4 Things You Never Knew About FFIV...

[Wolf Kanno]

This is a similar thread to one I did a few years ago for FFVI (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/136317-6-things-you-may-not-have-known-about-FFVI?p=2958987#post2958987), feel free to add to the list. :D

1. The game's title screen in the story proper when Cecil and Kain leave Baron and the view switches to a view of the heroes crossing the bridge and heading to far away lands was inspired from the same technique used in FFI and was meant as a homage to it.

2. The original script and plans for the game were much too big for the early SNES cartridge and a bunch of content was cut out of the game, some of it was restored in the DS version (mainly Golbez's backstory) but there has been few details about everything that was left on the cutting room floor of this game.

3. The use of Mode 7 Effects for the game was Sakaguchi's idea who wanted to present to the player a cool visual effect that showed off the power of the new hardware. Kitase reflects that this moment showed him the strength of using technology to impress the playerand build a better world and story.

4. FFIV is the only numbered FF to have the secret Developer's Office where the player can meet the creator's and find a porn mag.

[VeloZer0]

1. The game's title screen in the story proper when Cecil and Kain leave Baron and the view switches to a view of the heroes crossing the bridge and heading to far away lands was inspired from the same technique used in FFI and was meant as a homage to it.
I thought that one was fairly obvious. ;)



3. The use of Mode 7 Effects for the game was Sakaguchi's idea who wanted to present to the player a cool visual effect that showed off the power of the new hardware. Kitase reflects that this moment showed him the strength of using technology to impress the playerand build a better world and story.
Other than the world map/ariship what else is there? I don't know a whole lot about what effects are associated with what technologies.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

find a porn mag.

Rally Ho indeed.

[Sephex]

I actually knew these facts. I learned most of them WAY after the game's initial US release, but still. Anyway, they are always cool to be reminded of. It was interesting to see the fleshed out parts of FFIVs story, even if it was just a little of it.

[Wolf Kanno]

1. The game's title screen in the story proper when Cecil and Kain leave Baron and the view switches to a view of the heroes crossing the bridge and heading to far away lands was inspired from the same technique used in FFI and was meant as a homage to it.
I thought that one was fairly obvious. ;)

Only if you played both of them. Interesting enough, most of the older staff members from Square like Tokita feel that the original FF Opening is one of their favorite moments in the series.




3. The use of Mode 7 Effects for the game was Sakaguchi's idea who wanted to present to the player a cool visual effect that showed off the power of the new hardware. Kitase reflects that this moment showed him the strength of using technology to impress the player and build a better world and story.
Other than the world map/ariship what else is there? I don't know a whole lot about what effects are associated with what technologies.

It is mostly used in traversing the world maps and going to the moon, V and definitely VI made more use of it but the visual effect of watching the Red Wings traveling in the game's opening really popped thanks to the Mode 7.




I actually knew these facts. I learned most of them WAY after the game's initial US release, but still. Anyway, they are always cool to be reminded of. It was interesting to see the fleshed out parts of FFIVs story, even if it was just a little of it.

This thread isn't just meant to impress you, you're missing the point and should be helping me add stuff to the thread!

On Topic:

5. Cecil has a cameo appearance in the cult SNES hit Secret of Evermore

6. The Boss theme from FFIV was remixed and used as Culex's theme in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

7. FFIV was the last FF to receive a novelization of its story.

8. FFIV is the last game where Yoshitaka Amano designed the majority of the enemy monsters. Tetsuya Nomura would take over the role though Amono still did key bosses for FFV, VI, and VII.

9. IV has been ported and remade more times than any other entry in the franchise.

10. FFIV is the only entry to feature the party traveling to an underworld.

11. The Black Chocobo debuted in FFIV

12. The Dark Knight signature attack Souleater/Dark Sword/Dark Wave debuted in this game.

13. FFIV is the only FF game to feature dual techs.

14. The Engineer class debuted in FFIV.

15. Cecil Harvey is the first FF protagonist to be fought as a boss which is done in the sequel The After Years.

16. Rydia is the first female summoner to be a significant plot element in the game's story. This will follow with characters like Eiko, Garnet, and Yuna.

17. Rydia is the only magic casting Summoner to use Black Magic whereas the others use White Magic

18. IV is the only game in which party members are required to be in the back row whereas other entries allowed the player to choose if they would be frontline fighters or back row fighters. It is also the only entry where the Row command affects all party members instead of just one character.

[Sephex]

It's the only FF that where the party can go up to five people. It usually three or four.

[Wolf Kanno]

20. There is one Edward in the Japanese version of the game but it's not a Spoony Bard, Edward is actually called Gilbert and he's the only playable character to receive a permanent name change for the Western script. The real Edward in IV is Edge, his real name being Edward Geraldine.

21. FFIV began the "rule of three females" as every FF afterwards always had just three confirmed female characters.

22. This is the last game where certain status magic is treated as being exclusive to either White and Black such as Haste and Slow.

