Before I start, let me officially state that DAYUM Rydia is smokin' hot. There, I said it; I'd say it again if I had to. Let's move on, averting our attention to the right only when hormones deem it necessary.
One benefit of taking a mass transit vacation--aside from inexplicably being surrounded by Amish people--is that you can kill most of your travel time by playing video games, instead of waiting for stop signs or the odd empty stretch of highway to squeeze in a quick few turns of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (I have never done this). On my most recent trip, I had initially planned on dabbling in quite a few different games I'd picked up over the summer, but ended up devoting all of my time to the Final Fantasy IV remake for reasons that say a lot about the decisions I make in life.
In the 18-or-so years that Final Fantasy IV has existed, I've played through various ports/translations/remakes at least 8-10 times. And it's not even my favorite Final Fantasy game! So why all the madness?
Most of my fascination over IV comes from just how short and snappy it is. You're always minutes away from a new town, event, or character death, and if you do all of the side quests, the game shouldn't last more than 35 hours. Even with the enhanced difficulty of the remake, there are very few times where you have to stop and grind for survival--except when the game takes you to the moon. And the last act is generally where Final Fantasy IV--in any format--runs out of steam; the Velveeta-grade story gets straight-up retarded(moon brothers), and overworld enemy encounters become much more likely to completely wreck your shit. In any version of the game, the moon section can't help but feel an attempt to squeeze as much life as possible from an already-short experience.
But the remake is mostly worth it, and developer Matrix has made some real improvements over 2006's Final Fantasy III remake. For one, they actually use both screens(!!!), adding to a much more polished experience. And Square-Enix's new translation--though everyone speaks Bardlish like they just stumbled out of a Renaissance Faire--is nigh entertaining, especially when paired with the voiced cut scenes, which play out like some hyperintense Shakespeare fanscript. The only thing foul about this edition of the game is the newly-added Augment system, which is so confusing that even reviews of the game have been unable to convey how confusing it actually is. Seeing that I'm also at the mercy of the English language, the only thing left to say about Augments is they no work good. GameFAQs your friend.
What I've been trying to avoid for this whole post is the unavoidable truth about Final Fantasy IV DS: it's the crack-cocaine of nostalgia. And as much as I like to think I'm above being gripped by the icy fingers of my childhood, Final Fantasy IV was the first RPG I took seriously, and made me a fan of the Japanese RPG to this day, where it remains a questionable predilection. But there's just something about the game that makes me remember it more than certain pivitol moments of my life. To this day, I can never be sure if I really lost my virginity on an airship.
Or maybe it involved a dwarf.
Related links:
Are You Buying Final Fantasy IV DS? Huh? Huh? Huh??
Would You Play a Final Fantasy VII Remake? Hmmm?
Final Fantasy IV DS: Love, Hope and Betrayal For the Busy Commuter
Square-Enix: Reeling in the Devotees For More, Playing the Console Market With Aplomb