If you like random battles, cut scenes, good music, and more of that good stuff in RPG titles, then you will want to try out Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.


If you had played the original Final Fantasy IV (the DS remake just came out recently) the game isn’t anything new. The story is set 17 years after the world regained peace in the original. The story has Ceodore, child of IV’s original hero’s Cecil and Rosa, fighting his way to become a knight like his dad. Although everything seems ok, a dramatic change in events makes Ceodore embark on an adventure similar, and shorter, than his dad’s earlier adventure.

There are lots of new characters in this game. There are lots of downloadable episodes in the game. There are much more armour and weapons than in the original game. There are lots of new and exciting things in the game but do they all pay off? The characters and items part do but the downloadable episodes are not what you would call…an improvement. If you do not download these so called extra-optional-enhances-the-experience episodes you may find that the main story ends too abruptly and does not solve the plot in any way. The downloadable episodes are practically required for the game and the main story is basically a demo to the real thing. After you download all the episodes, it costs about $34 which is the same cost of any Final Fantasy game for the DS so this isn’t what you would call a WiiWare game. That aside, however, the story is quite charming and uses many references and inside jokes from the original.

Most of the main game mechanics are nothing new and only minor changes can be seen here. One major change to the battle system is the inclusion of bands which allow characters with strong bonds to each other, perform powerful attacks or magic that can benefit your health or severely damage your opponents. I find that the new bands are very useful and does not change the game play negatively at all, and you get some nice cut scenes too. Other game play, such as high encounter rate, some level grinding, and sometimes annoying bosses that pummel you if you don’t level grind enough (this happened to me a little but seasoned players can get pass with some strategic fighting) are not as good. High encounter rates are always in games like this but by now you should get used to it. The game also has a smooth frame rate and feels much smoother than other games.

So what do I say about this game? Final Fantasy veterans, people who played the original Final Fantasy IV, and anyone willing to pay a little for a WiiWare game should check this one out. Ticking at around 30 hours (not including challenge dungeons which are awesome and add serious extra game play) this game will really add solid content for your money.

Plot: 9.0
Characters: 9.5
Game Play: 6.0
Music: 10
Content: 10

Overall: 9.0 (not an average)