23. FFIV was the first FF to make Meteor into a plot element.

24. FFIV was the last game to allow Mages to equip Bows and Arrows.

25. It was also the last game to make Arrows a consumable resource.

26. Kain may have originally been meant to use magic in an early version of the game as he actually has a "casting spell" sprite still in the game's code.

27. The "Chocobo Village" where Black Chocobos can be found is actually shaped like a giant chocobo when give a bird's eye view.
59110

28. Both Bartz's version of the Dragoon class as well FFXIV's Artifact Armor for the class are modeled after Kain Highwind's design.

29. Rydia actually does learn the Cura spell but the player can never access it without playing a version that has the Lunar Trials, she gains the spell automatically along with Fira, Thundara and Blizzara when she becomes an adult but due to losing the White Magic ability in this form the player can never see it in any of the original versions of the game.

30. Rydia's adult form doesn't have an official age.

[Colonel Angus]

Good stuff.

But isn't Cecil actually "fought" as a boss in this version of the game, too? If you count the doppelganger in Mt. Ordeals.

[VeloZer0]

2
27. The "Chocobo Village" where Black Chocobos can be found is actually shaped like a giant chocobo when give a bird's eye view.
59110

!!!!

[Sephex]

Wow, now I am starting to learn things after many years. Can't believe I never noticed how the forest looks like a Chocobo.

[Wolf Kanno]

31. Despite not being playable in the game, the DS version of FFIV actually has a character model and playable set-up in the game's code for Golbez. He has a menu protrait which is never used, his job class is Lunarian, and he comes with every Black magic spell learned. His on field sprite is a modified version of his Theodore form.

32. All of Cid's Hammers actually do 4x damage against machine types. The problem is that he's never around when these type of monsters show up except in the Advance version.

33. Cid's stats level with the party even when he's no longer an active party member. It is possible he was meant to join the party again at some point before traveling to the moon.

34. Despite being listed in the U.S. SNES Manual, the Hand Axe and Assassin's Knife are unobtainable without hacking the game.

35. There was suppose to be a command called Airship according to source code from the Japanese Super Famicom version of the game. It's unknown what it would have done as using it causes the game to crash but many fans speculate it was meant for Cid.

36. Due to an unsued player slot with her name and an extra sprite animation, it's possible that Anna was meant to be playable in the early stages of the games development.

37. In the original, there are no enemy-only attacks in the game with the dark element.

38. In the original, there is no armor in the game that can defend against Holy are Dark Elements.

39. Though several abilities were dummied out of the game for the U.S. version and Easy Type, you can still find a few leftover functions. The Lunar Staff can be used in battle on a character with the Wall status to cast the original Dispel animation even though it won't have any effect due to being removed from the game.

40. When battling the brainwashed Yang in Banon, he was meant to have dialogue with Cecil to trigger in battle which would then change his attack script. It can't be seen without hacking due to a programming error making the dialogue trigger when Yang attacks Dark Knight Cecil instead of Paladin Cecil.

41. Oddly enough, Yang is actually equipped with and uses the Deathbringer sword in this fight, apparently most scripted fights where physical attacks are used has the character use the Deathbringer.

42. When Kain appears in the Red Wings ship over Troia to take the party to the Tower of Zot, it uses the standard airship design (Enterprise with a red paint job) but when the ship actually begins taking them there it inexplicably changes to the sprite for the Falcon.

[Wolf Kanno]

43. In the original versions, it's best not to level past 70 unless you plan to save scum. This is because the characters level up stats become randomized and some of the algorithms can actually lower stats while some will raise them. Because of this, it's possible to get a Lv. 99 party that may in fact be inferior to your Lv. 70 party. In the DS version, the Augments give to a character determine what stats are raised past 70.

44. Tellah is the only character in the game who can have all his stats lowered to 1.

45. Yang doesn't actually gain any HP after lv. 60. His HP maxes out at around 6000hp due to a bug in the code. This was fixed in the GBA version.

46. Cid has the easiest time getting his HP to 9999 out of all the characters.

47. Rydia has the best stat growth potential of the final five party members.

48. Rosa has the worst.

49. Edward has the best stat growth in the game. He's the only character who can potentially get 4 points in every category.

50. FuSoYa can get more MP, you just need to get him past level 71.

51. There is an equipment bug on the pre-FFIVAdvance versions where if Edge manages to steal a piece of equipment from the enemy and it's the first of it's kind. The game fails to calculate who can actually equip it until the battle is over. Meaning if you equip it prior to the battle ending, the character can actually use the item regardless of their class.

[Wolf Kanno]

52. What is the most powerful weapon in the FF series? Ultima Weapon, Ragnarok, Excalibur? No, as anyone who has ever met the devilishly cute, if terrifying, Toberries will attest to, it's the common kitchen knife. The tradition technically began with FFIV as the item is the best throwing weapon for Edge in the game. Though the next game will bring it to it's more known place as the Tonberry weapon of choice.

