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Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - Episodic WiiWare sequel to FFIV, 2 eps out now
Lunker
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Who: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
What: An episodic gaming sequel to storied JRPG Final Fantasy IV. Originally a cell-phone-only game in Japan, it's been revived and rebundled for WiiWare in North America
When: First two episodes (initial game and Rydia' Story) out now
Where: WiiWare
Why is this not all bundled together: Because we are whores and SE knows it well.
Official NA site for The After Years
So here's the good news:
Some time ago last year, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth when Square Enix announced that it was making a direct sequel to Final Fantasy IV ... and bringing it exclusively to Japanese cell phones. SE has since relented and has decided to bring its series to North American gamers via WiiWare.
And here's the bad news:
It's certainly not priced like an SNES game. Since it's an episodic game, the initial game (simple "The After Years") is 800 points; future episodes are each 300 points a pop, except for the conclusion, which is another 800 points. If you buy every episode, you'll end up spending $37.
So what's the deal with episodes and spending all this money? FU Square GAYnix.
Here's how it breaks down:
- The initial game, "The After Years," costs 800 points. This is the base game and includes three of the game's chapters.
- There are also 7 individual "Tales," each featuring a character from the original FFIV. Rydia, Yang, Palom, Edge, Porom, Edward and the Lunarians, to be precise. Each Tale costs 300 points. You can buy and play these in any order you wish, or skip them entirely if you'd like.
- The finale to the game, "The Crystals," apparently has the last three chapters of the JP game and also costs 800 points.
So it's episodic, but from what I understand it's not really linear. You can buy and play the Tales in any order you want, or skip right to the last section (The Crystals). If it makes you feel better, it's about the same cost as a full-priced Square Enix game on the DS.
What's the schedule of release for episodes?
The initial game (The After Years) and the first Tale (Rydia's Story) was made available on June 1. Future episodes will be released in bursts at the beginning of the next few months, ending sometime in August IIRC. I'll update this with the specific dates later today.
How does it play?
Well, like Final Fantasy IV. Though it's got a few new twists, including taking phases of the moon into account and something of a Dual/Triple Tech Chrono Cross-ish system called Bands.
Wikipedia wrote:Final Fantasy IV: The After Years will utilize most of the gameplay features of Final Fantasy IV, including random encounters and the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, which it originally popularized. It will also retain a number of the graphical enhancements from the Wonderswan Color and Game Boy Advance versions of Final Fantasy IV, while further improving the quality of the character sprites to a level comparable with those of Final Fantasy VI.
The battle system uses a new feature called the "Age of the Moon", which reflects the game's lunar phases, which change as players rest at inns, with each of the phases altering physical and magical attack powers for both player characters and enemies. Certain rare monsters will also only appear during certain lunar phases.
The game will also introduce a new type of combination attack through the "Band System" , known as a "Band" ability. Similar to the Double and Triple Techs of Chrono Trigger, these allow two or more characters to coordinate separate commands into a single new attack at the cost of MP from all involved. Band abilities are said to be extremely powerful, and there will be over 50 different Band abilities in all.
So what's the game about?
Wikipedia wrote:Following the events of the original Final Fantasy IV, the second moon leaves the Blue Planet's orbit and there is a period of peace as Damcyan, Eblan, and the Village of Mist are rebuilt, while the kingdom of Baron come under the rule of Cecil and his wife, Rosa. However, 17 years later, the second moon has reappeared in the sky, much closer to the planet than it was years ago, and the unchanging Crystals begin to emit a soft light; however, the meaning behind these events remains unknown.
The game revolves around Ceodore, a young man who is the son of Cecil Harvey and Rosa Farrell, two of the protagonists from the original, both of whom return along with most of the other main cast members and a number of entirely new characters. Amongst these new additions to the cast are the Hooded Man, a wandering swordsman enshrouded in purple robes who is strangely familiar with Cecil's previous adventure, and the "Mysterious Girl", a female antagonist able to summon Eidolons who is attacking kingdoms and searching for the Crystals.
The storyline of the game unfolds through episodic chapters, released roughly once a month, each with each primarily focused on a specific character. These chapters utilize foreshadowing, cliffhangers, flashbacks, and a nonlinear narrative structure to build the world setting and both explore and expand upon the mysterious events befalling the Blue Planet.
How long is each episode? Is this shit worth it?
I have no idea. That's what I'm asking you guys to help me find out!
