Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Final Fantasy: Nerds in Paradise > Final Fantasy IV > GBA vs. DS version

[The White Wizard of Fynn]

To me, the best thing about the DS game is the presentation of the story. I mean, things that seemed cheesy to me in the SNES and GBA versions now look really epic and moving. This is the version that really made me take the game seriously.

[Khalin]

Originally Posted by The White Wizard of Fynn ^

To me, the best thing about the DS game is the presentation of the story. I mean, things that seemed cheesy to me in the SNES and GBA versions now look really epic and moving. This is the version that really made me take the game seriously.

They fixed the translation and managed to give their characters more depth. The voice-overs really helped with that. They enriched some of the dialogue as well as giving us some history on Cecil and Golbez ["Theodore"? If I remember the spelling right]. I think that alone will make everyone like this a lot more than the SNES versions.

[VeloZer0]

You say the bosses get special treatment, but having bosses several times larger than party members is as true to the original as they could get with sprites.

[Khalin]

Originally Posted by VeloZer0 ^

You say the bosses get special treatment, but having bosses several times larger than party members is as true to the original as they could get with sprites.

Yeah I know, but for one, they had no choice in order to fit all 5 characters on the battlefield due to their left-to-right format [which they were obviously able to break free from now, as shown by their liberty with the camera angle in some of the battles]. And two, as I said before, chibi-style done in sprite form has a much more acceptable and natural look to it. The only reason why I say this is because it's never bothered me before in any game I've seen it in [FF IV for the SNES, Star Ocean 2, Ragnarok Online, etc.], whereas in the DS version they decided to use 3D models [which would suggest that they want a slightly more realistic look?] while doing their best to keep their bodies disproportional. Thus you have the band of 8 year-olds fighting a grown woman here: YouTube - FF4DS-Valvalis

The whole thing just bothered me really. Of course, there are only a few other people here that are as picky about the style as I am, but I personally would've wanted cooler character models [like Dissidia! Come on now]. Speaking of Dissidia, I have to say that Cecil's Dark Knight costumes in that game look awesome.

[Tempest]

I know it's not the best version of FFIV but, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Super Nintendo version. It's the one I grew up with soooo....it can't be helped.

[VeloZer0]

I think having 5 full sized people attacking a single person would look really silly in a battle. In order to fit everyone on the screen the would have to essentially zoom the camera out to the point where the party would still look the same size on the screen, only with a far less imposing boss model.

At its heart the FFIV battle engine is always 'my side vs your side' and if you have 5 people on one side and one on the other, the screen will look very empty and awkward on one side. And the character sprites won't be any bigger.

[Khalin]

Originally Posted by VeloZer0 ^

I think having 5 full sized people attacking a single person would look really silly in a battle.

Nah, I don't really see why. It would look closer to what a normal battle looks like. Just look at FF XIII [I don't mean graphics-wise, I just mean proportional-wise], FF IX, FF VIII, FF X, etc.

Originally Posted by VeloZer0 ^

In order to fit everyone on the screen the would have to essentially zoom the camera out to the point where the party would still look the same size on the screen

Actually you wouldn't have to do this. It's very easy to play with proportions, angle work, etc. to get what you want. I understand what your concern is, but it really isn't so bad to do this. Now it would be bad in a game that doesn't really have perspective, and a rigid default camera angle which never shifts [FF IV for the SNES], but they have 3-Dimensional freedom here, so let's not kid ourselves.

Originally Posted by VeloZer0 ^

At its heart the FFIV battle engine is always 'my side vs your side' and if you have 5 people on one side and one on the other, the screen will look very empty and awkward on one side.

I don't think so. A lot of games have accomplished this with ease aside from the ones I listed. Of course, 5 people in a party is rarely done, but in reality you actually only need to do very little to compensate for this. And I find this all to be over-dramatized, because in essence, all you would be doing is adding some height and slight width to each character, and possibly pan the camera back slightly to compensate. Any of those that have experience with 3D editors [like Spore perhaps?] probably understand. Intimidating boss models are done by appearance and detail, and not necessarily by size [like Bahamut in the DS version of FF IV for example. He's fairly decently-sized dragon, but I wouldn't exactly call him huge]. I also don't think that having a serious/cool/intimidating/whatever boss model means that your characters have to look like 12-year-old cosplayers. I'd like my protagonists to look awesome, too.

[The White Wizard of Fynn]

The characters can't look any more awesome than they look in the DS version (Dissidia's awesome as well, but in a different way).