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DS recommend: FF4 or DQ 4 or something else?
The Last Gent
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Figured I'd use this forum as a sounding board.
So I'm almost done Chrono Trigger DS (done as in "gotten all the endings") and I freaking love it. But when I finish it, I'm going to need another good classic RPG to fill the gap.
I've been thinking about either Final Fantasy 4 as it's also Square, or Dragon Quest 4 as it's both Square and the same artist as Chrono Trigger (IIRC).
Now, some history on me. I own Final Fantasy 3 DS, but never finished it, as I found the story and characters dull. I still got to the final dungeon, but quit when I wasn't willing to grind what probably would have been another ten levels just to beat it (It had a really unfair, difficult design in regards to both saving the game and restocking items.) On top of that the endgame enemies were WAY harder than the difficulty curve the rest of the game had going.
So anyway, which of those two do you guys think is better? They both cost the same at my local outlets around here.
Also, how grind-heavy are they? I hate excessive level grinding, and I liked Chrono Trigger for the minimal amounts necessary.
I also kind of prefer sprites to 3D, but if FF4's good enough I can overlook it.
FINALLY, if there's another strong Chrono Trigger-esque option out there, by all means throw it in too.
So I'm almost done Chrono Trigger DS (done as in "gotten all the endings") and I freaking love it. But when I finish it, I'm going to need another good classic RPG to fill the gap.
I've been thinking about either Final Fantasy 4 as it's also Square, or Dragon Quest 4 as it's both Square and the same artist as Chrono Trigger (IIRC).
Now, some history on me. I own Final Fantasy 3 DS, but never finished it, as I found the story and characters dull. I still got to the final dungeon, but quit when I wasn't willing to grind what probably would have been another ten levels just to beat it (It had a really unfair, difficult design in regards to both saving the game and restocking items.) On top of that the endgame enemies were WAY harder than the difficulty curve the rest of the game had going.
So anyway, which of those two do you guys think is better? They both cost the same at my local outlets around here.
Also, how grind-heavy are they? I hate excessive level grinding, and I liked Chrono Trigger for the minimal amounts necessary.
I also kind of prefer sprites to 3D, but if FF4's good enough I can overlook it.
FINALLY, if there's another strong Chrono Trigger-esque option out there, by all means throw it in too.
The Last Gent on
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Final Fantasy is much more accessible.
I can't really speak for FFIV DS but all prior versions of it were significantly easier than any Dragon Quest game I've played. With the amped up difficulty of DS I'm not sure how it compares with DQ.
If you want to dig into GBA games I really liked Golden Sun which has the honor of not being available on any non-portable platform.
DQIV, on the other hand, was a fantastic game and you should get it.
Holy shit. I actually disagree with urahonky for once o_O
I thought FFIV DS was amazing. The 3d graphics looked nice and the voice acting was fairly good for a handheld game imo.
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
Oh don't get me wrong. I fucking love FFIV and I would have pushed through, but... I just don't like the 3D they used for it. I don't know what it was. The pseudo 3D they used in DQIV would have fit MUCH better for FFIV than what they used.
However, OP, if you've not played FFIV I'd be more inclined to say you should pick that up.
Off-topic, but thanks for the Blue dragon recommendation. It's been great. Halfway through the third disc right now.
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
FF4 DS on the other hand, actually increased the difficulty by giving the enemies new abilities and better stats which has made the game much more interesting to me as someone who has already beaten the original several times. New content is sprinkled throughout the game (I love getting a new character & finding out how they changed their abilities from the original) & all in all, I'm enjoying it a lot more. I'll admit that the visual style wasn't my thing at first, but it's grown on me.
With all that said, most of my complaints with DQ4 center around me having played the original. If you're coming to the game fresh, you'd probably enjoy it a lot more than I did.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
I like the art in FF4 DS. The retouched music is good, the VA is good, the expanded story is good, Macros are awesome, higher difficulty is awesome.
DQ 4 is good. I love the chapter system.
DQ 5 is even better.
Still enjoy DQ4 a lot more though. The other thing it has going for it is exploration, FF4 always feels like it's on a straight track. While DQ4 holds your hand quite a bit as well, you encounter a lot more situations that feel off the beaten path. The world is larger and more interesting.
The ending to that game is the best part. Glad you enjoyed it though.
You'll want to improve him anyway because in the end you use everyone else.
If I could justify the cost I'd honestly get both.
Just to properly explain what I consider grinding:
I almost never run from enemy encounters in RPGs as I know I need the experience.
What I count as grinding is when the next area/boss/ whatever is so much more difficult that you then have to spend a long period of time running around the previous area beating up the same 5 dudes over and over again until you're levelled enough to progress. I didn't have to do that very much in Chrono Trigger.
That's what I consider grinding. Can I get a definitive opinion on which game has less?
In addition to the other good things?
Both games have a decent amount of grinding, I'd say. One important difference is that in DQIV, you have to grind for money a lot to buy good equipment, which doesn't happen as much in FFIV, if I recall. Both are somewhat difficult games as far as recent RPGs are concerned (FFIV is probably a little harder), but they're both really rewarding, also, with interesting narratives and very nice presentation. You can't really go wrong with either, and as far as difficulty and grinding, they're both pretty close, so I wouldn't make a purchasing decision based on that. For my money, I'd probably say FFIV, as the updated graphics, voice acting, and CG sequences are really nice, but you really can't lose here.