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I just bought the game last night and I'm dedicated to tinkering around with SE's episodic experiment. So far it, well, plays just like FFIV, though I'm only about 40 minutes in. Who else is checking this out?
I will be checking out when it comes out in Europe. I was never that big fan of FFIV, mostly because of unnecessary grinding, but its not like there is that many JRPGs with old skool gameplay around.
FFIV is kind of my Ocarina; I'll pretty much buy it and anything related to it on a whim. :oops: I found there were only one or two real hard-core grind spots needed in the original FFIV, but then again I know the game inside and out by now so it's hard to develop context for that kind of thing. This is barring the DS version, which throws the fucking book at you in the final dungeon and turned even me off.
A nice feature of The After Years—it's got a save-anywhere Quicksave from the status menu, which is a godsend for me nowadays.
I'm of the opinion that when the story ended, it was over. Unfortunately SE had other plans in mind, so I almost certainly have to play this in order to keep current with my 2nd favorite FF. Is the story actually any good? That was definitely the highlight of the original.
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
More actually. Around 60 bucks, if I remember correctly.
500 yen an episode, first episode free, twelve episodes.
so 1100 yen total.
Oh and you had to be a subscriber to a cellphone service to play it.
Very begining spoiler (first 3 minutes):
PS2
FF X replay
PS3
God of War 1&2 HD
Rachet and Clank Future
MGS 4
Prince of Persia
360
Bayonetta
Fable 3
DS
FF: 4 heroes of light
Let's remember that digital distro is pretty much the only reason this is coming here at all. The price is a little steep, but I'm curious to see how much game is actually available in each episode. If the number of episodes was actually 13, then this balances out to about $2.50 to $3 an episode.
The concept of episodic RPGing is kind of intriguing. I really liked the PA Adventures game too, though I bought it when it was on sale for $10 and it gave me a good 5-6 hours of gaming, plus it had really excellent writing. I'm no longer the kind of guy who thinks sitting around and grinding 40+ hours out of an RPG is a worthwhile investment of time, so bite-sized chunks of gaming at a few bucks a pop is up my alley. Though I secretly wish this were a DSiWare app, I guess the modular nature of the game doesn't really lend itself to that.
I'll wait on reviews/better word-of-mouth.
Jesus Christ, that's absurd. And I thought Square-Enix's 'SquareTax' in the form of 40 dollar DS games was absurd.
We still pay it, though.
Because you can't use the Classic Controller like an SNES pad on DSiWare.
FF4 was really the first RPG I ever got attached to. I was around 13 when this came out, and a goofy shy kid, so a lot of my afternoons were spent with Cecil, Rosa, Edge, Rydia and Kain grinding up levels and searching for Power Vests, Glass Helmets and Glass Shields. There is a deep nostalgia factor for me in a true sequel, even if it falls a bit short of the original.
The second episode was released along with the first.
And more specifically, they're releasing three right at the top of each month. 3 Tales will come on July 6, 3 more on August 3, and the end of the game will be available on September 7.
Also, what the hell kind of a name is Ceodore? That's just retarded.
Now if only Ceodore would stay standing. Might make things a bit easier.
How long did it take you?
The game that looks just like the game you like looks shitty?
Also what the hell kind of name is [Insert Any FF Name Ever Here]
Around 4 hours.
Butz! Tee hee.
2008, 2012, 2014 D&D "Rare With No Sauce" League Fantasy Football Champion!
Really disappoints me that this couldn't just have been a full blown sequel on the DS and ended up as an episode based cellphone game.
To cope with the heavy hitting in the game, I put Ceodore in the back with Bow and Arrows. Since I bought the elemental arrows I should be able to match them up as necessary. I find his healing is pretty crappy, since his Single Target Cura still does less than a Hi-Potion. Instead of hoarding them before, I also started actually using the elemental items that casts spells.
Side Story spoilers: Rydia's Tale
I'm right there with you. I have actually begun the debate of whether I should buy a Wii for this game.
PSN : Bolthorn
considering FFIV is my favorite FF game, i might have to figure something out...but I don't wanna spend money on a wii.
FFIV wasnt my first RPG (Dragon Warrior was, closely followed by FFI), but it WAS my favorite in the series. Something about all of the characters just sticks with you.
I also like how I level up faster in order to account for the shorter game. I'm almost level 30 and not even 4 hours in. Can't wait to play all the side stories.
The thing is... I haven't played FFIV since release. If I want to replay it before playing this, which version should I get?