The thing most people miss when discussing the character fakeout deaths in this game is that Palom, Porum, Yang, and Cid all give themselves to save their friends, thus they are rewarded with renewed life. This is in stark contrast to Tellah, who destroys himself out of desire for revenge.
The fact that Nobuo Uematsu felt that someone else had better music than him just makes me appreciate both of them even more. It's always humbling to hear someone whose considered an expert in his field give someone else praise while belittling his own.
Hot Take: Noriyuki Iwadare has the most impressive body of work. I mean, the same guy composed Langrisser, Lunar, Grandia, most of Ace Attorney (including two of its three strongest OSTs in AA3 and AAI2), and the criminally-underrated Monstania.
Andrew Bluett, if I had to put anyone's face in the Mount Rushmore of Final Fantasy retrospectives, you're definitely one who deserves it, full stop. These last 3 retrospectives - including this one - have me put in awe. From the meticulous research to the finely-tuned script to the articulate delivery of the narration, I could feel the passion and care put into this work with every chapter. I can only imagine what a popcorn-worthy event the next two retrospectives are gonna be like. Keep up the phenomenal work, and stay encouraged.
Andrew Bluett,RRPGReviews,Resonant Arc and ClementJ64. I'm going to give an edge to RRPGReviews to actually doing a complete series retrospective...as in actually playing Final Fantasy XI. People when playing Dissidia and World of Final Fantasy be like: wow Shantoto sure does seem to streal every scene she's in...not going to play her game tho...
So I've watched an embarrassing amount of FF4 perspectives, but this is by far the most detailed informative iteration ever. Very well written. I very much enjoyed thank you
@@lauraharris559 Love FF6 - wish we'd gotten FF5 back on the SNES so we'd have the same emotional attachment to it that we do the other two Secret of mana, Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, Chrono Trigger, Wild Arms 1 and Suikoden 1 are the other games that I have an overwhelming emotional attachment to
Put the Avenger sword on Kain and have Rydia cast Bio. It'll kill the trap door before it even has a chance to take out a party member. Plus, you gain a TON of levels in that dungeon.
Also the music that plays during the ending for this game - esp when the red moon departs earth's orbit and off into space makes me cry. It is so fucking magical
an interesting point to make here about Cecil as a paladin fighting his Dark Knight self it wasnt available in the original SNES version but in all other versions, as a Dark Knight Cecil's "Darkness" ability (only thing the D.K. uses in the first fight as a paladin) damages everything on screen and also damages the user. So by not fighting, and by in fact HEALING himself, Cecil is not destroying the Dark Knight within; he's letting the Dark Knight destroy himself. That's the juxtaposition between the Dark Knight and the Paladin; the formers power comes from reckless decay, the latters from preservation and protection.
I've enjoyed Final Fantasy for decades now but this one holds a very special place in my heart. My brother and I were never drawn into a game so intensely before this one. The story, the music, the sound effects, every little thing is engrained into me. This video puts many feelings into words I could never have done myself.
I am in the exact same boat. Everything about this game takes me back to 1994 when my brother and I played it together. The OST never fails to get me emotional. This game has been a mandatory yearly play ever since.
Thank God someone finally explained a lot of the religious influences in a video. It's amazing how many reviews or retrospects left out so much details of this game. Good job dude.
This is not only one of the best documentaries I've seen covering the development, reception and impact of a Final Fantasy game (and RU-vid has more than a few of those!) but also a fantastic piece of capital c Criticism in the classic sense. An absolutely engaging and entertaining watch!
This is what I have been waiting for. Been binging this so much that I yearn for this. I really am. Now the wait begins for number V aka my favorite FInal Fantasy game ever.
@Kieran and Jade Yes indeed. I wait even now because I'm wondering what happened with V's development. Not to mention that we're heading into The Lost Decades.
"Babe, wake up, new Final Fantasy Retrospective just dropped" Seriously, everytime I get the notificafion, the serotonin flood is instantaneous. Congratulations for another excellent video, I can't wait for the 6+ hours retrospective on FF Mystic Quest bwahahahhaha
My Grandmother first introduced me to this game and gaming as a whole. with her passing away recently this brought a lot of tears. thank you for putting so much effort into this video. while not the best game, it has been my favorite FF for years.
Final Fantasy IV is my favourite Final Fantasy game. Arguably my favorite game of all time. To see such a well-written, well-researched, and deeply passionate retrospective makes me so happy!
