Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

 Wii
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. RPG Fan
    90
    Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is not only a very respectful treatment of the original, it also makes me want to dust off my SNES and relive my innocent childhood love of games.
  2. Nintendojo
    85
    It's retro in every way that made RPGs of that era fun, and the new additions give it a bit of a modern feel.
  3. RPGamer
    80
    The game sounds great, looks great, plays well, feels old-school, and has a deep and interesting plot with characters we already know and love.
  5. Universo Nintendo
    80
    What we have here is a Final Fantasy: plot is good, gameplay is good, soundtrack is good and everything else is. The problem is once again in Square Enix's hands: they think it's [financially] interesting to launch a GBA game on Wii with prices of full DS titles.
  6. IGN
    80
    It's an engaging "thank you" for fans of the original game that's heavy on nostalgia without relying entirely upon it. Its dated graphics, battle system, and presentation are all a part of the charm after all, with everything else serving as a bonus.
  7. GameFocus
    78
    Well if you are a fan of the Final Fantasy games at all and are looking for a good single player RPG then look no further. But if you dislike the older Final Fantasy games and are not willing to buy new content to extend the game you should look elsewhere.
  8. Cheat Code Central
    76
    The After Years is an unusual experiment for the Final Fantasy franchise, but it’s one that’s already working its powerful magic on us. The story is smartly structured to tease you along, intermittently revealing important and interesting tidbits, before leaving you hanging.
  9. Gamer Limit
    75
    If you've played Final Fantasy 4 and crave a second helping: dig in. If you haven't played Final Fantasy 4, you might as well play After Years instead, because the very least, you can probably get it cheaper.
  10. Official Nintendo Magazine UK
    72
    A quality addition to the Final Fantasy family, but the extra add-ons are a bit cheeky. [Aug 2009, p.101]
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  11. Nintendo Life
    70
    The game offers quite a bit of length and game play for your 800 Wii Points, but having to purchase additional packs in order to enjoy the side stories is obviously going to rub some gamers the wrong way, especially considering that there are eight additional packs to buy in order to wrap up the entire story line.
  12. Eurogamer
    70
    While The After Years is a treat for fans in concept and execution, it’s a slap in the face from a commercial standpoint.
  13. Metro GameCentral
    60
    Square Enix's addiction to microtransactions ruins another WiiWare release, in this 17-year-late sequel.
  14. GamePro
    60
    A great start for this sequel to FFIV. The bad part is that while 800 and 300 points sound small you’re going to be spending roughly 3700 points ($40) to get the full experience. That’s a big chunk of change for a DLC title, so being a fan of Final Fantasy is a must.
  15. Gameplayer Sweden
    60
    The After Years is a surprisingly competent sequel to Final Fantasy IV that will appeal to those who yearn for simpler times, but doesn’t offer anything above and beyond its predecessor.
  16. Everyeye.it
    60
    This is a great game for Final Fantasy fans, but the price to buy all the episodes is extremely high.
  17. GameSpot
    55
    This egregious, twisted mess of narrative is not an auspicious start to Square Enix's latest foray into the realm of episodic content.
  18. Game Revolution
    42
    Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is an unnecessary game through and through, as it continues a story that was already well-thought out and closed off years ago.

Awards & Rankings

88
#88 Best Wii Game of 2009
59
#59 Most Discussed Wii Game of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 26
  3. Negative: 4 out of 26
  1. Folstar
    Feb 17, 2015
    0
    You spend most of this short game mindlessly attacking and sucking down potions. You only briefly have a party then the rest of the time youYou spend most of this short game mindlessly attacking and sucking down potions. You only briefly have a party then the rest of the time you are solo or duoing. Then the credits roll which are longer than the game minus the boring fights. Total cash grab.… Full Review »
  2. LastResource
    Jan 14, 2023
    10
    worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this fourth game in the series.
  3. XV_
    Sep 5, 2020
    6
    The After Years is a direct sequel to the iconic 4th iteration of the Final Fantasy series, as its title suggests it is set several yearsThe After Years is a direct sequel to the iconic 4th iteration of the Final Fantasy series, as its title suggests it is set several years after the events of the original, so you can see how our beloved or hated characters grow up and even meet some of their children. In theory and depending on how you see sequels, this could be a great experience but in practice, it is far from the mark.

    The game is presented in episodes, each episode stars one specific character that you follow mainly for that said episode, this decision might feel odd but narratively speaking it makes sense more or less, a lot of the stories are happening almost at the same time so you can see characters from other stories intertwine briefly and unfold the plot little by little, again, in theory this sound like it could be an interesting choice but in reality, it felt quite tiresome to start a chapter with a new set of characters and to increase their levels again and again, in no time you get tired to the core.

    Let's talk about the gameplay, it uses the ATB system so you know more or less the drift, the interesting new feature tho is a new command called 'Band' this band thing consists in combining two commands of two to five characters to make a more powerful defensive or offensive skill, is interesting since you have to do trial and error to find what combinations can be made, it uses MP to prevent extended usage of them or to exploit them which is OK. Another new feature is that now the potency of your attacks, magic, throws, and summons depends on the phases of the moon, this not only affects you but also the enemies so depending on the jobs of your party you need to choose wisely on which moon you're going to venture a dungeon, depending on your decision you might have a harder or slower time, although you can change the phase by resting in inns or tents.

    Now, taking aside the new features that can feel sometimes superficial, the gameplay remains the same as the original or at least the newer editions of the original, what it truly makes me reconsider quitting this game on more instances that I want to recall was first and foremost the grinding, to put you in perspective the original game took me 31 hours to beat, this one took me 44 hours, in the original, I did some sidequests while in TAY I didn't, why I comparing their length you say? I'm glad you ask, The After Years consists not only on similar almost identical events of the original with other characters but it also features every boss of it, dungeon and locations rearranged in a different order so in a lot of ways is like playing the original but with less charm and soul, combine this with over-grinding and you'll get a tiresome and unbearable experience, it doesn't help that you have to repeat and backtrack some dungeons in different events.

    Being an episodic game I imagine that it would be complex to a game like this be explorative on its design so I'm not blaming that much that they made it this linear, but keep in mind that you're guided literally to where to go next every time that you advance of the story, at least till the last episode where you'll be tasked to repeat a few dungeons again.

    The music is still great mainly because they're arranged versions of the original game with a few new tunes that sound like they belong to this game , I can even say that I appreciate some characters more after playing with them again, although the new characters are fine I think they're overshadowed by the older ones, I would prefer that the story focused more on them and give the veteran cast a more supporting role, however, it's nice that by the end of the game you get a huge pool of characters to choose from, so I guess is not that bad in that regard, also at different points of your adventure you'll find several instances where some characters can get permadeath, at least to me it affected my gameplay and narrative so it seems that several story branches exist so you can replay the game to see them all, it is indeed a nice touch for the hardcore players but in my case, I wouldn't mind keeping this game in an obscure place for a long time.

    As an RPG is at its best OK but for the most part it's generic and repetitive, however, being the sequel to one of the best FF entries and to completely recreate events, boss fights and almost everything from that game makes this experience cheap and tiresome, it is truly a big missed opportunity. I wouldn't recommend it to play it that much unless you're itchy to know what happens next to our heroes, in that regard it has some kind of payoff and maybe it even gives you the illusion that it was worth it but it is a 70% bitter 30% sweet experience, so if you're going for it just be prepared for an excessive, grindy and unbalanced game.    … Full Review »
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