Final Fantasy IV (3D Remake)

I thought this was the DS version

Everything

Played 4 hours and love the game so far. The japanese audio feels much better than the English one. Music is really great. Graphics is a little minimal but fine for casual laptop playing. The opening scene is great, but you may need to adjust your sound setting of the PC to play the music correctly.

It's a classic and a major improvement since the first three chapters.
Very good story, very relatable characters, jokes, drama... you've got it all.
It's a must-play.

I forgot to steal the dark matter

This is my favorite final fantasy game

It's not fun -- feels more like work. Too many aspects of gameplay not explained well (or at all). Frequency of encounters is so high that you're constantly having to stop between encounters to heal, restore mana, etc. And that's not even getting to the boss fights where you need to know the One Way to defeat them. Thankfully game design has improved a lot since the days when this one was originally released.

Battle frame rate is locked to 15 fps. All other stuff is locked at 30 fps.

30 fps is /fine/... but 15 fps for battle sequences is absolutely painful. This has apparently been an issue since the game's release on Steam, but sadly Square doesn't seem capable of making this title perform reasonably on modern hardware. Last patch was in 2020... and this issue was ignored.

Granted, there is a community patch out there to increase the battle frame rate, but the game engine speed is tied to the frame rate... so, you are basically playing the game in fast(er) motion if you use this patch to achieve a higher frame rate. Fundamentally, the engine to be modernized.

Originally played this on the DS. It is a fine game and a nice re-envisioning of the original SNES title, but 3D graphics at 15 fps is nausea inducing.

Save your money for a developer that supports their titles and their customers.

Its been great so far, loved the original, its a good and faithful remake from what I can see so far, and the voice acting isnt bad at all.

Having a fourth iteration of a final fantasy isn't very final of fantasy now, is it? Psh, step aside. I'll take care of naming the series from now on. I present to you, Preantepenultimate Final Fantasy! Hmm...? What's that? I'M FIRED????

GAMEPLAY: 2/5
Final Fantasy IV certainly brought something new to the table - "real-time" turn-based combat! Quite frankly, this was a cute idea that was implemented terribly within the game. For whatever reason, battles were incredibly slow, and in between your option select was just a plethora of... waiting. Looking at a bar over your characters slowly move before they acted out on a move you selected ages ago made me reminisce of the times I used to watch paint dry. Enemies would just mindlessly chip away at your characters, with no way of pausing. Thus, players are encouraged to act fast and select their moves as quickly as possible until the battle ends. My main gripe with this was that abilities were messily organized, and could take ages finding the right move you wanted to select (especially if you wanted to use an item). Unless you were opting to simply go for a basic attack, chances are you were always fighting two battles: navigating through a clunky menu, and the enemy. There was really nothing fun the real-time mechanic added to the combat, besides inconveniencing and punishing the player. I could almost describe it as normal turn-based combat, except between every move you select, you have to twiddle your thumbs before any action you take has visible results. Real-time-wasting combat indeed!
And speaking of wasting time... the game has plenty of that, too. Random enemy encounter rates are far too high in this game, and will probably take up more than 50% of your playtime. Yeesh. As well, several dungeons will make you completely backtrack to the start upon completion, disabling the teleport ability because... they left a cutscene somewhere near the entrance? Really???
I'll end on a positive note - the game cleverly gives you real incentive to explore a dungeon's map by giving useful items in return for a completed floor map. As well, game overs do not result in large amounts of progress lost, even if it was a while between your last save as the game tends to auto-save frequently. The augment system should definitely have been explained better in game, but enabled players to slightly customize their combat experience (light praise, however, given how most of the customizable augments had little impact). And compared to the previous title (FFIII), there was a lot more clarity with regards to where to and how to proceed within the game (with a few exceptions - if you ever find yourself a little lost, walkthroughs are your friend!)

NARRATIVE: 3.5/5
I've seen a lot of people praise FFIV's story. And honestly, when I compare it amongst the classics (like the first three entries in the series!), I'm inclined to agree! FFIV was definitely a step up in story direction, scale, and quality compared to previous titles. While there were a few cliches that I would've loved to see avoided (cough the power of friendship !!), the story followed a linear yet satisfying tale to follow along with. The cast is relatively memorable, albeit lacking a bit of character depth across the board. The conclusion is fairly well-done, highlighting every prominent character in the game and where they ended up. While the narrative of FFIV didn't blow me away, for a classic, I believe it has aged quite well.

