Final Fantasy is a series that I’ve barely scratched the surface of, so I wasn’t sure what to expect as I put Four Heroes into my DS for the first time, but I knew it was going to be big. And it was… too big. There’s far too much to do, which is usually a positive point in a game, but the fact that it’s actually quite boring and you have to do most of the things to progress turned this game from a vast RPG into a very linear game that you might have to force yourself through if you’re wanting to grind all the way to the end.

There’s more grinding in this handheld RPG than any skateboarding park. The way that the story throws you around from character to character means that a lot of time has to be invested if you want to get anywhere; you can’t simply get all of the main characters into a party and fight some enemies, and you’ll be left on your own with an underlevelled character at some points. Then, when a few of you do get together, you’ll be put against a near impossible boss and that’s even more time staring at the battle scene.

You start off in a town as a hero that’s come of age and you’ll get to name him first of all (sound familiar? – I called him Link). Then you head to the castle to talk to the King, and you must venture on your own to save his daughter… until you meet a badass adventurer. You’ll also find one of the Princess’ followers and you’re set. You defeat the evil witch and save the Princess (I named her Zelda). Game over, right?

Of course not; you’ve just began your adventure! This is where the game really kicks off; you’re told that you’re collectively the Four Heroes of Light and you must save your hometown from an evil curse. Then, you’re split up, fighting alone or with another hero and finding other characters to join your party along the way. You’ll have to fight through many dungeons and bosses to reach the games conclusion, if you can. For the main part, the story is average, there’s nothing that will surprise players along the way.

How about the gameplay itself, then? The battle system is a saviour, as it’s actually fun and definitely well thought out. It’s similar to the old Final Fantasy games, as far as I know, in that it’s actually turn based and you’ll have to choose an option in battle using the bottom screen of the DS. You have to use AP for attacks, items and magic, but you can boost this during battle. You’ll walk around towns and explore the world’s many forests and caves to progress through the story; battling a plethora of monsters along the way with the fun battle system.

Sadly, the game seems to be a constant loop of the same formula and you’ll notice the repetition by the third area: go to a town, get a quest, go to a dungeon near the town, battle monsters, get to the boss, win and then go to next town. This means that the game doesn’t actually feel like it’s going anywhere, and if you’re not getting lost or being stuck on a super hard boss, you’ll be following this formula. The variation in the enemies and the charm with certain characters you’ll meet does resolve some of these problems, but don’t expect too much.

As with everything else in the game, there’s a lot of variation with the items you can collect. There’s tons of weapons, each with unique elemental damage or status effects. Speaking of those, you’ll be able to cast elemental spells in battle by having Tomes in your inventory, which any character can use but not all have what it takes to make them powerful.

Applying crowns to your character is a big feature of this game, having varied crowns on your characters will allow you to make your party the best possible. Crowns will give you certain perks such as using less AP for some magic attacks or boosting your attack. You can enhance your crown using the gems you have collected from fallen enemies. Status effects are both annoying and useful at the same time; it’s really annoying if one of your characters gets petrified and stuck in stone until you go back to a town and sleep, but it’s really useful to poison or confuse the enemies.

There’s not much that makes this game stand out from other RPGs, unless you’re a big fan of excessive grinding, being bored as you’re stuck due to the lack of roadmapping or an insane difficulty curve when it comes to a boss. There’s an extremely annoying part of the game where in order to progress, you have to get someone to join your party. How do you do this? Well, you have to do a quest to collect some money instead of just taking a shortcut by selling your items and gems. If you’ve not realised this, you’ll have to go back to your last save and this time do one of the quests to collect the money. Then they’ll join your party.

It’s graphically acceptable for a DS game, but it looks like they’ve taken shortcuts with some of the textures and the overworld looks flat. The sound is very repetitive, with the same battle music in every single battle. There’s no voice dialogue; which isn’t a bad thing, but it should be noted. There’s some obvious flaws and glitches and some massive bugs that I’ve previously mentioned. It just doesn’t do enough to stand out.

Pros:

• There’s a fun battle system
• It’s a big game
• Good variety in the weapons and enemies

Cons:

• It’s a big game
• You’ll grind more than you did in any Tony Hawk’s game
• Progression is boring and repetitive
• Bugs, sub-par graphics and unimaginative sounds

Some will find enjoyment in Four Heroes, but it’s just not for everyone. Too much time will be spent grinding through it, with hours more on bosses, for a game that’s just average. You’re thrown around in the story too much and you’ll have to re-visit the same places, which seems like a cheap tactic to extend the game even more. The difficulty curve is far too steep and trying to find a strategy where there is none quickly becomes frustrating and dull.

Score: 5/10