Topic: FFIV: The After Years - Impressions Thread

So, who has it? How's the game? Inquiring minds want to know!

well it's kinda like ff2 the graphics arn't all that great and there's smalllllllllll text but it is a great ff game the price is reasonable. oh and the extra chapters r dlc theres only 1 out which i bought

Okay so what else can you tell me/us about the game? As much as you can.

meh its essentially a sequel to ff4/2 (depends where ur from) and its an ok game and the extra chapters are 300 points also the story can sometimes be a bit hard to follow if your not paying attention

Very fun so far, but it seems very linear. The episodic nature doesn't seem like it's going to allow as much exploration as we're used to with the Final Fantasy games, but everything else is right there with it.

The graphics are in the style of Final Fantasy VI, and look pretty decent despite this weird sort of filtering, or lack there of, that's going on. However, I am playing on a tube set. I'm a couple of hours into the first part with no hints of it ending anytime soon.

It's a great, classic style Final Fantasy game. If you dig 1-6, you'll probably dig this to some extent. The biggest gripe seems to be with the pricing. That said, if you're really into 16-bit RPGs, 32 bucks is a steal. If you're not, you may want to avoid a cash trap.

the battle system has a lot of interesting new additions, and the character sprites are more tile-and-a-half, e.g. ff3/6, and have 3 frames for each walking direction instead of 2...if you're a multiple-times veteran of ff4 like me, you'll notice it immediately. There is now a moon phase cycle that results in shifting strengths/weaknesses (Attack, White Magic, and Black Magic are affected, one's power getting doubled, one getting halved, and one staying the same) and the Band system seems like there's a ton of room for in-battle experimentation....and I don't even want to tell you the opening game spoiler because it's just...so...great.

Put it this way--two very special characters make their first cameo in a long, long time.

So you guys haven't seen the end yet? How long have you been playing it? Does it say how much progress you've made in the game?

I have not been playing very long but I really like it. It does not tell you how much you have completed. I do like the character sprites as Swerd_Merd mentioned. Reminds me of Lunar for some reason.... I noticed also that you can assign different characters to different controllers which is cool for some multiplayer RPG gaming! Now you can yell at your friends to heal instead of attack! lol Anyways good game.

Ok, I just finished the base game in 4 and a half hours. Playing FF4 is not completely required, but you won't fully appreciate FF4:TAY if you haven't beaten FF4. At the end it lets you save to play other stories (DLC). When you load up that final save it takes you back outside of the last part, if you go back in the last part the credits roll again. I haven't tried seeing if I can go exploring but I'm not sure I'll get far. It seems like it's going to be pretty linear.

Overall it's fun, the graphics will be weird at first, they are close to the same, but not quite, they look a little fuzzy on my HDTV, it is widescreen and 480p though. The text is huge for me, must be just an SDTV problem with the text. Make sure you adjust the screen size in settings to fit your TV.

There are a lot of random battles and they can be very cheap, especially the back attacks. You will probably die a lot, which makes the total time shown in game show lower because you always do it better the second (or third) time. It was probably closer to 7 hours if you consider that. The story is interesting and the climax at the end is very well done, but of course you are left wanting more. Which is why I will now be getting Rydia's Tale. I will report back if you like.

^ For a FF fan like me that finished FF4 years ago.
That sounds great. Going to buy it even if i can't beat it until i get more money

@Maestro Pinster - all you need right now to exhaust the current offerings is 1100 points...the battles are more challenging throughout. Even hard-type FF4 is a cakewalk compared to this game, and I beat the PS1 version (as far as I understand, widely considered the most difficult) at insanely low levels, so I feel I'm at least partially qualified to make that assessment.

I cant get past the monsters with Cecil Rosa & Cid Help me someone?! i'm on the part wheres theres a swarm of them coming..

@Tails86
you need to run around the castle and level up a bit. i ran into the same problem. you just need to be a little stronger to survive the fights. atleast level cid and cecil up 4 times before you go fight the battles and have rosa keep casting slow on enemies and protect on the entire party.

The price is good for the game length. the DLC thing is not so bad, I often play RPG not until the complete end, and so i can chose how much money i want to spend. Its like buying dvd seasons of series.

I also got some questions to the lucky people who already own the game:
1. Is the world map the same as in FF IV? I mean, it would be consequencial...
2. Are there augments like in the DS-Version of FF IV? I really liked that feature, although there is room for improvement.
3. Does the game support the classic controller? Or even better: The GC controller? Concerning the Multiplayer mode. I got only 2 Wiimotes/Classics.
4. And the most important thing: Does anybody have a hint when this game is going to be released in Europe? Can't wait for it.
So far.

I just finished the first part. The game is much more linear so the world map really is not used. No augments but have another feature in battle called "band" where characters join up in attacks like Suikoden. Game supports classic controller and wiimote. I honestly did not see much use for multi-player in the first part unless it is just two of you. Maybe in the DLC it could be used more? I have not tried any multi-player just looked at the screen where you can assign players to different characters. Took me total time about 5 hrs to complete with some short breaks in there also.

What if you've never played FF4, would you still recommend the game?
What's the second tale like? Plot-wise and such.

Cool sounds like I should wait for the appearance of FFIV/I/whatever on the VC then before playing this so I can get the full experience.

Only four hours? I never finished FFIV, so I can't really compare, but I'm pretty sure I played at least four hours and wasn't near the end, yet that game is going to be priced the same. This is disappointing.

You're reading it wrong.

NESGamepro said four and a half hours was his finish time for the first chapter, not including deaths/replaying time, which he said made it closer to seven. Clearly the entire game, with all chapters included will be more than four hours. If each story runs around the same amount of time, you're looking at paying roughly $1 an hour isn't unreasonable.