🛑 I’VE MOVED! Check out my new channel for retrospectives, reviews, and critiques here: th-cam.com/channels/6D4FlECbW_1KT_Z472LukQ.htmlfeatured I love this game so much it hurts. I hope that comes across in the video. 😂 This is my longest video so far, but it could have been infinitely longer. My first, rough draft would have been over six hours long in video form. You have no idea how much discipline it took for me to cut out that much content lol. I worked super hard on this video, and I hope it shows. If you have any questions or comments, let me know! And thanks for supporting me. 😍
@@luki1234567890123 Same! I share in Altercate's love (along with many many others here) for this historic yet fully-justifiably beloved game... so seeing such passion for it makes me feel very much at home. ♡
I’m on the final dungeon of IV and it’s my favorite so far… I’m playing them in order so I have V and VI left, but this one felt the most modern and textured of all the stories so far. This video is fantastic and keep up these retrospectives!
@@BurnoutsAndBourbon Thank you so much! :) I definitely plan on keeping up the retrospectives! I'm actually in the process of splitting my channel right now since this channel is very StarCraft dominated. My new channel is here if you're interested: th-cam.com/channels/6D4FlECbW_1KT_Z472LukQ.htmlfeatured Have fun with FFV and FFVI :D
Like many out there, FFIV on the SNES was the first JRPG/video game RPG I got into at 7 years old. While I was an adept reader for my age, I was completely clueless how the game worked since I was exploring it completely on my own (without an older veteran's help nor a strategy guide). Shamefully I recall thinking the first time I got to the in-game menu screen, *I thought I was fighting Dark Knight Cecil while looking at his portrait* lmao. After grasping it I recall getting up to the first battle with Milon on Mt. Ordeals, and for some reason I was stuck there for weeks. In retrospect I have no idea why this specific battle was so tough, since it's always a total breeze now even compared to most boss battles in this game. Of course eventually, it all clicked and frankly helped shape the person I am to this day. For me it was not only where the series began, and not only it changed how I thought about video games completely, but by experiencing it at that age *Final Fantasy IV drastically helped surpass the very limits of my imagination and creativity.* Today I'm just happy to see this incredible piece of history had a similarly profound impact on many others out there. And all biases aside, this video was *incredibly* well done by the way.
Thanks for sharing, love the part about thinking you're fighting Cecil on the menu! Your kind comment just made my day -- as you can imagine, I put a lot of heart and soul into these videos so it means a lot to me to get such nice feedback. :)
This is a great look back at FFIV. You did a great job in communicating your love for this title. I'm gonna be that person to defend "Spoony". It's a very old (c. late 1800s) term for "foolish", especially foolishness coming from being overly sentimental. Tellah is mainly characterized by being very old, so it would make sense for him to use such an archaic word in this context. That being said, this deeper understanding of a seemingly random word comes after decades separated from when the game was originally translated, when this information would be much more obscure than it is now. Adding to that, Tellah doesn't really ever use any other archaic terminology, so we have no context for this word actually being appropriate. This really does read like a non English speaker looking up a word to mean "sentimentally foolish" without realizing the word fell out of use over 100 years prior. I feel like the line could still be salvaged while preserving the emotion of the scene by taking a hatchet to Tellah's translation and having him consistently using older, obscure vocabulary especially when he gets excited or emotional.
Thanks for commenting! I think you made a great point about the suitability of the word, and it would be really cool to have Tellah speak in a more consistent "old man voice". :D My beef with "spoony bard" isn't so much that it's the wrong word to use, but rather that it doesn't convey the original meaning of the dialogue (I believe Tellah's line in Japanese is more along the lines of "why should I listen to anything you say?"). Worse, the unintentionally funny line (for younger audiences, including myself) really damaged the scene as a whole. I do believe a native English speaker would have done a better job in treading carefully here to ensure that the scene didn't lose its emotional impact.
Regardless of the translation, I believe that this scene was actually supposed to be goofy: An old man beating a harmless bard with a stick, doing abysmally low damage numbers while the totally overkill boss battle music is playing. The scene portrays Tellah quickly going through the stages of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining. It's only after those that the tone radically shifts, it becomes serious, the "Sadness Theme" starts playing, and Tellah realizes that Anna is actually going to die (depression/acceptance). Final Fantasy likes to quickly shift tones between goofy and serious (and many more). For instance, I know that FF6 does that a lot with Kefka. Maybe the change was too quick in that scene in FF4, but then it's more a problem with the pacing than the translation. On the other hand, Altercate didn't talk about how Cid's sacrifice becomes meaningless when you see him being alive still. I mean, the guy jumps from an airship, explodes himself while falling to his doom with enough explosives to collapse a whole cavern, has the whole thing collapse on him and doesn't die. (The same can be said for Yang.) It's pretty obvious that the whole story is a joke at this point... and there's nothing wrong with that; it's just like watching a cartoon. It's clear that Altercate understands this to a certain extent with how the inspirational speech at the end of the video (which I love) shifts to the goofy "paladins riding spaceships to fight dragons on the moon". Ultimately, whether someone considers the "spoony bard" line detrimental or not is just a matter of taste.
My very first Final Fantasy, the reason I LOVE RPGs! I will never forget the absolute tension I felt when defending Fabul. I'll never forget Cecil becoming a Paladin and fighting his darkness. I'll never forget the absolute elation I felt in finally defeating the Magus Sisters and Barbaricia! Also, Ill never forget the joy and sheer energy of Rydia returning to save you from certain DEATH with her own Mist Dragon!! Always, this game will forever be my favorite! Thankyou for your effort and attention to detail, wonderful Content! 😊
Fabul (I always pronounced it Fay-byu-ull, not Fah-bool) had such incredible music - clearly asian inspired, I can't believe they made Yang blond in the 3D remake, which I otherwise liked.
Could you please resume your SC2 series? I really love your content on that game and I just got into it. Your explanations and joy with which you explained every thing made me grind at it for the past days. I hope you'll grow more soon too! This game is a hidden treasure :D
Thanks for your kind words! I've been hoping to get back into the series, but unfortunately right now I'm not sure when/if it's going to happen... Sorry to disappoint!