53. Edge's dual role as Ninja and thief is a call back to the class change from FFI, as Thief class changed to Ninja. Likewise, Cecil's Paladin class is a call back to the Knight class from FFI and III.

54. Cid's stats and abilities in the original are a call back to FFIII's newest classes Scholar and Viking.

55. Tokita purposely placed the main FF theme at the beginning of the game (when Kain and Cecil leave for Mist) and the ending of the game for a thematic bookending for the title. Well he was a theater major.

56. FFIV was the first FF to really play with musical themes as an emotional element to the story. Tokita himself has said they experimented with utilizing different themes to play with mood.

57. Part of the reason why the U.S. port of the game was so easy is due to Square skipping FFII and III outside of Japan. The game was made easier to help make it a better transition from the original.

58. The original idea for FFIV was to be a more action-orientated type of RPG but during development it was decided to make the game into it's own thing and it became Seiken Denetsu.

59. FFIV gave birth to the Gambit system. Well sort of, the Gambit system actually get's part of it's design from how Battle Designer Hiroyuki Ito had designed the enemy A.I. in FFIV.

60. FFII(IV) is responsible for getting Ted Woosely his job and making Square focus on a localization project. Before Secret of Mana, Square translated the games themselves as best they could. So don't blame poor Woosely for FFII (IV).

[Saber]

When going above level 65 characters stats have three or more ways of growing up.Sometimes you have to reset if they didn't go up much.

You can get Goblin and Cockatrice in the first hour of gameplay. You get the summons before you even have a summoner.

[Wolf Kanno]

63. The Comet spell debuted in this game.

64. The Stardust Rod does not actually cast spells randomly as the description says. The spells it use actually does go in a very specific order and then resets.

65. There are only five battle sprites that are not profile view. Child Rydia, Palom, Porom, Tellah, and Cid. Amusingly, Cid's character portrait is profile view.

66. Oddly enough, Meteor is actually a Holy elemental spell in the original game...
http://home.eyesonff.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=65102&stc=1

67. Not surprisingly, Twin Meteor or W~Meteo for the old school fans is the most powerful spell in the game and actually does have stats despite only being used in a scripted fight. It's Base power is 250.

68. The PAL version of FFIV Advance is the first version of the game that fixes a majority of the ATB bugs.

69. Bad Breath isn't so bad In FFIV. While it does inflict a number of nasty status effects on your character it's single target (it doesn't become a group hitting spell until FFVII) and as long as your character has equipment that protects them from at least one status effect, the spell will miss.

70. FFIV has several allusions to FFII accroding to the Japan-only Scenario Guides (http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread.php/126846-Final-Fantasy-IV-Settei-Shiryou-Hen-%28Ultimania%29). Two of the most interesting facts:


While both games feature the magic village of Mysidia, in IV's background it was founded by a great wizard named Minwu.
The Deathbringer Sword Cecil obtains from Fabul was said to be carried there by a Dark Knight who joined their order and became a monk. His name was Leon.

[Wolf Kanno]

71. The Mist Dragon is a unique summon in FFIV. Not simply because of its connections to Rydia, but because it's the only summon that gets stronger throughout the game. The Mist Dragon's damage is based on Rydia's HP amount. The higher her HP the more damage it does.

72. There is no Water element in the original FFIV, so mos uses of it are either Non-elemental (Leviathan or Cagnazzo) or does Ice damage (Edge's Flood Ninjitsu). Likewise, there is no Wind Element either, so Maelstrom is also non-elemental and can only knock your characters down to critical condition.

73. Despite being the water elemental fiend, Cagnazzo is actually weak to Ice. In fact the elemental weaknesses/strengths of the fiends is a little weird. Scarmiglion is weak to both Fire and Holy, but only his undead form, his living form has no elemental weakness. Cagnazzo is weak to both Ice and Lightning, Barbiriccia has no elemental weakness, and Rubicante is only weak to Ice without his special cloak. He is also the only fiend that absorbs his own elemental and has complete immunity.

74. Rubicante is the first FF villain who begins the trend of noble demon type characters in the series. Basically villains that work for the bad guys, but has enough good qualities to make them respected by the heroes and players. This trend would continue with characters like Gilgamesh, Ultros, Reno & Rude, Raijin & Fujin, and Lani.

75. FuSoYa has the twincast ability as one sees in the climatic final battle with Zemus when he and Golbez use W. Meteor together, but what you may not know is that the skill is programmed into him so if you were to hack the game to have either Palom or Prorom in the party and have them cast Twincast, FuSoYa will actually cast the spell with them.

76. The DS version of FFIV retcons the origins of airships in he games. In all other versions, airship technology is created by Cid after he deciphered ancient texts to learn how to make heavy objects float. In the DS version, it is Kluya, Cecil and Golbez's father, who teaches this technology to earthlings.

77. FuSoYa is one of the few playable FF characters in the series who has never been given an official age. Likewise, we know so little about Lunarians in general that we don't even know how they age normally, but we do know that FuSoYa has been watching the Lunar Sleep since the Luanrians traveled to the Blue Planet, But even this timeframe is unknown. FuSoYa may actually be hundreds of thousands of years old.

