Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light

Release year (NA): 2010

Role-playing games in the Japanese tradition are becoming increasingly hard to find these days on American home consoles. The renaissance of Japanese RPGs in North America that began in 1997 with Final Fantasy VII and peaked with the Playstation 2 has receded in favor of westernized RPGs like Fable, Mass Effect, and The Elder Scrolls. But on handhelds it's a different story. A close look at the libraries of the DS, PSP, and 3DS show that Japanese RPGs are alive and well in the portable market in North America. One of these games is Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, a spin-off of the main Final Fantasy series. It's a good game but also, ultimately, an unremarkable one.

Don't let the cutesy graphics and pint-sized heroes fool you; The 4 Heroes of Light is a difficult, demanding game. It is much more in line with old-school RPGs from the NES and SNES era than any modern western role-playing game. Players control a foursome of young would-be adventurers who venture out into the world to find a cure for the curse that afflicts their hometown. Along the way, they find themselves at the center of a much larger battle between the forces of light and darkness. The story in 4 Heroes of Light is serviceable. It doesn't stray far from the typical good vs. evil theme, and therefore is mostly bland and forgettable. As you would expect in a Final Fantasy game, there are moments of genuine surprise, joy, and sorrow, but these are few and far between. The game's characters are also, unfortunately, rather bland and underdeveloped. Jusqua, the loner of the group, evolves the most as a character, but even his development pales in comparison to other Final Fantasy games. That's not to say the characters are unlikeable. In fact, almost all the characters, places, and animals of the game world in 4 Heroes of Light are likable. The game has an inoffensive, amiable quality to it that makes it very welcoming. It's difficult not to root for these four kids, and the friends they make along the way.

Turn-based combat of old

If the friendly façade of 4 Heroes of Light is welcoming, the steep level of difficulty inside the game is most decidedly not. Make no mistakes: this is a true Final Fantasy game, with all the pros and cons that come with it. Grinding for experience points is a must, as is mastering the unique jobs system (more on that later). And players should be prepared for a good deal of trial and error, in everything from which items to stock, to which weapons and armor to upgrade. Several bosses, especially in the second half of the game, are difficult to overcome without the proper combination of weapons, items, spells, and "crowns."

In 4 Heroes of Light, "crowns" serve as a de facto job system. Each of the four main characters can equip one of dozens of crowns to become a white mage, black mage, paladin, fighter, etc. And each crown can be upgraded as many as three times with gems. Upgrades provide stronger special moves and spells. The fighter, for example, can earn "jugular," which strikes a foe with a critical hit. It's a novel system, but it takes some guessing to determine which crowns are worth using and upgrading. Hint: invest in a white mage and at least one black mage.

Crowns bestow special skills.

In terms of play control, the game performs well. Touch an empty space and the character will move there. Touch a treasure chest or NPC and the hero will interact with that object or person. Combat functions in a similar way. Players choose from a menu of actions -- attack, boost, item, plus several spells or special moves -- on the bottom screen with the stylus. Graphics are another story. The basic, super-deformed, largely featureless character models are underwhelming, as are many of the towns and dungeons. Enemy bosses appear much more detailed, but they are the exception that proves the rule in 4 Heroes of Light.

Despite some graphical limitations, a lackluster story, and too much trial and error, 4 Heroes of Light emerges as a charming, challenging, and mostly enjoyable handheld role-playing game from an underrepresented sub-genre.

Score: 7.0