Game:

Final Fantasy (1987)

Duration: 10:58

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Original Air Date: August 2nd, 2009

Heracles no Eikou IV: Kamigami kara no Okurimono (ヘラクレスの栄光IV 神々からの贈り物)...Hercules no Eikou IV...the names are generally interchangable, but one thing is for certain; the Heracles games are interesting for certain. Being an RPG series largely by Data East, the games attempted to be a competitor to Final Fantasy, Megami Tensei, Phantasy Star, and Dragon Warrior and all the other early console JRPGs in the mid to late eighties. The series originated back in 1987 and looked a lot like Dragon Warrior in appearance.

While they sold moderately well, the Heracles games never quite gained the same respect like the big names. Nevertheless, Data East faithfully worked on the games up until 1994, with this particular Super Famicom game being the last that Data East would make. The series would not see another game until 2008, over a decade later, in which newer game developer Paon would design a new game in the series for the Nintendo DS (Heracles no Eikō: Tamashī no Shōmei).

This game...it's certainly leaps and bounds more impressive than the games before it visually. Actually, the visuals are excellent for an SNES/SFC RPG in general. The enemies are detailed and even possess various animations from attacking, being hit, and standing still! The game also "pans" the screen to give battles a more dynamic feel. Special effects are also very generous...and the mode 7 rules in this game...and the game even incorporates night and day as well as weather effects. If it is blazing hot, the screen will demonstrate it. There is also rain and snow effects too. As a matter of fact, you can cast spells to make it rain and snow in combat! Doing so will alter the damage of elemental spells. As far as visuals are concerned, the game is splendid.

The sound is excellent as well...wonderfully composed and lively. The quality of the audio is rich and the music possesses enough variation to keep things from feeling mundane and lackluster...

The gameplay for this game...in a way, it's unreal. The game incorporates a "Body Possession" system. You see, in the introduction videos, you start the game as a little puppy. However, you quickly learn that you aren't a puppy at all. You were originally a young warrior who just had a bad streak of luck. Some fool opened up Pandora's Box and tossed you inside of it and your soul seperated from its body in the dimensional rift inside of Pandora's Box. However, as a soul, you now have a power that you never had before; the power to "borrow" the body and abilities of others.

You gain experience and money like traditional RPGs and go to shops and get armor and all that good stuff, but the game encourages conversation. By talking to all the townsfolk, you will learn that some of them are gifted and you can use their powers as your own.

But you aren't alone; a friend of the hero was also thrown into Pandora's Box and like you, he too can use the powers of others. The game has a HUGE list of characters that you can control and they all possess different stats and unusual abilties. However, to use their full power, you must train that body. Some start with an ability (besides the normal attack command, defend, etc.), but you can unlock more by building their "class" level, so to speak. Building their level not only allows them to gain new abilities, but their stats increase as well...on top of the stats that you gain from leveling up.

There's a lot that can be said about this game...but it's more fun to experiment with different characters and try to train them all! Just watch the video to see if it's your kinda RPG...oh, and if my party looks different throughout the video, it's because I switched bodies and changed my abilities along the way ;)