78. The idea of the doomed Lunarian home world is like based on the Phaeton planet theory that proposes that the asteroid belt within the Milky Way may be the remnants of a destroyed rock base planet that could have existed in the galaxy millions of years ago. Today, the theory is not really taken seriously anymore due to newer theories concerning galaxy formations.

79. If you take the HP totals Golbez has in the final battle (2943 or nikushimi 憎しみ) respectively, it actually says the word hatred. This almost feels like a coincidence until you play the After Years and his HP total changes to 2,971, which when said together says tsugunai (償い) which means atonement.

80. Zemus's name is Amharic for Prayer. Zeromus on the hand may be a play on this with the Zero part of his name signfying No Prayer, but this is speculation.

81. Oddly enough, Zemus, has two more HP than either of the Zeromus forms.

82. The FFIV novelization froma few years back actually named the Mysidian Elder, which fittingly is Minwu.

[Wolf Kanno]

83. Though Gil existed as a currency before FFIV, IV is the only entry where supplemental books explain where the naming convention comes from with the Gil stemming from Edward's family of Gilbert. Obviously, the English translation loses this reference because Gilbert became Edward in translation.

84. In the original 2D versions of FFIV, most players will know that Edward's Bardsong skill will try to inflict either Silence, Sleep, or Confusion on the enemies. But did you know there is a hidden fourth ailment it can inflict? If Edward is turned to a Toad, he still has access to his Sing command and will always use Toadsong to turn enemies into frogs as well.

85. In order for Edward to use his Sing Command in the 2D versions, he needs access to a Harp. But interestingly enough, the Two-Handed Ragnarok sword (Dummied out weapon). The Poison Axe, the Rune Axe, all three of Cid's hammers in the base game, and the Avenger will also allow Edward to use Sing. Of course, that's if he was capable of equipping any of those weapons. It's speculated that Edward was meant to be a playable party member later in the game, likely during the Dark Elf quest since many of the items were repurposed for Cid.

86. Yang has a unique Victory Pose among the cast in the 2D versions. Instead of pumping his fist in the air with a jump like a "Hip hip, Hurray!" he instead smiles and does a V for victory pose. oBKuHwPiDY8?si=3uIzibgKQVKSlUdv&t=345

87. Yang's name has some interesting tidbits. The first is likely the fact most westerners are mispronouncing it. It wouldn't be pronounced as YAY-ng, it would actually sound more like Yawn-g. Likewise, his last name has multiple interpretations. On the one hand, Leiden is a name used throughout Europe with it being both a family name, and even a city in the Netherlands. But it has a double meaning because the katakana translation of the name can also be read as Raiden, as in the Chinese god of Thunder, and in Chinese, the anglicized spelling would be... "Léidiàn".

88. Yang and Edge are the only characters in IV who have a different algorithm for dealing with damage since they both technically dual-wield. Likewise, Yang's weapons don't usually raise his attack power, instead they add elemental or status effects to his attacks. It is sometimes better to leave him unarmed.

89. In the 2D versions, there are a few spells in the game that a character can only learn through an event in the story. While most players will easily guess Tellah learning Meteor (and the rest of his spells) and Rydia learning Fire, most players may not know that Rosa only gains Teleport when she rescues the party from the crumbling Tower of Zot. Likewise, Rydia will never learn the -ra level elemental spells until she is an adult and thye last black spell she's capable of learning as a child is the useful Bio. Her last White spell she can learn is Raise.

90. For reasons unknown, the 3D version changes Rosa's starting equipment and the equipment she has when she's rescued by the party in the Tower of Zot. I'm just going to quote this from the wiki.

In the 2D versions, she joins with a Bow, 50 Iron Arrows, a Leather Cap, Leather Clothing and an Iron Armlet. After being rescued, she joins with a Prison Garb. In the 3D version, she joins with a Staff, a Sage's Surplice and a Ruby Ring. After being rescued, she joins with a Healing Staff, a Wizard's Hat, a Sage's Surplice and a Ruby Ring.
It's unknown why this is, but I find it interesting the 2D version initially leans on her offensive usefulness, while the 3D version leans more on her spellcaster side.

91. The 3D version for some reason makes the Bow class of weapons exclusive to Rosa. In the 2D versions. Cecil, Edward, Cid, Palom, Porom, and Rydia were all able to use bows and arrows.

92. Aim works a bit differently in IV than other games that have it and combined with some bugs connected to the Throw element, gives Rosa some nice advantages. So, unless you really need something to die very quickly, Rosa should always use the Aim command in battle. The reason is that while it does have a minor charge time it makes up for it by not only raising her accuracy to 100% but also raises the damage of the attack by a bit. And if you're playing the non-3D versions where you have to buy arrows, you want to make sure you're getting your money's worth. Likewise, due to some enemies being unable to recognize the Bow as a typical attack, likely due to it being the Throw element, some enemies will not counter being hit with it unlike every other attack.

