Demoing a thirty hour RPG at E3 is tough when attendees only have ten minutes to see a game. Instead of throwing showgoers into the world of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light without any context, Square Enix created a build just for tradeshows.
Townsfolk in this demo broke the fourth wall with comments like, “Thanks for playing! Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light features a well paced battle system,” and “the developers worked really hard to create some cool music and sound effects!” I see, but I was wondering where King Horne was…
I walked across the bridge to meet him and he greeted me, not my party, by saying, “the developer really wanted to make the world of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light look special.”
Now it was time to try this “well paced battle system” the villagers kept talking about. Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light does away with magic points. Everyone move from fighting to a fire spell takes action points. As a freelancer, magic takes two AP. Switch Brandt, the main character, to a white mage and it costs one AP less for all white magic spells. That means you can use cure right away. Black Mage, another job in the demo, has the same effect. Other jobs in the demo were Bandit (better drops) and Wayfarer (recovery item boost).
I wandered into a cave so dark I could barely see my characters. After hitting a dead end, maybe it was two, I found the Minotaur. A well balanced party with fighters and magic users took it down without a problem.
The demo was over and the main characters made sure I knew that. “Looks like this is it for the demo. What do you think? Interested in playing the game,” Brandt asked. This was an actual question. I could respond “Okay” or “No way.” My forced choice sense, developed from years of RPG playing, tingled. So, I said “no way.”
“Uuh…? K-really,” Jusqua said while making a crying motion. “Oh, don’t worry Jusqua, I’m sure they’re just teasing,” Aire comforted.
“The full game is going to be released soon. I sure hope we get to meet again and explore this world together!” All of the characters bowed and the tradeshow specific demo was over.
