Final Fantasy IV Advance

 Game Boy Advance
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 75 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 75
  3. Negative: 3 out of 75
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  1. Toct
    Sep 1, 2012
    10
    This is one of those rare games that only comes around once and awhile, a game that just seems to get everything right. The characters are endearing, the storyline is great, the gameplay is great, the music is great, this is a game that you owe it to yourself to play.
  2. ScholarCrosty
    Sep 18, 2014
    9
    I never played the original Final Fantasy IV, but this is an excellent port regardless. Engaging combat, solid levelling system, improved graphics, and a great storyline and character cast. A personal favourite of the few GBA games I have played and one of the best FF games in the series.
  3. ShaneS.
    Feb 13, 2007
    5
    The character classes are all too simular to each other to the point where you've really only got two classes... Jack of all trades fighter, and Jack of all trades mage. What happened to the White Mage, Black Mage, Fighter, Warrior, Red Mage, Theif, interdependency system from Dawn of Souls? In this game all your characters are jack of all trades, so they can pretty much run on their The character classes are all too simular to each other to the point where you've really only got two classes... Jack of all trades fighter, and Jack of all trades mage. What happened to the White Mage, Black Mage, Fighter, Warrior, Red Mage, Theif, interdependency system from Dawn of Souls? In this game all your characters are jack of all trades, so they can pretty much run on their own without assistance from others. No teamwork in this game at all. Add the fact that the game constantly forces you to use specific characters, and all the joys of building your own party go out the window. Very bad game. Just get Dawn of Souls instead.… Expand
  4. ZenoW.
    Dec 27, 2005
    5
    A big disappointment. Although the game has undergone some pleasing cosmetic changes, the core combat engine has been broken beyond repair. Although the story is playable, substantial bugs trivialize combat and make most battles impossible to lose. The bugs vary in severity from not being able to select certain enemies with the targetting cursor to players occasionally getting extra turns A big disappointment. Although the game has undergone some pleasing cosmetic changes, the core combat engine has been broken beyond repair. Although the story is playable, substantial bugs trivialize combat and make most battles impossible to lose. The bugs vary in severity from not being able to select certain enemies with the targetting cursor to players occasionally getting extra turns for no reason. When Reubicante, the lord of fire, accidentally shot himself with ice2 for 2000 damage and died, I finally lost my patience. Iif you seek an experience similar to the original game, do yourself a favor and play the playstation port instead.… Expand
  5. SteveW.
    Jan 3, 2006
    10
    Great game with a great story line. What else is there to say except that this is a must buy.
  6. RyanT.
    Jan 7, 2006
    8
    This has and always will be a phenomonal game, and this port stays pretty true to that. The translation is fantastic now, and the graphics look a little better, and still retaining that old school feel. However, the sound effects have been completely bastardized and the music is slightly disappointing. But by all means, pick this up, even if the sound effects are atrocious.
  7. DerekB.
    Sep 7, 2006
    10
    I've beaten this game six times Love it been playing it since the SNES.
  8. TrixW.
    Dec 24, 2005
    10
    Definately old school gaming, but just about perfect. The pacing is good. The only downside: too easy.
  9. HexenM.
    Jul 18, 2006
    10
    Being an old-school fan,these games bring back the good old days of gaming when things had a good story.I can remember 1995 when I frist played this.I miss those days.
  10. BrandonV.
    May 20, 2007
    10
    This is the (current) definitive version of one of the best RPGs ever made, fixing several embarrassing translation flaws in the original North American SNES release. The story is deep and involving, the characters are all easy to like, and there are more than enough bonus features and extras to keep anyone busy for many weeks. Time will tell whether or not the upcoming 3-D remake for the This is the (current) definitive version of one of the best RPGs ever made, fixing several embarrassing translation flaws in the original North American SNES release. The story is deep and involving, the characters are all easy to like, and there are more than enough bonus features and extras to keep anyone busy for many weeks. Time will tell whether or not the upcoming 3-D remake for the DS will be superior to this release, but for now this one takes the crown.… Expand
  11. JasonT.
    Aug 23, 2006
    8
    This was the first FF game I've actually finished (i've gotten to Disc 3 on Final Fantasy 7, but that's it) I personally didn't care for the story all that much, and the characters were good, but not great, yet the many extras in this game, added weapons, levels and monsters made it enjoyable. Some bosses have strategies were you just can't lose, but others can This was the first FF game I've actually finished (i've gotten to Disc 3 on Final Fantasy 7, but that's it) I personally didn't care for the story all that much, and the characters were good, but not great, yet the many extras in this game, added weapons, levels and monsters made it enjoyable. Some bosses have strategies were you just can't lose, but others can prove to be hard. It's a fun game with good gameplay featuring the time-based system. If you played the original, you may or may not like this port, depending whether you'd like to see theadded extras, but for new comers, this should be fun.… Expand
  12. JeffreyW.
    Dec 14, 2005
    10
    I thought that the super nintendo one was good this was even better!
  13. BasilZero
    Oct 28, 2014
    8
    Game: Final Fantasy IV Advance
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix System: Game Boy Advance (GBA) Total Score: 86/100 Value Score: 8.6/10 • Story: 10/10 • Characters: 10/10 • GamePlay: 8/10 • Graphics: 8/10 • Sound: 7/10 • Music: 10/10 • Length: 8/10 • Replay Value: 6/10 • Player Value: 9/10 Pros +A great classic on a portable +Memorable characters and a fantastic    Game: Final Fantasy IV Advance
    Genre: RPG
    Developer: Squareenix
    System: Game Boy Advance (GBA)
    Total Score: 86/100
    Value Score: 8.6/10