[Wolf Kanno]

83. Holy has an interesting property to it that seems to be exclusive to the FFIV series. It can actually inflict the status ailment Sap if the enemy happens to be weak to the holy element such as Undead.

84. Cid Pollendina is the first playable Cid in the FF series. He is a mix of FFIII's Scholar and Viking classes in terms of stats and abilities.

85. While the 3D remake retooled a lot of skills for the party members, Cid is the only character who gained an original ability. The skill is Upgrade and allows him to cast elemental properties onto his weapon to garner elemental damage bonuses much like FFV's Mystic Knight.

86. Cid is also the first Cid to have his own theme song.

87. For a long time, fans believed you needed to steal the Dark Matter from Zeromus in order to make his Big Bang attack weaker. This is actually not true. Likewise, Big Bang's damage does fluctuate, but it's not actually random either. It completely depends on the player actions. Basically, when Zeromus shakes, he's preparing his Big Bang attack. If the player hits him with a magic spell or magic spell item, he will counter with Flare, but his Intellect will drop, weakening the attack. A few things to note though:


It has to be a magic spell, not a Summon. You need it to trigger the Counter Flare
White Magic does work as well, but not Holy, as it activates a Counter Tornado which is not counted as the same.
Finally, if Zeromus shakes again after the counter spell, then his Intellect may be restored and Big Bang will do it's normal damage. So timing is very important.


88. Though the concept existed in FFIII, FFIV is the game that debuted the Throw command. In the OG III, Ninja's could "throw" shuriken they had equipped as their main weapon, but then the weapon would be gone and need to be re-equipped between rounds. IV introduced the concept in the way we know it now.

89. Edge is FFIV director's Takashi Tokita's favorite character.

90. Edge is one of the few cast members not to get his own musical theme, instead, he shares Cid's theme Hey Cid!

91. Due to his rivalry with Rubicante in his intro, Edge has maintained a connection to the fire element in most media he has shown up in.

It is his starting Ninjitsu skill
In the ports with the Lunar Trials, Edge's Eidolon opponent is Lunar Ifrit
He gains the unique item Fire Scarf from Rubicante in the After Years
Many of his Band abilities in The After Years are fire based.
In Opera Omnia, Edge has a passive skill called Fire Scarf that reduces fire damage, and Flame is his LD (think like ultimate) ability.
In TheaterRhythm Curtain Call, Edge's summon is Ifrit.


92. Edge's design in FFIV is a bit weird compared to previous versions, but he's actually a call back to both the FFI and FFIII incarnation just with Thief mixed in so the class would be represented in IV. He can use magic like his FFI counterpart, but also dual-wield and throw weapons like his FFIII counterpart.

93. Rosa is the only character who appears on the Super Famicom box art correctly. Though there are two figures that are thought to be Cecil and Edge, both of their designs are not the same as their in-game spites. Cecil's box art counterpart is using FFIII's Knight model, while Edge's model has brown hair and using a green instead of purple color scheme for his outfit.
78283

[Wolf Kanno]

94. The Crystal item Goilbez gives to Cecil is a bit of a mystery in FFIV. We are never explained it's significance, how Golbez acquired it, or why it triggers Zeromus' final form. The closest explanation we get is that the player can infer that the crystal gives Zeromus a physical form.

95. Interestingly enough, while the narrative makes a big deal about Golbez being unable to use the Crystals power to stop Zeromus due to his heart being of darkness, but funny enough, in the game's code, the Crystal is actually dark elemental. Which is especially funny because there are very few things in IV that possesses this element. The only other items/abilities that possess this element are Cecil's Dark Knight swords.

96. Speaking of unsolved mysteries in FFIV. We know almost nothing about the Tower of Zot. It is one of the rare locations in IV that cannot be revisited when completed and it actually has no physical location on the world map. We know it's in the air. One popular fan theory is that the Tower is a reference to the Sky Fortress from FFI seeing how both are locations found only in the sky and house a Wind affinity Elemental Fiend. In the 16-bit version, the tower uses the same interior as the Tower of Babel, so it's very likely the Tower of Zot is of Lunarian origin.

[Wolf Kanno]

97. FFIV is the first FF game to have female exclusive gear in the form of the Gold Hairpin and the Minerva Bustier. What makes this interesting is that FF, unlike it's contemporary Dragon Quest, does not really dive into gender specific gear very often, usually sticking to job specific elements instead.

98. IV debuted a few new pieces of gear, but one of the notable ones if Gungnir, Odin's famous spear. What is interesting is that in addition to the weapon getting no fanservice, Kain comes equipped with it when he rejoins the party at the Giant of Babel and it's not even his best weapon with the Dragon Spear and the Holy Spear both being better weapons in the base game; but the weapon doesn't even get real recognition until FFXI when it was chosen to be the first Relic Weapon for Dragoon. Only afterwards was the weapon retroactively brought into FFII, III, and VI as a supreme weapon outside of the occasional Odin summon that uses it.

