So I've been meaning to go and play all the Classic FFs. I decided to start with this one because what I read about it just made it sound the coolest.

I chose Advance because I heard it had a much better script than the SNES/PSX version. I had to use an Emulator though because my eyesight is way too bad to actually play it on the GBA.

Just thought I'd post a topic on my comments and observations so far...
I've just left Baron in the airship to go and get the Earth Crystal.

1. My favorite characters to use have been Cecil, Yang, Rydia and Porom. Least favorie are definitely Edward and Tellah. Edward's stats sucked and he had no good skills. Plus he made me waste all my Potions by accident when I used his lame Heal ability.
And Tellah? Do the words "glass cannon" mean anything to you? This guy died more than the rest of my characters combined.

2. I know some prefer Dark Knight Cecil but Paladin Cecil is way better in my book. He's still a great attacker, even better I think, plus now he comes with healing magic. Plus..he's prettier. XD

3. The game is going to great lengths to make me think my past party members are dead when I'm positive they're not. I mean if Rydia was dead why would I have gotten an item to give her a new abiliy after defeating an enemy you only encounter after she died?

4. Other than that the story is pretty good. Lots of things I want to find out about as time goes on like why the mysterious light in Mt. Ordeals called Cecil "son", Among other plot points.

5. So far Baigan has been the hardest boss. His Reflect made it so I couldn't attack him with spells and he did KO my party members a few times. Talk about a shame when the boss immediately after him is so weak.

So yeah those are my main thoughts on FFIV thus far.

There's something big about Advance that's different than the original script wise, but I'm loathe to tell you because it's a spoiler. Let me know when you finish and I'll tell you what it is.

this game is very interesting to me
i watched some gameplay videos
checked its ratings.
looked up some things about the characters and it seem like to me it would be a fun game
but you recommend it for GBA?

No, play the DS version. It is amazing.

On the other hand, the Advance version is, from what I've heard, pretty good, what with party-switching and the bonus dungeon.

Nevertheless, despite how much I hate the Rainbow Pudding side quest, I heartily recommend the DS version over any other version.

No, play the DS version. It is amazing.

On the other hand, the Advance version is, from what I've heard, pretty good, what with party-switching and the bonus dungeon.

Nevertheless, despite how much I hate the Rainbow Pudding side quest, I heartily recommend the DS version over any other version.

...Pretty much what I came here to say. If you DO have a NDS, play that version.

That version has the crap graphics from the III port. I can't stand the character models. It's so round and blech.

Sprites forever~

Each to their own I guess.

I don't mind the FFIV DS character models actually - I thought they have more personality than the cardboard cutouts that they used in FFIII. They seemed to have made Rydia especially cute this time around, although I thought Cecil's Dark Knight form looked odd, like he was some kind of medieval Batman wannabe.

There is still indeed something special about the old 16-bit sprites though, as Neg said. I guess it's just nostalgia - FFIV was the very first FF game I ever played back in 1994 so it has a special place in my heart. :D

I grew up with the original SNES version, but a I've come to love the DS version even more :D Which isn't to say I don't still love the SNES and GBA versions; theyre almost like different games alltogether, and I find that to be a great thing. Can't really beat originals . . . but you can sure do a hell of a job trying :D

FF4 GBA is better looking, but FF4 DS is better done..

FF4 GBA is better looking, but FF4 DS is better done..

It is pretty tough to top the awesome visuals the original and GBA had; I think putting them as 3D must've been a difficult task.

My only gripe is, why couldn't they have transferred that epic Lunar Dungeon from the GBA version to DS??? :( That freakin thing is the best bonus dungeon I've ever seen in any game ever!!!

It is pretty tough to top the awesome visuals the original and GBA had; I think putting them as 3D must've been a difficult task.

My only gripe is, why couldn't they have transferred that epic Lunar Dungeon from the GBA version to DS??? :( That freakin thing is the best bonus dungeon I've ever seen in any game ever!!!
Same reason why they couldn't find half way decent voice actors:
They were being lazy.


Seriously, the worst part of FF4DS is the voice actors.
It's like 80s crappy bad that's so bad it's not good, it's just total crap.

Maybe, but I certainly thought they did a better job than with X. I mean, the voice acting in X wasn't horrible, but the awkward pauses some characters would make in their sentences got a little noticeable after a while. For me, the voice actors I thought were HORRIBLY chosen for FFIV DS were.. Tellah, Palom & Porom, it's been too long since I heard Fusoya's voice but I know it wasn't good, Kain's voice (I pictured him sounding far more like Vincent from VII, or at least Auron from X) and Rosa.. She was alright I guess, but not what I would've pictured. Rydia's young and adult voices were spot on, but neither were heard enough. Yang's voice.. No. Edge's.. Somewhat okay, not what I pictured though. As for Cecil.. I actually thought he was pretty good. So you're right; they aren't that great, but Rydia and Cecil at least won me over ;)
Wait, who did I miss?? :O

The North American localization of Final Fantasy 4 advance is glitchy. I recommend that you play the European version if you don't want glitches

There's glitches to be sure, but for me a lot of them came in handy, like or instance; characters unexpectedly getting an extra turn in battle.. THAT was a pleasant surprise :D But the airship's clunkiness when flying around, going "RrrrzzzjjjjjjjRRRRRRrRrrrrrrrrrzxjjjjjjRRRRRRRRRRR RrrrrRRRRRRRRR" I know, brilliant "sound" effects, huh? I'll bet that painted a clear-as-mud picture in everyone's head HAHAHA But, basically, I think the glitches in FFIVADV are few enough and far enough between that it's not really a problem ;)

The GBA version was the first one I played, and while I prefer the DS version after trying both, I will say this: The DS version will repeatedly, unceremoniously, and mercilessly hand you your ass over and over if you're not prepared. Casting negative statuses on bosses is practically mandatory if you want to live without serious powerleveling.

you are right Centercore7989 that bonus dungeon is the bestest ever...
i am currently inside it trying to defeat that darn dinosaur towards the end, its the only bestiary entry i am missing...
also trying to get a pink tail, bomb summon, and mindflayer summon, n e one have any suggestions or math stats on how hard they are to pick up? also trying to get a lot of HP and MP boosts for my party...n e help would be appreciated...