Congratulations! It's your best video so far. I know the long videos are the hardest ones to make, but that's great quality content right here. I've always liked your videos and I was hoping for something like this one. I also hope we can have more of these. Congrats again and keep up the good job!
A few years back I came across an interview with Uematsu (I forget where, but I occasionally see discussions from this float around the internet) in regards to when he had either completed or nearly completed the soundtrack to FFIV while exploring the capabilities of the Super Famicom's soundchip. Around this same time, Uematsu also got his hands on Actraiser. The symphonic quality of Actraiser's revolutionary soundtrack (by Yuzo Koshiro) *completely* blew Uematsu away, as the current work on FFIV simply did not come near the quality of Actraiser's soundtrack, and he had no idea the Super Famicom was even capable of such realistic-sounding instruments with such an emotionally-grabbing score. This completely freaked out Uematsu, *to the point that he scrapped the entire soundtrack to FFIV and started over,* bringing an entirely new level of quality to it that hadn't been there previously. So in a way, arguably some credit goes to Yuzo Koshiro for motivating/inspiring Uematsu to make FFIV's soundtrack that much better. Still, I *really* wish I could hear the original FFIV soundtrack... but from what I understand it was either never made public, or is simply lost to time.
Thanks for sharing! That's super interesting. I loved Actraiser and its soundtrack definitely blew me away back in the day. Great to hear that it had such a big impact on the Final Fantasy series. :)
Fantastic video and epic retrospective (honestly, all of your retrospectives are beautiful)! I really really would watch an "Altercate cut" edition with all deleted scene :D
It's actually one of the first Final Fantasy heck FIRST RPG I ever played in general. I was playing the GBA at the time and was blown away by its story and the turned based battle system and level up system. Until my second was Pokemon like everyone else have at the time
@@Altercate I wanna comment you and your Videos alike: I liked your Video series and I find them as an amazing learning experience next to Wut Happun series From Mac mcmuscles because I like watching Documentary in videos. I find your Voice to be easier to understand because it sounds like you're calm and very informative and your editing were professional like what. Really love how you did in your reviews on FF series so far and I would like to see more of your contents in the future. :)
The first time I played FF4 was on the Gba. Got the game and played it as a treat for myself when I went to drive 8 hours to see my grandma for the last time in 2006 before her alzheimer's kicked in. Man I had energy back then. I was driving in the end of August during heavy rain at the start of the drive around 10 or 11pm. I remember screwing up in Saskatoon, Sask. I had to drive back to the husky truck stop outside the city to get the correct drive patern(Did not have a map for Saskatoon at the time, no cell phone just printed google maps). Got to Regina Beach, Sask around 7 to 7:30am. Then I was still up until like 3pm in the afternoon and then I fell asleep with my DS. FF4 was 20 dollars at the time for the GBA and played the heck out of that. Later when I got back home after the 1 week with my grandma, I even saw the karate kid on TV at the time when I was at that manakin boss and other world ridia location near the end. Good times. I think that was the same night that my now sister in law was drunk and hit her leg on the wooden bedframe hidden under the matress in the spare bedroom downstairs. She said "Owie" in a super girly way that I was surprised since sober she's no way super girly. The next day she was swearing about why her leg was hurting so much. Man good times.
Having Cecil loose darkness in his dark knight form was even more impactful than just leaving him with rather dull moveset. When you get to the pinnacle of Mt Ordeals, even in the SNES version, your reflection uses the darkness skill against you, but since you've never used it, you have no way to know that your opponent is using up his own HP to attack you, since you've never used the skill yourself. Add to that the translation there wasn't very good, and most people I knew playing the game at the time actually tried to kill Cecil rather than just defend against his attacks.
Something I noticed in the battle after the game told me in no uncertain terms to stop attacking was the Dark Knight Cecil will eventually kill himself anyways by abusing Darkness on a single target anyways. So you don't need to attack so much as survive that fight.
Great retrospective. I think you'll look back on this Final Fantasy series with quite some pride when all is said and done. I first came across FFIV on the Nintendo DS, and it was my first non-Pokemon command-style RPG. What was most striking at the time was the carefully and perfectly plotted narrative, as airtight and cohesive as a symphony. Other RPGs have had characters with greater psychological depth (such as Square's own FFVII) but IV will always stand as a nearly perfect narrative and the archetype for 16-bit JRPG classics to come (DQV, FFVI, Chrono Trigger).
Thank you so much for your kind words! :) And yes, there's just something so pure and perfect about IV's story, none of the other games -- even the ones that I ultimately like better overall -- feel quite like it.
Could not click fast enough. Excellent video. Excellent game. Excellent use of my time. (Also should have the title say the full 'Final Fantasy IV/4' so it's more easily searchable)
I've played Final Fantasy 1 and 2 years after I played 4, 7, and 8 and I really didn't even think about save points not being in the dungeons in 1 and 2 until you pointed it out. It's been a while, but I feel like it was basically impossible to reliably run away from fights in 1 and 2 and enemies would just stomp you if you weren't properly leveled so you just had to keep running in and out of dungeons to grind and heal until the enemies weren't a problem anymore. When the enemies aren't a problem anymore, you don't really need a save point.
FF IV remains the best entry in the series imo. I got started with I, and played every game on release until X. As a child born in Asia, I never thought the numbering of FF would cause such confusion in North America. Great Video!
Thank you so much! In the late '90s and early 2000s, it was still the norm in the west to use the North American numbering. Things have changed in the last 10-15 years, but it still does cause a bit of confusion daily on Reddit and Google 😂
It caused confusion because Final Fantasy 6 was also called Final Fantasy 3 because Final Fantasy 5 wasn’t localized at first either, so Final Fantasy 2, 3 and 5 became completely unknown to most western gamers until they came to the west on the Playstation 1 and on the PlayStation 1 they were called Final Fantasy Origins and Final Fantasy Anthology so people thought they were just new lower budget games at that time and it wasn’t until Final Fantasy 2 was released as Final Fantasy 2 years later on the gba and Final Fantasy 3 finally came out on the DS that people in the west started to understand the order of game releases in the series. It also didn’t help that the SaGa series came to the west as FINAL FANTASY LEGEND and the Mana series started out as FINAL FANTASY ADVENTURE when the series order was still unknown in the west and we were confused even more.