99. Of the final five party members, Rosa and Rydia get the most customization options. If you plan on using them as mages, you should stick to mage gear like the Faeries Rod or Stardust Rods as well as robes to bolster their Intelligence and Spirit stats. This is because the Artemis Bow, Dragon Whisker, and Minerva Bustier raise all their physical stats considerable (like 10-15 point gains in Strength, Stamina, and Agility) at the cost of giving a deduction in both Intelligence and Spirit by the same amount. So equip them wisely.

100. FFIV has many allusions to the first Final Fantasy game.

Both games have a title screen that appears after a story/gameplay intro and shows an image of a bridge being crossed by the heroes with a castle as part of the background.
Both games feature the party facing off with Four Elemental Fiends.
The Earth Fiends of both games has an undead theme.
The Wind Fiend is battled in a sky fortress that is potentially orbiting their respective worlds.
All Four Fiends are fought twice over the course of the game.
Both games begin in a setting that is largely pure high fantasy, and eventually reveal a more science fiction twist towards the end of the narrative.
The key to reaching the big bad of the story is found in the first place the story takes place: Chaos Shrine (FFI) and Mysidia (FFIV)
Both games feature a quest that involves taking down a Dark Elf. And if that is not enough, the FFIV sprite for Astos was used as the basis for the one fought in FFIV.
Both games have a narrative that is centered around a Prophecy.
Both games feature a side quest involving the retrieval of a a simple Rat's Tail in order to obtain an upgrade.
Both games have a questline to obtain Adamantite so the Excalibur may be forged.
FFIV revamps and basically reuses the Goblin design from FFI.
The final party of the base game includes representatives of the default starting classes of FFI with Cecil being the Warrior/Knight, Edge as the Thief/Ninja, Rosa as the White Mage, and Rydia as the Black Mage.

[Wolf Kanno]

101. Rydia is one of the most proficient summoners within the FF series. In instances of a character being a designated Summoner, Rydia can summon more Eidolons than any other summoner in the series at a whopping 16 summons in the 3D versions, which is pretty impressive considering that's double the #2 spot which is a tie between Garnet and Yuna at eight summons a piece.

102. Jumping off from the above. Rydia has more unique summons than any of the other designated summoner characters with a potential of seven unique summons (Mist Dragon, Asura, Goblin, Cockatrice, Bomb, Mindlfayer, and Whyt) with her closest competition being Yuna (Valefore, Ixion, Yojimbo, Anima, and Magus Sisters).

103. The Shadow Dragon Golbez summons in his one actual battle against the party may have caught them off guard, but weirdly enough his stats are terrible. He has 4 points of defense and only one lousy hit point. Sadly, your party will never know how much of a paper tiger he is because he can only be killed by the scripted Mist Dragon in the fight.

104. The Malboro's signature attack, Bad Breath, debuted in this game.

105. Unless you really did a lot of grinding out of boredom like I did back in the day, most players will never know that Palom and Porom can actually learn every spell from their respective magic profession, including Holy and Arise for Porom and Meteor and Flare for Palom.

106. Porom's Cry ability is completely useless in the original 16-bit version of the game. It raises the probability of a successful Steal from an enemy. But since Edge and Porom are never together in the party in the base game, it is useless. It won;t be until the Advance version that it finally serves it's purpose. But diving in deeper, Cry is the one ability that has gone through the most alterations of any ability in the game. In the PSP Complete Collection, Cry is changed so that it has a chance to cause confusion to enemies. In The 3D remake, it halves the enemies defense and magic defense.

107. FFIV was the first, and for the longest time, only FF to have a secret Developer's Room where the party can break the fourth wall and speak with the game's development team. You can also acquire the secret Porn Magazine.

108. The track, "The Dancer" which plays when you watch the hidden dancers in Baron and Kaipo is an arrangement of "Sabre Dance", originally composed by Aram Khachaturian in 1942 for the ballet Gayane.
gqg3l3r_DRI?si=5xfYjXZ8K7pjnZ5N vs. TTpVpjQ-czk?si=4H-JtKwOlg62Pfzv

[Wolf Kanno]

109. FFIV marks the introduction of the recurring bird enemy Zu, which is a possible mistranslation of Anzu, a Mesopotamian avian demon that is both menacing and divine depending on which text you're reading.

110. As mentioned earlier, FFIV was a game that tried to take on all the best elements of the 8-bit Final Fantasy titles, so there are many allusions and call backs to the game.

