The remake has made FFIV a lot more serious. It's good and bad, you no longer have some questionable phrases but that was part of the original charm

In some cases it feels like the characters have a little more depth to them.
Anyhow, this was the 2nd FF game in the US when it was first released, it's totally linear but I don't always feel like that is such a bad thing. I like knowing how the story unfolds without doing pointless side missions here and there to collect items and basically just waste time.
FFIV is still my favourite FF game. I think it's harder to appreciate it if you didn't play it when it first came out, but it's still a fun game with great characters. I haven't gotten very far, I just finished the Dark Elf bit, I've always hated the Tower of Zot... it feels so long and I remember I used to have a lot of issues with the Magus Sisters on the SNES version.
How ya doing, buddy?