I adore your analysis of the early FF games. Especially that you show so much love for the details within those games and take all of them as pieces of art by themselves.
The freaking MUSIC in this game - The BEST version of the FF Prelude 2 of the 3 best batlle themes in the entire series - the regular boss theme is the best boss theme, the 4 fields battle music is by far the best special battle music, and the final boss music is one of the best in the series. I would say the best regular battle music in the series is clearly FFVII (those who fight is fucking untouchable) Toroian Beauty! Red Wings theme! THeme of Love Fabul Theme Mount Ordeals The unreal main FFIV theme esp the overworld. Golbez Theme The land of SUmmoned MOnsters The freaking MOON theme is incredible The Giant of Babel theme My god I love this game
IV remains one of my personal favourites in the series. Faving gotten to FF during PS1 era I first played IV with the Anthology port and it was so cool to see where the Final Fantasy formula of later games came from. Despite the game being old I still got sucked to Cecil's grand adventure with the memorable cast of characters. And that soundtrack was just amazing. Definitely one of the best in the series and it helped make so many of the scenes in the game unforgettable.
Agreed! Not counting games with only a few tracks to them like SMB, the incredible soundtrack to FFIV was the first one as a kid I had memorized and still recall near-perfectly to this day. I still haven't seen Nobuo Uematsu live in concert, but I certainly plan on it.
@@Altercate *Jealous...* I *still* beat myself up over the one year I didn't go to Magfest, and he was there doing all sorts of stuff between performances, Q&A's, and jam sessions with fans. 😭
@@Hausbrauen That sounds amazing! :O I'm so glad I was able to catch him performing with the Earthbound Papas (successor to Black Mages) in Stockholm in 2014. Doubt I'll ever enjoy another concert that much in my life...
As usual, a beautiful retrospective which captures my love for a really underappreciated game. Always love your work, and hope to see more of it whenever possible. Have you been playing Stranger of Paradise?
Thanks William! I'll definitely keep putting out more of these videos. It's what I enjoy making the most, but as you can imagine it takes a lot of effort to create one of these videos. Having such a passionate supporter like you really helps keep me motivated to work hard. :) Yes, I've been playing Stranger of Paradise and overall enjoying it quite a bit! I'm planning to put out some sort of review/critique video in the near future, but I decided to take my time and really get "done" with the game before I get around to it. What about you, have you been playing the game? If so, what do you think?
@@Altercate Well, I’m definitely aware of some of the shortcomings, like the graphics and the weird delivery of story beats. But I enjoy the game. I’m new to the souls-likes genre, so I’m dying A LOT, but I’m really enjoying mixing and matching classes. I’ll play any FF game at least once!
@@williamishee9533 The job system is great so far! I'm really enjoying how much freedom you have in mixing and matching combos, commands, job abilities, etc. I'm new to souls-like games too. I find single player a LOT harder than multiplayer, though! My friend and I have been tearing through the game on multiplayer while it took me 40 tries to beat Tiamat on single player lol. Overall, I'm really impressed by just how solid the game feels! When the first trailers came out I really thought this was going to be a quick cash grab with some basic features, but it really feels like a legit Final Fantasy spinoff. :)
@@Altercate haha, if I had any friends playing I would definitely try it. I’m loving the Sage! Anyways, I’m looking forward to your review or critique! I agree that it feels like a real effort!
Still the best game in the franchise. Straightforward, just enough little side content, fun little boss mechanics. It's simplicity at its best. (Definitely nostalgia and rose tinted glasses opinion)
Personally speaking while I don’t really feel like FFIV is really the first true FF entry. FF III was really the one that made Final Fantasy in Japan a juggernaut. With it sometimes being labeled as the Mario 3 in Final Fantasy. While IV kept the ball rolling and only defined the many aspects from the previous entries. I think part of that was how neither FF II or III made it out over here and didn’t arrive outside of Japan until the 2000’s. While FFIV arrived the same year as it was released and as such was there first real entry for westerners. That’s not to say I don’t agree, far from it. I still think FFIV is a really great game especially since while it wasn’t my first FF game i've played. It was really the first one I was able to complete. And there are many things about the game that stands out such as how it’s one of the only main entries where you have 5 members on the battlefield instead of the usual 4 or 3. The game is well paced, and many of the characters such as Cecil, Kain, and Rydia remain my favorites. And It’s a great entry to start if your not familiar with the series. Glad to see you making these videos. And can’t wait to see more!
I honestly think FF2 and FF3 would've done very well in the west and would have a much better reputation today if they'd been released in North America back then. I personally would have been madly in love with FF2's weird and clunky leveling system if I played it in the early '90s, that's for sure lol. So I definitely don't think FF4 is the first true FF -- but what I see as defining about FF4 is the commitment to story and character, which became the model for the future games. Even FF5, which takes a step back to the more open-ended gameplay of the earlier games, is still a very narrative-driven game (and imo has a way better story than people give it credit for!) Nice to see you here again Gavin and thanks for your support! I'll definitely keep working hard on making more retrospectives. :)
@@Altercate Your welcome. And it's also great to hear you talk about FFV since most people I see say that FFV has a mediocre story. But I think FFV has a really great story and it's easily among my favorites, much more so then in 6 7 or even some of the later ones. And here's a fun fact. FFIV was originally going to be on the NES with it closely resembling FFIII with the 5th one being on the SNES but midway through development FFIV was dropped and the 5th entry would end up being FFIV. Just something I learned when looking at the development history of FFIV.
@@gavinlucas9761 I was going to bring up the part about this being FF5 but had to cut it for space reasons! Definitely a very interesting story. :) And yes, I think FF5 is way, way better than people give it credit for. I hope to do the game justice in my upcoming retro!
