FF4j/FF4j Easytype Changes FAQ v 1.01 by Ian Kelley Well, most everybody that has a Super Famicom or a Super Nintendo has heard of Final Fantasy 4, or its US counterpart, FF2. Actually, in Japan there are two different Final Fantasy 4 games. After the original was released, an "easy" version was released for young children and first-time RPG players. In the Easy version, lots of monsters, abilities, spells, and items were removed. Since the US FF2 is based on FF4 Easytype, people on this side of the Pacific never get to see the extra stuff. Therefore, this FAQ is here to show the differences between FF4j and FF4j Easytype/FF2 US. Version Changes: v. 1.01: Changed the names of the Four Emperors...thanks to the people who caught the Dante's Inferno references...my HS English teacher would kill me if he saw I missed this one. ^_^ Added the "Notes" section. v. 1.0: Added a list of name changes for most of the items Added the "Programmers Room" left out of FF2 US Added the differences between the PSX and SFC versions of FF4. Added a "reviews section" v. 0.9: Initial release. Contents: Notes/About this FAQ Differences Between the PSX/SFC Versions of FF4j Differences Between FF4j Easytype and FF2 US Name Changes: Characters in your party: Classes Monsters: Other names Items Special Items Items Swords Spears/Lances Ninja Weapons Throwing Weapons Axes Harps Claws Bow+Arrows Staffs Daggers+Knives Rods Whips Hammers Armor Clothes/Robes Helmets Gauntlets Shields Spells White Magic Black Magic Summoning Magic Ninjutsu Twin Magic Differences Between FF4j and FF4j Easytype/FF2 US Extra Items Skills Taken Out of FF4j Easytype Other Changes My Personal Ratings of Each of the FF4 Versions NOTES/ABOUT THIS FAQ --------------------------------------------------------- A lot of people have expressed interest in how I wrote this FAQ, so this section is just a quickie report of how I did it. :) The names of things and layout of the game in this FAQ are primarily based upon the Super Famicom version of Final Fantasy 4. Then I rented a copy of FF2 US and played through i t once to get the names of the people, places, etc. in the US version. After buying the PSX version, I played through it once to get the differences there. FF4j Easytype is the version I've had the least experience with; I only played it on a console when I was in Japan, and had to use a ROM version to write this FAQ with. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PSX/SFC VERSIONS OF FF4j --------------------------------------------------------- There are very few differences between the original FF4j and the Playstation version of FF4j. In terms of graphics and music, the two are identical. Actually, since the PSX does not support Mode 7 there is some choppiness in the scenes that use it like when you are flying in the airship. The gameplay is identical to the original FF4j except for a few slight differences, like being able to hit Barbariccia in her spin, which was not possible in the original FF4j. There is 1 FMV segment in the PSX version. When you first start, you get to see the first 15 seconds, and then after the ending, you get to see the movie in its entirety. It's about a minute long and consists of various important scenes in the game. The sound effects are slightly different in the PSX version. They sound kind of like you're hearing them from the other end of a long tunnel. This is bad IMHO, but if you are listening to the game in surround, it might be better, I don't know. Basically it is the same thing as the original FF4j. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FF4j EASYTYPE AND FF2 US ----------------------------------------------------- STORY CHANGES: FF4j easy version is basically identical to FF2 US. However, they did take out some character background for some strange reason. For example, they left out details about Foo-soo-ya being Cecil's uncle, and they didn't cover Cain's background about how he is trying to live up to his father's reputation as a Ryuukishi, (Dragon Knight) and how he chose to follow his father's footsteps as a Ryuukishi even though the king tried to make him into an Ankoku Kishi (Black Knight) like Cecil. Note, however, that there were some strange forms of censorship in FF2 US. This includes: * Changing the scythe that was going to drop on Rosa's head in the tower of Zott into a big metal ball. * Taking out a frame of animation where Cecil + Rosa are kissing so they just hug each other instead. * Censoring swearing and rephrasing some "important" phrases (like the few that hint that Cecil + Rosa have been sleeping together on a long time basis--not that it's surprising that this would be censored in the US...) * Censoring references to death. For example: Cid in FF4: "I'm going to blow myself up and sacrifice my life to save you! Yang will be lonely in the afterworld!" Cid in FF2, same situation: "Oh, I'll just get off here, hold the bad guys off, and stay in the underworld a bit longer." In FF4, there is a "programmer's room" located below "Pub Rally-ho" in the dwarf castle. In this room, you could talk to (and fight!) some of the programmers, and there is some strange stuff down there like the Porno book. This room was taken out of the US FF2, probably so you can't get access to the Porno Book. NAME CHANGES: Characters in your party: FF4 FF2 --------------------------------------------------- Cain (Pronounced "Kyne") Kain Tella Tellah Gilbert Edward Foo-soo-ya FuSoYa Classes FF4 FF2 --------------------------------------------------- Ankoku Kishi (Black Knight) Dark Knight Ryuukishi (Dragon Knight) Dragoon Ouzoku (Prince/Royalty) Bard Monk-sou (Monk-priest) Black Belt Gishi (Engineer) Chief (Note on classes: While Gilbert was "Ouzoku" in the FF4 SFC version, in the Playstation version his class was changed to "Kinyushijin," or Bard.) Monsters: I'm not a masochist so I won't do them all, (about 95% of the monsters' names were changed for FF2 US) but I'll do the bosses. This is still incomplete though. FF4 FF2 ----------------------------------------------------- Mist Dragon Mist Octomammoth Octomamm Mother Bomb MomBomb Scarmiglione Milon Beigan Baigan Cagnazzo Kainazzo Dark Dragon Dark Elf Dog Sandy Mag Cindy Rag Mindy Barbariccia Valvalis Calco Cal Breena Brena Calcobreena Calbrena Kokuryuu (Black Dragon) Shadow Golbeza Golbez Lugeie (Lu-geh-ee-eh ^_^) Lugae Balnaba Balnab Rubicante Rubicant Assault Door Trap Door Demon's Wall EvilWall Leviathan Leviatan Seigyo System (Control System) CPU Geigeki System (Attack System) Attacker Bouei System (Defense System) Defender Hakuryuu (White Dragon) PaleDim Lunasaurus D. Lunar Tidariathan Ogopogo Dark Bahamut Wyvern Other names: FF4 FF2 ------------------------------------------------------ Jiott Giott Debu Chocobo (Lardass Chocobo) Big Chocobo Shiren no Yama (Trial Mountain) Mt. Ordeals Devil Road Serpent Road Hover Sen (Hoverboat) Hovercraft Madousen (Magical Ship) Big Whale Kyoudaihou (Gigantic Gun) Super Cannon Eblana Eblan Troia Toroia Items: The only items I've listed here are ones that deviate enough from their original names to be worth writing down. For example, the "Tetsu no Udewa" (Iron armband) is far enough from the "IronRing," but "Koudai no Tsurugi" (Ancient Sword) is "Ancient" in the US version, so it's basically the same. Basically, if you get a weird name for a weapon in the US version and it's not listed here, just put "(type of weapon) of (Whatever the US name is)" and you will have the Japanese name. Eg. "Legend" = "Sword of Legend." Note that not all of the items are here...all of the ones here are just ones that I've seen...some of the more difficult items to get I haven't found in both versions so I can't put their names down for sure. As soon as I find them they will be up here. ^_^ FF4 FF2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bomb no Yubiwa (Bomb Ring) Package Sabaku no Hikari (Light of the Desert) Sand Ruby Hisohisou (onomotopia--can't translate) TwinHarp Magma no Kakera (Magma Fragment) Magma Key Lugeie no kagi (Lugeie's Key) Tower Key Luka no Kubikazari (Luka's necklace) Luka Key Nezumi no Shippo (Mouse Tail) Rat Adamantite Adamant Ai no Frypan (Frying Pan of Love) Pan Items: Potion Cure 1 