Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan, but has been ported with minor changes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as by TOSE to the Sony's PlayStation, Bandai's WonderSwan Color, and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. In May 2007, Square Enix announced that it was developing a remake of the game for the Nintendo DS.[4] The game was originally titled "Final Fantasy II" during its initial release in North America, but later localizations used the original title.

The player takes the role of Cecil, a Dark Knight from the kingdom of Baron, on his journey to save the world from the evil Golbez. Struggling to prevent Golbez from acquiring powerful Crystals, Cecil learns of his heritage and travels through three realms to battle Golbez's minions. His lover, best friend, and other warriors join him for the adventure.

Final Fantasy IV introduced innovations that became staples of the Final Fantasy series and role-playing games in general.[6][7] Its "Active Time Battle" system was used in six subsequent Final Fantasy games. Its character-driven plot, use of the new technologies (such as Mode 7) and critically acclaimed score by Nobuo Uematsu have prompted critics to consider Final Fantasy IV one of the greatest games of all time.

Gameplay


In Final Fantasy IV, the player controls a large cast of characters and completes quests to advance the story. Characters move and interact with people and enemies on a field map, which may represent a variety of settings, such as towers, caves, and forests. Travel between areas occurs on a world map. The player can use towns to replenish strength, buy equipment, and discover clues about their next destination. Conversely, the player fights monsters at random intervals on the world map and in dungeons. In battle, the player has the option to fight, use magic or an item, retreat, change character positions, parry, or pause. Certain characters have special options. Player characters and monsters have HP or hit points (represented by a numerically based life bar); attacks reduce hit points until none are left, at which point the character faints or the monster dies. If all characters are defeated, the game must be restored from a saved game file. The player can restore the characters' hit points by having them sleep in an inn or use items in the party's inventory, such as a Potion. Equipment (such as swords and armor)bought in towns or found in dungeons can be used to increase damage inflicted on monsters or minimize received damage. The player can choose whether characters appear on the front line of a battle or in reserve. A character's placement impacts distribution of damage received and inflicted. The game's story is linear—the player can usually advance the game through only one path, although limited side quests are available.

Final Fantasy IV introduced Square's Active Time Battle (ATB) system designed by Hiroyuki Ito, who was one of the battle designers with Kazuhiko Aoki and Akihiko Matsui, which differed from the turn-based designs of previous RPGs.[10] The ATB system centers around the player inputting orders for the characters in real time during battles.[11] An important precedent, ATB was used in many subsequent Square games. Each character is balanced through certain strengths and weaknesses; for instance, a strong magic user may have low defense, while a physical fighter may have low agility. Like other Final Fantasy games, characters gain new, more powerful abilities with battle experience. Magic is classified as either "White" for healing and support; "Black" for offense; or "Summon" (or "call") for summoning monsters to attack or carry out specialized applications. A fourth type—"Ninjutsu"—consists of support and offensive magic and is available to only one character. Magic users, who account for eight of twelve playable characters, gain magic spells at preprogrammed experience levels or fixed story events. The developers have balanced point gains, items, and rewards to eliminate long sessions of gaining levels. Due to the Super Nintendo's greater processing power, Final Fantasy IV contains graphics improved over past Final Fantasy titles and concurrent Super Nintendo games. The game employs the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 technology to give enhanced magic spell visuals and to make airship travel more dramatic by scaling and tilting the ground for a bird's eye view.


Plot and setting


Most of Final Fantasy IV takes place on Earth, also known as the Blue Planet,[13] which consists of an upper world (or Overworld) and an underground world (or Underworld). The Overworld consists of territories populated by different character classes from the series. The Underworld is primarily inhabited by dwarves and is covered in rock and magma. A red, artificial moon orbits the planet, upon which two races, the Lunarians and the Hummingway live. A second, natural moon orbits as well, though it is never visited in the game. Travel among the three realms is accomplished through airships.


Races

Besides the humans and dwarves, there are two other important races in Final Fantasy IV:

The Hummingway are a race from the Moon. Their appearance is characterized by blue and yellow clothing with turbans on their heads, however, some appear in pink and white. Most of them only speak in humming noises. One notable Hummingway is named Namingway, and appears in most towns offering to change the names of the characters who talk to him. In Final Fantasy IX, the player can find the Namingway card in Kuja's castle, or win it from Mario in the card arena. This card allows players to rename their characters.

The Lunarians are a race of human-like wizards. They came from a planet between Mars and Jupiter, which was destroyed and became the asteroid belt. Sometimes, they are identified by a moon-shape crest on their foreheads. They created Earth's second moon, where they sleep until they believe the time is right for Earthlings and Lunarians to co-exist in harmony. The only known full-blood Lunarians are FuSoYa, the guardian of the Lunarians, Zemus, a restless Lunarian who plans on destroying life on Earth so he, alone, can inhabit the planet, and KluYa, who is believed to be the first Lunarian to interact with humans. In fact, KluYa fell in love with a human, and had at least two sons with her: Cecil, the main character of the game, and Golbez, the villain controlled by Zemus for most of the game.