    • Story: 10/10
    • Characters: 10/10
    • GamePlay: 8/10
    • Graphics: 8/10
    • Sound: 7/10
    • Music: 10/10
    • Length: 8/10
    • Replay Value: 6/10
    • Player Value: 9/10

    Pros
    +A great classic on a portable
    +Memorable characters and a fantastic story
    +You can now use all characters (except for Tellah) even to the end of the game now
    +Each of the 5 characters who had left party now have a special dungeon dedicated to them and their own exclusive end game weapons and bosses
    +Lunar Ruins is a new 50 floor dungeon exclusive to this version (and the PSP ver) which includes the lunar trials and secret bosses
    +Lunar Ruins is randomized each time you go in and you can redo the trials as many times as you want
    +Characters now have portraits during cutscenes whenever they talk
    +Bestiary and Sound test included in the start menu
    +Higher contrast in visuals

    Cons
    -There is menu lag during battles and in the user interface in the menu screen
    -There is noticeable lag in some of the cutscenes
    -Sometimes turns will be skipped or someone will have a extra turn (fixed in EU version)    … Expand
  14. Markus1395
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    Certainly my preferred way to experience this game; It combines the classic graphics and music with new, very fun post-game content that essentially just makes this version the original with bonuses. I've played the SNES version, the PS1 version, this, and the DS version, and this is by far my favorite.
  15. DinoBeam
    Jul 24, 2020
    2
    Wayyy overly oppressively dark story [you start out coming back from a village full of innocent people you just slaughtered, and children sacrifice themselves later], and it seems to hold on gameplay wise until the grind wall comes. Really disappointing
  16. HopelessVoice
    Feb 1, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the best in the series.

    FFIV features many of the elements that would become synonymous with the Final Fantasy franchise. The plot is intruiging, the world is open for exploration (you even can go to the moon), the characters are unique and interesting. The only flaw I'm able to find from the game is something that would be corrected in later entries; the party is not so customizable as it would become in V, and there's not as much end game content as in the later entries. The combat is also a bit on the simple side, although by no means boring. This is a great game and a must for all fans of JRPG.    … Expand
  17. XV_
    Jun 19, 2020
    9
    Final Fantasy IV starts with a bang, for the first hours it doesn't take prisoners at all and it takes the plot onwards and beyond, everything was great, and for the most part, this rhythm is replicated through the rest of the game.

    A little side-note: I consider myself a Final Fantasy fan maybe it is my favorite franchise, I have played a lot of the non-numerical games and at this    Final Fantasy IV starts with a bang, for the first hours it doesn't take prisoners at all and it takes the plot onwards and beyond, everything was great, and for the most part, this rhythm is replicated through the rest of the game.

    A little side-note: I consider myself a Final Fantasy fan maybe it is my favorite franchise, I have played a lot of the non-numerical games and at this point, I'm yet to play only: 5,6,8,9 and 11. What I'm trying to say is that as much as I love this franchise and considering the time period they were created, at least till the 4th entry, there wasn't a truly great Final Fantasy game, they all were good but they also lack in some departments, be it the story, grinding or combat mechanics, but, having played IV for the first time (in a remake version, sorry about that) its safe to say that they finally achieved a milestone, whereas gameplay, story, rhythm, and progression merged beautifully.

    Game-play wise, the game relies on the famous or infamous ATB system, in which your characters have a "time-bar" that needs to be filled in order for them to make an action, be an attack or spell, once you use an action this bar needs to be filled once again, it's as simple as it sounds, therefore what you get are dynamic and sometimes dramatic battles where you need to quickly choose commands in order to not lose any time and get the upper hand in battle, you can choose also the speed of battles (at least in this game's edition) if you're getting trouble selecting stuff or if you think you can speed things up you have some liberty in that regard, however, this is where things get mixed. As far as I know in this version of the game, the ATB doesn't seem to work that well if you're not using high-speed battles, and more often than not, characters that have delayed abilities like "jump" will take far more time than it needs to, this is clearly a disadvantage and a thing that will be with you for the rest of the game. Aside from that, I liked the ATB system quite a lot, it maintained battles dense and tight, speaking of battles, I was surprised with plenty of the boss fights, it has a great variety and several strategies that make you feel "super smart" when you figure out their mechanic in the middle of the fight, truly loved that.

