My early impressions.
1: Opening Video
Is great. It begins with the Mysidia crystal, and the Theme of Love begins playing. Scene changes to Cecil standing on the balcony in Baron, pan down from the two moons. Rosa walks up behind him, then we see Kain standing off in the shadows, the Red Wings lift off and the scene changes again. World map theme begins, we see Yang training on a plateau, then Edward playing a lute in the woods, then Kain jumping around on mountain peaks, Palom and Porom flying and lighting up some wicked twin magic, Edge facing off against Rubicant, group shot, Rydia summoning, Airship shot, party walking near a crystal, tower of babel, then the music changes to the heroic FF theme. We see Kain and Cecil fighting, Rosa praying, Cecil becoming a Paladin, and finally the showdown with Golbez and the four fiends.
The song flares up right as cecil and Golbez clash.
It's just fucking awesome even though it's basically all the same cg we've seen in trailers. I'm agape by the end and I've watched it 30ish times already. Sadly, seeing all the hi-res cg in this video probably means there will be none during the game or in the ending.
2: The Sound
The music is pumped up beyond what it's been before with added layers and harmony. Certain themes can sound a bit tinny when it's turned up too loud on headphones. The crystal theme of FF4 retains the feeling of ascension in the harmony, but adds the softly quivering flute(ish) sound from the FF6 crystal theme, which adds the sense of longing I imagine whenever I hear it >.> The voices all fit the characters, though as of yet I haven't heard Yang speak much beyond some grunts, yells, and shouting Rydia's name as he jumps overboard to save her from Leviathan. Rosa sounds great. Her voice is soft and she seems to express mass empathy when talking to Cecil. Cecil doesn't sound like the huge holy hero. He has done a good job so far of expressing Cecil's weakness and frustration in certain situations, along with his regret, while still maintaining the strength of the party leader. Kain's had 2 great scenes so far: meeting Rydia in Mist and entering the Fabul crystal chamber with Golbez.
I can't aticulate how good Rydia is besides saying she's just fucking great. Edward is perfect. Tellah, Yang, Golbez, and the mage babies haven't had much spoken dialogue yet.
3: Battle
The fights take place on the top screen while the bottom screen displays HP, MP, ATB, status, and help information. You can change the order of commands in the battle menu (attack, cover, magic, etc.). The camera angle mimics the old FF4 angle, with our party on the right and the enemy on the left, unlike the past though, our party is still on the right in back attacks. Each character has three or four attack animations, including a unique animation for critical attacks. Each character has an idle stance (taken while their atb fills up) and a stance for when actions are queued. Weapons and shields are visible and every piece in the game has its own model. One new thing I like is the casting bar. When you queue an action, whether it be an item, ability, or spell, the atb bar must refill before the action is taken. The charge time changes depending on the action. Attacks are instant, items are short, magic spells vary. The frontline fighter characters look great. Cecil Drk weilds a greatsword, which he holds back over his shoulder while idle, then holds out in front of him, pointed forward and crouching while an action is queued. His crit animation is a huge spinning slash, it looks great. Each magic style has only one animation.
Souleater was changed so that it's no longer a huge killeverythinginsight wave. It works more like a buff, similar to FFXI souleater. You have Cecil use it on himself, then attack enemies as he normally would. Damage is added and his hp is reduced, it lasts for several turns.
Kain fights with his right hand!
This version of FF4 has 2 brand new ability features. Companionship and Decant, which I'm still trying to figure out. Decant are abilities that become available at certain key points in the story, and companionship allows the shared use of abilities, such as giving Edward's songs to Rosa to use.
4: A couple new things
As you travel through a zone the map is uncovered on the bottom screen, if you 100% complete a map, you get a bundle of items as a prize.
There are friends of Naimgway who have different uses, such as rewatching voiced cutscenes.
Rydia starts the game with a weird summon that transforms her into this little white monster called Pochiko.
Pretty sure Rosa's Prayer is 100% success now.
Edward has a kickass Regen song.
Cecil can hurt undead as drk, this made Mount Ordeals a hell of a lot easier.
Character icons on the party status menu are somewhat disappointing, besides Kain.
Long story short: it's fucking awesome so far.
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Some stories can't be told with words, some legends are meant to die
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PS3 Friend list name: Pantherxx Wii code 1629-0463-4657-0263 (revised 9/28/07) Steam ID - Pantherxx010 62BLU 75PLD Reactived 7/5/10 