FINAL FANTASY IV THE COMPLETE COLLECTION AND COMPLETE REVIEW ON MASHBUTTONS.COM

It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years now but yes, 20 years ago Square Soft released Final Fantasy II here in the states on the brand new super cool Nintendo SNES. (Lovingly referred to by many as the Nintendo Sneeze) So many of us now know the lore of this title as it was named Final Fantasy II here in America when in actuality it was Final Fantasy IV since the real II & III which were NES titles that never made it stateside. Through the years we have had the chance to experience what II & III had to offer (or lack thereof) and came to realize that Final Fantasy IV brought the story back to the RPG. Now as many will agree Final Fantasy VII will always be my baby but if RPG’s were to be a metaphoric family of mine, Final Fantasy IV would have to be my Second Born.

Having played IV as I will call it from here out over 7 times now…let’s see. SNES (Twice), a Kanji PC Version,  PlayStation One, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, a questionable cellphone version, and now the PSP don’t leave home without it version, I think it’s safe to say it’s a favorite. But this time we get all the goods, and I do mean all the Goods. I feel it’s my birthday and Square’s letting me get BUSY, that’s not until the 7^th, til then, gotta keep getting busy. So we have the main game that has all the classic story trimmings of good vs. evil, classic betrayal and redemption, all this wrapped up in sacrifice, adding a couple of compelling love stories that would make a romance novelist weep for a week. Think if Star Wars, Camelot, and The Lord of the Rings had a freakish love child through some Triad Union, and you end up with Final Fantasy IV, summed up in a word…AWESOME.

Next, we are given something new, and we all like new. Behold Final Fantasy IV Interlude… Wha What? Yes, this 4-5 hour mini RPG bridges the gap between the main game and its sequel. This little nugget o’ goodness has never been seen, not even on the Wii NES version, so it’s all new just for you. Now the quests seem a little like a Kingdom Hearts retread at times, but I really liked the story aspect as it did make things flow together right, so well done Square, well done. Now on to the piece de resistance… Final Fantasy IV The After Years, well my faithful readers guess what? Its 17 freaking years later and King Cecil and Queen Rosa have a son named Ceodore who is sent on a quest with the Red Wings to discover why a second moon has appeared, the monsters are back and there is the sudden appearance of a helpful but strangely indifferent Hooded Man.

And thus this new RPG has begun and it’s all here, no costly passive aggressive monthly episodic download content to rob you of your lunch money. A whole new RPG, heck, it really is your birthday and Square is delivering! Good lord I almost forgot about the beautiful signature Square Soft cinemas that are a little sparse this time but I will take anything I can get because they are delicious! So there you have it my little RPGers go, run, race, or teleport to your game kiosk or store and get Final Fantasy IV The Complete Collection, your kids will thank you when they sell it on EBay Prime 20 years from now for 70 creds. As always, I will leave you with a little quote from my Dad… He’s gone but always remembered, “There’s a destiny that makes us brothers, none walks this way alone, and all that you put into the lives of others, comes back into your own.” Yeah pretty deep, till next time, Zircon has officially left the Blog. PEACE!!