Final Fantasy IV's Impact on the franchise

[Wolf Kanno]

It just seems to me like people nowadays feel that FFIV is a poorly aged relic with a cheesy plot and cast but lets suppose hypothetically that FFIV never existed. How do you feel it would impact the FF franchise and RPGs in general? Do you feel FFIV is even relevant anymore?

[Sephex]

I feel it is relevant in the sense that you can look at it from a viewpoint that a lot of console RPGs borrowed ideas from. FFIV, borrowed a lot, sure, but the style was different.

I can understand why someone, especially of a younger age, would be put off by thinking it is cheesy.

If FFIV never existed another FF or console RPG would be credited with setting the standards of a classic jRPG.

[VeloZer0]

I'm afraid I don't understand the question.

[Wolf Kanno]

I don't understand what you can't understand about the questions

[VeloZer0]

I don't understand what you can't understand about the questions

Can you be a little clearer on that?

Are you asking what it would be like if they had made a different game as FF4? Or asking if what if they had just skipped to releasing FF5 with no game released when FF4 came out? What do you mean as 'relevant to the franchise'?

IMO FF4 is the archetype of what a great game plot should be.

World on the brink of destruction. Check
Massive collateral damage and casualties to demonstrate scope of danger. Check
Discover the problem is bigger than the world as you know it. Check
Travel to new and exotic destinations priorly unknown by your civilization. Check
Characters behaving in understandable manner. Check
Ultimania not required to understand game. Check

[Wolf Kanno]

I guess I'm asking what did FFIV bring to the franchise overall? Had FFIV not been made and instead we we're given a slightly tweaked FFIII instead with generic "Light Warriors", how would it have impacted the rest of the series assuming that FFIV did somehow impact the creation of FFV and beyond. Do you feel that IV's influence on the franchise can be felt in today's FF games? Do you feel that FFIV is still a relevant game in the franchise beyond a historical connotation? Was it a game changer for the series, or simply a logical step that the franchise would have reached no matter what? Is FFIV special or is it simply just the fourth entry in a long well received series?

Honestly you can take the question into many different directions and I'm curious to hear them all.

[Edge7]

Do I think FFIV has aged? Hell yes; a knight sworn to the fight for his king using the forces of darkness at his disposal turns into a fight against a alien living in the core of the moon, trying to activate a giant robot on earth and WHAT THE SMURF IS GOING ON?!

I think "Ah, the Power of Cheese" summed up the story (and the original translation) perfectly (ironically enough, that's how I found this site). But besides the questionable quality of the plot itself, FFIV introduced us to a intricate cast of characters, particularly for its time, and in comparison to the previous games. There were characters that loved one another, hated one another, betrayed one another. No longer were they a group of youths sent on a journey to return balance to the world (but even games that fit that mold, like FFV, have a bit more to the characters).

Do I think that IV has influenced the series? Of course. Character heavy cutscenes didn't really happen until FFIV.

Oh, and ATB rocks (though lately, I have been gravitating towards games with the turn base of yore).

[Evastio]

Well, FFIV was one of the first notable games to have heavy character interaction and development (especially main character development, seeing how silent protagonists were dominant at the time. It could also be credited for starting the "protagonist with a regret filled past" archetype). It also was the first to use the ATB system. It's also one of the first notable RPGs to have bosses with boss fights that require a variety of different strategies (such as casting Wall on Asura, ceasing attacking on the Mist Dragon, all out boss battles where even your healer should attack like Odin and Plague Horror, avoiding using Ice attacks when Rubicante is cloaked, etc.). It has quite a few firsts, actually.

A lot of RPGs after FFIV pretty much pay tribute to it one way or another.

Even not considering that, the game is designed with good moderation of many of its elements, even by today's standards. For example, the story cutscenes are never long or numerous enough to the point that it detracts from the gameplay or feels like a movie rather than a game. But at the same time, there's enough story to flesh out the characters' personalities and immerse the player in the world of FF4. The flow of the story also stays present throughout the entire game (unlike FF5 for example, where the story dies down after getting Lenna back or FF6, where after getting the Blackjack, there's barely any story or character interaction). Also, equipment, magic, and the strategies using them are powerful enough to be useful and worth it (compared to FF2 where magic is really weak due to equipment penalties or FF6 where the magic stat has more influence for magic damage than strength does for physical attack damage), yet aren't as overpowered to the point where all bosses become a joke (FF5 Dual Wield-Rapid Fire, FF6 5x Ultima casting in one turn, etc.) Yeah, the system isn't perfectly balance (most of you will probably argue this point with Edward), but it's not like it's possible to perfectly balance an RPG, and FF4 does quite a good job at putting everything in a rather balanced level, with very few elements being that overpowered or that weak.

[The Man]

The gameplay of FFIV hasn't aged particularly well. It's really basic compared to most RPGs these days, and though it introduced a lot of conventions used in later games, they were usually done more skilfully in those later games.

However, in terms of plot, it still works pretty well. For me the only large weakness in the story is the large number of fake character deaths. Square/Square Enix has released games with much larger plot holes since, so I'm willing to overlook this. The game has a well-told story with a coherent viewpoint and few obvious flaws, and even if a lot of things in the story are RPG clichés now, they weren't at the time the game came out.

All told, it's well worth playing and we're better off for having gotten it, although it would've been nice if it had had a better translation and a more faithful gameplay adaptation when we first got it on the SNES.

[Sum1sGruj]

FFIV was inbetween I and VI (as far as America was concerned at the time, being I,II, and III). So it gets a bad wrap simply by it's positioning.
The first was epic on the NES, and needless to say, VI was damn near magical on the SNES, but IV was in that odd 'purgatory' along with Mystic Quest.

[black orb]

>>> FF4 Legacy?

Rydia and her bunch of fan boys of course..

[robfinalfantasy]

Well for one it was the first FF to actually make the Dark Knight a unique class, introduce the concept of a Summoner who can cast magic other than Summon magic, and first to have Ninja-magic which are all concepts in later FFs. Probably has other first time concepts don't want to ramble.