The Journey Continues: Final Fantasy IV
After finally making my way through Final Fantasy III I dove right into IV. Diving right in and completing quickly are two different things though. I made it through a good chunk of the game within the first month, but soon got irritated with the massive amount of grinding and leveling required to function on the moon. The game pretty much got shelved through the holidays, and I finally got back into it about a month ago. Started doing the tedious grinding on my lunch hours through the work week. I still couldn’t bring myself to play while I was home. I gave myself a three day weekend last week, and Friday FFIV was the only thing I played. I bailed on my usual 1 vs 100 game even. It had to be completed. I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way, and I didn’t. Last Friday night I defeated Final Fantasy IV! Now let me tell you how I feel about the game.
From the opening sequence I knew this was going to be the best story I’d play out of the first four, and it never disappointed me. There were moments I literally laughed out loud and other moments I cried. /tear It was a moving story, especially when compared to the games that came before it.
I didn’t have an issue with the grinding or leveling until I reached the moon. Most of the game was pretty well balanced. Once on the moon, though, I did have to spend a solid four or five hours grinding just so the random encounters didn’t destroy me. I made it through, and the ending story was totally worth the frustration of the extra leveling.
I told myself I wouldn’t rate them until I was at least finished with the first six, but, out of the first four, this one is my favorite. I have no doubt that better stories are to come, but, as of this moment, it stand III, II, I, and IV as my favorite.
FFV will be started this Sunday. My mission is to have it completed by the end of the day the following Sunday. I’m looking to you, the internets, to keep me focused on this mission. If you see me on XBL, Steam, PSN, AIM, or anywhere else not working on my mission you have every right to chastise me, and please do! I’m terrible at keeping myself focused on one game for an extended period of time, so I will be needing an extra push here and there. Keep me honest kids!