Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare)

Kalmaholic

Kalmaholic

CAGiversary!
I see that this title was recently released on the WiiWare store, and my reaction at first was that I'm pretty excited about it. But then I thought about it and I'm not too sure. Does this title really match up to the original FF4...I really loved it, but I also read up that you have to pay about $29 to obtain all the side quests in the game. I really just have big mixed feelings about this game, and want to see what other people thought, or if other people have played through it already.
 
I already played through the main story. Took me about 4 hours. It is an amazing game that any brings back SNES style graphics, same music and a lot of the maps from the original. It has the same scenario writer as the original FF4 and the same sprite artists that worked on FF1-6 so it feel just like a FF game. There is a great plot twist that that any fan of the original will enjoy.

The game is only 1600 points. The other character chapters are optional. For example if I like don't Yang and Edward, I don't have to buy their chapter.

A few things I have a problem with. The wiimote is really not that good and you should have a classic control. Random encounter seems really high. And the prologue ended in a cliffhanger so you are going to be waiting for a few months to find out what happen.

One more thing, when you start a new chapter make sure you dont save over your existing file. Each chapter is independent of each other.
 
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I'm going to wait for the rest of the stories to be released, who knows they might even put the whole thing a disc, which would be great.
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']Can you use a Gamecube controller?[/QUOTE]

Sadly you can not

[quote name='SkeletonBrute']I'm going to wait for the rest of the stories to be released, who knows they might even put the whole thing a disc, which would be great.[/QUOTE]

Well you only have to wait until September. In Japan they released it once a month. They were hoping to create a anime/manga feel by releasing them over a long period of time instead of all at once.
 
By my math, the game and all additional chapters will come to $37 ($8 for the initial three, 7 x $3 for the next seven individual chapters, and then another $8 for the last release, which will include two chapters).
 
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[quote name='CoffeeEdge']By my math, the game and all additional chapters will come to $37 ($8 for the initial three, 7 x $3 for the next seven individual chapters, and then another $8 for the last release, which will include three chapters).[/QUOTE]

Korrect.

I'm waiting until they're all released to pick it up. It's hard enough keeping manga volumes straight when they release once every few months.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Korrect.

I'm waiting until they're all released to pick it up. It's hard enough keeping manga volumes straight when they release once every few months.[/QUOTE]

Actually, I typo'd. The last release is two chapters, not three. Fixed.
 
I'm really torn on this release. Personally I was hoping they would just release it for the DS but $37 dollars for the complete package is a little steep and this coming from a gigantic fan of the original. I'm with SkeletonBrute I'll wait till all the chapters are released and knowing the GC controller doesn't work doesn't help matters much ugh.
 
[quote name='vanlandw']I'm really torn on this release. Personally I was hoping they would just release it for the DS but $37 dollars for the complete package is a little steep and this coming from a gigantic fan of the original. I'm with SkeletonBrute I'll wait till all the chapters are released and knowing the GC controller doesn't work doesn't help matters much ugh.[/QUOTE]

yep, same boat here, I'll wait till I can buy a cheap 2000 point card someday.

sucks because my cheapass ways really wants a sale... but DD from the big N is pretty much dead for that chance.
 
[quote name='Yanksfan']$37 is reasonable to me for what will be probably a 10-15 hour experience when it is done.[/QUOTE]

You're in for a treat then, cause I've already sunk 8 hours into the first two chapters alone. The difficulty is ramped up more in this one than any other FF I can think of, so there's a bit of grinding to do. I love how they've given it a face lift to look like FF6; still classic but with a new shiny coat :D
 
[quote name='matters38']You're in for a treat then, cause I've already sunk 8 hours into the first two chapters alone. The difficulty is ramped up more in this one than any other FF I can think of, so there's a bit of grinding to do. I love how they've given it a face lift to look like FF6; still classic but with a new shiny coat :D[/QUOTE]

I agree with the difficulty, although i had a gripe with monster placements. For example in the first chapter:
In the cave i entered right after i learned Cross Slash, i encountered a thunder dragon which overkilled both Ceodore and the hooded man with one thundara. At first I thought it was part of the story but when it went back to the main screen i was like :whistle2:s. Another, in the same dungeon was the multiple FLANS i ran into that were physical resistant. How the hell do i fight them when NEITHER Ceodore or the hooded man could cast black magic???? I had to run every time...
 
