The Ghost of RubangB on 04 May 2009
Yeah FFIV starts with you murdering the innocent and burning down their village. The game is about guilt, repentance, forgiveness, and redemption.
You save the world, but only after watching so many people sacrifice so much while you were murdering and pillaging for your kingdom. Then you realize there is a greater cause.
This is some serious Messianic stuff.
The fact that they can sneak in romance and a potential apocalypse is just proof that they used to really care about plot and character development, and making them both work together. Newer games seem to focus on one or the other.
I think that's why FFIV is considered one of the best.
