Final Fantasy IV

>>385005843
JRPGs aren't actual RPGs so you're probably not gonna enjoy them if you were looking for customization.
Try FF5 if you want to build your team properly.

>>385005843
FF4 is probably the most linear of all the FFs and offers the least freedom in terms of party building.

Which version are you playing? The DS version supposedly has some extra customization but I haven't played it.

>>385006627
playing the SNES version to avoid the eye-cancer of the low-poly early 3D models of the DS version.

I'll power through this and if I still feel like it give FF6 a try. is it any better in terms of story / party building?

>>385006850
Yeah FF6 is a big step up. It's like FF4 2.0

There's really no reason to play the SNES version of FF4 though, the PSP version is better in every way (translation, music, visuals)

>>385006850
You should get the GBA version of the game. It's superior in most every way than the original.

>>385007823
>GBA version
>superior
Not with that terrible music. The PSP version is the best.

JRPG writing is usually pretty bland. It's impressive when you're 15 and have literally no literary bagage, but they're mostly shit.

>>385008414
for some reason FF4 is known for its >deep and complex storyline and characters, at least according to Wikipedia.
what a joke

>>385006850
>playing the SNES version
If you're playing a 1991 American release of a JRPG and complaining about the quality of the writing you're doing it wrong.

Translations back then were done as fast and cheap as possible, often by people who were not qualified to be doing that kind of work.

This is why old JRPGs get new translations when they are re-released.

>>385008534
You're playing the butchered original SNES translation, you have no right to complain.

FF4 while I find to be a good escape from the initial experimentation of early FFs especially in bringing about some form of narrative and characterization that FF2 failed at (in part due to limitations) as it's an early SNES entry it is lacking in terms of customization and the plot very much railroads you. I don't necessarily have a major issue with this as much as I take issue with the dungeons. That being they are like 80-90% cave, FF6 has a similar issue but compared to the many different dungeons 5 has to offer I found it lacking.
As I recall I start the game going to a cave to a town, to another town, to another cave, that then leads to another cave then to a mountain to a town, to another town and mountain that takes me to the starting town to get to the castle through a cave, then I get to explore on the airship eventually railroading me to a cave to then finally go to an interesting futuristic tower, which after a series of events leads me to another very similar tower, then a cave, then back to the same tower via that cave, which then opens two optional acid/lava caves or the main dungeon which is a cave which then unlocks the final set of areas in the last part of the game, which allows for one interesting technological dungeon then an optional cave and final cave now with FF Crystal.
FF5 offers: Cave, ruin, canal, boat graveyard, mountain, water tower and optional water area, mechanical ship, ancient library and that's to start with in the first few hours. This along with humor and better attempts at cutscene direction, customization and some story to me make it way better than 4. While I understand the love for 6 while customization also there I don't think 6 handles much better than graphics and general story beats (but in these it does it well). That said FF4 is alright but it is very much an older JRPG and only serves as a jumping off point after NES FFs.

>>385008635
just found out that I'm actually emulation the FF4 PSP complete collection, which I assumed to be the SNES version because of the artstyle, sorry for the confusion.

I've been playing the PSP version all along it seems
>>385008729

>>385008534
It's a super Nintendo rpg...what the fuck were you expecting? Some thought provoking work of art?

>>385008816
idk man, it's described as "Final Fantasy IV is the first game in the series to really pick up on drama, and the first Japanese RPG to feature such deep characters and plot" , so yeah, I was expecting something a little more complex than
>we evil now
>we steal all the magic mcguffins!
>oh no my brother is evil now too!
>jk he's probably not

>>385008795
>Can't tell the difference between SNES and PSP emulation.
Well, now it's clear that you're either retarded or trolling, so no one cares what you think.

>>385009162
>trolling
do people still say this?

How the fuck would you not knowing if you were a psp emulator or a snes emulator? OP is full of shit clearly baiting

>>385005843
Every other game in the series has more customization than FF4. Yes even the three preceding games on the NES

>>385009734
I instinctively thought it was the SNES version I was playing, chill. this hardly makes my stated issues with the game so far any different

Play FF5 or DQ8 OP

>Plays weebshit
>expects good story or writing

LMAO

JRPGS and RPGS in general don't have the role playing you're looking for

>>385005843
>story is laughable and the writing is a joke
most FF games are like this.

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Reminder that Rosa sucks, and Rydia has a better connection to Cecil
Rydia is best girl

>>385008729
>You're playing the butchered original SNES translation, you have no right to complain.
Shut the fuck up. Even in the PSP version, the writing is garbage.

>>385011220
why didn't they call her Lydia in the localization? Rydia sounds fucking retarded

Leonora best girl.

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>>385011453
>Not Porom

Play FFX if you're into customization.

If you're OCD enough you can make each character master everything and become pretty much broken.

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Honestly, I think 7 or 10 is the best entry point for the genre. That got me interested in Tactics, and the unit building in that game got me interested in the Etrian Odyssey series which I fell in love with.

Context is important here. You have to remember that in the early 90s a game with a Saturday morning cartoon plot WAS what constituted a 'deep story' because most games of the time were produced and marketed for young children. Teenagers took over as the primary audience in the late 90s. FF4 is a game of its time. 5 and 6 are huge improvements, and if you are used to having more customization options I would highly recommend making the jump to those. My advice for these (and any retro games) is to temper your expectations and try to appreciate the games for what they are and not what they aren't. (they aren't games made in the last 5 years)

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>>385011376
Wasn't it a mistranslation, and they just rolled with it afterwards?

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>>385011220

I can't stand Rosa. They really could've made a much more interesting character to fill in the white mage slot, but Rosa was just a waste.

Rydia was the most interesting character. She starts out as a scared and traumatized kid, who later learns to deal with it, telling that bitch Gilbert to get his shit straight, the comes back as a magical god. She's pretty much Mystic Gohan.

>>385012485
>Gilbert
literally who

>>385011785
yeah, I get that now. I'll keep this in mind when continuing the game and hopefully beating it.

Also, is there any way of lowering the encounter rate to a more acceptable level? Because sometimes I can barely walk 5 tiles before the next trash mobs.

>>385011864
I guess. It's beyond me how any professional Japanese translator could make such an entry-level mistake though.

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>>385012485
>Cecil has a better connection to a 7 year old girl than he does with his lover
It doesn't really help that we don't see much of Rosa outside of her being a stereotypical damsel in distress, whether she's sick or captured. Rydia, on the other hand, is a little ball of ass kicking from the moment she joins the party as a kid, to the moment Leviathin takes her away, and then shows up to give Golbez what for as an adult, and kicks his shit in with her summons and Black Magic.
I'm willing to give Rosa a chance, but we never get the chance to know her

>>385012553
Edward. The Spoony Bard?