Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
European box art
Developer(s)	Square Enix Matrix Software
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Director(s)	Takashi Tokita Hiroaki Yabuta
Producer(s)	Tomoya Asano
Artist(s)	Akihiko Yoshida
Writer(s)	Izuki Kogyoku Tomoya Asano Takashi Tokita Hiroaki Yabuta
Composer(s)	Naoshi Mizuta
Series	Final Fantasy
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS
Release date(s)	JP October 29, 2009 NA October 5, 2010 EU October 8, 2010
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ACB: PG CERO: A ESRB: E10+ PEGI: 12+

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, known in Japan as Hikari no 4 Senshi: Final Fantasy Gaiden (光の4戦士 -ファイナルファンタジー外伝-, Hikari no Yon Senshi Fainaru Fantajī Gaiden, lit. "The Four Warriors of Light: Final Fantasy Side Story"), is a role-playing video game developed by Matrix Software and published by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. It is a spin-off of the Final Fantasy series and was released by Square Enix in Japan in Fall 2009. The game was then released in America and Europe in Fall 2010. The game stars a boy named Brandt who, on his 14th birthday, is summoned by the king to rescue a princess who has been kidnapped by the Witch of the North.

Producer Tomoya Asano has described the game as "a classic fantasy RPG using today's technology." Enemies are encountered randomly, and the turn-based battle system is reminiscent of the Final Fantasy games released for the Famicom, but uses a "Boost" command in lieu of traditional magic points. Up to four characters may join the party, with the appearance of the characters changing depending on the weapons and armor equipped. Also, like in the job system of past Final Fantasy games, players are able to freely select the characters' classes utilizing the "Crown System".

A sequel to the game was considered by the development team, and eventually evolved into the upcoming 2012 game Bravely Default: Flying Fairy.

Plot

The story revolves around a 14-year old boy named Brandt, who must present himself to the king as a custom of entering manhood to become men. Upon arriving, Brandt finds the King distraught and is told to go find Princess Aire and save her from the Witch of the North, Louhi. On the way, Brandt is joined by his friend Jusqua and the princess's bodyguard Yunita before they rescue Princess Aire and slay Louhi, and when they return to town, everyone's been turned to stone and the king is nowhere to be found.

While Brandt and Yunita attempt to restore Horne's people, Jusqua takes Aire to the city of Liberte. Arriving to the desert city of Guera, Brandt and Yunita meet Krinjh there, offering his help if they help him slay the Sand Demon, who is actually a girl named Araidne who Krinjh disappears with. As that occurred, after exposing the pirate captain Drake as an impostor with Jusqua, Aire meets a fairy named Lilibelle who reveals a hidden treasure in Liberte. Though Lilibelle warns her not to get it, Aire finds it and is transformed into a cat. Leaving Jusqua, and receiving a harsh lession with Lilibelle sacrificing herself to save her, Aire finds Brandt as the two head to Arbor forest to find more a solution to Horne's curse and Aire's. However, Brandt is turned into a plant upon entering the forest and Aire manages to find the animal staff with the aid of a mouse named Torte, with Brandt turned into a dog instead.

With both members being animals, they sought the Queen of Arbor for help but in exchange they must calm down the rampaging Arbaroc, Guardian of Arbor. Unfortunately, his uncontrollable rage forces the party to defeat him in combat instead. The Queen of Arbor thanks them by making the Animal Staff into the Transformation Staff so they can regain their forms while telling them that Rolan of the floating island of Spelvia may have the way of solving their trouble. However, only Aire makes it across while Brandt plummets back into Arbor and advised to travels further north to the western ice caverns. Meanwhile, mistaking a normal cat for Aire, Jusqua travels to the city of Urbeth and finds both Yunita and a sorceror who offered to lift the animal hex for 10,000 gil. However, about giving him the fee, Jusqua learns the sorceror was a con artist as he escapes into the night towards Invidia while having the city be terrorized by the monsters he created. Learning of this, Jusqua leaves Yunita behind and pursues the sorceror on one of the merchants' boats. By the time Jusqua finds the sorcerer, he is reunited with Brandt before learning Aire was with Brandt the whole time.