I want to replay FF IV so bad and I could at any moment, but I won't because I want to play it in the Pixel remaster and I'm the type that wouldn't be able to play it so soon after recently beating it. I remember the first time I played it was in high school on the Final Fantasy Chronicles on Playstation. I didn't like it at first, but over time it really grew on me. I've beaten it probably 3 times. I love Cecil as a character even if he is a bit cliche by today's standards in gaming
What a beautiful and thorough love letter to an important game. I've played FFIV a couple of times without being fully enamoured by it, but you've persuaded me to give it another look with fresh eyes. Which modern translation would you say is your favourite?
I’m glad I was able to convey something beatiful about the game! I personally really enjoy the Pixel Remaster version of the game for staying so close to the original experience, but the 3D remake (available on Steam if you don’t have any of the relevant older consoles) probably tells the best version of the story! :)
@@Altercate Thanks for the tips! Last year I tried the Steam version and enjoyed it for the cutscenes and difficulty, but there was something about the maps being so zoomed in that was off-putting. I think I'll try the pixel remaster next!
my first final fantasy. i grew up watching my dad play ff1 and parts of ff4 (which we know as 2), and at 7 years old, i remember being so enraptured by the music and the story that i understood as best i could. i wish i could experience that game for the first time again. i’m still chasing the high it gave me as a kid. to date, only ff6 has come close
Cecil: "Damn Rydia, you went from being a milk-drinker to being a milk-provider." Rydia: "I am putting you on a list, Cecil. Calling the FBI right now." Cecil: "What?" Rydia: "Yes officer, this man right there."
80s vet of PC RPGs, new to FF, played Pixel Remaster. I was genuinely impressed by FF4 as it had all the charm I enjoyed in the first three games, but an honest to goodness story that ventured a lot further down the sci-fi path than just steampunky airships. It was also the first where brute force wasn't always the answer as I do use the Boosts in PR and I tend to be fairly over-leveled. If I had known there was stuff like this on consoles back in the day, I wouldn't have jumped from the 2600 to PS3 with PCs in between.
FFII, errr, FFIV, was a game changer (no pun intended) for us young '90s teens. The first game was very much the true RPG you refer to FFIII as being the last of. If anything, we played the role of the characters to an extreme, as we picked our classes, named the Light Warriors, and proceeded to embark on the adventure while having to use our imagination to flesh out each of our choices. Going from that to a game with a much more in-depth story and characters who already had some backstory and history was amazing, to me at least. Instead of four random nobodies who had a rendezvous with destiny, we took the role of two of Baron's most powerful and senior military officers: Cecil and Kain. From there, we endured numerous trials as our party constantly changed, with a few plot twists leading to allies becoming foes and vice versa. For the past 25 or so years, we've been able to enjoy the games that weren't originally released in North America, giving us much more insight into the evolution of Final Fantasy. In 1991, though, all we knew was that "FFII" was a vast improvement on the first game, and when "FFIII" was released a little over three years later, it marked an even more impressive feat of technological and gameplay evolution.
Hmm. FF16 instead of making the game easier for north america they decided on no turn based. Oh that Revenge FF16 trailer has that piller scene with the two pilars and the night sky with the moon, man they want to rouse my emotions for FF4 with a similar scene. I hope that FF16 has a similar effect to the franchise that FF4 did back then. Have a good driving storyline.
Definitely keeping my fingers crossed that FF16 will be a return to form in storytelling! None of the mainline games (except for FF14 which is a special case) have really nailed it storywise since FF10 imho.
@Altercate SC Yeah. Unfortunatly I never had a PS2 at the time so the first FF title I got at launch was the FF tactics advance then FF13. I really do hope it's on track. I want the story to be a spark of a new FF renaissance.
I can enjoy the OST for the FF games on NES lol I strongly disagree with you on this. I agree the composer as a newbie, but even so he did amazingly. I love the OST for the first FF on the NES.
The Japanese creator's of FF4 really know how to insult a person. I played the version with all those extras and it wasn't hard at all not only that most of them were not necessary for game play.
What's bad is that these pastors are teaching these people to run when challenged about their belief. It's evident that you're pretending to believe in something rather than actually believing in what you claim you believe in. Fear of being challenged I'm your belief is crazy to me.
I played 3 versions: The PS 1 Version, the advanced Version and the pixel remaster and it was great fun but also hard as hell. To me ff4 will always be the hardest FF of all
I remember my first time playing the jap translated version and was shocked by the changes we didnt get. Knowing it was a easy mode variant makes sense.
🛑 I’VE MOVED! Check out my new channel for retrospectives, reviews, and critiques here:
th-cam.com/channels/6D4FlECbW_1KT_Z472LukQ.htmlfeatured
I love this game so much it hurts. I hope that comes across in the video. 😂
This is my longest video so far, but it could have been infinitely longer. My first, rough draft would have been over six hours long in video form. You have no idea how much discipline it took for me to cut out that much content lol.
I worked super hard on this video, and I hope it shows.
If you have any questions or comments, let me know! And thanks for supporting me. 😍
I would totally watch the full 6 hour version
@@luki1234567890123 Same! I share in Altercate's love (along with many many others here) for this historic yet fully-justifiably beloved game... so seeing such passion for it makes me feel very much at home. ♡
I’m on the final dungeon of IV and it’s my favorite so far… I’m playing them in order so I have V and VI left, but this one felt the most modern and textured of all the stories so far. This video is fantastic and keep up these retrospectives!
@@BurnoutsAndBourbon Thank you so much! :)
I definitely plan on keeping up the retrospectives! I'm actually in the process of splitting my channel right now since this channel is very StarCraft dominated. My new channel is here if you're interested:
th-cam.com/channels/6D4FlECbW_1KT_Z472LukQ.htmlfeatured
Have fun with FFV and FFVI :D
Like many out there, FFIV on the SNES was the first JRPG/video game RPG I got into at 7 years old. While I was an adept reader for my age, I was completely clueless how the game worked since I was exploring it completely on my own (without an older veteran's help nor a strategy guide). Shamefully I recall thinking the first time I got to the in-game menu screen, *I thought I was fighting Dark Knight Cecil while looking at his portrait* lmao. After grasping it I recall getting up to the first battle with Milon on Mt. Ordeals, and for some reason I was stuck there for weeks. In retrospect I have no idea why this specific battle was so tough, since it's always a total breeze now even compared to most boss battles in this game.