GRAPHICS: 3/5
Considering that this is a 3D remake of the original FFIV, we have to address the graphics! I don't think there's an objectively better looking game (if you prefer nostalgic/classic looks, you'll likely prefer the original), but I do think the remake does a good job at faithfully re-composing the 2D game into 3D. However, the font choice is rather painful to look at (bad enough to take away immersion from the story, I'd argue HAHA), and some of the renders look... not so great. Even ridiculous at times, I might add (shoutout to the power of friendship scene, if you know you know). The game definitely had its cool moments visually though, with my favourite example being Rydia's various summon animations. Way to make me feel more powerful!

SOUNDTRACK: 3.5/5
The music of FFIV is solid all around, and contains a select few iconic pieces that really embody that nostalgic Final Fantasy charm. Looking at you, opening menu theme, battle victory theme, and end credits theme. 😎

OVERALL: 3/5
Love it, hate it, FFIV is a classic JRPG and is well worth a try to anyone that wants to get into the Final Fantasy series, or JRPGs in general! Would it be the first Final Fantasy game I'd recommend...? No, and I'd even recommend the Pixel Remaster edition of FFIV over the 3D Remake. But if you have nothing better to do, or want to put your Real 3D glasses from Ciniplex to use, this game doesn't hurt to try! If you detested the real-time combat mechanics like I did, I'd recommend turning on auto-battle and tabbing out. Feel the sun on your skin. Reconnect with loved ones. Drink that pearl milk tea you told yourself you couldn't afford. Live, laugh, love. Yippee!

final fantasy makes my loins warm.

Pros:
- I love that everyone has a pre-established job in the game as it made everyone feel more unique compared to other characters
- Speaking of characters I think this game has the best characters so far (low bar) and the story was entertaining and had me surprised with it’s twists and developments. I will say some of the story elements were a little cliche however I think the game gets a pass (remake of an old ass game)
- Yuri Lowenthal
- I LOVED the menu screen in which you can see what Cecil is thinking in that current moment. It wasn’t until Edge was introduced that I realized that the thoughts of other characters would display when walking around as said character. Makes me think of what dialogue I may have missed in the first half of the game.

Cons:
- With preset jobs set with characters it didn’t leave much creativity to be desired with battle strategies. Of course most bosses would require their own strategy which would lead to fun game play that wasn’t repetitive, however I just think I would have liked a way for me to figure out a unique way to beast bosses like ff3 (Might just be a me complaint)
- There were a lot of character sacrifices in this game that felt a little like overkill at the end especially if you consider the fact that all of them except for one actually died. So all that fuss was for nothing basically.

Extra Thoughts
- I don’t know whether to put this game’s battle mechanics as a pro or con. While I do feel that the time based mechanics would add an extra intensity to a boss battle that I personally am looking for with a video game, there were some moments when I missed just standard turn based battling. I am able to recognize that while this change may have bothered me for a couple of moments, overall it was a good experience and never felt unfair for me or broken
- Song at the end of the credits was peak

Some of the first detailed videogame RPG stories with characters and a development ark ever written. Final Fantasy continued its fourth iteration by improving the writing and storytelling potential of the simple RPG frameworks and game engines they had back then, this time relived in 3D for added drama.
The story includes gather crystals of different elements, elements from astrology plus light and dark. The villains are badass too.
I have a lot of criticism on the japanese final fantasy ways of story and ark writing. Final Fantasy has succeeded as some of the best RPG franchise because they KNEW a lot about where truth and reality starts. These titles put the player in the shoes of a warrior Kings and commanders. The top of the world whose faith will impact the entire world. Yet when it really comes down to it, the writing and characters are still too ungrounded, attempts are made to create universes that encompass everything: the origins of evil and light, Kingdoms, order, chaos, the strengths and weaknesses of each person which may or may not reflect certain crystal elements. But the full Prophetic lessons and stories that help art and storywriting directors create the most epic and encompassing stories of all of creation have been ignored. Instead Final Fantasy writing idolizes and worships emotions. Those are the strongest sources of strength and power as with many other Japenese universes. The story and universe is good, but it could have been even better if the writers took their lives and faith more seriously.

Fond memories with updated graphics of the SNES game that first brought me to the Final Fantasy series.

