ive been trying to collect my thoughts on FFIV since finishing it last night but it's difficult, since my experience in the genre is limited.
bluntly speaking, i had fun!
ATB learning period and minor issues aside, FFIV managed to hook me the best out of the "classic" FFs so far, sorta playing like a expanded version of the first one minus class customization. it's not often that a story focus ends up being the defining factor of an RPG sequel, development evolution was just that fast at the time.
not to say the earlier FFs were barren in this regard but IV makes it the main element. your assorted party members are defined characters, with roles and arcs all playing out in a grand fantasy/space epic that maybe cribs more than a few Star Wars notes. the standard tropes are there, as seen previously: evil villain, tangentially related quests and macguffins, group of ragtag heroes etc. the difference is IV's fleshing-out of this framework; names, relationships and events.
all of which is fascinating as someone going through the series, to see FF slowly grow confident in its original writing though to be clear, it's nothing mindblowing. IV's still working within the confines of its NES predecessors and the result is a very brisk pace that hardly develops any of its new character wrinkles. plot points like Cecil's renouncement of his Dark Knight past, Rydia's offscreen aging and Summoner training, Edge's fight against his transformed parents and others are sped through without the time necessary to have them land. they're all given a scant few dialogue boxes, maybe a brief cutscene of people fighting and that's it.
except Cid. Cid's cool.
a consequence of its time for sure and one that future games (on the same console no less) would learn from, but still very impressive given its historical context. to clarify too, it's not that IV's writing is boring, not at all, i even liked a few standout moments like the final boss and the big "gang's all here" climax near the end. it's just nothing you haven't seen before, the cliff notes version of foundational ideas later games would improve upon.
as for gameplay, it... took awhile to click. IV doesn't hold your hand with the then-new ATB system, expecting quick reflexes as early as the first few random encounters and only escalating from there. i was bumbling through fights just coming to grips with it, let alone the myriad strategies FF's already known for like elemental weaknesses and target priority. by the time i hit the Magnetic Cavern (with those fucking hedgehog enemies) i was close to throwing in the towel.
thankfully, you can get better with time and i started liking the unique rush it gave. i found the system much more fun treating it like a rapid-fire set of orders, bouncing between party members like a crazed general instead of relying on classic turn-based experience, the tradeoff being that every battle feels engaging. IV keeps you off-guard constantly by throwing new enemy combinations, new bosses and even new party members into the mix and ensuring you never fall into a passive groove. there's nothing quite like scrambling a battle plan together and overcoming a scary bossfight, it feels good.
it also helps that IV's Pixel Remaster drastically cuts down on level grinding, something i typically loathe in party RPGs. if the idea of running in circles and mashing attack repeatedly puts you off, IV has almost none of it barring the usual "oh im near a town" moments of opportunity. hell, i'll say that the above paragraph shows even this bugbear isn't as tedious here; can't get complacent if one enemy type can screw you over!
all that said, there's a few small issues i had. my biggest one is how spell lists are organized, namely not at all. characters learn spells upon levelling and they're ordered by either recency or MP cost. not alphabetized, not by type, nothing else, meaning a Heal 1 and Heal 4 spell could be separated by an entire page. it's the only part of IV's ATB system where i felt disadvantaged, having to waste precious seconds searching for Curaja ten lines down a menu.
there's also party formation, which is executed very weirdly here. previous FFs let you place members in the "front" or "back" row in battles, the idea being melee fighters dealing damage and taking hits in the former and magic users staying safe in the latter. IV does this too but instead of just... choosing who goes where individually, you're forced to swap the entire party around each time. move one guy, everybody moves. i have no idea why it's been reworked into a logic puzzle, especially since you're still able to get the formation you want, just with alot of needless fiddling. i didn't even know you could have more back-rows than front until halfway in!
those snags aside, FFIV really was a great time and convinced me of several FF aspects i'd once been wary of. onwards to V! once i've taken a small break sldkfj.