Final Fantasy IV - Everything You Know Is Wrong!

Hardtype? Easytype? What?

Everyone thinks they know the answer to this one: two versions of this game were released in Japan, known as FFIV Hardtype and FFIV Easytype. FFIV Easytype obviously had a lower difficulty level, as well as a number of items and character abilities removed. Then, when Square decided to port FFIV to North America, they decided we were too stupid for the regular FFIV and sent us a version of FFIV Easytype that was not only poorly translated but also censored (and misnumbered "FF2") as well.

Heck, after being adjusted for point 1 below, that's the story I've told several times myself. There are two major problems with it though.

There is no such game called "Final Fantasy IV Hardtype". It's just plain "Final Fantasy IV". (You probably knew that.)
You probably didn't know this: FF2US was indeed a watered down version of the original Japanese FFIV, but it was apparently made before FFIV Easytype. (That said, what little information I can find on the release dates seems to indicate that FFIV Easytype managed to sneak out first, although they had roughly simultaneous releases: FFIV Easytype on 10/29/1991, FF2 US sometime in November.) On top of that, several changes were made to FFIV Easytype that made it even easier than FF2US. Yes, easier. Everything missing from FF2US was still missing from FFIV Easytype, but several items and monster had their properties changed (this is not necessarily a complete list):
- The Ancient Sword (the crappy sword you find in the waterway underneath Baron) became the Coral Sword, which now was 5 points more powerful than the Legend Sword, and does quadruple damage to aquatic monsters. Like, say, Cagnazzo...
- The Silver/Mithril Sword became the Piglet Sword, meaning it was no longered considered metal. (Take that, Dark Elf!) To make things even more surreal, it occasionally turns enemies into pigs.
- The hit rate for bows was increased.
- The Heroine Robe no longer has penalties to Wisdom and Will.
- The Tricker's "weakness" has been changed to Fire instead of lightning. Casting non-Fire spells on the Tricker causes him to respond with a Piggy spell instead of slaughtering your party.

Zeromus received a complete makeover in FFIV Easytype as well. You won't find this in FF2 US:

It gets better. Has Rydia suddenly gained l33t h341|\|g p0\/\/3Rz?

Nope. All Rydia was equipped with in these pictures is a Ribbon, which now absorbs Fire, Ice, and Lightning in addition to its usual properties. (You won't find that in FF2 US either.)

Thanks go to Alex Jackson (who else? :) for the FFIV Easytype info. For more information, Japanese-capable readers may wish to visit this site, which is a list of changes made to FFIV Easytype (compared to the original FFIV, not FF2US.)

Down With Ted Woolsey?

I shall leave the debate over Ted Woolsey's translating abilites to others, but the point I want to make here is that you can't blame Ted Woolsey for FF2US's crappy translation. Why? Because contrary to popular belief, he simply had nothing to do with it. Pay attention to the credits next time you beat FF2 US. :)

(For those wondering who Ted Woolsey is, he was the translator for some of Square's later North American SNES releases such as Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, and the misnumbered "Final Fantasy 3".)

How Much HP Does Zeromus Have, Anyway?

Would you believe 65,498?

Actually, as a practical matter, it's hard to say. In FFIV, Zeromus does indeed have 65,498 HP, but the catch is that he gets one complete HP refresh during the battle. No one is quite sure yet what exactly triggers it, but you can be pretty sure that getting his HP low probably has something to do with it. (There is no visible indication of when this refresh takes place.) Therefore you can expect to do anywhere from around 100,000 to (at the very most) 130,995 points of damage before you bring Zeromus down.

Apparently the figure is slightly lower in FF2 US (and likely FF4 Easytype as well), but the same basic idea applies.

How To Get The Zeus Gauntlet, and Other Rare Item Shenanigans

Wait a minute, everyone knows how to get a Zeus Gauntlet, right? Like Nintendo Power and the official Final Fantasy Chronicles Strategy Guide (not to mention almost every FAQ at GameFAQs) claim, they are dropped by Skeletons, Red Bones, and/or Skulls, right?

Nope, nope, and nope. In fact, the aforementioned monsters simply don't drop any items at all. Period.

There are in fact three different enemies that drop Zeus Gauntlets, but none of them are remotely skeletal in appearence. They are Stalemen, Ogres, and Mad Ogres. Your best bet is to fight the Stalemen, since they have the highest probability of dropping them. (That, and if you're not playing FF4 Easytype or FF2 US, you can get into battles with them quickly by using the Alert item in Eblana Cave.)