I don't know about the GBA version, but in the DS theres a .4% chance of an enemy dropping the summons.

Liliths drop Silver Apples 12% of the time, and Dark Sages, and Bog Witches drop Soma Drops 5% of the time.

thx luigi

can anyone help me again?

i am trying to get:
1)hero's shield
2)glass mask
3)cursed ring

does anyone have any math stats on how hard they are to get?
are they worth getting?

i have ff "ocd" lolz... tia

Same reason why they couldn't find half way decent voice actors:
They were being lazy.


Seriously, the worst part of FF4DS is the voice actors.
It's like 80s crappy bad that's so bad it's not good, it's just total crap.

Oh wow, I'm so very glad I missed that. I got the J version back when I was in japan because I thought they wouldn't release it here... I really loved the J-voice actors, they are great. WTF is up with english voice actors... They should force them to imitate the J voice actors...

If Tanis (or anyone else) doesn't find this a springboard to further conversation, I'll close it. Otherwise, leave it be.

For future reference please keep an eye on the date of the last post in a thread. If it's significantly old, please leave it be.

Maybe it's not so bad Neg-o-rama; there aren't a whole lot of FFIVAdvance threads around. But it's up to you :)

Oh wow, I'm so very glad I missed that. I got the J version back when I was in japan because I thought they wouldn't release it here... I really loved the J-voice actors, they are great. WTF is up with english voice actors... They should force them to imitate the J voice actors...
No, they shouldn't.

Yellow-face went out of style for a reason.



The problem is you, it is me, it's the retarded fan base that's bought FF1-6 like 4 times now without any regard of how that makes us look.


If SE fans would DEMAND, via boycotting or sales, better games and voice acting. We would get it.
But we don't, so we get the 4Kids voice acting we deserve.

I think the voice acting is fine actually :O

For the most part. . . .

i think most of the VA fits the characters. except tellah. if only he would said YOU SPOONY BARD, it would have fit, but i expected a more "im old and wise" voice, ala david carradine.

I'm with you on that, bud. I hated his voice. And Rosa's; she sounded like an old lady to me. Probably the only other one I didn't care for was Kain's. His wasn't horrible, but I expected something more akin to the lone ranger types in most anime's, not some guy on too many steroids. After all, Kain's one of the pioneer characters of his whole archetype! At least have him sound the part.

But this is a thread for FFIVAdvance, not DS, so let's try to stay on topic a little more. I'd like to just briefly go over what I liked and disliked about the GBA port.

First off, the music ported over extremely well. There's only a few songs I think they could've stood to possibly rework using instruments intended for the GBA's sound capabilities, such as Golbez's theme. It sounds alright, but that same mysterious aura about the original, sinisterly enticing piece doesn't import on the same scale as it sounded originally. Aside from that, it's a total treat to hear my favorite old themes still playing strong from my little GBA.

Second, the graphics. While they're not entirely a direct adaption of the SNES version's style, they do enrich the whole experience, giving us a sense of familiarity while managing to make things look a whole lot better without sacrificing the original feel. I gotta be honest; in the original, Cecil's map sprite design made it a little hard for me to understand what the hell I was even seeing. He looked like some kinda weird hybrid between a goblin (imp, originally) and the Dark Elf. But in the GBA port, he looks just how he's supposed to, IMO. There are a few minor things that do come up here and there that I thought could've stood some reworking, such as the Big Whale's lack of flashing lights this time around. I used to love that aspect of the ship originally-it gave it character-but this time, they chose to give it no life, just a motionless husk drifting through the air.

And lastly, the gameplay. While it retains the original's overall battle composition and controls, there are a few glitches here and there that can either make or break your chances at a victory. While playing, it is easy to suddenly find yourself catching multiple turns for just one character in a row, with no sort of break in between. Although it is kinda rare, it's either the key to your victory or the key to your bloody death at the hands of even the lesser-most loathsome foes. You do start to familiarize yourself with it and it just becomes another part of the game after a while, but for those unattuned to the little faults of this game might be a bit perturbed by it.

But ultimately, without a doubt, FFIVAdvance is one of the best games around :D Let's hear some more opinions on it; what does everybody like or dislike about it? Come on, don't be shy! I'll be here all . . . hour, folks! :D

what i liked: the extra dungeon.
the recycled sprites from the wonderswan version

what i disliked: the dumbed down difficulty.

I like the graphical style of the Wonderswan/GBA version ten times better than the SNES's. And that bonus dungeon . . . that is the BEST bonus dungeon I've EVER seen in a game! EVAR!!!!

i enjoyed ffvi on the gba
just seems a tad slow though

---------- Post added at 07:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 PM ----------

i enjoyed ffvi on the gba
just seems a tad slow though

FFIVAdvance is slower, due to technical issues during battles and airship sequences. But it's really not an issue IMO, as the lags are quite brief.