Yeah, I finally finished this game after about 2 weeks/30 hours of play. Keep in mind that this review is from the POV of someone who has not previously played any version of FF4.Let's start with the basics. The story is quite good, if a bit generic by 2005 standards, but it's still interesting and well-executed. The excellent translation certainly helps. The characters are all well-done (except maybe Kain...
I dislike how he just suddenly betrays you in the Sealed Cave... that felt lame.
)The gameplay system is a bit archaic, but makes up for it with pretty significant challenge and varied bosses, especially some of the new ones in the Cave of Trials and Lunar Ruins. From the bizarre Calcobrena to the evil antics of Brachioraidos, there's a lot of variety.
The sound is good... the move to the GBA hardware, in my opinion, has benefited the music significantly.
Graphics are pretty good... the enemies have all gotten significant improvements. You may not know this, but FF4 was original slated for the NES, and graphically it showed in previous versions. FFIVA, on the other hand, is an upgrade of the Wonderswan Crystal version and definitely looks and feels like an SNES game.
There are some unfortunate parts to this port, though... some noticable glitches in the ATB system cause some turns to be lost, and on the flip side, sometimes you'll get extra turns! There's also some slowdown, especially with high speeds (I used speed 2, with 1 being the fastest, and noticed it fairly often.)
Overall, it's a quality port, and while there are downsides, FF4 Advance makes up for it with all the new content and technical upgrades. As a game by itself, it's an excellent purchase. I highly recommend it.
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