Honestly despite the obvious mobile port, I've always loved the 3d remake for Final Fantasy IV. It's charming and fun and I like the augment system and some of the new abilities. It's one of my favorite remake/remasters from the Final Fantasy series for sure.

First time I've played. Took me about 50 hours to complete, my Cecil became level 90, and I beat it in hard mode. Very good game, but they could put a button to turn off the battles. Anyway, I like it a lot! The aesthetic resembles Final Fantasy IX—my favorite.

Worth the price and time :)

Best version of this game! Augments add a lot.

Overrated but still good.

The story is pretty engaging and takes the lore of the crystals from FF1 and FF3 but uses it in an interesting way. However, the story isn't executed very well. This game is well-known for Cecil's character development, however, his "development" happens in the opening cutscene and later on when he becomes a paladin it's just a class change when he doesn't change as a person. His actual character change is at the very beginning, which I wouldn't really call a change. It does have some dramatic moments, although they don't feel as impactful as the story progresses. That being said, it is still engaging. If you just treat it as a medieval action story about people going on a quest then it's still really good and will keep you hooked, but the character development and dramatic parts are a bit cringe.

You don't have full customization for classes since each character is basically their own class. However, each one has different abilities and you gain some abilities that you can assign to different characters. The auto battle system isn't as good as the pixel remasters since you have to choose what their auto battle actions are in a separate menu outside of combat, but there definitely is some strategy in choosing auto battle actions.

The game does have some voice acting, although it is pretty bad and makes the dramatic scenes really cringe. However, it's still good that it has voice acting unlike FF3 which has none. The cutscenes are still way better than what you'd get in the pixel remasters so if story is important to you then I'd pick this version over the pixel remaster.

The main downside of the game is that it's really difficult unless you grind a ton, and in some parts grinding is necessary, which can be really boring. I was just letting auto battle run while I was on my phone sometimes.

Overall the game is pretty good, just definitely not as good as people say it is.

The chests on the females are not 3-D didn't need to buy this

Played this game so many times on the SNES. One of my all-time favorite. This remake version is good, but the old one was better. Not sure about the augment thing and the 3 play through.

The game is a classic. It crashed on me a few times however, and there is missing content.

But, much more importantly, this publisher has stated intent to harass and cause financial harm to Steam users & other customers. Proof of their intent is here:

https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/2025/html/post_317.html

You can report this toxic company to Steam by doing the following:

- Click on the "Square Enix" link to the right of "Publisher" at the top of the store page.
- Click the gear icon on the top-right.
- Select "Report this company" and fill in the reason why (I suggest requesting Steam to halt business dealings with them).
- Click "Submit".

You can also choose to "Ignore" all their products from the same gear icon, which I also strongly suggest doing. Send a message to the gaming industry that this disgraceful behavior will not stand, nor go unpunished.

Square is not very nice and sometimes that shines through in their games.

While not the best version of FFIV, this is still an excellent version of the game that has some interesting aspects to it for replayability.

Growing up in the 80's/90's, FFIV (though I knew it as FFII) was my absolute favorite RPG, and remains my favorite in nostalgia.

I was skeptical about the 3D remake, since I adore the original 2d pixel look of the SNES-era FF series. But I was pleasantly surprised by this version. They captured much of the original feeling, while having many interesting takes on the characters, scenes, locations and monsters. If nothing else, it's worth playing for the cut scenes. The Augment system lent a freshness to this old favorite. While interesting, it was a little confusing at first. But there are several great guides on using Augment in the community.

the best entry in the series hands down. Great story, great place to start for people new to FF or turn-based RPG's.

Paladin Cecil is so fuckign hott

One of the best jrpgs ever!

Do NOT play this version

This is a PC port of a phone port of the DS game. If you want to play this, just play it on the DS instead. If you just want to play FF4, play the pixel remaster. Its MUCH better. The camera in combat is in such an awkward place and ruins such a good beautiful story in game. The combat is also so laggy? It makes no sense then the cut-scenes run fine.

Let it be known: FFIV is an amazing story and game, please play it on the original system and or the pixel remaster. This port feels like an insult to Final Fantasy.

Amazing.

I beat this game on the NintendoDS when I was a kid so I decided to buy it again on steam to experience this game once again. The soundtrack is amazing and the story is top notch, but I completely forgot how annoying and irritating the gameplay was. As much as I love this game, I wouldn't recommend this torture to anyone.

