I’ve seen a lot of DQ talk on these boards, and while I enjoy Dragon Quest, my all time favorite RPG has been Final Fantasy 4, so when I heard that they were making a direct sequel to it, I knew I had to own it. It’s episodic in content and so far, there are 2 stories out. The first one, which I’ve since played and beaten (it’s only 5 1/2 to 6 hours long tbh) deals with Cecil and Rosa’s son Ceiodore for the first half, then switches to Kain’s story… which is actually pretty awesome. The second episode, which I haven’t gotten yet, deals with Rydia and the eidolians (ie, summoned monsters).
My biggest shock was finally getting control of Cecil, looking at his status screen and going “WTF, He’s level 15? Where’s my Ragnorok and Crystal Armor? Why am I only doing 200 damage a swing?” I guess 17 years is time enough to get rusty, and I don’t know, sell off the best equipment on the planet/moon for some nice drapes and a few end tables or something. There are cameos by nearly everyone in the old FF4 crew, including Biggs and Wedge. They’ve incorporated band attacks ala Crono Trigger’s 2nd & 3rd level techs, and the phases of the moon affect your battle options. Most of the game is spent either solo or with a partner, but a full group of 5 never even makes it in, so some boss fights can get kind of hectic, since Ceiodore is basically a white mage that can wear armor and use swords. He’s got a white mage’s hp and a paladin’s attack rating, so he can deal dmg and heal, but woe to anyone who tries to tank with him, he just doesn’t have the HP to soak dmg like Cecil did.
So yeah, I’m eagerly awaiting more content, especially since you can incorporate your save data into the other stories. At $8 for the main game and $3 for other episodes, it’s an easy way to get your fix of some old school FF on the cheap.
