One simply can't talk about some of the most legendary gaming franchises around without mentioning the absolute powerhouse that is Final Fantasy. It goes without saying that this series is one of the major reasons why Square Enix has such a massive foothold in the gaming community, with their efforts still going strong to this day.
Final Fantasy started out as a gameplay-first JRPG before the second game tried integrating a story into the mix. However, the horrid gameplay mechanics definitely took away from the overall experience, making the entire game feel mediocre in comparison to its predecessor. Final Fantasy III decided to play it safe and dialed back on the story, while simultaneously building up the job mechanic.
Then, Final Fantasy IV hit shelves and completely changed the landscape of the series as we know it. Featuring a dramatic story and fixed character classes for each character, Final Fantasy IV was a major step in the right direction for the franchise and showed how much Square had evolved from its humble roots.
Final Fantasy IV is truly a fascinating game indeed, and here are ten hidden things about this title that most people had no idea about.
10 The Names Of Edward And Golbez Are Different In The Japanese Release
One interesting thing to note is the fact that both Edward and Golbez actually had different names in the original Japanese release, being Gilbert and Golbeza respectively.
However, since the Western release only allowed for six characters, these names had to be changed as a result.
9 The DS Version Was Originally Just Going To Have The GBA Script Plastered All Over It
During the initial development phase of Final Fantasy IV's DS version, the original plan was to just take the GBA script and copy-paste it into the DS title.
However, a translator by the name of Tom Slattery was a huge fan of the SNES story and took on the responsibility of re-writing the script for the new game, which ended up being an excellent decision in hindsight.
8 There Was Huge Pressure On Final Fantasy IV When It Came To Sales
While the first Final Fantasy title was a huge success for the company, Final Fantasy II and III were definitely not that impressive in comparison. It's believed that if Final Fantasy IV's commercial performance wasn't all that great, then Square would've forced Sakaguchi to go down a different route with future titles in the franchise.
Thankfully, Final Fantasy IV ended up selling gangbusters, ultimately allowing the Final Fantasy series to go through its natural course of evolution... for better or for worse.
7 The Script Of The SNES Version Was Cut By 75%!
Sakaguchi was clearly ambitious when it came to Final Fantasy IV, and this can be seen in the massive original script for the title. Such was the size of the game's script that it had to be cut down to 1/4th of its original size to even fit within the game's realistic scope!
Most of this script was thankfully integrated into the DS remake, meaning that fans didn't really lose out on much.
6 There's A Famous Sliding Glitch In The Original Release
In the original SNES release, players could trigger a sliding glitch by using a Tent or Cabin while the character is in between two tiles. This allowed players to essentially slide over to the other next tile after using the item, allowing them to walk over areas that should be inaccessible.
It's no surprise that this glitch was removed in the 2D remake.
5 Square Had A Rather Amusing Explanation For A Glitch In The Game
One particular glitch in the game caused the game to freeze if the player went back and forth between doors a total of 64 times.
In Square's now-defunct newsletter, the Ogopogo Examiner, the company stated that this was actually the effect of Zeromus' magic, which is quite a neat explanation indeed.
4 Kain Would've Supposedly Had The Ability To Cast Magic In The Game As Well
In the SNES version of the game, there are unused sprites of Kain chanting the incantation for a spell. Along with there, there's also a screenshot of the game where Kain has a White Magic command in the Final Fantasy IV Settei Shiryou Shuu, a compendium for the game.
All of these facts point towards the fact that Kain was supposed to be a magic caster as well, before this feature was cut out in the final product.
3 Disney Commissioned A Final Fantasy IV Comic Series In 1991 That Never Saw The Light Of Day
One interesting piece of trivia surrounding Final Fantasy IV is the fact that Disney actually tied up with Square in an effort to create a comic series around the game.
While this never saw the light of day, discussions between Disney and Square never ceased. This led to the creation of the much-beloved Kingdom Hearts series.
2 There Are Several References To The Old Testament
Final Fantasy IV contains several references to the Old Testament, with perhaps the most obvious one being the Tower of Babil, which is an extremely obvious reference to the Tower of Babel.
Aside from this, Kain is also based on his namesake in the story of Cain & Abel. Just like Cain, the dark knight also tries to kill his friend Cecil at multiple times during the story. Thankfully, he comes to his senses later on, and the fact that his ultimate weapon is called Abel's Lance makes this connection all the more apparent.
1 The Legacy Of The Dark Matter Item Is Quite Interesting
Dark Matter was a joke item in the original release, which could be stolen from Zeromus in the final fight. While most people thought that this item reduced the damage of the Big Bang attack, this turned out to be nothing more than a farce.
However, the DS remake does do justice to this item's legacy by actually making it viable in New Game +. Here, players who use this item when they reach the Red Moon will trigger a fight with a superboss known as Proto-Babil.