Of course eventually, it all clicked and frankly helped shape the person I am to this day. For me it was not only where the series began, and not only it changed how I thought about video games completely, but by experiencing it at that age *Final Fantasy IV drastically helped surpass the very limits of my imagination and creativity.* Today I'm just happy to see this incredible piece of history had a similarly profound impact on many others out there.
And all biases aside, this video was *incredibly* well done by the way.
Thanks for sharing, love the part about thinking you're fighting Cecil on the menu! Your kind comment just made my day -- as you can imagine, I put a lot of heart and soul into these videos so it means a lot to me to get such nice feedback. :)
This is a great look back at FFIV. You did a great job in communicating your love for this title.
I'm gonna be that person to defend "Spoony". It's a very old (c. late 1800s) term for "foolish", especially foolishness coming from being overly sentimental. Tellah is mainly characterized by being very old, so it would make sense for him to use such an archaic word in this context.
That being said, this deeper understanding of a seemingly random word comes after decades separated from when the game was originally translated, when this information would be much more obscure than it is now. Adding to that, Tellah doesn't really ever use any other archaic terminology, so we have no context for this word actually being appropriate. This really does read like a non English speaker looking up a word to mean "sentimentally foolish" without realizing the word fell out of use over 100 years prior.
I feel like the line could still be salvaged while preserving the emotion of the scene by taking a hatchet to Tellah's translation and having him consistently using older, obscure vocabulary especially when he gets excited or emotional.
Thanks for commenting! I think you made a great point about the suitability of the word, and it would be really cool to have Tellah speak in a more consistent "old man voice". :D
My beef with "spoony bard" isn't so much that it's the wrong word to use, but rather that it doesn't convey the original meaning of the dialogue (I believe Tellah's line in Japanese is more along the lines of "why should I listen to anything you say?").
Worse, the unintentionally funny line (for younger audiences, including myself) really damaged the scene as a whole. I do believe a native English speaker would have done a better job in treading carefully here to ensure that the scene didn't lose its emotional impact.
Regardless of the translation, I believe that this scene was actually supposed to be goofy: An old man beating a harmless bard with a stick, doing abysmally low damage numbers while the totally overkill boss battle music is playing.
The scene portrays Tellah quickly going through the stages of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining. It's only after those that the tone radically shifts, it becomes serious, the "Sadness Theme" starts playing, and Tellah realizes that Anna is actually going to die (depression/acceptance).
Final Fantasy likes to quickly shift tones between goofy and serious (and many more). For instance, I know that FF6 does that a lot with Kefka. Maybe the change was too quick in that scene in FF4, but then it's more a problem with the pacing than the translation.
On the other hand, Altercate didn't talk about how Cid's sacrifice becomes meaningless when you see him being alive still. I mean, the guy jumps from an airship, explodes himself while falling to his doom with enough explosives to collapse a whole cavern, has the whole thing collapse on him and doesn't die. (The same can be said for Yang.) It's pretty obvious that the whole story is a joke at this point... and there's nothing wrong with that; it's just like watching a cartoon. It's clear that Altercate understands this to a certain extent with how the inspirational speech at the end of the video (which I love) shifts to the goofy "paladins riding spaceships to fight dragons on the moon".
Ultimately, whether someone considers the "spoony bard" line detrimental or not is just a matter of taste.
@@Xhamon Fair point :) And yes, I was going to talk about the fake deaths, but I had to cut it to save space lol.
My very first Final Fantasy, the reason I LOVE RPGs! I will never forget the absolute tension I felt when defending Fabul. I'll never forget Cecil becoming a Paladin and fighting his darkness. I'll never forget the absolute elation I felt in finally defeating the Magus Sisters and Barbaricia! Also, Ill never forget the joy and sheer energy of Rydia returning to save you from certain DEATH with her own Mist Dragon!!
Always, this game will forever be my favorite! Thankyou for your effort and attention to detail, wonderful Content! 😊
Thanks for sharing! It really was an amazing game for its time! 😀
@@Altercate damn right! Can't wait for your next one 😁😁
Fabul (I always pronounced it Fay-byu-ull, not Fah-bool) had such incredible music - clearly asian inspired, I can't believe they made Yang blond in the 3D remake, which I otherwise liked.
Could you please resume your SC2 series? I really love your content on that game and I just got into it. Your explanations and joy with which you explained every thing made me grind at it for the past days. I hope you'll grow more soon too! This game is a hidden treasure :D
Thanks for your kind words! I've been hoping to get back into the series, but unfortunately right now I'm not sure when/if it's going to happen... Sorry to disappoint!
Congratulations! It's your best video so far. I know the long videos are the hardest ones to make, but that's great quality content right here. I've always liked your videos and I was hoping for something like this one. I also hope we can have more of these. Congrats again and keep up the good job!
Thank you so much for saying that, Rodrigo! It really means a lot to me :D
12 year old me was blown away when Rydia shows up to stop Golbez from killing Cecil in the dwarf castle's crystal room.
Very cool moment for sure! :)
A few years back I came across an interview with Uematsu (I forget where, but I occasionally see discussions from this float around the internet) in regards to when he had either completed or nearly completed the soundtrack to FFIV while exploring the capabilities of the Super Famicom's soundchip. Around this same time, Uematsu also got his hands on Actraiser. The symphonic quality of Actraiser's revolutionary soundtrack (by Yuzo Koshiro) *completely* blew Uematsu away, as the current work on FFIV simply did not come near the quality of Actraiser's soundtrack, and he had no idea the Super Famicom was even capable of such realistic-sounding instruments with such an emotionally-grabbing score.
This completely freaked out Uematsu, *to the point that he scrapped the entire soundtrack to FFIV and started over,* bringing an entirely new level of quality to it that hadn't been there previously. So in a way, arguably some credit goes to Yuzo Koshiro for motivating/inspiring Uematsu to make FFIV's soundtrack that much better. Still, I *really* wish I could hear the original FFIV soundtrack... but from what I understand it was either never made public, or is simply lost to time.