Both games have a city of Mages called Mysidia.
Both games feature a forbidden magic spell being sought after by an ally of the party, and both of these allies are ultimately killed because of this forbidden magic.
Both games deal with an evil kingdom using airships to conquer the world.
Both games feature a brother figure in the party who betrays the group.
Both games have a Darth Vader expy who serves the Big Bad and turns out to be the literal brother of another character.
Both games feature a Dragoon as a prominent figure.
Retroactively, Kain's father has been retconned to be named Ricard from FFII, while the Mysidian Elder's name was eventually given as Minwu. Amusingly enough, the retcon goes both ways as Ricard's nameless son was changed to Kain in later ports.
Both games feature a Dark Knight in a prominent role.
Both games have an event where the party is attacked by Leviathan on their way to another destination.
Both games main villains manage to come back from the dead in their final form to battle the party.
Edward and Gordon are similar characters with both being frail rulers who are suffering from survivors guilt and ultimately learning to overcome this.
Though no longer canon, the founder of Mysidia was originally named Minwu in old Japanese only source books.
Though no longer canon, the Deathbringer at Fabul was said to belong to a man named Leonhart.
Both games feature a rotating cast that is usually instigated by noble sacrifices by party members. The main difference is that only Tellah dies in IV, whereas only Gordon and Leila manage to survive the events of II.
In the 3D Version, Ultima is a twincast spell only usable by Cecil and Rosa, referencing the fact the spell was originally a White Magic spell in FFII.
The main villains boss henchemen in both games are derived from Christian demonolgy, with Pandemonium featuring Astaroth and Beelzebub as boss encounters as servants of the new King of Hell, the Emperor. Likewise, the naming convention for Golbez and the four elemental fiends all come from the Ars Goetia and they are all references to various Dukes of Hell and other demons found there.
Both final bosses signature move are space themed with The Emperor using Starfall X (XVI for the Light version) while Zeromus uses Big Bang.


111. In the original Super Famicom/SNES versions of FFIV, there are eight spots in the game that contain hidden items and monster-in-the box encounters. What makes them interesting is that they seem like just a random place to leave since some are located in the middle of a floor on a dungeon or often on the tile before a doorway. They have been removed from the game since the PS Port for FF Chronicles.

112. Of the optional bosses fought in the Lunar Subterrane final dungeon, Ogopogo is the only one who has never had his named translated back to it's original Japanese name, whereas Taimat and Pale Dim were eventually restored to Dark Bahamut and White Dragon respectively. Ogopoga's real name is Tidaliathan, which is a portmanteau of Tidal and Leviathan obviously. Personally, I feel the translation team has made the right choice keeping the name Ogopogo.

113. "8² curse of extinction" glitch was one found in original copies of the cartridge games that would cause the game to crash if you kept entering and exiting a door 64 times in a row. In North America, the Square Newsletter Ogopogo Examiner said this was a special curse created by Zeromus, but warned players not to do this.

[Cell]

You know, I always forget to find the porn mag when I replay through FFIV. I'll rectify it this year. What a goal for 2025.

[Wolf Kanno]

You know, I always forget to find the porn mag when I replay through FFIV. I'll rectify it this year. What a goal for 2025.

I should warn you. the Developer's Room was removed from the Pixel Remasters for some reason.

[Cell]

You know, I always forget to find the porn mag when I replay through FFIV. I'll rectify it this year. What a goal for 2025.

I should warn you. the Developer's Room was removed from the Pixel Remasters for some reason.

That's fine, I haven't picked that one up. Will likely be a Steam playthrough on the DS version.

[Wolf Kanno]

114. The Hummingway's rabbit theme redesign in the 3D version is due to an old Japanese myth about rabbits living on the moon. This redesign has stuck too, since Naimingway, the only Hummingway the party can actually talk to, has carried this redesign in all of his later appearances when he's not just name dropped as an Easter Egg.

115. FFIV is one of only two Final Fantasy games that alludes to taking place in a similar solar system as our own. The other being FFVII.

116. Ever wonder why there is one Frog in the Troia Castle moat that talks? Allegedly, this is a reference to a funny 4koma comic made for Final Fantasy III, where the party all get turned into frogs and instead of continuing the adventure, they discuss how being a frog isn't so bad and just decide to stay that way. In the Japanese version, the line the frog NPC in FFIV is a direct quote from this comic.

117. And because you all knew I had one more, FFIV takes elements from the previous three FF games, so of course it has a lot of references to the game, such as:

Cecil's Dark Knight class design is based off FFIII's Magic Swordsman. Though interestingly, they don;t function the same at all, as the Magic Swordman class can use White Magic spells and uses katanas. In the 3D remake of III, the class is retcon as being the Dark Knight class and functions just like Cecil's version of the class.
Cecil's Paladin class is based on the merging of the Knight Class and Magic Swordsman class from FFIII. His design and the function of Cover were taken from the Knight class, whereas the ability to use white magic comes from the Magic Swordsman class.
Cid's class is based off FFIII's Viking and Scholar class, largely having the stats and equipment pool of the first class, while retaining the Scholars Peek ability.
In fact, let's just get this out of the way, almost every class in FFIII gets utilized in FFIV's party in some way. Similar to how FFVI does it with FFV's Job system. The only exceptions are Geomancer, Onion Knight, and Evoker.
Like the Onion Knights, Edward is the weakest character in the game stat wise, until you level him past a point at which point he gets the best stat growth in the game.
Both Cid's have an airship called Enterprise the party uses.
Both games utilize the Fat Chocobo as a storage device.
Both games feature a boss that requires a Dragoon to defeat.
Both games feature Crystals of Darkness
Both games feature multiple airships for the player to ride, with each one having a function needed to traverse the map.
Both games have the party defeated by the final boss and revived through the help of their former allies.