The combat can be a bit annoying. I feel like i get hit with 3-4 status effects every fight. Still a fun game.

The moon is hiding secrets! FF4 Is one that a lot of people loving as a kid but look back at it and say what was I playing. The story has a great set up for being a really grand adventure with Cecil questioning his loyalty to his king after stealing a crystal from peaceful village and killing its people. For a while the story keeps up a good narrative and risk. Like Tellah the wizard story gets me all chocked up man. About half way though characters peck in development or people keep sacrificing them selves for no reason. They do a fake out death 3 times with the monk that just didn’t care about him returning each time. Idk why half the cast has suicidal tendencies. The plot goes from a serious tone to very goofy really fast which can turn people off. Combat if pretty good. I think the most solid part of the game. With playing the DS remake on steam. It’s the hardest challenge of all versions of FF4 so you will get your money worth if you looking for a challenge. However unlike the 3 previous FF games, this is the 1st FF that does assign classes so customizing you team is not a thing. Can suck in some dungeons. I love the voice acting the did for DS remake. Lot of heart went into it. Will say. This game with out a shadow of a doubt has the ugliest cid. It’s rough. If you want to go explore the moon and be on the the edge with Edge the ninja than this one is for you. 7.5/10

its literally a piece of my childhood i love this game sm

It's Final Fantasy IV, one of the best classic JRPGs. I noticed the two negative reviews on the Steam page, and some of the points they make aren't wrong. The battles do have some weird jank to them and the camera is really zoomed in. But remember, this is a port of a Nintendo DS game, which is why both of those things are true. But you can alleviate the janky battle animations by using a simple mod that just doubles the animation speed. That's what I did and it felt a lot better.

So if you're looking for a version of this game with crisp, smooth animations you'll be disappointed here, and if you're expecting an old DS game to have some kind of ultra wide field of view then you will likewise be disappointed. Otherwise this is a great version that is really fun.

This one is very special, without a doubt one of the best ff, very straight forward, good music, very hard, try hard for the DS experience, good port, no crashes or issues, a must play if you like ff games

Pretty good so far, I never played the original but my older brother growing up always held Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI to a higher standard. So I decided to grab this game (I've already played Chrono Trigger). So far I am enjoying it a lot. I just got Rydia in my party while making this review.

Fun remake. I still prefer the 2D versions, especially the Vita version, but this is a good alternative. The vanilla game is quite slow, recommend using a fix to up the FPS.
(Steam deck users should be aware of a bug with the steam cloud save, don't change platforms or your save will "be erased". Play either on the deck or in your desktop)

relaxing after work

good upgrade to the original snes

If you're a fan of the Franchise, this game is one of the must play classics. I owned this game on the DS but never really played it back then.

classic game!

great game!!!

Goblin the best summon

amazing remaster

a 3D remake
of the best FF title
my fave anyway

Makes an old school rpg bearable with cinematic camera angles during cutscenes. I recommend this over the pixel remaster.

shit story and repetitive boring gameplay like all the final fantasies up to X

The FOV and Zoom is terrible. I really wanted to like this version of the game and I love the voiced players. You are zoomed way in and can barely see anything from your perspective, neither of which you can change. I wondered why this version of the game, which includes extra story (awesome), was cheaper than the 2D remake. Well, in a nut-shell, this is why. This is a 3D remake without the adjustments that a 3D FOV and zoom require. Additionally, you should have a free camera with the ability to pan up and down, which you can't. This leaves the game feeling very, very cramped. If a mod ever came out offering these adjustments, this game would rock a whole lot more than it does. Heck, if you could zoom out a bunch, to see more from an original perspective, that would work. You can't and I have looked for a mod to do this but it doesn't exist or I can't find it. If anyone knows of one, let me know. I really want to play this version of the game and love it. As of now, I just bought the 2D remake instead. However, I am holding out hope that a MOD can be made and uploaded for players to update their game. Disappointing. Until a MOD or update is made, I can't recommend this game. It is far too cramped to be enjoyed.

It's an incredible game, it has good characters, a good story (even if it can be a little simple and for children sometimes), but it has its impact and its way of shining. It's a great experience in which you can play again and again to get different improvements, builds, weapons and spells. Wait for a promotion and play Final Fantasy 4.

👍