Square surely ripped out an NES design doc to make this gruelling RPG that only the most dedicated will fall in love with
Format: DS Dev: Square Enix / Matrix Software Pub: Square Enix
Out: 08/10/10 Players: 1-4
At a first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Square Enix have decided to make a cutesy, kid friendly DS spin-off of their hugely popular Final Fantasy series. I admit, this is what I initially thought, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. This game is a cold-blooded Japanese RPG.
After playing the game for an hour or so, it’s very clear that the developers were trying to rework the classic JRPG titles from consoles such as the NES into a modern, aesthetically pleasing package. Square Enix have opted out of the eccentric (but often rewarding) storylines they’ve become associated with, in favour of a simplistic, save the kingdom plot from yesteryear. This isn’t to say that the story is necessarily bad, there just isn’t anything to it.
The 4 Heroes of Light returns to the turn-based combat system the series’ recent console incarnations have been sorely missing. The fighting in the game is established by random encounters we all know and love and combat has been massively simplified to the core elements of RPGs. Easy to pick up, but incredibly taxing to master. You’re given five attack points (AP) on which all your moves are based. The severely reduced AP means you think very carefully about each move and make sure each character has their assigned roles to avoid unnecessary use of healing magic etc.
The battle system in this game, though simple, is truly great. Fights are often fast paced and tense, this helps it to stand out greatly from other DS RPGs. A new job system has been implemented into the title using crowns you acquire after each significant section to specify the ease with which characters use black magic, healing spells, items and so on. This system works well in specifying roles and is good because they can be changed at any time. This means you won’t have to spend hours and hours on getting a new healing character after Sephiroth kills her (I’m still bitter, Final Fantasy VII).
You’re thrown right into the fray in this game, there’s no tutorial at any point so you’re expected to figure it all out yourself and figure it out fast. 4HOL is often gruelling like this. There will be times when the game gives you little to no instruction or directions after a section and you’re forced to wander aimlessly around the world map until something significant happens. This gets incredibly frustrating. The game also has a habit of repeating itself and gets entirely predictable: find a new town, buy some stuff, navigate through the dungeon, kill the boss, repeat as necessary.
The cruel difficulty helps to cement this as more of a homage to JRPGs from many years ago than a fresh, innovative title. Because of this, many hardcore old school gamers will welcome this title with open arms, and shed a nostalgic tear or two when they’re grinding through levels for hours on end just to beat the dungeon’s boss. The 4 Heroes of Light certainly isn’t a game for everyone, but it knows exactly who it is for, and as a result, they’ll love it.
Dan Key
Tags: final fantasy, handheld, rpg, square enix
