whatever.

[Van Cruncheon]

finally died at the lugae fight. reversal gas = TEH SUK

[The Sceneman]

I might have to get this, or FFIV Advance, depending on how cheap it is

[demi]

I might have to get this, or FFIV Advance, depending on how cheap it is

You have to play the Advance version to enjoy that delicious pixel goodness.

[Candyflip]

Yeah, I was wrong on this being easier than FF3 DS. This is probably the most difficult version of Final Fantasy I've ever played. I spent 1 hour fighting Cagwhateverthefuck because I didn't realize that I could cancel tsunamis until I had used every single Phoenix Down I had. I had my entire party up and I thought things would go smooth from there. Unfortunately he got off one more tsunami; *death* procced on everyone in my party other than Cecil. Honestly I don't even know if an LLG would be possible on this version. I spent 45 minutes with no one but Cecil, attacking for ~200 and healing myself when needed. I thought I might be able to outlast the boss's MP pool and he would stop healing himself when he did his little turtle thing but I don't even think his spells take mana. And if they do, he's got like a billion MP, because by the time he finally managed to chip me down from 900 hp to dead in one paralyze I had gone through 5 Ethers and 14 Hi-Potions.

Of course I walked right through him the next time since I knew what to do, although chain casting slow and countering every physical attack with paralyze seemed a little cheap. I still don't have any complaint with the difficulty though. It keeps me from playing through the entire game in one sitting if anything

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

There isn't anything else in the game that's as lame as that Dr. Lugae fight in the Tower of Babel, right?  I seem to remember the Demon Wall being a bitch but at least there weren't any status reversal bullshit like there was in that fight with the doctor or did they change that too? 

I swear some of these boss battles in this game were designed by Satan himself. 

[Van Cruncheon]

yeah, i need to retry the lugae fight -- kinda put a crimp in my hithertofore undefeated stride. his second form just frickin' wiped me.

[cubicle47b]

Just beat it after a marathon session.  I was a little worried that I'd fucked myself by saving on the moon because you come back from the moon and go straight into the robot that comes out of the tower of babel and a few of the enemies in there are motherfuckers (the little lasers) and I didn't know if I could even make it to the save point.  Also, the attack node of the CPU fight killed me before I could get a spell off probably 3 times by chain attacking.  The 4th time I got slow off and after that the fight was easy.  I had to grind some on the moon to be able to explore in the final dungeon.  Once I started getting a few levels and upgrades things fell into place, though.  It was just hours of shell/protect and slow/stop.  I only picked up a couple augments because I didn't understand how they worked and skipped some things (the summoner place, for one, so I didn't pick up any summons, Excalibur, didn't get Yang's augments from the Faerie place, etc, so the game could have been a lot easier.  It probably would have taken a bit longer, though, and I wanted to beat the game today.

Crystal sword is now Ragnarok, Demi.

[demi]

worst version - ever

[Himu]

I name everything after Ragnarok.

I name my army Ragnarok in Suikoden.

I name my ship Ragnarok in Kingdom Hearts.

I name my guild in EO Ragnarok.

If I have to name an organization or vehicle it is being called fucking Ragnarok.

[Bloodwake]

I haven't played this hardcore due to work and my need to only play FFIV whenever I'm taking a huge shit, but yeah, this game kicks some ass.

FFIV + Shit = WIN.

[The Sceneman]

I name everything after Ragnarok.

I name my army Ragnarok in Suikoden.

I name my ship Ragnarok in Kingdom Hearts.

I name my guild in EO Ragnarok.

If I have to name an organization or vehicle it is being called fucking Ragnarok.

lol

[demi]

Crystal Sword was Ragnarok in the GBA version, too.  And possibly also in the PSX version.

Worst version(s) - ever

[TakingBackSunday]

Just made Cecil a Paladin.  That last boss was tougher than usual, but I still got by fairly easily.  Parom's Fira packs a punch.

[Jabberwocky]

I don't find this game bad at all. It can be hard but some grinding here and there will do you fine. I'm used to grinding by now so I have no problem with it. This isn't your typical "keep pressing A, win battle" TBRPG either, so battles aren't boring.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm about ready to head off to the moon but after all this time,

[close]

I still haven't figured out where all these augments are.  I've got a handfull of them but only used two - counter for Cecil and goblin for Reil...uh...whatever the summoner chick's name is.  Where are these things?  I've seen lists online of augments like Limit Breaks, Double Cast, 50% HP, etc. but I haven't run across any of them.

[Vizzys]

I'm about ready to head off to the moon but after all this time, I still haven't figured out where all these augments are.  I've got a handfull of them but only used two - counter for Cecil and goblin for Reil...uh...whatever the summoner chick's name is.  Where are these things?  I've seen lists online of augments like Limit Breaks, Double Cast, 50% HP, etc. but I haven't run across any of them.

yeah you get them in strange ways

spoiler (click to show/hide)

like giving augments to people who die gives you more augments

and like when you beat cagnazzo his tsunami augment shows up in B3 of that cavern beneath Baron castle where you sneaked in, dumb stuff like that

[close]

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Fuck that then.  I hate that kind of bullshit.  It's basically forcing you to use a guide to access them.