High Potion Cure 2 Ex-Potion Cure 3 Ether Dry Ether 2 Phoenix no O (Phoenix Tail) Life Gisarl no Yasai (Gisarl's Vegetables) Carrot Cottage Cabin Bannouyaku (Medicine of 10,000 uses) Heal Akai Kiba (Red Fang) FireBomb Gisarl no Fue (Flute of Gisarl) Whistle Swords: Ankoku no Tsurugi (Black Sword) Shadow Shadow Blade Darkness Deathbringer Black Mithril Sword Silver Flame Sword Fire Nemuri no Ken (Sleepy Sword) Slumber Blood Sword Drain Defender Defense Ragnarok Crystal Spears/Lances: Blood Lance Drain Kouri no Yari (Ice Spear) Blizzard Holy Lance White Hiryuu no Yari (Flying Dragon Spear) Dragoon Ninja Weapons: Kunai Short Ashura Middle Kotetsu Long Kikuichimonji Ninja Engetsurin Full Moon Throwing Weapons Fuuma Shuriken (Wind Demon Shuriken) Ninja Houchou (Kitchen Knife/Cleaver) Spoon Axes: Ogre Killer Ogre Harps: Yume no Tategoto (Harp of Dreams) Dreamer Lamia no Tategoto (Lamia's Harp) Charm Claws: Honou no Tsume (Flame Claw) Fire Ikazuchi no Tsume (Lightning Claw) Thunder Yosei no Tsumei (Fairy Claw) Charm Jigoku no Tsume (Claw of Hell) Poison Bow+Arrows Yumi (Bow) ShortBow Killer Bow Archer Yoichi no Yumi (Yoichi's Bow) Samurai Seinaru Ya (Holy Arrows) White Honou no Ya (Arrows of Flame) Fire Ikazuchi no Ya (Arrows of Lightning) Lit Kuchifuuji Ya (Arrows of Mouth-sealing) Mute Tenshi no Ya (Angel Arrows) Charm Yoichi no Ya (Arrows of Yoichi) Samurai Staffs: Iyashi no Tsue (Staff of Healing) Cure Mithril no Tsue (Mithril Staff) Silver Hadou no Tsue (Energy Wave Staff) Lunar Kenja no Tsue (Sage Staff) Life Daggers+Knives: Dancing Dagger Dancing Mithril Knife Silver Mage Masher Mute Rods: Henge no Rod (Apparition Rod) Change Yousei no Rod (Fairy Rod) Charm Hoshikuzu no Rod (Shooting Star Rod) Stardust Whips: Dengeki Muchi (Electrical Attack Whip) Blitz Fire Bute Flame Hammers: Kizuchi (Mallet) Wooden Mithril Hammer Silver Daichi no Hammer (Great Earth Hammer) Earth Armor: Ankoku no Yoroi (Black Armor) Shadow Hades no Yoroi (Armor of Hades) Darkness Demon's Armor Black Knight no Yoroi (Knight's Armor) Paladin Mithril Armor Silver Flame Mail Fire Genji no Yoroi (Genji's Armor) Samurai Dragon Mail Dragoon Clothes/Robes Fuku (Clothes) Cloth Kawa no Fuku (Leather Clothes) Leather Shijin no Fuku (Poet's Clothes) Bard Shuujin no Fuku (Convict's Clothes) Prisoner Daichi no Koromo (Robe of the Great Earth) Gaea Kenpougi (Kenpou [a martial art] Suit) Karate Shisai no Robe (Priest Robe) Wizard Kuro Oubi Dougi (Black Belt Dogi) Bl. Belt Kuro no Robe (Robe of Blackness) Black Hikari no Robe (Robe of Light) Sorcerer Shiro no Robe (Robe of Whiteness) White Kuro Shouzoku (Black Costume) Ninja Minerva Bisuche (Minerva Jumpsuit) Heroine Helmets: Ankoku no Kabuto (Black Helm) Shadow Hades no Kabuto (Helm of Hades) Darkness Demon's Helm Black Hikari no Kabuto (Helm of Light) Paladin Mithril Helm Silver Genji no Kabuto (Genji's Helm) Samurai Dragon Helm Dragoon Kawa no Boushi (Leather Hat) Cap Hanetsuki Boushi (Feathered Hat) Leather Sankaku Boushi (Triangle Hat) Gaea Kin no Kamikazari (Gold Hairband) Tiara Nejiri Hachimaki (Bandana of Twisted Cloth) Headband Shisai no Boushi (Priest Hat) Wizard Green Beret Bandana Kuro Zukin (Black Hood) Ninja Gauntlets: Tetsu no Udewa (Iron Armband) IronRing Ankoku no Kote (Black Gauntlet) Shadow Hades no Kote (Glove of Gauntlet) Darkness Akuma no Kote (Demon's Gauntlet) Black Gauntlet Paladin Gin no Udewa (Silver Armband) Silver (Made a ring?) Mithril no Kote (Mithril Gauntlet) Silver Kyojin no Kote (Giant's Gauntlet) Zeus Power Wrist Strength Rune no Udewa (Rune Armband) Rune Daiya no Udewa (Diamond Armband) Diamond (a ring?) Genji no Kote (Genji's Gauntlet) Samurai Dragon no Kote (Dragon's Gauntlet) Dragoon Mamori no Yubiwa (Ring of Defense) Protect Shields: Ankoku no Tate (Black Shield) Shadow Demon's Shield Black Hikari no Tate (Shield of Light) Paladin Mithril Shield Silver Flame Shield Fire Genji no Tate (Genji's Shield) Samurai Dragon Shield Dragoon Spells: White Magic FF4 FF2 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Keal Cure Kealra Cure 2 Kealda Cure 3 Kealga Cure 4 Raise Life Araise Life 2 Telepo Exit