Official Countdown: 4 Heroes of Light

[Kugyince]

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Christmas/Demuth-Figure5InGold.jpg


YouTube - Final Fantasy The 4 Heroes of Light E3 2010 Trailer [HD]

---------- Post added 10-01-2010 at 07:09 PM ---------- Previous post was 09-30-2010 at 05:49 PM ----------

http://www.solarpowerrocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/number-4.jpg


YouTube - Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light Trailer - World Exploration Gameplay

[Slime Slayer]

Holy crap, I better start scrounging.

[elrod21]

Me Want. :D

[Kugyince]

http://www.freewebs.com/tomwhittle7/images/3.png

YouTube - Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light - Crown System Trailer [HD]

[Dudebro]

In the artwork the main characters look about 12 or so but the actual game footage makes them look like toddlers. What the hell is going on? It's like game characters are regressing more and more each year. What's next fetal heros who battle their way out of the womb?

Not to totally bash the game, it looks decent besides that.

[Tails]

Just give into the big eyes DB.

[Dudebro]

No thanks I'll just keep playing DQ9. It's got the similar cutesy thing but I can stand it because they look reasonably old enough to actually hold weapons and fight stuff.

[Slime Slayer]

Lol they do look kinda fetal don't they? Doesn't bother me a bit though. I prefer it to a bunch of 15-25 years with stupid characters.

[Dudebro]

Yeah but wouldn't it be better if they were more realistic about the ages? I know SE has this thing about horrible teen characters but that doesn't mean it's impossible to do. I just can't understand why people would want to play as five year olds who somehow save everyone from a big bad evil. It's like a damn disney movie.

[Tails]

SE?

[Dudebro]

Square Enix. I'm used to people typing SE so it's a habit of mine.

[Tails]

I thought they were girlyman?

[Dudebro]

What are you talking about? I hate having to ask but I really don't know how to answer that.

[Tails]

I thought SE made girlmen

[Slime Slayer]

This is coming from a guy who doesn't "get" Chun-Li, it's probably best not to probe.

[Dudebro]

@Steven-You're talking about Tails right?

@Tails- Yea they do but not always. Also it's a choice they make and it appeals to some fans, obviously. I know I'm not part of the target audience but I can still hope that they do it right eventually.

But yeah, I don't wanna derail this topic or bash the game. I only came in here to check the trailers and I wanted to comment after seeing how ridiculous the characters are. I hope you guys enjoy it and keep us posted.

[Kugyince]

http://bahava.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/298649052_2b17d5bec9.jpg

YouTube - Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light - Action Point Battle System Feature [HD]

---------- Post added 10-04-2010 at 04:19 PM ---------- Previous post was 10-03-2010 at 12:00 PM ----------

http://www.dday-overlord.com/img/ins/1st_infantry_division_big_red_one.jpg

4 Heroes is entertaining and unique, combining a streamlined interface with a daunting challenge level. Its take on the classic Job system lacks the complexity of Final Fantasy V (http://retrouprising.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2018223)'s, but it works well with the battle system's use of universal Action Points, making any number of Job combinations viable while rewarding effective tactics and planning. Smart use of classes and equipment here can turn any seemingly impossible battle into a cakewalk. 4 Heroes isn't meant to be a game you can break and exploit -- another difference from modern Final Fantasy fare -- but rather a consistent challenge that tests your understanding of its mechanics and the possibilities inherent in its systems.

[Slime Slayer]

I'm gonna have to wait till Friday to pick it up I think.

[Kugyince]

Getting mine on my way home from work tonight.

[elrod21]

I have to wait until I get paid.

[Slime Slayer]

First impressions?

[Kugyince]

I had 5 paragraphs typed out and accidentally refreshed the page. -_-

Battle system is friggen' epic. Each character has their own separate pool of AP that maxes out at 5. Doing anything in battle costs different amounts of AP. Attacking and using an item costs 1 AP while casting Cure or Fire costs 2 AP.

At the end of each round your characters will gain 1 AP naturally. You also have the option to have a character skip a turn by the boost ability and they'll gain 2 AP after that turn. Also your AP is not replenished after battle. This leads to a really strategic battle system during an extended boss fight.

There are 27 classes which all need to be unlocked. 28 if you count the default non-class; Freelancer. Each class is represented by a "crown" (i.e. hat) and you switch classes simply by equipping different crowns. I've only collected one crown thus far but it both affects your character's stats and offers extra abilities. You can also upgrade your crowns by equipping them with gems that are sometimes dropped after battle. Upgrading seems to reward that character with even more abilities.

