Game Profile

Released as a mobile phone game in Japan, this wildly popular sequel has topped 3 million paid downloads as of February 25, 2009. The game focuses primarily on Ceodore, son of FINAL FANTASY IV heroes Cecil and Rosa. He is ably supported by a host of familiar faces from the original cast who star in a series of additional tales.

For more information, please visit the official website at http://www.ff4theafteryears.com.

Game Review

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Review

USA Fri, 05 Jun 2009 by Corbie Dillard

Does this title retain the magic of the original 16-bit release?

We've already seen companies like Capcom and Konami resurrect classic franchises on the WiiWare service, many using the classic 8 and 16-bit visuals found in the original titles to give them even more retro appeal. So it should come as no surprise that..

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User Comments

Terranigma

1. Terranigma United Kingdom 27 Feb 2009, 23:05 GMT

Now THAT'S more like it Square-Enix. I never thought the west would ever get this but the fact that it's coming to WiiWare as well has sealed it for me, even though it's coming to XBLA and PSN like Crystal Defenders.

I've played IV on the DS (although i borrowed it off a friend, so i don't own a copy, although i plan to buy one in the future) so, this will be all the more fun to play when released. Seeing that we have got this, it makes me wonder whether we'll get one other particular Mobile phone FF game, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII. I would love Square-Enix if that happened. I'd also stop criticizing their Remake policy if they did.

WarioFan63

2. WarioFan63 United States 27 Feb 2009, 23:13 GMT

I dont think an XBLA or PSN release for this has been confirmed actually.

Terranigma

3. Terranigma United Kingdom 27 Feb 2009, 23:16 GMT

I saw the part about an XBLA and PSN release on N-Europe, who found out from Cubed3
http://www.n-europe.com/news.php?nid=12928

Objection_Blaster

4. Objection_Blaster United States 28 Feb 2009, 02:59 GMT

I plan to get this if it is decently priced. Knowing S-E though, I don't know if that's going to happen.

Storm Owl

5. Storm Owl United States 28 Feb 2009, 03:34 GMT

where is final fantasy IV on the vc Dx

Hawker

6. Hawker United States 28 Feb 2009, 10:21 GMT

more then likely won't happen since they released it on the DS.

Mickeymac

7. Mickeymac United States 28 Feb 2009, 11:14 GMT

Can't be bothered with this. I liked FFIV, but mostly for the story, and I doubt the story in this one will be as good.

Bass X0

8. Bass X0 United Kingdom 01 Mar 2009, 10:57 GMT

How can you doubt the story will be as good? I mean, what basis do you have for that opinion? Okay, so the game won't be as epic perhaps but it can still be good.

Kevin

9. Kevin United States 03 Mar 2009, 19:52 GMT

A sequal to Final Fantasy IV? I'll definately keep my eye on this one.

Stuffgamer1

10. Stuffgamer1 United States 04 Mar 2009, 06:10 GMT

Last I'd heard of this game it was only for Japanese phones (missed the probably WiiWare in the West thing), so I'm SUPER excited for this! FFIV ranks as my favorite FF, tied with FFX, so I'll be really happy to play this! It'll probably seem weird at first since it has old-school graphics and I have FFIV on DS now, but I'm sure that'll be easy enough to get over. :)

That Guy from Faxanadu

11. That Guy from Faxanadu Sweden 05 Mar 2009, 15:52 GMT

@Bass X0 "How can you doubt the story will be as good?"

The few RPG:s which tries to follow up a storyline from a previous game rarely succeed. Final Fantasy X-2 is a frightening example. None of the driving forces behind the original game are involved in FFIV: After. Trying to follow up FFIV over 15 years later probably ended with a weaker game.

This said, being a FF-fan I look forward to this more than any other WiiWare game... maybe except Shantea :)

KnucklesSonic8

12. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 07 Mar 2009, 20:19 GMT

Not getting this but I'm hoping more non-FF RPG's come to WiiWare this year.

Curt

13. Curt Canada 08 Mar 2009, 16:34 GMT

I doubt this will be as epic as Final Fantasy IV, but this is still my most anticipated wiiware title yet.

seanehawk

14. seanehawk United States 09 Mar 2009, 18:51 GMT

@Curt
My exact thoughts. I'm definately getting this when it comes out.

