This specific port was so brutal. I’ll stay light on spoilers but basically to get to the final boss you have to land you airship and clear a dungeon. You get to the other side and you have your last chance to heal/save. Notably, you can’t restock supplies here because you don’t have access to your ship, so if you’re unprepared for the upcoming bullshit, you can’t reload your save and prep more (unless you go backwards through that dungeon, get supplies, and then go forwards again).

Then the actual final area has a full dungeon with high level random encounters, a long cutscene, a boss fight, the 2nd phase of the boss, then another long cutscene, then you go into another area, and have the option of fighting 4 “optional” bosses (you basically have to beat them because they help against the real last boss), before you actually arrive at the final boss. At this point you have cleared a dungeon, watched 2 cutscenes, and fought 6 bosses without a chance to fully heal, refill mana, or SAVE! If you die at any point in that process? Back to the beginning. Did you not bring supplies to deal with that nonsense? Don’t forget, you need to clear a dungeon backwards and forwards to restock!

Anyway, that’s why I never beat this game despite getting all the way to the final boss multiple times

@OutofPrintArchive The letters sent over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection were actually a barrier to entry for the Legendary Blacksmith quest line. The “best” piece of equipment for each job couldn’t be obtained if you didn’t use it and reach job level 99, though the game is certainly able to be completed without.

Final Fantasy IV DS was the better game for what it added over the original, such as thought bubbles when paused, the music box, Whyt minigames, the Augment system and 2 superbosses.