Item management is a very large part of the game. Each character may only carry up to 15 items, 4 of which will be equipment leaving you only 11 item slots left per character. To make matters worse not only does each spell take up an item slot but also like-items are not stackable. Each phoenix down and potion takes up its own item slot. During the first dungeon I was already feeling the item restriction crunch. Crown and gems do not count towards your item limit though.

Also, I'm not sure if I was just lucky or not but it seems that rare drops are easier to acquire. I was able to nab three equipment drops during my run through the first dungeon, 2 swords and a ring. It's possible that equip drops aren't that rare and they're to be the main source of your equipment upgrades, I haven't played long enough to know for sure.

I'll post more as I get more play time tomorrow.

[Slime Slayer]

Sounds cool.

[Kugyince]

Two updates to post:

I've collected enough of the right kinds of gems to upgrade the one crown I have. Once you spend the gems to upgrade a crown there's no way to unequip the gems. Also you can apparently upgrade a crown more than once. I would guess crowns can be upgraded three or four times as after upgrading once a bronze star appeared by the crown.

There's a chest that can hold at least another 15 items. These items can not be used in battle just like the bag option in Dragon Quest IX.

---------- Post added 10-07-2010 at 09:26 AM ---------- Previous post was 10-06-2010 at 07:39 PM ----------

Update:

The chest can apparently hold up to 99 items but you can only use the chest while in town.

This game does not hold you by the hand by any means. You can very easily go places where you shouldn't be yet and are too underpowered to tackle. There also seems to be secret little mini dungeons scattered around. I found one under a palace.

Exploration is pretty open ended and blind as you don't automatically have a map. You can acquire pieces of a map but they're not freely given to you. I spent 10 minutes wandering a large desert last night with no clue where I was going. Good stuff.

[Slime Slayer]

Awesome, I'm getting excited for this. I love it when a game let's you wander to areas where you shouldn't go, then you fight one battle, get lots of gold and experience and scurry home.

[elrod21]

Definitely good times with that. I can't wait till I get paid so I can have a go at this game.

[Kugyince]

Nice, these threads work better the more people that participate in them.

[Slime Slayer]

Nice, these threads work better the more people that participate in them.

Just out of curiosity, are you saying your glad there is participation and a few people showing interest? Or are you suggesting the thread would be better with more participants?

[Kugyince]

Both?

[Slime Slayer]

LOL, that's the answer I gave myself when I reread my question just now. Anyway forget it.

[Kugyince]

My team of four has broken up a couple of times now going on their own separate paths. The game is so open ended that I'm sure that I'm not following the preferred path. Apparently there's a lot of missables from what I've read on other forums.

I've grabbed two new hats, both very powerful, I've got a lot of interesting item drops, and have recruited a cat.

[Slime Slayer]

Gonna dive into my first session tonight.

---------- Post added at 10:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:44 AM ----------

So I just destroyed the sand devil, couldn't find water magic so it took awhile. Fun so far.

[Demon-Mask]

So the verdict is what?
Is this game worth getting more than Dragon Quest IX?

[Kugyince]

Already? I had just beat the Sand Devil last night.

[Slime Slayer]

@Demonmask- There is no game worth getting more than DQ 9, but it seems solid so far, I've really just scratched the surface.

@Ten, maybe you took a different route than me? I just went to the witches cave, beat her, then straight to the desert, picked up the moon man, grabbed the moon shards and went to the sand devil.

I got three crowns in my permanent collection now, Minstrel (weird) black mage and white mage. Upgraded the minstrel hat too.

Did you have water magic? I just used the rock shields and that was enough.

I really like the battle system, not once has someone done something I didn't want them too.

[Kugyince]

I have the Wayfarer's, White Mage's, and Black Mage's crowns.

Did you visit the town in the desert? There's a mini-dungeon underneath the palace that you get the water spell in.

After the witch's cave my group spilt in two. Then after the sand devil fight that group spilt into two as well. Immediatly afterwards a cat joined my party and I was faded out to the group that left me after the witch's cave. I ran to the end of one dungeon and got my butt handed to me by the boss.

[Slime Slayer]

Oh yeah wayfarers, that's what I meant.

[Kugyince]

Man that boss battle was long. I'd say it took me about 15 minutes to beat the captain.

[Slime Slayer]

I just beat the captain myself, he whooped my butt really bad so rather than grind levels I just b-lined it to the next town and bought some kick butt equipment. woot.

I really like how they handled the battle system, also I like how its starting off with such low digits, like buy a new piece of equipment and your attack goes from 2 to 3.

---------- Post added at 06:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 AM ----------

Makes it easy to keep track of your progress.