Minimum Size Esuna Heal Saitoro Sight Protesu *Nonexistant* Shell *Nonexistant* Reflek Wall Levitate Float Sairesu Mute Confyu Charm Dispel *Nonexistant* Raibura Peep Haste Fast Berserk Brsk Holy White Black Magic: FF4 FF2 ------------------------------------------------------------- Fire Fire 1 Faira Fire 2 Faiga Fire 3 Blizad Ice 1 Blizara Ice 2 Blizaga Ice 3 Thunder Lit 1 Thundara Lit 2 Thundaga Lit 3 Tornado Weak Poison Venom Bio Virus Break Stone Death Fatal Dejon Warp Poki Piggy Flare Nuke Aspiru Psych Slipul Sleep Summoning Magics: In FF4, each of the Summoning spells has an attack name when cast. In FF2, these attack names don't exist. FF4 FF2 ------------------------------------------------------ Chocobo Choco "Chocobo Kick" Dragon Mist "Kiri no Breath" (Mist Breath) Shiva Shiva "Fubuki" (Blizzard) Ramuu Indra "Sabaki no Ikazuchi" (Lightning of justice) Efreet Jinn "Jigoku no Kaen" (Flames of Hell) Titan Titan "Daiichi no Ikari" (Anger of the Earth) Asura Asura "Asura" :) Leviathan Levia "Tsunami" (aka Tidal Wave but Tsunami is an English word too! -_^) Sylph Sylph "Kaze no Sasayaki" (Whisper of the Wind) Odin Odin "Zantetsuken" (Name of his sword-"Sword that cuts iron") Bahamut Baham "Megaflare" Bomb Bomb "Jibaku" (Self-destruct) Goblin Imp "Goblin Punch" Mind Flayer Mage Cocatrice *Nonexistant* Ninjutsu: FF4 FF2 ------------------------------------------------------- KatonÊ(Fire technique) Flame Suiton (Water technique) Flood Raijin (Lightning God) Blitz Kageshibari (Shadow Needles) Pin Kemuridama (Smokebomb) Smoke Bunshin (Body Split) Image Twin Magic FF4 FF2 ------------------------------------------------------- Buchi Flare (Little Flare) Flare Buchi Meteo (Little Meteo) Comet One note on "W.Meteo" in both FF4 and FF2....in case you were wondering, that "W" stands for "Double." In Japanese, they often use the letter "W" to mean "Double." They did this in FF7 too, for the "W" commands. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FF4j AND FF4j EASYTYPE/FF2 US --------------------------------------------------------------------- EXTRA ITEMS: In FF4j, there are at least twice as many items as there are in the Easytype. Most notably are the cure items; instead of one item that cures all status effects, there is a separate item for each, like one item that cures Poison, one that cures Blindness, etc...There is an item that cures all status effects but it is extremely rare and can only be bought in the underworld for a whopping 5000 Gil each. There are other items that were taken out of FF4j Easytype, too. Generally, due to space, item management took some thinking in FF4, you rarely have space for a lot of extra items. Bomb no Kakera (Bomb Fragment) This item, when used in battle, casts "Fire" Bomb no Migiude (Right arm of Bomb) This item, when used in battle, casts "Faira" Bomb no Tamashii (Spirit of Bomb) This item, when used in battle, kills your character and does his or her current HP in damage to the enemy. Nankyoku no Kaze (Wind of the South Pole) This item, when used in battle, casts "Blizad." Hokkyoku no Kaze (Wind of the North Pole) This item, when used in battle, casts "Blizara" Zeus no Ikari (Wrath of Zeus) This item, when used in battle, casts "Thunder" Kamigami no Ikari (Wrath of the Gods) This item, when used in battle, casts "Thundara" Hoshi no Suna (Stardust) This item, when used in battle, casts "Buchi-meteo," the spell that Palom and Porom use as a twin power. Shiroi Kiba (White Fang) This item shoots "fangs of ice" at the enemies. Aoi Kiba (Blue Fang) This item actually exists in FF2, it's called "Lit-Bolt," but you can't actually get it. It does lightning damage to all the enemies. Daichi no Drum (Drum of the Earth) This item, when used in battle, casts "Quake" Ougi no Sho (Book of Knowledge) This item summons a random monster. Kuarl no Hige (Whiskers of Kuarl) This item, when used in battle, casts "Death" Dou no Sunadokei (Copper Hourglass) This item, when used in battle, stops all the enemies for a while. Gin no Sunadokei (Silver Hourglass) This item, when used in battle, stops all the enemies for a little