Characters


Final Fantasy IV offers twelve playable characters, each with a unique character class. The hero, Cecil Harvey, is a Dark Knight of Baron who serves the king alongside his childhood friend Kain Highwind. Kain was once asked to become a Dark Knight, but instead followed his father's example and became a Dragoon. Rosa Farrell is the heroine and Cecil's girlfriend; she became a white mage and archer to protect Cecil as her mother protected her father. Cecil is the captain of the "Red Wings", an elite air force unit constructed by his friend, the engineer Cid Pollendina.

During his quest, Cecil is joined by others. Kain joins very quickly, but is separated from Cecil soon afterwards. Rydia, a young Summoner from the village of Mist, joins shortly after Kain leaves. Cecil gains her trust by saving her life. Tellah is a legendary sage of Mysidia; he is very protective of his daughter Anna. Edward Chris von Muir, the prince of Damcyan, pursues her courtship and travels disguised as a bard. Yang Fang Leiden is the well-mannered head of the Monks of Fabul. Palom and Porom are twin wizards from Mysidia who assist Cecil in a difficult trial. Edward "Edge" Geraldine is the rowdy Ninja prince of Eblan who has a crush on Rydia. Lastly, FuSoYa is the guardian of the Lunarians during their long sleep.


Story


Final Fantasy IV begins with the unmatched monarchy of Baron[14] using the Red Wings to attack peaceful nations and find four powerful Crystals that correspond to the classical elements. Cecil questions the king's motives after stealing the Water Crystal from the wizards' town of Mysidia, murdering several in the process. He is stripped of his rank and sent with Kain to deliver a package to the Village of Mist.[16] To reach the mountain valley where the Village is located, the two traverse the Mist Cave and defeat the Mist Dragon that guards it. Upon reaching the village, they discover the package is actually a bomb, which explodes, resulting in the destruction of the town and the death of many of its inhabitants. In the ensuing chaos, Cecil and Kain encounter Rydia, a young female survivor standing over her mother's body. Rydia's mother was spiritually connected to the Mist Dragon; the dragon's death ended her life as well.[17] The infuriated girl summons a monster to attack Cecil and Kain; it causes an earthquake, which cuts off the route back to Baron and knocks the three unconscious. When Cecil awakens, he discovers that Kain has disappeared and the girl is injured. He carries her through a desert to an inn at the oasis town of Kaipo.

Soldiers from Baron arrive in the night to abduct the girl on orders from the king of Baron to kill all Summoners,[18] and Cecil defeats them; impressed, Rydia joins him. While in Kaipo, Cecil discovers a bedridden Rosa; searching for Cecil, she had contracted Desert Fever, curable only by a "Sand Ruby" located in the Antlion's nest. Access to the Antlion's lair is controlled by the Kingdom of Damcyan, so Cecil and Rydia travel north to Castle Damcyan. Along the way they meet Tellah, a sage, in the waterway, who is also travelling to Damcyan in search of his daughter Anna, who ran off there with a bard.[19] The three arrive just in time to witness the Red Wings bombard the castle. In investigating the ruins of the castle, they discover that Anna was killed in the assault; Tellah blames her death on her lover, Prince Edward,[20] the smitten bard. Edward explains that a warrior named Golbez orchestrated the attack and stole Damcyan's Fire Crystal,prompting Tellah to leave the party to seek vengeance on Golbez for Anna's death. Edward joins Cecil and Rydia and helps them retrieve the Sand Ruby.

At Kaipo, the revived Rosa joins the party; they resolve to go to Fabul to protect the Wind Crystal from being stolen by Golbez and the Red Wings. While crossing Mt. Hobs they encounter Yang, the head of the Fabul Monks, being ambushed by Golbez's monsters; the party helps him fight them off. Yang requests Cecil's help in defending Fabul after they inform him of Golbez's plot. The Red Wings attack Castle Fabul and Cecil's party falls back to the Wind Crystal's room. There, Cecil is confronted by his friend Kain and learns Kain is allied with Golbez. Kain challenges and defeats Cecil in a duel. Golbez arrives, kidnaps Rosa, and steals the Wind Crystal. The next morning, the party concludes that they will need an airship to confront Golbez's Red Wings. They decide to sneak into Baron to acquire an airship from Cid. Yang charters a ship to take Cecil, Edward, Rydia, and himself to Baron. While sailing, however, they are attacked by the sea monster Leviathan and the ship sinks.

Cecil awakens alone on a beach near Mysidia, where he is met with contempt by the town's wizards for stealing the Water Crystal earlier. However, the Mysidian elder understands Cecil's plight, and tells him that to defeat Golbez, Cecil must climb Mt. Ordeals, surrender his dark sword and become a Paladin. The elder sends twin wizards Palom and Porom to assist and spy on Cecil.[28] On the mountain, they encounter Tellah, who is searching for the legendary spell Meteor to defeat Golbez. Golbez attempts to stop the party by sending Scarmiglione, the Fiend of Earth, to stop them, but the party defeats the demon, Cecil completes the trials, and becomes a Paladin; Tellah also learns the secret of Meteor.


