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Best version of Final Fantasy IV?

For a first playthrough I recommend playing it in 2D, so you get the most "authentic" experience.

Personally I like the PSP a lot. You get the arranged soundtrack from the DS which sounds really nice, along with the option to use the SNES one. I can't speak for the PS1 or GBA versions in comparison but any of those three would be the way to go IMO.
 
While I prefer the 3D version because it actually makes the player have some agency at building the characters' skills I think that I wouldn't really recommend it as a first contact with FF4. It plays with the player's prior knowledge of the game and I feel it's better as some kind of definitive version after being done with the story
which I'm not really a fan of.

But if you can only play one version, you definitely should play a 3D one, even if you need an augment guide for it.
 
I really liked the DS version but oh man is the frame rate terrible.

Wish they would have unlocked and fixed the animation timing in the PC version. 🙁
 
I'd put in another vote for the DS version. PSP version looks the best but DS is the only one I've played that gave me a challenge.
 
PSP visuals look stunning so I recommend that version 100%.

Still waiting on an FF6 release with PSP-like graphics.. that's money on the table right there for SE :(
 
Sounds like the 3D version doesn't suck. FFIV is one of my all-time favorites but I'm always wary of playing these remakes. I'll give it a shot!
 
PSP version.

3D version is pretty bad, but that's okay if you wanna play in super high res on your Surface Book (sadly battles are like, 15fps)
 
I have only played the DS version so i can't compare but i thought it was pretty good.Be prepared for the most challenging FF by far though.
 
Nintendo DS - Best gameplay, best challenge, best music, improved translation. It's the only version that really has great gameplay. The others are too easy. In this one, you have to use more strategy.
 
PSOne, without a doubt. It has the original difficulty, untouched graphics, and a good translation. And no, no load times apart from first loading a save. Every other version is compromised in such a way that I wouldn't want to bother. SNES has a lovably bad localization, but dumbed down gameplay. GBA is still easy mode, plus compromised graphics and lots of bugs. The DS version suffers from eyerolling overtranslation that Squenix pursued at the time, which is really dissonant with a story as charmingly dumb as FF4.
 
even with the easier difficulty I would still go with the Complete Collection. these visuals are amazing and I wish they gave the same treatment to FFVI.

158745-Final_Fantasy_IV_-_Complete_Collection_(USA)-2.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Goodacre0081 said:
even with the easier difficulty I would still go with the Complete Collection. these visuals are amazing and I wish they gave the same treatment to FFVI.
Click to expand...

I just started playing this recently and I can't get over how bad the random encounter rate is. I walked 4 squares and got into 4 battles, died, and called it a day.
 
DS remake or its phone (?) and Steam ports. Visuals are nice and the voice acting helped the story seem less dumb, somehow, even though it shouldn't work like that haha.

PSP version looks like an RPG Maker fan project and is painfully easy. If you want 2D that badly might as well just play the original.
 
2D versions of IV are piss easy and boring. I wouldn't play those at all, go with the DS version or whatever platform has the 3D remake.
 
120v said:
and the 3D version is one of the rare instances where a remake is faithful to a T. simply FFIV with modern graphics, no more no less
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Wait what

FFIV DS has additional scenes (and named, story-relevant NPCs) in it that weren't in the original 2D version and aren't in the later PSP 2D version. Some old scenes are also slightly different.
 
Ooh boy!

PSP has the classic 2D look with upscaled art (I love it personally cause I always wanted to see the enemies and the bosses in the art style of FF1 Anniversary) and it contains the After Years and the Interlude which are both hit and miss with people. It also has the GBA content like the secret dungeon and extra bosses. Unfortunately for me, it has the GBA script which isn't bad per se, but I vastly prefer the DS one myself.

