I had never played Final Fantasy IV in my life. I started the PS1 version which comes bundled with Chrono Trigger (I got it for Chrono Trigger) and started it. After an hour, I stopped because the graphics were just horrific looking. A lot of SNES games still hold up graphically to this day (many more than the PS1/N64 era), but FFIV isn't one of those. I was expecting it to look like FFVI which still looks great (and is one of my favorite games). When I made the decision that at some point I was going to get a Playstation Vita, I knew I had to buy Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. It just happened that at around the same time I made the decision to buy a Vita, all of the Final Fantasy games on Playstation Network went on sale. I had been debating on whether or not to join Playstation Plus, but once I saw those members got an even steeper price drop, I was in. I bought The Complete Collection and FFVI. About a month later, I got my Vita. Let's just say it was a great decision.
Final Fantasy IV marks the first time in Final Fantasy (and consoles for that matter) told a deep and engrossing story. The story still holds up very well. I constantly wanted to keep playing to see the next scene or the next twist. I was hooked. The game does a great job of making you care about each of the playable characters (and there are a bunch of them). It's quite rare for a game to make each character memorable (only other games to have done this for me: FFVI and Metal Gear Solid), but FFIV easily achieved it.
Cecil's struggle with being thrown out of his kingdom and trying to redeem himself is definitely a story that has been told countless times, by Square Enix was able to make it engrossing. Cecil's best friend Kain is a wonderfully mysterious character that adds a lot to Cecil's journey. Rosa, the love interest, isn't your usual damsel in distress (though she is for a little bit), she wants and knows she can help Cecil. Rydia is the obligatory coming-of-age character. Edge and Cid provide the laughs while Yang provides the stoicism. All of the characters play well off of each other while going through the 30-hour long story.
There's no reason to talk about gameplay, if you've ever played a pre-Final Fantasy XII installment, you knew how it works. It can get frustrating at times, but it's also part of the game's charm. The graphics on the Complete Collection look amazing. They have been touched up a lot so it would look good on a PSP. It made it much easier to get through than the PS1 release.
Throughout the entire game, Square Enix plays with your emotions by keeping you guessing on who you will have in your party at any one time (you can't change party members like in other FF's which shocked me!). The story of redemption, friendship and love is certainly worth the price of admission. It's easy to see why this game continues to show up "All-Time Greatest Games" lists. It is worthy of such praise. I'm embarrassed I waited so long to play it, but I'm glad I did.
Score: 9.6/10 (Highly recommended for Vita owners)
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