Upon returning to Mysidia, the town elder is impressed that Cecil successfully became a Paladin and allows him the use of the "Serpent Path," a teleporter that takes the party to Baron. There, Cecil learns that Cid has been arrested and Yang brainwashed into the service of Baron. After helping Yang recover, Cecil, Yang, and the others infiltrate the castle and discover that the king is actually the Fiend of Water, Cagnazzo. After defeating him, Cid is freed and takes Cecil and his friends to his newest airship. Before dying, Cagnazzo causes the walls of the castle to move with the intent of crushing the party. Palom and Porom petrify themselves to halt the trap.


Cecil takes command of the airship and is met at takeoff by the brainwashed Kain, who demands Cecil retrieve the final Crystal in exchange for Rosa's life.[32] Cecil heads for Troia, where the Earth Crystal is enshrined. He learns the Crystal was stolen by the Dark Elf, and his friends and he retrieve it. Kain leads the group to the Tower of Zot, where Rosa is imprisoned. At the tower's summit, Golbez takes the Crystal and attempts to flee. Tellah tries to kill Golbez by using Meteor. The spell kills Tellah and weakens Golbez, shattering his control over Kain's mind.[33] Kain helps Cecil rescue Rosa and, after defeating the Fiend of Wind, Barbariccia, the party escapes to Baron.

In Baron, Kain reveals that Golbez must also obtain four subterranean "Dark Crystals" to achieve his goal.[34] Cecil swears to defend the Crystals; Kain gives him a "Magma Rock" he obtained while in the service of Golbez, which opens a passage to the Underworld. They fly through the opening, but their airship is soon damaged while caught in the cross-fire of a battle between the Dwarves' tanks and the airships of the Red Wings, forcing it to crash outside the Castle of Dwarves. King Giott of the dwarves accepts Cecil's offer to guard the Crystals. Cid departs to repair and upgrade the airship; soon after he leaves, Cecil, Rosa, Yang, and Kain discover Golbez has infiltrated the dwarves' crystal room and try to stop his theft of the Crystal. During the battle they are joined by Rydia, who was sucked into the Underworld by Leviathan.[35] However, Golbez escapes with the Dwarves' Dark Crystal, and Cecil sets out to the Tower of Babel to retrieve the lost crystals. King Giott offers the services of his tanks to draw the fire of the tower's defenses while the party infiltrates it. While inside, the party confronts Golbez's servant Dr. Lugae. He informs the party that the crystals have been moved to the above ground portion of the Tower, and as his last act Dr. Lugae orders that the Tower's Super Cannon destroy the dwarf tanks. Yang volunteers to stay behind and destroy the Super Cannon while the party escapes, and is presumed dead.[36]


Upon escaping the Tower the party is met by Cid and a repaired airship. They are pursued by the Red Wings and fly back to the upper world to escape them; Cid throws himself overboard and detonates a bomb to re-seal the passage, apparently sacrificing himself. Back on the surface, they find the path to the Tower of Babel's upper half. While following it they encounter Edge, the ninja prince of Eblan, who seeks revenge on Rubicante, the Fiend of Fire, for the death of his parents; Edge joins the party. Inside the tower, the party defeats Rubicante but falls through a trap door to an Underground portion of the Tower and finds an abandoned Red Wing airship. The party then goes to the Underworld's Sealed Cave to retrieve the eighth and final crystal before Golbez gets to it. After they do so, however, Golbez reassumes control over Kain and forces him to steal the Crystal.[38] Back at the Dwarf castle, Giott tells Cecil of the Lunar Whale, a "ship of light"[39] designed to take travelers to and from the moon. Cid, who was found by the dwarves and nursed by them back to health, fits their airship with a drill and the party drills their way back to the surface. Cecil returns to Mysidia to pray for the Lunar Whale's appearance. It rises from the ocean, and Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge board it to travel to the moon.


Upon arriving on the moon, the party enters the Lunar Palace, and there the party meets an elderly man named FuSoYa who explains that Cecil's father is a heroic but deceased Lunarian.[40] FuSoYa also explains that a Lunarian named Zemus plans to destroy life on the Blue Planet to facilitate Lunarian inhabitation. To achieve this, Zemus manipulated Golbez and Kain to obtain the Crystals needed to revive a giant destructive android, the Giant of Babel. Meanwhile on Earth, the forces of the world, including some characters (Yang, Palom, Porom) thought to have died, attack the unleashed Giant. FuSoYa, Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge enter and destroy the Giant. FuSoYa breaks Zemus' control over Golbez and Kain, and Cecil learns that Golbez is his brother. After destroying the Giant, Golbez and FuSoYa head to the core of the moon to defeat Zemus. Cecil's party follows after reuniting with Kain. After battling to the moon's core, the party witnesses Golbez and FuSoYa defeat Zemus but quickly lose to his ultimate form, Zeromus. With the united life force of all beings combined with a special Crystal provided by Golbez, Cecil and his party defeat Zeromus. Following the conflict, Golbez decides to remain dormant along with the other Lunarians, as he would not be welcome on Earth.[43] One year later, the heroes reunite for Cecil and Rosa's wedding and coronation as Baron's king and queen.