[Vizzys]

yeah I wouldnt bother trying to get them all or anything

they are a helpful bonus that is completely optional

[GilloD]

Now that I've put in a couple of hours with this game, let me comment:

-I don't think this game is very hard. I just got Porum and porridge or whatever and I haven't had a single character die yet. Maybe I was too into grind mode, but I sliced through the Octomammoth in about 5 rounds and absolutely devastated the Antlion.

-CAN I KEEP A FUCKING CHARACTER FOR MORE THAN 20 MINUTES.

-What's with the game going: "Here, have your 25th party member. And, oh, they're 15 levels lower than you". P&P are level TEN when you get them Cecil is level 25. The enemies are on par with Cecil. What the fuck.

Other than that, WAY better than FF3. I remember reading about this game in Nintendo Power, but never playing it. It attained a kind of mythic status, so it's nice to finally play it. I just haven't found it to be that hard yet. Other than the constant party swapping.

What's with Augments? I've found every treasure and I still only have one. I was supposed to get Counter, but I can't find it in my inventory. Oh well.

[demi]

You should go back and play the original...

[Van Cruncheon]

the augments are under "key items"

[Candyflip]

Now that I've put in a couple of hours with this game, let me comment:

-I don't think this game is very hard. I just got Porum and porridge or whatever and I haven't had a single character die yet. Maybe I was too into grind mode, but I sliced through the Octomammoth in about 5 rounds and absolutely devastated the Antlion.

I said almost the exact same thing up until the fight with Cagnazzo

I really think the FF3 remake was a bit harder than this. I remember consistently being hit for 1/3 and 1/4 of my health. I have yet to grind so far and I haven't had any full party deaths yet.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

The Golbez fight was the one that made me question my sanity for even playing the game.  That was a ball buster for me.  Having to fight Golbez immediately after Calcobrena and having to do it basically with just one guy (I was able to get Rosa into it for a time or two) and not being able to use an elemental weapon so it forced me to wield some shitty sword that had like 30pt attack differential to my best one..... man talk about a bitch.  I had to spend a few hours of grinding just to be able to live through that by the skin of my teeth.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

But that was then and now I just got FuSoYa and I'm ready for the final push.  Let's do this.

[close]

[cubicle47b]

The giant of babel was a real bitch.  The actual boss fights are pretty easy but some of the fucking enemies are absurd and you run into them a lot.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

But weren't your characters underdeveloped?  You said your party level was hovering in the 50's by the time you

spoiler (click to show/hide)

went to the moon.

[close]

  What were they at when you went into

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the giant?

[close]

[cubicle47b]

About the same.  But there are lasers in there that hit the full party for around 1500 (IIRC) and you'll often fight two and another monster at the same time.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I hit the moon first with Cecil at 58 and Edge at 51, I maybe gained 2 levels inside the giant so I would have gone back to the moon for the assault on the core at 53-60.

[close]

[CurseoftheGods]

Guys, use spoiler tags please. It's my first time playing this game. I am sure others are in the same boat too.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Arrgh.  Wrong button.

Spoilers done though.

[CurseoftheGods]

Arrgh.  Wrong button.

Spoilers done though.

Thanks, HSMP.

[GilloD]

This game LOVES to load on the spell casters. Can I get another physical broham up in here?

To anyone else who's played the myriad versions, are there a lot of story changes in the DS version?

[Van Cruncheon]

no, no real story changes save a little fleshing out of the cecil/kain history

[cubicle47b]

There's a fairly large piece of story added that happens

spoiler (click to show/hide)

after you kill the CPU in the giant, Golbez/Cecil as children, Kluya and his interaction with the world.

[close]

As for physical fighters

spoiler (click to show/hide)

after you make your way back to Baron there is only one time when you aren't stacked with physical attackers.

[close]

[Jabberwocky]

Guys, use spoiler tags please. It's my first time playing this game. I am sure others are in the same boat too.

I agree. I've played 2 other versions of this game in the past, but I've never beaten it.

[TVC15]

Are there any added bonuses, like, say, being able to choose party members at the endgame or anything like that?

[cubicle47b]

Are there any added bonuses, like, say, being able to choose party members at the endgame or anything like that?

No, sorry.  There's a new game+ mode where you characters retain their augments but the final party is set.

[siamesedreamer]

Finals are over, so I decided to give it a shot. Seems as if grinding a bit helps the difficulty. Shouldn't be too bad then.

[GilloD]

Finals are over, so I decided to give it a shot. Seems as if grinding a bit helps the difficulty. Shouldn't be too bad then.

Not even grinding for me, just due caution. Like clear 2 rooms of a cavern, warp out, come back and do 2 more, warp out, on and on.

[siamesedreamer]

Thanks...good to know. Didn't get a chance to play it last night (GeoWars2). Hopefully, I can get it started by the end of the weekend.

[abrader]

I played the game for the first time lastnight.

I must say I am underwhelmed...

I also cant get over how Cecil and the dragoon look like vieutiful Joe characters with the big head/helmets...

I dont really think this game is worth it so far...

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

I also cant get over how Cecil and the dragoon look like vieutiful Joe characters with the big head/helmets...

Wait 'til you get a load of Yang.  He looks like he just stepped out of a diaper commercial and someone slapped a moustache on him.

Not really how I ever envisioned that character.