longer than the Dou no Sunadokei. Kin no Sunadokei (Gold Hourglass) This item stops the enemies for a long time, even more than the Gin no Sunadokei. Kumo no Ito (Spider Thread) This item casts "Slow" on all the monsters. Seijaku no Kane (Bell of Silence) This item casts "Sairesu" on all the enemies Kaijuu zukan (Picture-book of Monsters) This item casts "Raibura." Hermes no Kutsu (Shoes of Hermes) This item casts "Haste." Bacchus no Sake (Sake of Bacchus) This item casts "Berserk." Skape Doll This item casts "Blink." Hikari no Curtain (Curtain of Light) This item casts "Reflek" on one character. Tsuki no Curtain (Curtain of the Moon) I'm not sure how this item is different than Hikari no Curtain; it casts "Reflek" on the character that uses it. Maybe it lasts longer or something, it just says it's more powerful in the instruction manual. Vampire no Kiba (Vampire Fang) This item casts "Drain." Lilith no Kuchizuke (Kiss of the Lilith) This item casts "Aspiru." Kin no Hari (Golden Needle) This item cures petrified characters. Otome no Kiss (Woman's kiss) This item cures characters turned into frogs. Uchide no Kozuchi (Mallet of an Apprentice) This item cures shrunken characters. Diet Food This item cures characters turned into pigs. Yamabikosou (Echo Plant) This item cures muted characters. Megusuri (Eye Medicine) This item cures blinded characters. Dokukeshi (Antidote) This cures poisoned characters. Juujika (Cross) This cures cursed characters. Mezamashidokei (Alarm Clock) This wakes up sleeping characters. Unicorn no Tsuno (Horn of the Unicorn) This heals all characters of status effects that normally disappear after the battle. (e.g. Curses, Sleep, Slow, etc....) Hijouguchi (Emergency Exit) This casts "Telepo." Kobito no Pan (Dwarf Bread) This casts "Saitoro." Alarm This item calls a group of enemies to fight you when you use it. Gin no Ringo (Silver Apple) This increases your maximum HP by 50. Kin no Ringo (Golden Apple) This increases your maximum HP by 100. Soma no Shizuku (Drop of Soma) This increases your maximum MP by 10. Dark Matter There is only one of these in game; you can steal this item from the last boss, Zeromus. Just by holding it, you can reduce the damage he does. Useful, because without it, his "Big Burn" attack can do upwards of 3000-4000 HP of damage, even on moderately high level characters. Etchi no Hon (Porno Book) This secret item is in a special area in the game where you can talk to all of the programmers. It was taken out of the US version for obvious reasons, along with the entire special area. Whether or not this area exists in FF4 Easytype I don't know. This item turns the screen red and excites the reader. ^_^ SKILLS TAKEN OUT OF FF4j EASYTYPE: These are a list of battle commands that each character had that were taken out of FF4j Easytype, and what they do. Cecil as an Ankoku Kishi (Black knight) Ankoku (Pitch-black) With this command, Cecil gathers his life energy in his sword and uses it to shoot black bolts of energy at all the enemies to do damage to them. However, every time you use Ankoku, Cecil's HP will drain a bit. Tella Omoidasu (Remember) With this command, Tella will try to remember one of the spells he's forgotten. Basically it casts a spell at random. It can even cast spells that can't normally be cast, like Tornado or Death on all the enemies. Once when I was fighting Octomammoth, Tella remembered Thundaga. That was sure a quick fight. :) Once Tella remembers his forgotten spells on the Shiren no Yama, (Trial Mountain) this command disappears. Gilbert Kusuri (Medicine) Kusuri heals all the characters for about 10-20 hp worth of damage. Rosa Inori (Prayer) Without using up MP, Rosa will cast "Keal" on all characters in the party. It doesn't always work though. Yang Tameru: (Gather) Yang will gather his strength to do a double-damage attack, but it takes time for him to build up strength. Gaman: (Endure) With this command, Yang can reduce physical damage to himself as if "Protesu" was cast on him. Palom Tsuyogaru (Strengthen) After using this command, Palom's magic power will increase. Porom Usonaki (False tears) Porom will pretend to cry which upsets the monsters, and makes it easier for the party to run away. Fuusuuya Seishinha (Spirit Wave) When Fuusuuya uses Seishinha, all the party's HP regenerate slowly. OTHER CHANGES In FF4j Easytype, there are no front or back lines when fighting the enemy. IOW, in FF4 there is a front and back row among the enemies. Enemies in the back row will take half damage from your attacks, just as characters in the back row take half damage. Unfortunately, monsters in the back row don't seem to do less damage when they attack. Overall battles are harder, and there are annoying bits not present in the easytype to make things difficult. For example, if the twins take much longer to cast their double spells, get out of synch when they try to cast a magic together, when they come forward to cast the spell, they expend the MP, but do absolutely nothing. Items in general are more expensive and tougher to get in FF4 than in FF4 Easytype. The Eteru (Ether in FF2 US) items can only be bought on the moon, whereas in FF4 Easytype Eteru is available in stores from the first town. The Ban Nouyaku (Heal potion in FF2) is 50 times more expensive in FF4 than in the easytype. Also it's not buyable until the latter half of the game. Many of the bosses were toned down for FF4j Easytype. For example, the Dark Dragon does much more damage with his Dark Breath, and Barbariccia cannot be hit in her spin except by Cain's Jump attack, or by magic. The Shoukan spell "Asura" does different things in FF4 and FF4 Easytype. In FF4, Asura does one out of three things: 1) Cast "Raise" on every member of the party. 2) Cast "Kealda" on every member of the party. 3) Cast "Protesu" on every member of the party. In FF4 Easytype, the "Protesu" effect is turned into a mega-cure which usually will heal your party to max. On a similar note, Asura is *much* more difficult to beat in FF4, since the first thing she does before you can do anything is cast "Protesu" on herself, making physical attacks do next to nothing. And since you basically have to cast "Reflek" on her to keep her from healing herself it makes it much tougher. Also, many of the non-boss monsters in FF4 Easytype were toned down. In FF4, they do more damage and have higher defense ratings so you do less damage on them. Also, some of them are tougher due to item constraints. For example, the Molbol's Kusai Iki (Bad breath) gives you every bad status effect you can have, and since Ban Nouyakus (aka Heal potions) are so rare, if the characters that can cast "Esuna" get affected you couldn't do anything. Also, some monsters have additional attacks in FF4, or have powerful attacks that are used much more frequently than in the easytype. For example, the "Tsuki no Megamis" (Lunar Goddesses-I forget what they are in FF2--those girls with swords on the moon) have a special attack which heals your characters-but also turns them to stone. (And if you confuse her, she decides to try and heal you by this method...yuk...) While this attack is still present in the Easytype, it is used much less often. In FF4j Easytype, the various secret passages in the walls and the like are visible, whereas they are all invisible (except for one place, I think) in FF4j normal. It's a small difference, but during Cecil's flashback to the stealing of Mysidia's crystal, there is no dialogue between Cecil and the elder in FF4j, but there is in FF4j Easytype. The rumor about there being a subquest in the original FF4 to get an item to cure Palom and Porom's petrification is false! There is no such subquest. The reason the box pops up when you press "A" in front of the twins is that you can waste your "Kin no Haris" here. The fabled "Basilisk's Eye" does not exist in any way, shape, or form. The three extra dummied-out items that you can get using the Gunslinger code in FF2 US are the Dark Matter (steal it from Zeromus to weaken him) and two Switch items used as event-triggering switches within the game, Let's give this rumor a nice burial. ^_^ There's also a rumor about the dancer in Baron taking off her clothes when