Thanks for sharing! That's super interesting. I loved Actraiser and its soundtrack definitely blew me away back in the day. Great to hear that it had such a big impact on the Final Fantasy series. :)
true the Actraiser soundtrack was the first soundtrack to really demonstrated the SNES capability and is still incredible to this day
Fantastic video and epic retrospective (honestly, all of your retrospectives are beautiful)! I really really would watch an "Altercate cut" edition with all deleted scene :D
Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me! :) Maybe one day I'll be able to release the longer version haha.
It's actually one of the first Final Fantasy heck FIRST RPG I ever played in general. I was playing the GBA at the time and was blown away by its story and the turned based battle system and level up system. Until my second was Pokemon like everyone else have at the time
Thanks for sharing! It's a great first RPG, and the GBA version is really nice! :)
@@Altercate I wanna comment you and your Videos alike: I liked your Video series and I find them as an amazing learning experience next to Wut Happun series From Mac mcmuscles because I like watching Documentary in videos. I find your Voice to be easier to understand because it sounds like you're calm and very informative and your editing were professional like what. Really love how you did in your reviews on FF series so far and I would like to see more of your contents in the future. :)
@@Mighty10917 Thank you so much for saying that! That makes me very happy to hear :D
The first time I played FF4 was on the Gba. Got the game and played it as a treat for myself when I went to drive 8 hours to see my grandma for the last time in 2006 before her alzheimer's kicked in. Man I had energy back then. I was driving in the end of August during heavy rain at the start of the drive around 10 or 11pm. I remember screwing up in Saskatoon, Sask. I had to drive back to the husky truck stop outside the city to get the correct drive patern(Did not have a map for Saskatoon at the time, no cell phone just printed google maps). Got to Regina Beach, Sask around 7 to 7:30am. Then I was still up until like 3pm in the afternoon and then I fell asleep with my DS. FF4 was 20 dollars at the time for the GBA and played the heck out of that. Later when I got back home after the 1 week with my grandma, I even saw the karate kid on TV at the time when I was at that manakin boss and other world ridia location near the end. Good times. I think that was the same night that my now sister in law was drunk and hit her leg on the wooden bedframe hidden under the matress in the spare bedroom downstairs. She said "Owie" in a super girly way that I was surprised since sober she's no way super girly. The next day she was swearing about why her leg was hurting so much. Man good times.
Having Cecil loose darkness in his dark knight form was even more impactful than just leaving him with rather dull moveset. When you get to the pinnacle of Mt Ordeals, even in the SNES version, your reflection uses the darkness skill against you, but since you've never used it, you have no way to know that your opponent is using up his own HP to attack you, since you've never used the skill yourself. Add to that the translation there wasn't very good, and most people I knew playing the game at the time actually tried to kill Cecil rather than just defend against his attacks.
You're right, that scene really works a lot better in the original game!
Something I noticed in the battle after the game told me in no uncertain terms to stop attacking was the Dark Knight Cecil will eventually kill himself anyways by abusing Darkness on a single target anyways. So you don't need to attack so much as survive that fight.
@@ZX-Gear newer translations are better about this, but the original SNES translation wasn't very clear that you don't need to attack.
@@anthonydelfino6171 I played with the Chronicles Reelease as my first hame
I got this on the SNES when I was 14. I was completely swept away into this amazing adventure. Such great memories! 👍
I remember playing this on SNES and it had my full attention from start to finish ❤
such an incredible game! watching this makes me want to dust it off and play it again!
❤
Great retrospective. I think you'll look back on this Final Fantasy series with quite some pride when all is said and done. I first came across FFIV on the Nintendo DS, and it was my first non-Pokemon command-style RPG. What was most striking at the time was the carefully and perfectly plotted narrative, as airtight and cohesive as a symphony. Other RPGs have had characters with greater psychological depth (such as Square's own FFVII) but IV will always stand as a nearly perfect narrative and the archetype for 16-bit JRPG classics to come (DQV, FFVI, Chrono Trigger).
Thank you so much for your kind words! :)
And yes, there's just something so pure and perfect about IV's story, none of the other games -- even the ones that I ultimately like better overall -- feel quite like it.
Could not click fast enough. Excellent video. Excellent game. Excellent use of my time. (Also should have the title say the full 'Final Fantasy IV/4' so it's more easily searchable)
Thank you so much! :D And thanks for the feedback, that's a good point.
Truly a gem that still holds up today from a story standpoint (newer translations at least!).
SO FLIPPING EXCITED. CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH!!! 🤩🤩🤩
Hey William! I hope you like it :D
@@Altercate Knowing you, I’m gonna LOVE it. Your videos speak deeply to someone like me who is just in love with the FF franchise.
I've played Final Fantasy 1 and 2 years after I played 4, 7, and 8 and I really didn't even think about save points not being in the dungeons in 1 and 2 until you pointed it out. It's been a while, but I feel like it was basically impossible to reliably run away from fights in 1 and 2 and enemies would just stomp you if you weren't properly leveled so you just had to keep running in and out of dungeons to grind and heal until the enemies weren't a problem anymore. When the enemies aren't a problem anymore, you don't really need a save point.
Will always be my #1 favorite
Awesome video! Thanks for making it. I loved this game as a kid.
Thank you so much! Glad you liked the video :)
FF IV remains the best entry in the series imo. I got started with I, and played every game on release until X. As a child born in Asia, I never thought the numbering of FF would cause such confusion in North America. Great Video!
Thank you so much! In the late '90s and early 2000s, it was still the norm in the west to use the North American numbering. Things have changed in the last 10-15 years, but it still does cause a bit of confusion daily on Reddit and Google 😂
It caused confusion because Final Fantasy 6 was also called Final Fantasy 3 because Final Fantasy 5 wasn’t localized at first either, so Final Fantasy 2, 3 and 5 became completely unknown to most western gamers until they came to the west on the Playstation 1 and on the PlayStation 1 they were called Final Fantasy Origins and Final Fantasy Anthology so people thought they were just new lower budget games at that time and it wasn’t until Final Fantasy 2 was released as Final Fantasy 2 years later on the gba and Final Fantasy 3 finally came out on the DS that people in the west started to understand the order of game releases in the series.
It also didn’t help that the SaGa series came to the west as FINAL FANTASY LEGEND and the Mana series started out as FINAL FANTASY ADVENTURE when the series order was still unknown in the west and we were confused even more.