The augment system pushed the 3D version way up for me. Cecil being a paladin didn't ever feel like it truly translated into gameplay until I set him up with Draw Attacks + Brace. *That* was when the paladin truly sheathed his sword. I never used to think that tanks were actually an effective class in any of the older FF games, but that game changed my outlook. Plus, imparting stuff from one party member to another was just spicy and fun, with various advantages which were much appreciated cause the DS version was hard as hell, and I loved that. Going back to the whole thing about translating story and character into gameplay, the harder difficulty of the DS version made me see finally how strategic and exciting FF4's battle could actually be. Can't praise it enough for that.
Your retrospective is AMAZING, you have no idea how much I enjoyed watching this full video. Keep up the GREAT work man, I truly appreciate what you did since FFIV is one of my childhood treasures I used to play with my brothers when we were kids. Greetings from Monterrey, México!
Learning a lot of cool things here. One that just kinda blew my mind was the rabbit on the moon myth. I always thought the punishment Goku doled out to Monster Carrot in Dragonball was a bit harsh... but now I get it--he put the rabbit on the moon! I love it
Spectacular work! FFIV is my favorite of the series and you've done it a great service here. I appreciate that you are able to look at things within their context and time, instead of applying modern day sensibilities onto narrative, characters, and systems. Not just that, but some of your inferences are quite impressive. I thought when you got to "the based on" part it was just going to be Star Wars, but no. You managed to intelligently tie it into Dante's Inferno, far beyond just the Four Elemental Fiends. The Biblical allusions are always such an interesting part of Final Fantasy, and the "stations" of Mt. Ordeals are indeed strange. That you also managed to tie Cecil's journey into a somewhat obscure movie with a similar plot synopsis is quite curious. I personally never believed Tokita when he said "Oh yeah, all that was cut... all 80% of it, was just extraneous dialogue detail. Don't worry about it." I feel that there were significant portions of the plot that were excised or pared down from their original intention. For instance, Cid's role is very brief, nothing more than two dungeons. Okay, sure... but the thing is that you don't even get to utilize the power of his hammers in those two dungeons. His weapons have x4 damage against Machines, in which you fight none in the time that he is in the party. You also brought up Porom's useless Cry command which screams cut content and plans. (There's also an odd programmed reaction that you can't use Cover as Paladin Cecil if Dark Knight Cecil is in the party. Well... you *can* use it, but it doesn't do anything.) Some of this may have been put into FF4A and the 3D versions but... I'm a little suspicious, personally.
Thank you! One of the major goals with this series is to examine these games within the context of their time, as someone who is playing through them for the first time in release order, while also imparting more than a Western-centric viewpoint on them as most on RU-vid are wont to do. As for Tokita's 80% claims, I personally have no reason to believe anything vital to the main story (i.e. Cecil's story) had been cut. Subplots with other characters likely were pared down significantly if not cut altogether, but we may never know for sure. We don't even know if Theodore's flashback in the 3D version was cut from the originally or fabricated whole-cloth for the remake, where there were far fewer restrictions on the length of the script. Tokita could have restored so much more in later versions, and the 3D version in particular would have been the time to do it. Yet aside from slightly more dialogue and the aforementioned Theodore flashback...nada. Maybe he realized the cut dialogue was best left on the cutting room floor. Maybe he didn't want to do too much that would be seen as changing the story from the 1991 version. Regardless, I didn't go into it because there's little to go off of, and this video was already super long. There are those other interesting battle quirks, like Cid's hammers dealing 4x damage to machines, but all aside from Porom's Cry aren't obvious to the player, and even then her Cry seems to be totally superfluous on the surface due to a lack of explanation in-battle.
Your videos have been such a high standard of quality and grace straight from the get go. You absolutely deserve the windfall of viewership, support, and subscribers you are undoubtedly going to receive.
This video unlocked an old memory from elementary school of us kids on the playground arguing about how to pronounce "Paladin" since back then that was not a word you'd see anywhere.
I thought I know everything about those games already and theres nothing left for me to learn but each new video of yours proves me wrong. Great channel and thank you for hard work!
This video is like finding the Holy Grail. I grew up with the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV as a fixture of my childhood. It's definitely not a perfect game, maybe even not one of the best FF games, but it will always be my personal favorite. Thank you so much!
Just watched two more great (and super lengthy) Final Fantasy IV retrospectives, and I'm ready to dive into this one as well. Seeing so many different people putting so much effort in these great video essays is really astonishing.
I remember teenage me experiencing FFII as a rental back in the day, which then encouraged me to save my money over the summer and buy the console and game. It blew me away at the time. Great review as always.
Finally reached this one! So excited to watch. I hope you continue with these because the stories behind every game get more and more interesting as time goes on. Great work! ❤
One thing that's funny about the 3d version is that you can carry over your soma drops into new game plus and give them to Tellah so he can cast meteor. It one shots everything and is hilarious.