Another common rare item misconception is the belief that the Bomb Summon is dropped by Bombs and Grey Bombs. While that would make sense, the Bomb Summon is only dropped by Grenades and Balloons. (I spotted this one in the FFC guide as well.)

Getting The Imp Sword

This one's easy: there is no Imp Sword.

Apparently this one got started due to one particularly well known FAQ author (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) putting it in his FAQ without checking if it was true. Supposedly you can get it from winning a battle with 1 Imp and 5 Imp Captains. However:

There is no such thing as a battle with 1 Imp and 5 Imp Captains
Imps don't drop an Imp Sword (and as noted above, it plain just does not exist.)
Imp Captains don't drop anything, much less an Imp Sword. D'oh!

Unstoning the Twins

OK, everyone pretty much knows this is false, but I add it here for completeness. No, after beating Cagnazzo, there is no way for you to remove Palom and Porom's petrification. You can try to feed them various items with the item menu that comes up when you talk to their statues, but it will be for nothing. There never was any sidequest to unstone them, in any version of FFIV.

Where's Culex?

In Super Mario RPG. Culex is not, and never has been, in any version of FF4. For the record, Culex is not in any of the following games:

Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy II US
Final Fantasy IV Easytype
Final Fantasy V (no, Necrophobia is not Culex)
Final Fantasy VI (US: Final Fantasy III)
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy Tactics
Makaitoushi SaGa (US: The Final Fantasy Legend)
SaGa 2 Hihoudensetsu (US: Final Fantasy Legend 2)
SaGa 3 (US: Final Fantasy Legend 3)
Seiken Densetsu (US: Final Fantasy Adventure)
Or any other Square title except for Super Mario RPG.

Why do people incessantly keep asking this? I point out that I have never played SMRPG, but apparently the battle with Culex in that game borrows some battle music from FF4. Also, some strategy guide (again, I point out I have no firsthand knowledge of this) supposedly states as fact that Culex is indeed from FF4.

Yes Virginia, There Really is a Gloom Wing

Gloom Wing and other Hairy Scary Monsters!

Ever come across any of the baddies to the left? You won't find them in many FF4 FAQs (they're even missing from Ben Siron's bestiary) for some reason, even though their existance has been known about for some time. Those who know about them believe that they're also only located in a three-square strip as shown to the right (in fact, I had reported as such myself. D'oh!) You can also find them in the very southernmost parts of the island with the Sylvan Cave (if you're getting RockMoths and RocLarvae, you're in the wrong place.)

Note that the TrapRose can be found pretty much anywhere in the Underworld.

You'd expect that these ultra rare monsters would drop cool stuff... and you'd be wrong. In FF2 US and FF4 Easytype, they just drop crappy healing items. In FF4, they drop... well, mostly just a wider array of crappy healing items. The Gloom Wings however drop Artemis Arrows as an ultra-rare drop, but big deal... you can just steal them from Karys.

icb42 has since pointed out that I missed the Gorgon and the Tarantula (or "Talantla" for you FF2 US players...) They can be found in the same three square strip in the top right picture. Gorgons, like Medusa, can drop the Medusa Sword.

Thanks to Hiryuu for pointing out where exactly they could be found outside of the usual three-square strip.

The Incredible Invisible Treasure!

Another tidbit you won't find in any FAQ; there are a few squares in the game where pressing A/Circle/whatever the "Talk" button is in the version you're playing will uncover some hidden treasure, and in some instances, send you into a battle. (Two RedGiants in the Crystal Palace; 6 Ghosts in the Sealed Cave.) None of the treasure is particularly great (some of it is downright useless), but it's still a neat curiosity. Observe below:

Tower of Bab-il	Sealed Cave B4F	Sealed Cave B4F
Crystal Palace	Crystal Palace	Lunar Subterrane B3F
	Lunar Subterrane B5F

Thanks to DDCecil for the four of the screenshots, Leroux1 for the location of the Rod, The Materia Keeper for the 6 Ghost battle, and JCE3000GT for informing me of the existance of another Lunar Subterrane item.

Credits

Alex Jackson - For setting the record straight on FFIV Easytype vs FF2 US.
Blair - For pointing out that the back row penalty indeed does exist... under certain circumstances.
DDCecil - For the "Invisible Treasure" screen shots.
Hiryuu - For pointing out that the rare monsters can be found outside the three-square strip.
icb42 - Pointed out I was missing the Gorgon and Talantla in the "Gloom Wing" section.
Leroux1 - Pointed out the secret Rod in the Lunar Subterrane.
Master Zed - For the Zeromus HP info.
Paulygon - Wrote the Drop Item FAQs that should have put an end to all the false rare item claims... but didn't. :)

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