I adore your analysis of the early FF games. Especially that you show so much love for the details within those games and take all of them as pieces of art by themselves.
The freaking MUSIC in this game - The BEST version of the FF Prelude
2 of the 3 best batlle themes in the entire series - the regular boss theme is the best boss theme, the 4 fields battle music is by far the best special battle music, and the final boss music is one of the best in the series. I would say the best regular battle music in the series is clearly FFVII (those who fight is fucking untouchable)
Toroian Beauty!
Red Wings theme!
THeme of Love
Fabul Theme
Mount Ordeals
The unreal main FFIV theme esp the overworld.
Golbez Theme
The land of SUmmoned MOnsters
The freaking MOON theme is incredible
The Giant of Babel theme
My god I love this game
Amazing soundtrack for sure! The final boss battle theme is truly epic :)
You nailed it!
IV remains one of my personal favourites in the series. Faving gotten to FF during PS1 era I first played IV with the Anthology port and it was so cool to see where the Final Fantasy formula of later games came from. Despite the game being old I still got sucked to Cecil's grand adventure with the memorable cast of characters.
And that soundtrack was just amazing. Definitely one of the best in the series and it helped make so many of the scenes in the game unforgettable.
Agreed! Not counting games with only a few tracks to them like SMB, the incredible soundtrack to FFIV was the first one as a kid I had memorized and still recall near-perfectly to this day.
I still haven't seen Nobuo Uematsu live in concert, but I certainly plan on it.
I've been fortunate enough to catch Uematsu in concert and it's definitely a memory to last a lifetime! 😍
@@Altercate *Jealous...*
I *still* beat myself up over the one year I didn't go to Magfest, and he was there doing all sorts of stuff between performances, Q&A's, and jam sessions with fans. 😭
@@Hausbrauen That sounds amazing! :O
I'm so glad I was able to catch him performing with the Earthbound Papas (successor to Black Mages) in Stockholm in 2014. Doubt I'll ever enjoy another concert that much in my life...
As usual, a beautiful retrospective which captures my love for a really underappreciated game. Always love your work, and hope to see more of it whenever possible.
Have you been playing Stranger of Paradise?
Thanks William! I'll definitely keep putting out more of these videos. It's what I enjoy making the most, but as you can imagine it takes a lot of effort to create one of these videos. Having such a passionate supporter like you really helps keep me motivated to work hard. :)
Yes, I've been playing Stranger of Paradise and overall enjoying it quite a bit! I'm planning to put out some sort of review/critique video in the near future, but I decided to take my time and really get "done" with the game before I get around to it.
What about you, have you been playing the game? If so, what do you think?
@@Altercate Well, I’m definitely aware of some of the shortcomings, like the graphics and the weird delivery of story beats. But I enjoy the game. I’m new to the souls-likes genre, so I’m dying A LOT, but I’m really enjoying mixing and matching classes. I’ll play any FF game at least once!
@@williamishee9533 The job system is great so far! I'm really enjoying how much freedom you have in mixing and matching combos, commands, job abilities, etc.
I'm new to souls-like games too. I find single player a LOT harder than multiplayer, though! My friend and I have been tearing through the game on multiplayer while it took me 40 tries to beat Tiamat on single player lol.
Overall, I'm really impressed by just how solid the game feels! When the first trailers came out I really thought this was going to be a quick cash grab with some basic features, but it really feels like a legit Final Fantasy spinoff. :)
@@Altercate haha, if I had any friends playing I would definitely try it. I’m loving the Sage! Anyways, I’m looking forward to your review or critique! I agree that it feels like a real effort!
Still the best game in the franchise. Straightforward, just enough little side content, fun little boss mechanics. It's simplicity at its best. (Definitely nostalgia and rose tinted glasses opinion)
agreed!
6 just a tad better
Great video!
Thank you! :)
Personally speaking while I don’t really feel like FFIV is really the first true FF entry. FF III was really the one that made Final Fantasy in Japan a juggernaut. With it sometimes being labeled as the Mario 3 in Final Fantasy.
While IV kept the ball rolling and only defined the many aspects from the previous entries.
I think part of that was how neither FF II or III made it out over here and didn’t arrive outside of Japan until the 2000’s. While FFIV arrived the same year as it was released and as such was there first real entry for westerners.
That’s not to say I don’t agree, far from it. I still think FFIV is a really great game especially since while it wasn’t my first FF game i've played. It was really the first one I was able to complete. And there are many things about the game that stands out such as how it’s one of the only main entries where you have 5 members on the battlefield instead of the usual 4 or 3. The game is well paced, and many of the characters such as Cecil, Kain, and Rydia remain my favorites. And It’s a great entry to start if your not familiar with the series.
Glad to see you making these videos. And can’t wait to see more!
I honestly think FF2 and FF3 would've done very well in the west and would have a much better reputation today if they'd been released in North America back then. I personally would have been madly in love with FF2's weird and clunky leveling system if I played it in the early '90s, that's for sure lol.
So I definitely don't think FF4 is the first true FF -- but what I see as defining about FF4 is the commitment to story and character, which became the model for the future games. Even FF5, which takes a step back to the more open-ended gameplay of the earlier games, is still a very narrative-driven game (and imo has a way better story than people give it credit for!)
Nice to see you here again Gavin and thanks for your support! I'll definitely keep working hard on making more retrospectives. :)
@@Altercate Your welcome. And it's also great to hear you talk about FFV since most people I see say that FFV has a mediocre story. But I think FFV has a really great story and it's easily among my favorites, much more so then in 6 7 or even some of the later ones.
And here's a fun fact. FFIV was originally going to be on the NES with it closely resembling FFIII with the 5th one being on the SNES but midway through development FFIV was dropped and the 5th entry would end up being FFIV. Just something I learned when looking at the development history of FFIV.
@@gavinlucas9761 I was going to bring up the part about this being FF5 but had to cut it for space reasons! Definitely a very interesting story. :)
And yes, I think FF5 is way, way better than people give it credit for. I hope to do the game justice in my upcoming retro!