The DS version is a remake of sorts. It has 3D graphics and some new content not present in the 2D versions. While I liked the 3D graphics, I still desperately wish for a full on remake with the graphics of XV and VII-R. The music has been redone (hit and miss with lots of folk but Theme of Love and Rydia are the GOAT with music) and there have been summon scenes added for Rydia. Rydia received a new summon named Whyt who you could customize his face and basically improve him (You could also go online and battle other player's Whyts but with the DS Wi-Fi connection shut down...). There are some extra bosses not present in the other 2D versions of the game but the secret dungeon that the GBA/PSP version has was taken out.
Character switching at the end of the game was taken out for a focus on the main 5 characters which left some people unhappy
. There is also a new system called Augment. Basically you can use certain powers from other characters (and even enemies) on your party to attack your foes). My favorite thing about the DS remake is the redone script. It's just so much better in my opinion than the GBA/PSP one. If the PSP version of the game had it then I would have absolutely loved the PSP version. I personally liked the voice acting (especially Yuri Lowenthal as Cecil Harvey) but I know some aren't fans of it.

To finish this, both versions have their strengths and weaknesses. If you want content and an updated classic look, go with the PSP or even the GBA version (but just know that you are missing
one secret boss
that only the PSP version has if you go with the GBA version) and try it out. If you want a more 3D look and a more updated gameplay with a couple of cool extras like the Augment system; along with a new script for the game and voice acting, go with the DS or even the PC/mobile version.

EDIT: Wow that was a LOT longer than I thought.
 
I've really enjoyed all my playthroughs of IV but I'd say the DS (or iOS/Android/PC) was the most challenging and probably the most fun of an experience out of them all. You can't go bad with any though.
 
If you want to play for the story, I'd go with the PSP version. It looks great and you can get in and out of battle quickly, which is important to me. The DS version is best, but it really depends what you're after.
 
arrgh this thread is confusing me. there so many different opinions =P

i have the snes and ds version. and i think the psx buried somewhere,

i only beat it on snes. so that's not a good one?
 
davidwhangchoi said:
arrgh this thread is confusing me. there so many different opinions =P

i have the snes and ds version. and i think the psx buried somewhere,

i only beat it on snes. so that's not a good one?
Click to expand...

FF II, the western version at the time, has the worst translation ever for any game ever. Even for early 90's RPGs it sets a new low.
 
As much as my heart loves the original Final Fantasy 4 for SNES, it's dialog can be rough at times. The game also does a bad job of telling you where you are allowed to save.

While I own almost every release of 4, if I had to recommend the game now; PSP, GBA or the Steam/3DS version's are a good place to play it on for the more modern gaming experience.

If you really feel up to playing the original, go hog wild! Just keep in mind the dialog is different between FF4-JP and FF4-US for the SNES carts. While the dialog in the versions mentions above were updated FYI. So it would honestly be a matter of which ever platform and art style tickles your fancy.

Though it should be said, itemization is also vastly different from FF4-US and FF4-JP SNES. But that's a story for another day.
 
Personally, I'm more of a PSP fan. I played the DS version and couldn't stand the terrible low-poly and low-res visuals. That and the difficulty just meant pointless grinding. It was boring and looked bad.

The PSP is way easier but IMO, I'd rather have JRPG that is too easy than one that's too hard.
 
Hispanic! At the Disco said:
Wait whats wrong with the PSP version? Did they make it easier than the original somehow and increase the encounter rate?
Click to expand...

It's basically the GBA version (which was an enhanced port of the Wonderswan Color version) with better graphics. There was a rebalancing that eased out the difficulty a lot so that's where you get some of the complaints. It's probably the best way to play the original vision for the game, since the DS version is a pretty radical departure and you can almost treat it as a completely different entry.
 
3D version. You don't have to grind at all either as long as you manage your augments well, use buffs/debuffs and use status-inducing spells (they aren't useless here!). It's probably the only ATB-based FF where you need to use everything in your arsenal to beat the game.

Note: The hard mode in the Steam/mobile version is the same difficulty as the DS version and it's the way I'd recommend playing FFIV.
 
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