Kawaiipikachu

15. Kawaiipikachu Australia 12 Mar 2009, 23:09 GMT

Im in with you all i diffently be getting this even before any review comes up .

VenomTheEvil

16. VenomTheEvil United Kingdom 17 Mar 2009, 14:16 GMT

No need for a review FFIV is one of the all time best FF games. Even if people say its the worst game ever I will still get it.

Terranigma

17. Terranigma United Kingdom 19 Mar 2009, 19:30 GMT

@VenomTheEvil
"Even if people say its the worst game ever"
Who are these people? I've never heard that. Admittedly it's not the best game in the main FF series but it's far from the worst IMO (XI is my worst FF game).

VenomTheEvil

18. VenomTheEvil United Kingdom 21 Mar 2009, 16:14 GMT

@ Terranigma

Okay I overdid that comment.

People in the fanbase have been bashing the game to no end for some reason it seems they hate it because its a sequel......

And I was party saying even IF people say its the worst game ever.
But yeah people bash it.

But I will get it I loved FFIV so its a must buy for me.

Objection_Blaster

19. Objection_Blaster United States 26 Mar 2009, 02:37 GMT

@Terranigma-Final Fantasy XII is my least favorite out of the 6 I have played.

Digiki

20. Digiki Canada 26 Mar 2009, 12:32 GMT

Looks perrty cool.

VenomTheEvil

21. VenomTheEvil United Kingdom 26 Mar 2009, 15:37 GMT

@ Objection Blaster

XI was worse it was really just a watered down not very good mmo.....

Kurachi

22. Kurachi Netherlands 28 Mar 2009, 00:05 GMT

i never really played any old FF's, but might try this one :D

VenomTheEvil

23. VenomTheEvil United Kingdom 28 Mar 2009, 13:07 GMT

@ Kurachi

NO

Its a sequel to FFIV you NEED to play FFIV otherwise the game wont make a bit of sense.

Its a new game made for mobiles and Wiiware.... yeah play FFIV and there is rumors it will get VC soon... plus there is a remake on DS...

Kurachi

24. Kurachi Netherlands 29 Mar 2009, 13:42 BST

@ 23

YES, FF IV will get to VC, so why not wait for that? :D
was planning on buying that one once its out :)
then if i play FFIV first, then this one, i can follow the story and having fun with my favorite genre of games at the same time
don't worry, i will do that.. once i can ;)

ps. there's some movie called sprite survivor at newgrounds (not for kids) with some characters from FFIV... thats when i saw the characters, heh

VenomTheEvil

25. VenomTheEvil United Kingdom 31 Mar 2009, 00:05 BST

@ Kurachi

Yes do that :)

FFIV is a very very good RPG and I am massively looking forward to this.

Worth noting on the off chance the VC FFIV wont come out of japan (but likely since well... this is) it also came out on GBA and there is a remake on DS (I heard it was pretty good)

Stevie

26. Stevie United Kingdom 31 Mar 2009, 21:15 BST

I would imagine if this is coming to wiiware then Nintendo would most likely release FFIV to the VC a few weeks before to drum up some interest, this seems to be the trend as with Super Punchout, Megaman 2 etc... I will look forward to the release of both in the EU (fingers crossed)

Curt

27. Curt Canada 01 Apr 2009, 03:39 BST

If you haven't played Final Fantasy IV, then buy that first. I found this out the hard way with Final Fantasy X and X-2.

Rapadash6

28. Rapadash6 United States 03 Apr 2009, 17:34 BST

Is this a full game like its predecessor? If so, that's pretty awesome because FFII(IV) was probably my favorite in the whole series.

Kurachi

29. Kurachi Netherlands 09 Apr 2009, 11:37 BST

@ 27. Curt
when i saw both coming soon to wii online shop, i thought: cool, i can now finally play old FF's and start to know those stories
so first play FFIV on VC, then FFIV on WiiWare, then i can see the one in VC its story, then continue it

@28 Rapadash6: i think it is, since it continues the old story, so we get another whole story

lets hope it gets to NA and euro soon enough :D

hankola

30. hankola United States 10 Apr 2009, 03:12 BST

I think this is needed, square-enix is doing a good thing here. other rpg companies will see the sales of this one an release more

Curt

31. Curt Canada 06 May 2009, 23:40 BST

Finally! We have a release date! :)

pie4prez

32. pie4prez United States 27 May 2009, 23:13 BST

I'm getting this, but only if the episodes come in DLC.

