As previously mentioned, Final Fantasy 4 has been given a complete visual overhaul, featuring beautifully rendered 3D models and lush, vibrant environments. Story scenes that move the plot along are very well designed and directed. It feels as if you’re watching a miniature movie, which is often a welcome change from poring over text like we are forced to in basically every handheld RPG available. On another note, we are now blessed with the gift of speech. That’s right, some story scenes are now fully voiced. While most characters are spot-on and sound exactly as you would expect, others are not so accurate and leave much to be desired. Some scenes are almost laughable in their melodrama. It is quite unfortunate to me that the voice acting was executed so poorly in some areas. However, the good far outweighs the bad, and voice acting in a DS title is always noteworthy, even if Luminous Arc does tend to overshadow Final Fantasy 4 in this regard. On a brighter note, it’s not the source material - the script from the previous iterations of the game has been updated and altered so that it’s become a much more elaborate endeavor than its poorly localized predecessors.

The soundtrack? One name: Nobuo Uematsu. The musical score translates well to the DS and sounds spectacular through earbuds. As usual, his genius bleeds into very area of Final Fantasy 4, creating memorable moments throughout that will linger with you long after you complete the game.

Final Fantasy 4 was the first of the series to introduce the now loved -- and often despised -- Active Time Battle (ATB) system in which the battle continues on whether you are ready or not. It’s alive and kicking in this remake, but it’s also been given a more organized format. Just as you would expect, the carnage will take place on the top screen, but now the touch screen plays an important part. While fighting off scourges of enemies, the touch screen acts as a very useful information database, displaying your character’s current status, ATB gauge, and general information about who is selected. It goes even more in-depth, as now you will be given information about your attack’s element and hit rate. The addition of such information and a very tight, accurate ATB gauge proves to make combat much more efficient and enjoyable, taking most of the guesswork out of what order your party’s attacks will launch in. It isn’t an enormous change, but it’s significant enough to tighten up an already infallible battle system.