I want to replay FF IV so bad and I could at any moment, but I won't because I want to play it in the Pixel remaster and I'm the type that wouldn't be able to play it so soon after recently beating it.
I remember the first time I played it was in high school on the Final Fantasy Chronicles on Playstation. I didn't like it at first, but over time it really grew on me. I've beaten it probably 3 times. I love Cecil as a character even if he is a bit cliche by today's standards in gaming
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the game! :)
My favourite game of all time. There is NO more epic high fantasy game soundtrack
What a beautiful and thorough love letter to an important game. I've played FFIV a couple of times without being fully enamoured by it, but you've persuaded me to give it another look with fresh eyes. Which modern translation would you say is your favourite?
I’m glad I was able to convey something beatiful about the game! I personally really enjoy the Pixel Remaster version of the game for staying so close to the original experience, but the 3D remake (available on Steam if you don’t have any of the relevant older consoles) probably tells the best version of the story! :)
@@Altercate Thanks for the tips! Last year I tried the Steam version and enjoyed it for the cutscenes and difficulty, but there was something about the maps being so zoomed in that was off-putting. I think I'll try the pixel remaster next!
Wow Goldstar TV! It brings me back =)
Thanks so much! :)
2:26 oooh the irony....
We basically got final fantasy 2 as the first installment of the SaGa series (legend 1). Same sort of leveling system if you played mutants.
I’ve got to go play all those games some day! The only SaGa I’ve played is SaGa Frontier 2.
my first final fantasy. i grew up watching my dad play ff1 and parts of ff4 (which we know as 2), and at 7 years old, i remember being so enraptured by the music and the story that i understood as best i could. i wish i could experience that game for the first time again. i’m still chasing the high it gave me as a kid. to date, only ff6 has come close
46:21: But the bard _was_ spoony. They checked!
Can’t argue with hard facts! 😂
Riktigt bra video! FFIV är ett av mina favorit-FF, även om jag bara kört PSP-versionen. FFVI är dock bäst! 😉
Tack så mycket! :D Ja, FF6 är galet bra. Min retro om spelet kommer senare i år. :)
@@Altercate Ser jag fram emot! :)
The absolute masterpiece of the series, along with FFVI.
Cecil: "Damn Rydia, you went from being a milk-drinker to being a milk-provider."
Rydia: "I am putting you on a list, Cecil. Calling the FBI right now."
Cecil: "What?"
Rydia: "Yes officer, this man right there."
80s vet of PC RPGs, new to FF, played Pixel Remaster.
I was genuinely impressed by FF4 as it had all the charm I enjoyed in the first three games, but an honest to goodness story that ventured a lot further down the sci-fi path than just steampunky airships.
It was also the first where brute force wasn't always the answer as I do use the Boosts in PR and I tend to be fairly over-leveled.
If I had known there was stuff like this on consoles back in the day, I wouldn't have jumped from the 2600 to PS3 with PCs in between.
FFII, errr, FFIV, was a game changer (no pun intended) for us young '90s teens. The first game was very much the true RPG you refer to FFIII as being the last of. If anything, we played the role of the characters to an extreme, as we picked our classes, named the Light Warriors, and proceeded to embark on the adventure while having to use our imagination to flesh out each of our choices. Going from that to a game with a much more in-depth story and characters who already had some backstory and history was amazing, to me at least. Instead of four random nobodies who had a rendezvous with destiny, we took the role of two of Baron's most powerful and senior military officers: Cecil and Kain. From there, we endured numerous trials as our party constantly changed, with a few plot twists leading to allies becoming foes and vice versa.
For the past 25 or so years, we've been able to enjoy the games that weren't originally released in North America, giving us much more insight into the evolution of Final Fantasy. In 1991, though, all we knew was that "FFII" was a vast improvement on the first game, and when "FFIII" was released a little over three years later, it marked an even more impressive feat of technological and gameplay evolution.
47:08
and give him almost no time to do it.
Lol yeah, what a crazy story that is. Can't wait to dig into that in my FF6 retro! :)
The Blueprint to Square's Success and I see a picture of Rydia! Finally someone who understands that it wasn't FF7 that did this!
Nice , gonna grab 4 next now because of this video
Do one for V now
Thanks! My FFV vid is here:
th-cam.com/video/bnF3JwK1Bss/w-d-xo.html
@@Altercate nice 👍
Make more videos they were good
Hot take
Best FF game made
Now that I think about it, Celes was the Rydia of FFVI.
Hmm. FF16 instead of making the game easier for north america they decided on no turn based. Oh that Revenge FF16 trailer has that piller scene with the two pilars and the night sky with the moon, man they want to rouse my emotions for FF4 with a similar scene. I hope that FF16 has a similar effect to the franchise that FF4 did back then. Have a good driving storyline.
Definitely keeping my fingers crossed that FF16 will be a return to form in storytelling! None of the mainline games (except for FF14 which is a special case) have really nailed it storywise since FF10 imho.
@Altercate SC Yeah. Unfortunatly I never had a PS2 at the time so the first FF title I got at launch was the FF tactics advance then FF13. I really do hope it's on track. I want the story to be a spark of a new FF renaissance.
I can enjoy the OST for the FF games on NES lol I strongly disagree with you on this. I agree the composer as a newbie, but even so he did amazingly. I love the OST for the first FF on the NES.
The Japanese creator's of FF4 really know how to insult a person. I played the version with all those extras and it wasn't hard at all not only that most of them were not necessary for game play.
The restriction of player freedom is what makes FFIV my least favorite entry in the series.
What's bad is that these pastors are teaching these people to run when challenged about their belief. It's evident that you're pretending to believe in something rather than actually believing in what you claim you believe in. Fear of being challenged I'm your belief is crazy to me.
✌️
Almost a great video if you didn't say Cecil's name wrong.
your video are too long, get to the point and stop repeating yourself... meanwhile , liked and subbed
I played 3 versions:
The PS 1 Version, the advanced Version and the pixel remaster and it was great fun but also hard as hell.
To me ff4 will always be the hardest FF of all
I remember my first time playing the jap translated version and was shocked by the changes we didnt get. Knowing it was a easy mode variant makes sense.