118. Enterprise and Falcon are named after famous Sci-Fi spaceships the U.S.S. Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon, respectively.

119. The Lunar Whale is another example of a name change that has just stuck. The Japanese name for it is 魔導船 or Madōsen. Which roughly translates to the very generic Magic Ship.

120. If you didn't think Baron was a military state, well it the setting books would like to set you straight. Baron has the Eight Corps of Baron, which are eight full military divisions within their military force, and even if you think this is non-canon fluff, the main game does reference or show all eight branches. The Corps are as follow:

The Royal Guard - Oldest faction and dedicated to protecting the King of Baron. They are headed by Baigan before his betrayal.
The Dragoon Corps - Founded by the Highwind clan, they were formerly the elite of the Baron military before the invention of airships. They are a smaller faction now, led by Kain Highwind who still holds onto his family's pride as Dragoons.
The Dark Knight Corps - These are the elite soldiers of the main military forces, so think of them as like special forces. Cecil is part of this unit, but it's ambiguous if he's in charge. Only the King of Baron can select soldiers to go over the training and become one. We know Kain was selected to join, but opted to remain a Dragoon.
The Airship Corps - The newest and most powerful faction in terms of military power. Cid is the head of this corps and Cecil is Captain of the elite Red Wings unit within it.
The Army Corps - Largely made up of the regular non-elite forces. These are the Baron Soldiers the party largely deals with in the game.
The Navy Corps - Never shown in Baron, but mentioned by Cecil when they the party tries to take a boat from Fabul to sneak back into Baron. They are mentioned to be the weakest faction.
The Black Mage Corp - Never seen in combat, but you can visit their room in Baron Castle.
The White Mage Corps - Similar to the Black Mage corps, you can visit their room in Baron. Rosa is a member of this faction and her family has served within for a while.

[Wolf Kanno]

121. Since I am playing FFXI right now, ever wonder why Odin is associated with Dark Knights in XI? Likely as a callback to FFIV as the King of Baron is heavily implied to be a practitioner of the Dark blade, seeing how he handpicks the candidates that can undergo the training, but also because he becomes the summon Odin after his death. This correlational is likely why the Dark Knight class and darkness are always associated with Odin, that and the insta-kill attack of course. Likewise, Odin in FFIX is learned by equipping the Dark Matter accessory. Not coincidentally, the Dark Matter item debuted in... you guessed it, FFIV.

122. There is an interesting trend in FFIV that shows that the Village of Mist and the denizens of Mysidia don't use last names. In fact, barring Rosa, there is no single predominately mage-centric character in FFIV who has an actual last name.

[Wolf Kanno]

123. The Four Archfiends all seem to have some form of a direct subordinate working for them that sometimes shares similarities with their respective fiend.

Scarmiglione doesn't have a named subordinate, but it's heavily implied the undead on Mt. Ordeals are all his underlings, and hints to his true form as an undead.
Cagnazzo has Baigan and both have a reptile theme along with each having the unique ability to heal themselves.
Barbariccia has the famous Magus Sisters and they all fight with a strategy that involves a defensive maneuver such as the Delta Attack and Barbariccia's ability to turn into a tornado.
Rubicante is the lone exception of the above. His "subordinate" would likely be Dr. Lugae but the two are completely contrasting forces with Rubicante being the most noble and honorable of the fiends who is a proud warrior not afraid to fight alone and able to hold his own. Dr. Lugae on the other hand is an amoral scientist who uses his brains over brawns and creates minions to fight for him such as Barnabas and the mutated King and Queen of Eblan. Dr. Lugae also uses more underhanded abilities like Poison and Sleep Gas to get an advantage in his battle whereas Rubicante counters with more direct attacks.


124. In the original game, it s implied the Four Archfiends are actually servants for Zemus, not Golbez, but serve Golbez as part of their mission to revive their lord. In The After Years, Scarmiglione reveals that the origin of the four Archfiends are actual incarnations of the four elements from the Blue Planet itself.

125. Zemus might be the most disrespected FF villain in the mainline series. While his big evil ultimate form of Zeromus has appeared in a lot of media outside of FFIV, Zemus himself usually doesn't. He has only appeared in two mobile card games but has not made a real physical appearance ever. Most people probably wouldn't care because Zeromus is there to pick up the slack, but even in games like TheaterRhythm and Dissidia, which often pays respects to a villains base form and their final boss form, Zemus is mysteriously absent. Even in Opera Omnia, he is largely downplayed for Golbez and is only mentioned in passing by Golbez himself. The only villain worse off than Zemus is Yu Yevon who has never appeared outside of his own game.

126. Golbez is the first antagonist in the FF series to get his own theme in the series.