With Brandt and Jusqua arriving at Invidia, they meet a young girl named Rekoteh who assists them in getting the Dragon's Harp needed to hatch a newborn dragon so they can reach Spelvia. By that time, the island was over Urbeth as Yunita chooses to climb up the Tower to the Sky in order to reach it. She soon meets Aire as the two arrived into town, finding its ruler, Rolan, locked himself away in solitude with his bitterness towards humans influencing the Golems to attack any human. As a result, Yunita and Aire travel into Rolan's subconscious with the help of the Witch of the Sky. They destroy the monsters that were controlling Rolan but this caused him to unleash the darkness locked away inside him and warped reality itself by the time the girls are reunited with Brandt and Jusqua. As a result, the 4 children must embark on an epic quest to find the Weapons of Light to save not only their home of Horne, but even the world from the Dark Lord that the anicent hero Rolan had sealed.

In Guera's past, Krinjh was a servant to the previous king. This king was actually Asmodeus, demon of lust, in disguise and used Krinjh to earn the trust of Ariadne to get a seedling from Arbor to become all-powerful and then attempted to break them apart. Yunita prevents this by using the Merkmal to reveal Asmodeus and the groups defeats him. In return, Krinjh gives them the Shield of Light. Krinjh becomes king and creates diplomatic relations between Geura and Arbor. In Liberte's past, an artist, Pione, was attempting to create the most beautiful piece of art and incorporated Lillibelle into it. However, the pirate's stole the work and Aire wanted to everything it took to stop them. It turns out the entire pirate crew was being possessed and after freeing them, the group awakens Cetus, the ancient's Rolan's whale and uses him to help defeat Leviathan, demon of envy.

In Urbeth's past, a plague ravaged the city and the only cure cost absurd amounts which led to Urbeth to go from a city of faith to a city commerce. Thauzand's daughter was unfortunately one of the victims. However, Jusqua is determined to prevent this and finds a vial of the cure. Its revealed that the apothecary in town was causing the plague and selling the overpriced medicine. The group reveals him to be Beelzebub, demon of gluttony, and defeats him. In return, Thauzand gives the group the Cape of Light and Urbeth becomes a town of the perfect balance of faith and commerce. In Arbor's past, Torte, as a human, released Belphegor, demon of sloth, in trying to obtain the spell Lux. As punishment, he was turned into a mouse and it was decided that no humans would be allowed in Arbor. In the meantime, Belphegor was trying to possess Arbaroc and destroy Arbor. In the original history, he succeeded in the possession, but thanks to the intervention of Torte and the group, he is defeated instead and the group is rewarded with the legendary white magic Lux.

In Invidia's past, there was a winter that threatened to destroy the town. In response, Rekoteh's father who expected her to be as strong as her brother despite being much younger. He asked her to retrieve the Dragon's Mark which Brandt decides to go get for her. They give it to her and when she shows it to her father, he asks the group to take it and stop whatever is going on at the Sun Temple. The group arrives and defeats Mammon, demon of greed. Upon their return, Invidia is finally hit with spring, and Rekoteh's father apologizes to his daughter and gives the group the Armor of Light. In Spelvia's past, the group arrives just before it's too late to save Rolan from the darkness. They delve into his soul again and defeat Lucifer, demon of pride, freeing Rolan's soul from darkness and giving him the confidence he needs to be a hero. He gives them the Sword of Light.

In Horne's past, a drought has caused popular to go towards asking Louhi for help. Beneath the castle, despite this being the date of Aire's birth, the king is contacting Louhi for help. In exchange for Aire, Louhi would break the seal on the legendary black magic. The group is appalled that their king would do such a thing and travels to Louhi's mansion. There, Rolan shows up and tells Louhi to break her agreement with the king and advises the group to get the Lamp of Truth. With the lamp, they reveal the king to actually be Satan, demon of wrath, and defeat him. Brandt's parrot shows up and uses the Lamp of Truth to turn into the real king. It should be noted, that in the beginning of the game, they were actually serving Satan meaning they were actually on the side of evil since Louhi also works for Rolan. In thanks, the king gives the group the legendary black magic Desolator.

At this time, the Dark World opens and with the help of Cetus, the group enters, and defeats Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Belphegor, Mammon, and Satan again and then faces off against Chaos, the Dark Lord. In the final fight after the crystal appears to heal the group, Chaos destroys it and still manages to lose to the group despite them losing their major source of power. The group then travels the world returning all seven of their recently obtained items. Now that the world is returned to normal, everyone remembers them and all they've done for them.

Characters

Screenshot showing the battle system used in the game. In this image, the player is in control of Brandt, and is currently selecting the "Attack" option.