TJtheHeretic

33. TJtheHeretic Canada 01 Jun 2009, 00:59 BST

lol i bought a points card 2day just to ensure i can get this

KeroKero Cola

34. KeroKero Cola United States 01 Jun 2009, 04:29 BST

^ Ditto.

KnucklesSonic8

35. KnucklesSonic8 Canada 01 Jun 2009, 15:02 BST

Well it's 800 Points. Kind of a nice surprise. :)

Pj

36. Pj United Kingdom 01 Jun 2009, 16:48 BST

It'll be nice if Final Fantasy is 800 points in the UK, I've just seen the screen shots for it. Looks retro? if it's only 800 pts I'm definitely interested.

Syr

37. Syr United States 01 Jun 2009, 16:50 BST

Huh... up at the top it says this is 4 players. I wonder if it's like FFIX where the second player controlled half the party in battles.

Edit: Well the press release says 1 player, so I guess that answers that question. But I would like to know how the DLC packs work. Do you select the story you want to play in the main menu, or unlock areas in the game world?

pixelman

38. pixelman United States 01 Jun 2009, 17:20 BST

This is weird. Trying to find out how FF4TAY works, and I have surmised that:

1) You buy the initial game for 800 points
2) There are DLC "tales" you can buy, probably for 200 points each

D'no if I'll get this, I'm wanting to play the original FF4 first. :S (like the original original)

morphballer

39. morphballer United States 01 Jun 2009, 18:22 BST

There are eight additional tales that are set to be released between now and September. Seven of these are character specific tales which cost 300 points each. The final tale releasing in September is called The Crystals and will be another 800 points.

I have 1100 points left so I have just enough for the game and the first tale. :)

Bones00

40. Bones00 United States 01 Jun 2009, 20:22 BST

Additional stories are 300 points each with the exception of the last story being released in September for 800 points. There will be 3 stories released next month, then 3 more August and a final one in September. I may be incorrect but you can check the instruction manual before buying the game to confirm this if you wish.

earl_wickrue

41. earl_wickrue United States 01 Jun 2009, 23:53 BST

I just downloaded this and holy crap it is just like the original.
Just curious, but why does everyone hate FF X-2? I found X to be incredibly boring, stupid grid system, stupid BLITZBALL and terrible characters and voice acting. X-2 was actually funny and enjoyable. Much like a game, as opposed to "Operas" which is all square really makes anymore anyway. (FF8, X, and XII, im looking at you) Give me this 16-bit stuff anyday.

Spoony Bard

42. Spoony Bard United States 02 Jun 2009, 02:19 BST

So far the game seems pretty good. It'll be worth $37 if it's as long (or longer) than the original. Couple of hours in, and all the dungeons are new and though the monsters are the same they use new attack patterns and the combat system is better.

@earl_wickrue: Problem with FF X-2 was all the maps were the same as in FFX... and you had to do the same maps over and over again to unlock everything. The new combat system was alright (and the humor was good), but the game was a straight rehash of FFX.

TJtheHeretic

43. TJtheHeretic Canada 02 Jun 2009, 02:56 BST

has anyone else bought the next chapter yet?

TJtheHeretic

44. TJtheHeretic Canada 02 Jun 2009, 02:56 BST

has anyone else bought the next chapter yet?

kbdlock

45. kbdlock United States 02 Jun 2009, 14:44 BST

has anybody experienced issues with the emulation? I find myself hitting the button and sometimes skipping a block of text, or possibly worse, I end up trying to cast cura on the party but it ends up landing on one character. I tried all my different controllers, but it looks like the emulation is generally smooth, but it seems like it's constantly dropping frames.

Fulgor_Astral

46. Fulgor_Astral Mexico 03 Jun 2009, 09:35 BST

i already finished the main story and Rydia Chapter :( why were those the only 2 portions of the game in the wiiware shop :(, hope they at least put 2 chapters online per week

Fulgor_Astral

47. Fulgor_Astral Mexico 03 Jun 2009, 09:37 BST

@Bones00

didnt knew that,... i dont usually read instruction manuals

Well, looks like im going to get a little crazy in the meantime...