    The story, at least to me, was a reminiscence from FFII, it felt dynamic and well crafted, it kinda subverts a lot of your expectations in a good way, so I accepted gladly all of their plot twists, I loved how it is hinted that you have to get "5 objects" or so in order to get to the "final dungeon" but then the story is like: "you're little too late, the bad guy is ahead of you and it has collected 2 of them" it maintains a fresh and unexpecting rhythm, another strong point is the theme of doing bad things for the greater good, it truly tried to tell something and for the most part (and as a game from 1991 with a lot of technical limitations) it hits the target just right, I won't spoil it but definitely is one of the highlights. Although the story is great it has some problems also, mainly is that at times it somehow feels repetitive, and it seems that they didn't want it to go that far, so some things that should be definitive in the end are not, this lows the stakes a great deal at some point, not that it ruins it, but certainly takes points out of it.

    Graphically, this edition looks beautiful, the combat sprites look great and for the most part, they nailed the art of **** Amano, maybe the only sprites that didn't look that good were the dialogue sprites, but is not really an issue. The music is also pretty memorable, it has some reminiscence of some tunes of FFIII and also there are leitmotifs that you'll notice in future entries.

    All in all, I believe FFIV is a well-packaged and crafted game, it simply has everything that the past entries have promised and more, there are some minor issues that I can see how for someone else can be easily overlooked and consider it a masterpiece and that's great, this game has passed the test of time and it makes it look easy. Definitely recommended for any RPG fan and also for people that are interested in a starting point for the Final Fantasy Series.    … Expand
  18. sebastianali
    Aug 25, 2019
    4
    Es muy blando y aburrido con el tiempo pero para la GBA supongo que esta mas o menos bien. Pero no esta al nivel del Dawn Souls.
    El principal problema es que si lo comparo con la versión de PSP, la de GBA esta llena de ralentizaciones, glitches y encima con mayor dificultad! Jueguen mejor a la de PSP...
  19. NergyVH
    Jul 16, 2020
    8
    Solid RPG, a game that doesn't need you to be grinding for hours and, although not excellent in terms of story, it has a bunch of iconic moments. Improved graphics in regard to the original SNES/Famicom version.
  20. grilledcheeze
    May 12, 2021
    8
    I finally had the energy and motivation to finish this game. I've failed to end FF4's story since I first picked it up years ago yet now here I am, rejoicing with excitement and realizing how dumb I was to even call this a mediocre game on my first playthrough. Final Fantasy IV at first never really had that spark with the characters compared to other FF games (particularly X) because ofI finally had the energy and motivation to finish this game. I've failed to end FF4's story since I first picked it up years ago yet now here I am, rejoicing with excitement and realizing how dumb I was to even call this a mediocre game on my first playthrough. Final Fantasy IV at first never really had that spark with the characters compared to other FF games (particularly X) because of how wide the variety of companions that comes and goes, leaving a lot less time for the player to get invested in them with their own respective story arcs. The main characters weren't really intriguing early on in the game, but great and subtle developments ensue later as the story moved along. The relationships built within every second of the cast together strengthens and deepens, sacrifices of the closest to the MC, Cecil, become the root of his own change from what he was before and the discovery of who he really is. It had a slow start and a very by-the-books story IMO, but it takes a different turn with the twists that came along with it. The gameplay was really good and fun. It might look like the standard Turn-based combat system we're all used to, but it has more depth than meets the eye. I love how the game forces you to make quick strategies for the plan of attack because the moment you take too long, the enemies would strike you. This gets more frequent and challenging later on as the player encounters stronger, more versatile monsters with a wide range of attacks that damage the characters a ton which creates intense pressure and tension. I don't know if it were the same with V and VI, or the games that came before IV, but it definitely felt new to me. Pokemon and even Final Fantasy X didn't have this type of gameplay battle design. The graphics hold up well since I played this in Gameboy Advanced. I've seen the original SNES version and even that still looked pretty, even after almost 30 years since its inception. The soundtrack design felt very audacious. It fits the setting of the game and helps immerse the player in the medieval mixed with steampunk world. Final Fantasy 4 is a very good RPG game. No matter the problems I found within, it makes up for what it lost through the display of each character's compelling arc outcomes, the narrative that slowly blossoms into impressive storytelling, and the brewing intensity of the gameplay made Final Fantasy 4 a classic in video game history. 8/10 would play again.… Expand
  21. dankmeow
    Mar 16, 2022
    9
    The definitive Final Fantasy IV game. Also portable! A true classic RPG. Do not miss out!
  22. LastResource
    Jan 14, 2023
    10
    worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this fourth game in the series.
  23. fuor22
    May 31, 2023
    10
    I have so much fun every time I play this game. Everything about it, from the story to the gameplay, is just amazing. I enjoyed every moment while playing this game

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2005
4
#4 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. Games Radar
    90
    Small mistakes can't wreck such a consistently pleasurable experience as FFIV. With additional content that drastically increases the role of its large and likable cast, this is one RPG you'll have slotted into your GBA or DS for a long time coming.
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  2. Eurogamer
    80
    There's a depth of enjoyment to Final Fantasy IV Advance - even pathos - that few other games can match.
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  3. Pocket Gamer UK
    80
    It might look a bit dated now, but Final Fantasy IV Advance is a classic gaming experience.
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