Dude thank you for being the only guy making a FFIV retrospective to defend the “spoony bard” beat. It made me and friends laugh when this game was current and still makes me laugh to this day, and I agree it describes Edward to a T. I loved every minute of this, excellent work and thank you so much for it.
Went into this video as someone who doesn't like FF4 and came out of it eager to give it another chance. Fantastic retrospective! edit: still fucking hate ff4 #ff2solos #firionsweep #cecilwashed
Bruh, this is leagues and lightyears exceeding the average youtube retro video game retrospective. Man has immersed me in the cultural context of the game's release, that takes real vision and the talent to express it. And now I've got the whole channel to chew through!
I completed this game on Nintendo DS but I now have the collection on switch. I bought the bundle and I have battle network legacy collection as well because I am going to be having surgery. If I end up staying overnight then I want to have amazing games with me.
Zemus might be inspired in design by the Nosferatu-like vampires in the 70s Salem Lot adaptation. The pose the lead vampire Barlow holds during a fairly famous scene is much like Zemus. This and similar poses was also used in a lot of promo material. It received a 1981 Japanese release in theaters.
Yep, a recent realization when playing the pixel remaster is that VI essentially revisited the Onion Knight with Onion equipment secret via the Imp equipment. Both classes that are normally very weak, but with the right equipment?
Holy shit. Whereas most retrospectives focus on a game's place within the broader series, with MAYBE some comments on the development cycle, you blow us away with the entire matrix of connections to Reaganism, Nintendo's marketing semiotics, copyright struggles, AND everything else, too. Incredible work.
Yeah I find too many people look at FF games within the context of the wider series with a modern lens, with just a bit of obligatory historical context that doesn't really have much weight. It's why a lot of people reduce FF3 to just a lesser FF5, for example. But this series has so much rich history that goes totally unobserved and underdiscussed as a result.
More tangentially related information doesn't necessarily make for a better video. You're obviously one of those people who think "more is more". To each their own...
@@notsyzagts7967 Just like all quick-draw armchair psychoanalysis over the internet, I think that's overly reductive, because i do think that more *quality information is better. Not all of it was absolutely necessary, but it sure as hell gave more context than other retrospective vids. In any case, as you say, it is what it is.
Really enjoying the Retrospective. The Free Enterprise Community believes that the Cry command was once meant to be used to modify some kind of other battle variable, I believe it was the chance of being attacked, but later went to determine the chance of steal and that this was overlooked by the dev team.
This is a very well done and thorough retrospective. I was hooked when you pointed out the slow rollout of the SNES, I wasn’t sure if that happened in the US as well, but in Europe it was a very slow rollout beginning first in major cities (I believe Stockholm and Gothenburg were the original cities of release before moving into London, Hamburg, and Amsterdam). If memory serves, the wide release of NES didn’t occur until around the time of the SNES launch. FF4, to this date, is the most expensive game I ever purchased. It was around 140 USD in 1992, equal to around 300 USD today. Note: import prices, and my parents bought it as a birthday present. While FF games didn’t officially come out to Europe until 1997, gamers were well aware of them since Final Fantasy on NES because of magazines - and any gamer worth the snot in their head had a Fire converter. Sakaguchi is an interesting figure. From what I gather, he was great at scouting talent, but despite a lot of people saying he had a lot of respect, that’s not the opinion I get from people that worked under him. I didn’t get the opinion that Xenogears/Saga/Blade creator Tetsuya Takahashi liked him very much, and that there was a lot of rebellion in the studio, eventually ending in an exodus of a lot of Square talent at the end of the PSX era that seemed ongoing until Sakaguchi himself was ousted, and things seemed to stabilize after that. I’d be curious to see your take on the matter.
I admittedly forgot to put I my FF1 video that, at least early on, Sakaguchi was a bit of a hardass to work under. It was in earlier drafts, but in trying to tell a particular story it fell through the cracks. But after FF1, I've not found many, if any, accounts of others finding him hard to work with, implicitly or otherwise. Though I doubt he would've softened up so quickly, I can't say for sure. As for the European side of things, I've deigned to hold off on discussing the series' history there until the FF7 video, aside from pointing out release dates of some ports and Mystic Quest. Even then, because of the size and scope of these videos, I doubt I'll go into much depth on how the European market reacted to the series.
Wonderful retrospective on FF4, it was great to see you cover all the differences on the ports and other entries for 4. FF5 is one of my favs, so I look forward to that eventual video
The way you built up Golbez’s biggest influence without saying “Darth Vader” until absolutely necessary was perfect. Great work here, can’t wait for your video on V!