• Brandt (ブランド, Burando), an ordinary fourteen year old who lived in the Kingdom of Horne with his mother Kuore. He has a strong sense of justice, yet still rough in manners.
• Jusqua (ジュスカ, Jusuka), a silver-haired boy with an air of mystery surrounding him. He doesn't like it when things get tough, and generally abandons the missions that do.
• Yunita (ユニータ, Yunīta), a novice soldier in the Kingdom of Horne, sworn to protect and serve Princess Aire. She is a stoic and serious girl, but is nervous of her role.
• Aire (アイレ), the second daughter of King Horne, and the younger sister of Princess Carino. She is the cheerful mood-maker of the group, due to her ignorance of the outside world.

Temporary Characters

• Krinjh (キリンジュ, Kirinju), A young man found alone in the desert, he is the last of his kind, he seems lonely but won't say why.
• Torte (トルテ, Torute), A young warrior, when you meet him he is in the form of a small mouse, but there is more to him than meets the eye, there may have been a mistake in his past.
• Rekoteh (リコッテ, Rikotte), A young girl born in Invidia, sister of Rolan, she loves her brother very much and wants to find any way she can to get to him, she is strong spirited but is overlooked by her parents because of her brother, though she does not resent him for this.
• Rolan (ロラン, Roran), A young man born in Invidia, brother to Rekoteh, named after his ancestor who saved the world from the Dark Lord, he has confidence issues and doesn't think he is good enough to live up to the legend. This left him exposed to evil and caused him to close himself away from others.

Others

• Kuore (クオレ): Brandt's mother.
• King Horne (ホルンおう, Horun-ō): Aire's father.
• Carino (カリーノ, Karīno): Aire's older sister.
• Dragon (ドラゴン, Doragon): The Heroes' means of travel.
• Adventurer (冒険家, Bōkenka): A mysterious man who travels with a fox. The player can speak with him to save the game.
• Louhi, Witch of the North (北の魔女ロウヒ, Kita no Majo Rouhi): A sorceress who had a binding contact with the king of Horne that she would take Aire away from him. Though killed in the original timeline, Louhi survives in the second one as reluctant ally.

• Belphegor (ベルフェゴール, Berufegōru): A fire demon sealed in Arbor by the ancient hero Rolan, Belphegor was accidentally unsealed by Torte years ago before the demon possesses Arbor's guardian beast Arbaroc who was killed by Brandt's group. However, traveling back in time, Brandt's group destroys Belphegor before he could possess Arbaroc.
• Beelzebub (ベルゼブブ, Beruzebubu): A demon of greed who spread a pestilance in Urbeth to make a profit on the inhabitants before Brandt's group destroys him.
• Asmodeus (アスモデウス, Asumodeusu): A demon who adopted the guise of Guera's king with intentions of turning it into a world power before Brandt's group destroys him.
• Mammon (マンモン, Mammon): A demon who attempted to cover Invidia in Ice before Brandt's group stops her.
• Lucifer (ルシファー, Rushifā): A demon responsible for Rolan's descent into darkness before Brandt's group destroys the fiend.
• Satan (サタン): A demon who posed as King Horne, secretly working with Louhi to break the seal of dark magic under Horne before Brandt's group exposes the impostor and destroy him.
• Chaos: The Dark Lord who ravaged the world until defeated by the ancient hero Rolan.

Development

The game is the second to be released with the Final Fantasy Gaiden subtitle in Japan, after Final Fantasy Adventure, which was released as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden in Japan, though it is said to have no relations to this game.

The 4 Heroes of Light was initially to be revealed through a teaser website with a countdown timer that was to end on July 6, 2009; however, a Shonen Jump article for the game was prematurely leaked on the internet a few days before the timer was to end.

Reception

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light received a 33 out of 40 by Japanese gaming publication Famitsu with one of the four reviewers stating, "The story, music, and so on evokes memories of an older age and it mixes well with the modern gameplay to make things seem pretty fresh." It was the second best-selling game in Japan during its week of release at 115,000 units sold. With an additional 35,000 units sold the following, it was reported that the game sold out in the region. The game sold 178,510 copies by the end of November 2009. Janelle Hindman's review on RPG Land concluded, "Players who don’t mind a little awkwardness will enjoy this humble Final Fantasy side story" and labeled the game "Good." IGN gave the game an "Impressive" 8.0 / 10 noting the game had a unique style with an old school SNES feel.

The game was also showcased at E3 2010 where it generated numerous positive responses from the media. It was nominated by GameTrailers for Best DS Game of the Show.

External links

• Official site (Japanese)
• Official English site