I wanted to love FF4DS, I really did, but the horrible difficulty (that left me going to an inn after what seemed like every battle), and the suddenly extremely stingy money drop rate, plus poorly planned changes, left me cold to the game.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
They don't have any.
FF4 added a nice feature - Auto battle. You can set specific commands to be carried out, and you can toggle this mode with the X button, so it helps if its a random fight you can win no problem and you just want to get somewhere without mashing the attack button.
However there are a LOT more battles where you have to actually use spells like protect and shell and use tactics. It's more involved than the old version of FF4, which is good and bad.
Okay, now that we've confirmed that you're a mouth-breathing prick that really, really wants us to know that you are so awesome at these handheld role playing games that you most certainly don't need to grind (ever), I'd like to submit that, for the average gamer, particularly one that is apparently not entirely accustomed to this style of game, both FF4 and DQ4 are pretty challenging and will, in all likelihood, require that some time be spent making your characters stronger or accumulating currency with which to purchase better equipment in an effort to facilitate progress.
Like. I'm not entirely sure what your definition of grinding is. FF4 is hard, and though I guess some very experienced players that know the game inside and out could probably move through without taking extra time to level, it's a fair enough assumption that for many that won't be the case. I know from a recent playthrough of DQ4 that even I, a relatively seasoned RPG player, occasionally had to take some time to level my characters to move forward.
So. Until you actually want to justify your statements rather than just excrete them onto the readers of this thread (the majority of whom probably couldn't give a shit), perhaps we'd be better off without you.
Perhaps.
I can't speak for DQIV.
You said you're looking for classic RPGs, but if you ever get in the mood for something a little more experimental, make sure you pick up The World Ends With You. It's the best JRPG on the system, Chrono Trigger included.
All grinding does is remove fun from the game by tediously repeating the same action over and over again and is not only unneeded, but actually harmful to the game itself.
"Grinding" is the biggest boogyman that exists in any RPG because thanks to years of misunderstanding and misinformation people have gotten it into their heads that it's required.
The fact that people take difficulty in RPGs to mean "You'll have to spend hours leveling up" is a really bad thing.
I'm sorry if trying to point out this is wrong offends you in some horrible manner but you know what, I don't really care.
Keep going.
DQIV is fairly easy throughout, barring spots where you level your characters a bit when they're brand-new and maybe one or two fights in Chapter 5. It's simplistic and charming, and I love it for pretty much all of the reasons Sporky outlined on the first page. I think if you really dug Chrono Trigger, go for Dragon Quest IV first; I think it has more of the whimsical "Let's go on an adventure!" fairy tale aspect that Chrono Trigger always seems to give me, as opposed to FFIV, which is Serious Business from the get-go.
Alternatively, you can also check out DQV DS and FFVI GBA; the games really don't have any mandatory chronology.
I didn't get all that far in DQ4. I dunno what it was, but after the (extremely awesome) third chapter, I pretty much completely lost all interest. Don't take it as a big fault to the game, though. I probably just got distracted by another game.
Basically you are just making unhelpful remarks about something you apparently don't understand. Zeromus was probably a bit harsh, but you really don't know what you're talking about.
Having played FF4 on the SNES and the GBA, I know where I'm going, so I dont need to explore or wander around lost at all like some players would. So obviously I run into less random battles, which means less XP, which means I am underleveled for some fights. I occasionally would run into a pair of enemies that would cast blaze. Two blazes at the start of the fight every time, only one of my characters could survive that. It has nothing to do with sucking or skill and everything to do with being the right level for the area.
I had to "grind" a bit to beat the last boss I fought. MAYBE 15 minutes of exploring a level and getting into battles got my characters close to 3 levels each. This was sufficient to beat the boss I was having trouble with.
My friend who never played FF4 had to grind a bit, he sat down for a half hour, got excalibur, leveled up a bit, and now he's enjoying the game again since his characters arent being wiped out as quickly as they were before. So yes, there is grinding, no grinding does not have to take hours and suck to still be considered grinding.
DQ4 can be a charming game, but your party members have absolutely no personality at all, except for maybe the merchant guy. Zero, none. They're blank states that you're not even allowed to customize. the localized DQ4 also doesn't include party talk, a feature that would have provided significantly improved characterization of your party. Alas, S-E thought it was a good idea to remove it.
DQ5, on the other hand, has party talk, and some would say that it has the best story in the DQ series. I can't attest to it personally, though, having not playing it.
I will, however, highly recommend FF4. I will also say that I enjoy the combat system in FF4 a lot more than I did in DQ4. DQ4's advantage is that the battles finish faster, though.
I think it's one of the best. great story telling here.
PSN: super_emu
Xbox360 Gamertag: Emuchop
Are you serious? Part of what I love about DQ4 is how much personality all of the characters have, even if they're not overly complex. :?
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
I think I'll do DQ4 first, thanks for the opinions.
Note: I'll do FF4 eventually, just not first.
It's a lot tougher actually.