Coming across this channels awesome content and bewilderingly low views/recognition must mean I somehow was lucky enough to finally get a good timeline.
The FF4 OST is on the same level of iconic for me as FF7. Every single one of its battle themes is a certified banger, and the Zeromus battle goes so hard. The build up to it with the Title Theme playing followed by the transition to Zeromus never fails to bring me to the brink of tears only to immediately get hype for the final battle.
This FF Review series is Stunningly made, Mr Bluett ! I discovered you this weekend, and am just so impressed 😀 I look forward to the rest, and especially FF-12 (I love Ivalice, and how 12 is linked to FF Tactics, just at a different point in the Timeline). Many thanks for all of your hard work 👏
Ok, I've watched several retrospectives about FF, I love them as a good background while working on stuff. Yours is, by far, the best one. Not only your analysis of the game is flawless, but all that stuff about Japenese sources of inspiration and Dante's inferno ? Fascinating. I've always seen FFIV as mostly Star Wars inspired and that's it. Great stuff. Really.
Thank you for making this retrospective. You were right in that this made an impact upon its release. FF4 is very personal to me. This is the first RPG I ever played in my life when I rented “FFII” for my SNES. I fell in love with it and convinced my parents to buy me a copy to play whenever I wanted. This game helped teach me how to read as a child. It helped me understand how beautiful a story could be in video games (rudimentary though it might be now in comparison to other RPGs then, even in the same series). It helped me understand the concept of death a little bit when, at the time, I had been learning about people and pets “going away for a long time”. It taught me that children could be as brave as adults if not braver (Palom & Porom willingly petrifying themselves to save the party while being so very young still gets to me decades later). It also has the distinct honor of having my favorite use of the “Prologue” theme ever in the form of pre-Crystal-use Zeromus’s “ally prayers” moment. I’m so happy that others have myriads of ways to experience this game. While I prefer the PSP version these days, the SNES version will forever hold a special place in my heart. Related, FFXIV’s most recent expansion, Endwalker, has heavy focus on FFIV-related elements and I’m eternally grateful for Yoshi-P and the dev team for making it so. What a great time to be a Final Fantasy fan.
As an 8 or 10 year old kid in the mid 90s, I was hypnotized from the very first scene on board the Red Wings. My genre of choice immediately became the JRPG. I've considered video games an art form, a legitimate storytelling medium at least, for decades, and Squaresoft was a huge influence on that sentiment. Decades later, I'm still in awe of what serious developers were able to accomplish with so little. I'm not surprised Uematsu held the Actraiser soundtrack in such high regard. In fact that soundtrack stood out to me personally back in the day. It is certainly a technical and artistic achievement. But Uematsu's tunes are some of the most impactful and memorable tunes to me. They convey such emotion and are so exciting to listen to.. Baron Castle and The Red Wings for example.. They're filled with purpose and exciting energy. The music itself is a reason to play--in fact, the music is so strong, I wonder if a lot of these games would've had such nostalgic staying power for many of us millennials. But anyway, I consider FF4 to have the superior soundtrack, and to modern listeners, the technical 'superiority' might be hardly noticeable, if at all. FF4 has music one may remember for the rest of their life. The Japanese seem to have had a perception of video games that was much different from western audiences. I think Japanese developers have seen them as a legitimate artistic medium right from the beginning. It's always interesting to read about Japanese developers having lived under their desk, developing ulcers, and working for free, etc, even in the early 90's! They have always taken the medium very seriously and poured their heart and soul into their games. It has taken the west longer to develop this perception, and even today certain people are convinced that games are kid stuff or something that nerds do. This probably helps to explain the proliferation of the NES. I distinctly remember most of the developers of my favorite games being Japanese. I don't have any hard data, but it seems like Japan dominated the video game industry during that time, and did so for a long time.
It's likely that the Tower of Babil in FFIV was built by the Lunarians. The people of the Blue Planet and the Lunarians are (for the most part) segregated, and Zemus is sealed away, due to the power imbalance between the people (in other words, the Lunarians were seeking to cohabitate with the the people of the Blue Planet, to unify with them). The Tower of Babil has the Giant of Babil, as a tool by which Zemus intended to commit genocide against the people of the Blue Planet, sealed within it. The allusion to the Tower of Babil becomes a bit more understandable, because it can be interpreted either as a symbol of what the Lunarians had hoped for in the future (co-existence) or as symbol of Zemus' hatred and hubris due to the Giant of Babil being connected to it. But it's a bit of a stretch maybe.
