Final Fantasy IV is a title that a great number of video gamers, including myself, have fond memories of. Truth be told, it was the first ‘real’ RPG I ever played. It started as a 3 day rental from BlockBuster and, yes, I beat it within that time frame as I was completely obsessed with it for those days.  Anyways, since its appearance on the Super Nintendo, it has been re-released a few times. Of course, being the ravenous fan of Square that I am, I bought each release and played it through. The latest reincarnation brings this timeless classic to the Nintendo DS. …but this is no simple remake or port. In my opinion, it genuinely feels like a brand new game that stands tall among the ‘modern’ RPGs we have seen on the 360 and PS3, just on two very tiny LCD screens. To make things short, it’s a fantastic game. If you want to read what I have to say about Final Fantasy IV DS, make the jump.

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GameTrailers posted this nice preview of Final Fantasy IV DS sometime yesterday. I have to admit I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time now. As you may know, Final Fantasy IV DS is a full remake of the original and I have to agree with this preview in saying that I don’t even consider this a port. It really does look, sound and feel like a brand new game. After the jump, you can view a side-by-side comparison of Final Fantasy IV DS and the one from the GameBoy Advance. The differences are staggering. Anyways, I’m off to play it now. Remember to make the jump for a glimpse of the aforementioned comparison, the opening cinematic and a few other videos. Enjoy!

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I wasn’t going to start back up with my writing quite yet, but this got me all excited! Well, sort of. Square-Enix have announced that Chrono Trigger is coming to the DS. When I saw that subject line in my inbox, the first thing I thought was a Final Fantasy III/IV style remake. Alas, I was wrong. It is just a port that supports dual screens. It seems that the only new addtion(s) to the game will be a “brand new dungeon and a Wireless Play mode.” I have no clue what the Wireless Play mode will do, but it will be interesting (I hope) to see what it turns out to be. Anyways, I love this game, but chances are very good I won’t buy it and just continue to whip out my old SNES cart or PS1 version of it whenever I want to play.

So there you have it. Will you buy it when it becomes available this holiday season? I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has never played it before or doesn’t already have a copy of it. This classic, at least in my mind, can still give a lot of the RPGs of this generation a good run for their money.

By the way, in case you want all the dirty details, make the jump. Otherwise, take a trip to the Chrono Trigger DS website to stare at a clock (which really does tell the time) and some rotating gears. It’s a damn shame the legal team at Square-Enix put a stop to the Chrono Trigger Resurrection project….

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Thank goodness! Square-Enix have finally announced that Final Fantasy IV will be available for North American DS owners on July 22, 2008. The part about their announcement today that has me all hot and bothered is that the NA version will indeed feature “fully-voiced dramatic cutscenes.” Final Fantasy IV is one of the finest RPGs out there. The story is fast paced, the soundtrack is marvelous and it’s just plain fun. If you’ve never played it and you have a DS, you might want to check it out when it becomes available. As for me, the owner of 3 different versions of the game (SNES/PS1/GBA), I’ll be grabbing it for the fourth time while keeping Square-Enix fat n’ happy.

Check out the official website here or, if you would like to see the full press release with all the details, make the jump. Are you excited? Continue Reading »