dancing, and this is partially true. In both FF4 and the Easytype, she is first wearing a dress, and when she starts dancing she throws it off. Despite rumors to the contrary, she does NOT do a striptease and is NOT naked under the dress in ANY version; she is wearing the normal dancer clothes that all the other dancers in the game are wearing. For some inexplicable reason, this was censored in FF2 US, where she wears just the dancer clothes to start with. MY PERSONAL RATINGS OF EACH OF THE FF4 VERSIONS ---------------------------------------------------------- This is just my personal review of each of the 4 versions of FF4. They are on a scale of 1-10. After each one, I've also included the rating given each of the games by FamiTsuu magazine, one of the most widely-circulated video game magazines in Japan. Of course, since FamiTsuu never did a rating of FF2 US I can't put that here. :) Final Fantasy 4 Although the game's graphics and sound might be a little outdated for its time, this is one of the classic SFC games. With tons of items, a great storyline, fantastic music, and lots of secrets, this is a must- have for anybody's RPG collection. IMHO, Out of all the FF games, (7 at the time of this writing) the only two that are better are FF3 (Japanese) and FF5. My rating: 9 Ratings by Famitsuu: 9-9-10-8 Final Fantasy 4 Easytype This game is good for little kids, but is siginificantly less fun than its big brother. I think they could have toned down the difficulty without taking out that many of the special items and commands. It's still a good game, but I wonder how necessary it was to water it down this much. My rating: 7 Ratings by Famitsuu: 8-7-9-7 Final Fantasy 2 US This game is basically the same as FF4 Easytype, so I can't really rate it much lower. But with the censorship, questionable translations and removal of some character background, I've got to dock it some. And where's the secret programmer room? They could have taken out the porno book without taking out the entire room! What's with that? Anyhow, since it's basically the same I'll dock it half a point. My rating: 6.5 Ratings by Famitsuu: N/A Final Fantasy 4 Playstation I am really annoyed by this game. While it's in all respects the same as the original FF4j, since this is one platform higher, Square really ought to have put more work into this game. The 1 FMV movie is very cool, and IMHO is better than most if not all the FMV movies in FF7, but it's not enough to make the game worth buying again. It's like Square is just trying to milk as much money as the game-buying public as possible, and it's almost like they're trying to trick you into thinking it's a different game by not putting any screen shots on the box. Take the unbelievably lethargic saving, choppy "Mode 7" animations, and primitive graphics and music for the medium, this one gets a really low rating in my book. It is significantly cheaper than the cart, so if you've never played FF4 before, get this version. Otherwise pass it up. My rating: 5 Ratings by Famitsuu: 7-6-6-5 Do not remove the following from this FAQ! ============================================================= For any additions, corrections, or questions, please email me (Ian Kelley) at ikelley@mail.sas.upenn.edu. Thanks. If you want to put any or all of this FAQ on your page, please let me know first. I don't mind at all if you use this FAQ on your page, in fact I encourage you to do so if you wish, but if you let me know first I can keep a running tab on who's got it so I know who to email when I update it. Plus I can look at your page too. :) ============================================================= Do not use this FAQ for ANY kind of profit, be it selling it, using it as incentive to sell games, or anything else AT ALL! While it may be common sense that doing this is illegal, there are many people who will do it anyway. This is a warning to those people! I *WILL* sue you if you do and I find out! ============================================================= This FAQ originated at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~ikelley/