Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light is a "gaiden" or "spin-off" from the main Final Fantasy series. It was released for the Nintendo DS console in Japan and was released in North America on October 5, 2010. The game is the second to be released with the Final Fantasy Gaiden subtitle in Japan, after Seiken Densetsu ~Final Fantasy Gaiden~ (which had been released as Final Fantasy Adventure in North America), though the two games have no relations to each other. Character design is done by Akihiko Yoshida, and the development team of Final Fantasy IV DS all returned to work on the title. While the four Heroes of Light have their default names, the player can name them at the beginning of the game, similar to Final Fantasy II.

Gameplay
Gameplay follows normal RPG fare, though Magic points (MP) are replaced by Action Points. Random encounters return, and the battle system is turn-based, reminiscent to the first three Final Fantasy games on the Famicom. Changing equipment changes the characters' appearance.

Crowns
The game uses a new variation of the Job System called the "Crown System", where Jobs are linked to hats, known as Crowns. Each Crown contains four skills and various bonus attributes, but magic spells can be used by all Crowns. There are 28 Crowns available in the game.

Battles
Battles in The 4 Heroes of Light take place in a turn-based form, with several twists from the rest of the series. Instead of MP there is Action Points (AP). Each turn you regenerate 1 AP, to a maximum of five. You have four choices of action each turn, you can attack with your weapon, use an item, one of your set abilities of spells, or you can use boost, which will generate an extra AP that turn but you do nothing else.

Other factors affect the battle, such as enthusiasm, when your heroes are psyched up, gaining a yellow aura surrounding them and a stat boost, and when your heroes are feeling down, gaining a slight stat decrease. When you finish a battle, if any items are dropped, you must decide which character to give the item too, and if all your character bags are full, the item is discarded.

Multiplayer
There is also a wireless co-op mode, where up to four players can play.

Story
The story of the game starts one morning when a boy named Brandt wakes up. He turns fourteen, the time when it is custom for males to present themselves to the king to become men. On his way there, Brandt finds the King distraught and is told to go find Princess Aire and save her from the Witch of the North. Once Brandt makes it to the cave separating Louhi's castle and Horne he is attacked by a minotaur, but is saved by Jusqua. Jusqua then joins your party and you continue on your quest. Eventually you come up to the witch's castle, and find her maid/bodyguard Yunita, who offers to join your party. Later, you are able to rescue Princess Aire, and when you return to town, everyone's been turned to stone.

A team of inspectors from Liberte are in the town looking for the cause of the curse. The head inspector offer to take the party to their city as refugees, but Brandt and Yunita say they need to try and save Horne, and Jusqua decides to just give up and go so Yunita orders him to take Aire with him. Then Brandt and Yunita head out to Guera to seek a cure for the curse and meet Krinjh there. The group then goes to the Moonshard Tower where they get the world map. After this, the group manages to make their way to the town of Guera, where they meet the king, who decides to help them figure out the curse if they help him get rid of a monster problem in the desert. The party then goes to the Quicksand Tower, where they defeat the Sand Demon, who is later revealed to be Araidne. Araidne and Krinjh then disappear. Afterwards, the story switches back to Jusqua and Aire, who have taken refuge in Liberte, a port town. Aire explores the town and finds out that a young boy, named Apollo, had his parents kidnapped. She relays this news to Jusqua and they set off to the Pirate's Cove to set them free.