With the critical acclaim of the Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV visual remakes on the Nintendo DS, it seemed as if the next logical step would have been to see Final Fantasy V brought into the polygonal world. To the surprise of many, Square Enix as well as Matrix Software, the developers of the previous Final Fantasy “remakes” on the DS, chose to take a significantly different route. Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light is a brand new traditional role playing game experience for Nintendo’s handheld unit, mixing together turn based gameplay with some of the newer gimmicks that have developed over the years, as well as a snazzy coat of 3D paint that’s been featured in the two previous collaborations between Square Enix and Matrix Software.
You will start your adventure with Brandt, who just turned 14 years old, which in the kingdom of Horne means he will be considered an adult. While on his way to present himself to the king to take part in the tradition of entering adulthood, he finds that the young princess has been kidnapped by the Witch of the North. The distraught king reaches out to Brandt to find his kidnapped daughter. With three other companions that Brandt will encounter on his journey, they become the single hope left to bring back the princess to Horne. Although they are but four adventurers, they will amass the skills and abilities of dozens, thanks to their ever expanding Crown abilities, and become the 4 Heroes of Light.
Gamers with even the vaguest familiarity of the Job systems will get the gist of what the Crown system will offer you. Each “Crown” will not only change your visual appearance, but grant you new abilities that can be set in your Ability menu. Each Crown will have a decisively diverse set of abilities that can be equipped and used.
Utilizing a White Mage Crown will open up a spell called Lifegiver, which makes your next healing spell more powerful and work on all your allies. Donning a Bandit Crown (image on the left represents what one of the four Heroes of Light will appear as when crowned with the Bandit guise) will open up Plunder, which will try to steal items from all the foes. You can equip each skill on the Abilities menu after selecting your Crown. Just remember that every time you change a Crown, your abilities will reset to stock setting, wiping out what your previous line up of abilities were, so don’t forget to set them once more during each change. With the myriad of Crowns and abilities that each presents the player, Square Enix and Matrix Software want to actively encourage experimentation with each and every job available. While the grand total of obtainable Crowns for the NA version is unknown at this time, a screen cap seems to indicate that there could be at least 28 different guises that can be equipped.
As of right now, there are 14 confirmed Crowns that can be obtained. Here’s a rundown on what Crowns we know about and the abilities for each of them:
Wayfarer – Recovery items work better
| Runaway | Run and live to fight another day. |
| Escape | Escape the battle so you can continue the adventure―guaranteed! |
| Recovery | Recover some HP each turn. |
| Friend in Need | ??? |
White Mage – AP cost for White Magic is reduced by one
| Healthgiver | Make your next healing spell work on all your allies. |
| Lifegiver | Make your next healing spell more powerful and work on all your allies. |
| Hide | Hide from the foes so they will not attack you. |
| Miracle | ??? |
Black Mage – AP cost for Black Magic is reduced by one
| Magic Mojo | Make your next attack spell inflict more damage than usual. |
| Spell Focus | Make your next attack spell inflict a lot more damage than usual. |
| Mirror | Enable your entire party to deflect spells back at the enemy. |
| Magic Might | ??? |
Bandit – Monsters drop better items
| Steal | Try to steal an item from one of the foes. |
| Plunder | Try to steal items from all the foes. |
| Deadly Blow | Possibly inflict sudden death on a foe when you attack. |
| Pillage | ??? |
Bard – Get the most out of equipped insrtuments
| Ditty | Sing a song to raise your party’s attack power. Lasts 3 turns. |
| Motet | Sing a song to raise your party’s defense. Lasts 3 turns. |
| Aria | Sing a song to raise your party’s status attributes. Lasts 3 turns. |
| Fugue | ??? |
Merchant – Find more gems
| Finder | Find gems in the midst of battle. |
| Keeper | Find gems in the midst of battle more effectively than with Finder…maybe. |
| Ransom | Each time you are struck by an attack, pay a ransom instead of taking damage. |
| Money Talks | ??? |
Salve-Maker – Use items without consuming any AP
| Dispensary | Do not consume recovery items when you use them. Lasts 4 turns. |
| Healthcare | Make recovery items work on everyone in the party. |
| Poison Pill | Change recovery items into poison and use them to inflict damage. |
| Level Serum | ??? |
Elementalist – Elemental damage reduced by one half
| Augment | Enhance the effects of allies’ element attacks. Lasts 4 turns. |
| Amplify | Greatly enhance the effects of allies’ element attacks. Lasts 4 turns. |
| Mysterio | Enhance your party’s resistance to element attacks. |
| Elemental | ??? |
Ranger – deliver more damage with a bow and arrow
| Target | Ensure that every attack strikes its target. |
| Snipe | Ensure that every attack strikes its target with extra damage. |
| Covering Fire | Inflict heavy damage on all the foes at the beginning of the next turn. |
| Smashing Blow | ??? |
Fighter – Deliver extra hand-to-hand damage
| Combat | Increase the odds of landing a critical hit. Lasts 4 turns. |
| Jugular | Strike the foe with a critical hit. |
| Chakra | Double your own HP for the duration of the battle. |
| Frenzy-fu | ??? |
Scholar – Make the most of equipped books
| Quell | Reduce the attack power of all foes by half. Lasts 3 turns. |
| Subdue | Reduce the defense of all foes by half. Lasts 3 turns. |
| Restrain | Slow the movements of all foes. Lasts 3 turns. |
| Tame | ??? |
Party Host – Joint attacks deal more damage
| Charm | Psych up a single ally. |
| Rouse | Psych up everyone in the party. |
| Pot Luck | Something will happen, that’s for sure. |
| Go Team Go! | ??? |
Hero – Get psyched up more often
| Reckless | Throw everything you have into an attack, but weaken your defense. |
| Bladeblitz | Strike at the entire enemy party. |
| Wrath | Deliver massive magic damage to a single foe. |
| Finale | ??? |
Spell Fencer – Follow up a spell with an attack for extra damage
| Magic Sword | Throw everything you have into an attack, but weaken your defense. |
| Mystic Sword | Strike at the entire enemy party. |
| Magic Thwart | Nullify the effects of attack spells cast against you. Lasts 4 turns. |
| Magic Infuse | ??? |
From everything shown thus far, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light is shaping up to be something special. While the kidnapped princess plot device isn’t necessarily a fresh concept, the Crown system, while its self a play on the Job system, looks to offer enough incentive to keep the interest going. With the hopes of a lengthy story to coincide with the charming look and robust Crown system, Square Enix looks to enthrall DS owners once again in another memorable RPG journey. Look for Square Enix to shine the light upon us come early October 2010 for North America and Europe. Until then, take a look at a few images of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light:
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