The 3D remake goes with this idea, but I wanted to keep the main discussion centered on the original game only. It's part of the mission statement of these videos to keep as much of the conversation rooted in what would have been contemporary knowledge and culture reference points.
Another really well put together piece! One of my favourite things about finishing the originals for the first time has been coming here and watching their retrospectives afterwards. They always give such a nice in-depth view of the development, a view of how it was received publicly at the time, and its nice to confirm a lot of my own thoughts about the game comparatively to yours. Interestingly though, we differ on this boss. I found him easy like the other three before him, I do however, acknowledge that he was harder than the others, he forced me to keep reviving allies and one misstep and I could have definitely wiped on him; and I appreciated that, since Chaos, Emperor & Cloud of Darkness were all very easy. I didn't even notice that he had a tell before he fired his beam, I was able to just tank, revive & burn him down. That said, I did grind quite a lot trying to get the Pink Tail on most of my characters, so perhaps I was overpowered for him by that point. Thanks again for the wonderful retrospective. Onwards to V!
Excellent documentary video! I finished my first playthrough of FFIV a couple of weeks ago (I played the PC port of the 3D remake). It definitely holds up today. The story is fantastic and the soundtrack is simply addicting!
Can we also all just agree that the FFIV final dungeon is fucking spectacular? It's one of the best RPG final dungeons every in gaming. The setting. The music. The enemies. The weapons. The weapon guarding bosses. The Crystalline core with Evil Masks, Behemoths, Red Dragons. The final boss. This game also has incredible pacing as well as fantastic power balance - I genuinely think it's the best battle system in the entire series. I LOVE having 5 people in the party, the spells are incredible and the power creep throughout the whole game is balanced SO well. This game has a god tier soundtrack - there is none in gaming more epic. I'm playing the FFIV Ultima Hack right now and loving it.
@@StewNWT Yeah, unfortunately, there is a pretty wild glitch that doesn't seem to be spoken of anywhere, and it makes everything far more difficult than it needs to be. The faster Cecil is (the stat with the Wing symbol on the Equip Screen), the faster the Superbosses. This was not intentional. To "remedy" this, you have to make Cecil's Speed stat as low as it can go, by unequipping any gear that boosts Speed, and equipping a Cursed Ring, which will lower his Speed. If you do this, the bosses will be much slower and much more manageable. It's unfortunate that this glitch exists, but that's just the way this hack ended up, unfortunately.
@@RedSpade37 oh fuck are you serious? I didn't know anything about that - hrm given how levelled I am that might be an issue. I mean some bosses just plain out damage me by a ton. Where did you pick up that tip?? Thanks for the info
Way back in the 90s, I first got Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, mistaking it for Final Fantasy II. Boy, was I wrong. On my second try, the following month, I got it right, and it quickly became my favorite game. I made fan comics, fanfics, and doodled the characters in my school notebooks enough times to make the teachers want to smack me upside the head. I guess I like the Wooleyisms too much because I find the various remakes to be a bit less charming. I could never figure out what Namingway was supposed to be. He looked to me like he had a huge head and a pig nose.
This is the BEST FFvi video I’ve ever seen! I learned so much and I thought I knew it all! This is my favorite game of all time, and you shared so many new details I’ve never noticed. I am looking forward to the Baron movie. Thanks for this video!
This was the first “classic” Final Fantasy I played back in the day on my GBA (started with 7 on the PS1, I was like 4 when it released). What an amazing introduction to the old days of FF! I was absolutely addicted to it. Still love it. The PSP version is my preferred method to play nowadays.
Just completed the game for the 1st time yesterday (Pixel Remaster version) and was so happy to find this video! Amazing look into so much. I honestly never found the similarities with Baron Munchausen , but gonna have to go rewatch it now! Excellent work, gonna subscribe now
I never knew Namingway was a rabbit until I saw larger art of him, ten years after first playing the game in '96. Back then, (and honestly still now), those blue glasses looked like a mustache, with his eyes obscured under a sombrero. I always thought he was just a mariachi.😅 1:25:20
One thing I absolutely love about your videos that I don't see about any other retrospective is the context and research you put into it, and have it coherent as to how it affected the development to the game
Hard disagree. There's no need to regurgitate the politics of the 80s and the North American game crash. That stuff isn't needed for a "retrospective" of one game from a singular series. You must enjoy pontification because it's present in spades here.
The original us snes version the king give cecil a package but all other remakes announce it as a bomb ring. I always felt the betrayal of being told it was a package was a far better representation of the kings evil intentions. Back when this was released its story sucked me in like a good book. Love this game.
To this day, every head engineer in every D&D game I play is named Cid. I dumped an unholy number of hours into this game and I’m happy to do another play through any time.
