Epic Battle Fantasy 4 (RPG)

Epic Battle Fantasy 4 by Matt Roszak (a.k.a. kupo707) (along with lots of help - check the credits!) is a full RPG with a story, loveable characters (especially NoLegs), great music, excellent artwork and lots and lots of epic battles (when played on Epic difficulty). Also, lots of weapons and skills and a few interesting game mechanics.

Free RPGs of this magnitude are rare since it requires a lot of work to make. There is the core program engine, the tremendous amount of artwork and game content, and the bug-hunting. Oh, the bugs, both in the programming and in the content! As a testament to the quality of Epic Battle Fantasy 4, I have only found one bug in the game. I think the bug is supposed to be there since I can fight it. The game even awards a Medal for squashing that bug.

Epic Battle Fantasy 4!

As the direct sequel to Epic Battle Fantasy 3, there is a new character, Anna, though she has already made an appearance in Bullet Heaven. Anna brings some balance to the party by providing sense to an otherwise carefree band of adventurers. Her participation also allows party-switching game mechanics whereby one of the characters can be benched to recover his/her HP and MP while the others fight.

The story has Anna discovering that the Jewel of Greenwood that has protected her village for generations missing. Of course, it was bound to go missing sooner or later! At the start, the player can see the scene of the crime where the jewel had sat upon a holy stump and guarded only by a 'DO NOT STEAL' sign.

Anyway, Anna had heard of a band of thieves in the area stealing loot from just about everyone. She sets off after those thieves to retrieve the jewel. Later in her adventure, she will find that there is a second stolen jewel, which had even worse security (no sign!), and a third that actually had a single hired guard (do listen to his tale of his epic encounter with the thieves).

Exploring the world.

Similar to Epic Battle Fantasy 3, there is a world to explore, one screen at a time. There are enemies to battle, loot to find and funnies to laugh at.

As the game progresses, the story is told through conversations and cutscenes. There are jokes here and there in conversations and also in dialogs during battle. Reference to pop culture are made a few times for amusement.

Story is told through conversations and cut scenes.

As expected of RPGs, there is character management. Not only is there equipment to consider (and there are lots of equipment), there are also skills to invest with AP earned in battle. By the way, equipment can be upgraded with ingredients won in battle, found in loot and bought from shops.

The battles are varied with enemies having different strengths and weaknesses. As such, different skills and equipment are necessary to beat them, especially on Epic difficulty. Part of the fun is preparing the party for combat.

Upgrading Equipment.

Compared to Epic Battle Fantasy 3, each character may now equip up to three Flairs, giving even more options to customize the characters. The Flairs even show on the characters during battle, as with other equipment.

There are also Summons which allow the player to call some help to deal massive damage or cast a really useful buff on the party. Summons use SP, which is shared by the party and is charged by defeating baddies.

Disturbing fact I did not need to know.

The graphics are pretty - colorful and detailed. I liked the character portraits that appear with the characters' expressions during conversations out of battle. And of course, as mentioned earlier, the characters' appearances can be changed with equipment.

The music is nice and enhances the feel of the game. I am listening to it while writing this - the music puts me in a mood to write. There is a Music section from the Gallery in the Main Menu where all the music from the game may be played.

Performance-wise, the game runs fine except during battles, which may be slow unless the graphics are set to Low Quality. There is a convenient button provided during battles to change the graphics quality.

Court is in session.

The game lasted around 27.5 hours for me. I played most of the game in Epic difficulty, though. The time does not include the time I used when I loaded the game to see a conversation again (and again). It does include the 45 minutes I took in the final battle, and that was just in Normal difficulty. The final boss was too difficult for me on Epic.

There is a New Game+, but this feature requires the purchase of the Premium Pack, which includes a few other toys for the party to equip and use.

Overall, Epic Battle Fantasy 4 is a fun free RPG even without New Game+. The battles are challenging, there are loot to collect and there are enough equipment and skills to sate players who like to customize their party. The graphics are beautiful and the music is excellent.

The End.

Update 1 February 2014:
There is an expansion to Epic Battle Fantasy 4, adding new content. The official notice, listing what the expansion adds, is here.