[quote name='KhaosX']I agree with the difficulty, although i had a gripe with monster placements. For example in the first chapter:
In the cave i entered right after i learned Cross Slash, i encountered a thunder dragon which overkilled both Ceodore and the hooded man with one thundara. At first I thought it was part of the story but when it went back to the main screen i was like :whistle2:s. Another, in the same dungeon was the multiple FLANS i ran into that were physical resistant. How the hell do i fight them when NEITHER Ceodore or the hooded man could cast black magic???? I had to run every time...
[/QUOTE]

The thunder dragon was probably a result of the moon phase. I also ran into one in Rydia's story. After I got my ass handed to me and reloaded I spoke with a villager in the town outside the dungeon and they mentioned that extra strong monsters come out during the waxing (or was it waning?) moon. Sure enough, the moon phase corresponded.
 
This thread needs way more action. Just yesterday this game became my second most-played Wii game at 46 hours (behind Fire Emblem and just ahead of Zelda). A lot of that time has been spent level-grinding (just spent 8 hours yesterday in Kain's Challenge Dungeon), but I still have four or five challenge dungeons to go through and then the finale.

Early on the ridiculous random encounter rate was killing me, but it's not bad once you get used to it. Otherwise, the story is enjoyable, the tweaks to the gameplay really add a lot, and the huge roster of characters is fantastic.

If you only want the 800 point intro (and probably the 800 point conclusion), it's a good deal, but fans of FFIV really need the full 3700 point experience. It forced me to finally buy FFIV DS and now I'm praying in vain for a FFVI The After.
 
I totally forgot about this game. I LOVED FFIV, although I admit I didn't play all the way through. 3700 points for the entire game seems a bit steep, but then, so does paying 5000 points for the full Strong Bad collection. In little bursts, though, these purchases are alright. It's nice to not have to drop 50 bucks in points on Strong Bad today. When I want to return to Strong Badia, it just takes another 1000 points. (At least it's easier to get Nintendo points at a cheap price than points for the other consoles.)
 
To be quite honest, I don't know if I ever finished IV (rented it as a kid, remembered the moon being horrifically difficult, and it still is in the sequel!), didn't get to the end on the GBA game (hate the dark elf's cave!), but I'll definitely be going through the end on the DS game now.

Unlike Eurogamer, I think the DLC structure for this game is fantastic. If you only want to do the "main" game and the conclusion, you can certainly do that, getting a good dozen or more hours for your 1600 points. But if you want more, you can pick and choose the chapters of the characters you like to build them up as well. Regardless of how many optional tales you play, all the characters are available at the end.
 
I'll definitely get the main chapters at some point. Not so sure about the optional ones. About how long is each optional chapter? Maybe I should just take the approach of buying them one at a time and just extend to the total playtime over a few months or so.
 
Thanks for all the info, botticus. Sometimes I get in the mood for some good Square-Enix fun. Last time, I played My Life As a King. Still gotta play My Life as a Darklord, but I'm glad you bumped this game back up to my radar.
 
After 70 hours, I've finally maxed out all my characters and am ready to start the final chapter(s). Never would have guessed this would turn out to be my most-played game of this generation.
 
Game finished at 87 hours. For anyone still trying to gauge the play value for your points/dollars, the final chapter (800 points) took me about 13 hours, with no grinding or optional areas. And it was a hard 13 hours.

I'm going to try to jump into FFIV DS now, not sure how far I will get before succumbing to fatigue.
 
[quote name='botticus']Game finished at 87 hours. For anyone still trying to gauge the play value for your points/dollars, the final chapter (800 points) took me about 13 hours, with no grinding or optional areas. And it was a hard 13 hours.[/QUOTE]

Sounds really great and like you really enjoyed it. I'll definitely get it sometime.
 
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