Spoony Bard

48. Spoony Bard United States 03 Jun 2009, 10:20 BST

@kbdlock: I've had those problems too. I don't think it's a problem with the emulation, just poor programming. The controls lag just a little, but you are frantically pushing buttons to attack before the enemy. I've ended up attacking my own party a couple of times, and outside of battle I've skipped a few blocks of text due to strange pauses between texts.

MrSaturn

49. MrSaturn United States 03 Jun 2009, 18:25 BST

Out of curiosity, is there a way to load the completed data into Rydia's story, or will all of my completed data files be loaded into the final scenario?

Also, anyone get to the end of Namingway's dungeon in the main scenario yet? Is it worthwhile (aside from experience and treasure)?

Syr

50. Syr United States 03 Jun 2009, 19:28 BST

On the FFIV:TAY website it says 1-4 players, but then the press release said one player... I'm confused..

And how do you access the DLC in game? Is it in a menu, or are they new areas unlocked on the world map?

morphballer

51. morphballer United States 04 Jun 2009, 13:29 BST

I haven't reached the end of the dungeon but the fact that there is a dungeon after the story section means you will get your money's worth at 800 points.

stinssd

52. stinssd United States 05 Jun 2009, 04:47 BST

Okay, I finished the main story--it was quite short. Only 8h 33m. The story was a bit predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. I did like one of Kain's lines to the zombie troops. It was something like, "Hey, I know you guys are being mind-controlled and everything but couldn't you at least try a little more self-preservation?"

Adamant

53. Adamant Norway 05 Jun 2009, 16:24 BST

@Syr: "On the FFIV:TAY website it says 1-4 players, but then the press release said one player... I'm confused.."

You can assign different controllers to different characters so each player will control specific characters in battle. Pretty fun, actually, especially since this game is quite challenging for a recent FF game.

Bass X0

54. Bass X0 United Kingdom 06 Jun 2009, 09:24 BST

Hey. Spoilers.

ReifuTD

55. ReifuTD United States 06 Jun 2009, 19:47 BST

I reached the end of Rydia's story in 6hrs but I like the level grind neednessly. I haven't played the Rydia's story's extra dungeon yet. I bet the main story dungeon but Rydia's looks like it could be funner.

alexanderpas

56. alexanderpas Netherlands 07 Jun 2009, 00:17 BST

whine whine whine DLC whine whine whine EPISODIC whine whine whine

FFS! let's look at the stats...
#52 and #55 have showed that the game has a pricepoint below $1/hour.
If this trent continues, the game will have at least (!) 32 hours of gameplay.

you know... if this would have been a DS game, giving over 40 hours of gameplay for $40 EVERYBODY would buy it.

SO STOP COMPLAINING
... end of rant ...

ReifuTD

57. ReifuTD United States 07 Jun 2009, 21:37 BST

Yeah, I got about 10 hours of play from each of the two episodes I played so eight episodes should give me about 80 hours of play

motang

58. motang United States 20 Jun 2009, 07:14 BST

How in the World of Goo did I miss this. :-o

{runs into the room and quickly buys it!}

Starwolf_UK

59. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 06 Aug 2009, 19:23 BST

Takashi Tokita has been doing interviews for the last few days about the game. The main ones I noticed are the one on siliconera and this video one on IGN:
http://tinyurl.com/locsbd

Bass X0

60. Bass X0 United Kingdom 14 Sep 2009, 12:28 BST

The Final Chapter is quite tough. Although I hadn't grinded the levels, I haven't exactly slouched either (other than in the last dungeon of some chapters just because I wanted to finish them quickly) yet I still found The Final Chapter hard going. I have only not completed Edge's chapter because keeping all the ninjas alive is more trouble than they're worth but I don't want to allow any to die.

EDIT: And now I completed Edge's chapter too. I am quite glad I didn't let any ninjas die, they're quite useful and its more enjoyable to have a full team of five play. Thats all of the chapters done. The Challenge Dungeons are hard though. I'm going to have to get grinding in the regular levels before attempting them properly.

megaboomface2

61. megaboomface2 United States 21 Nov 2009, 00:52 GMT

so which add ons shoul i get out of 3 for 300

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