Important Note: This review is for the full version of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The previous review was for the ’base game’ that provided the first few chapters at 800 points, and allowed you to buy add-on chapters to form the full game. This review is for that full game, which costs around 3700 Wii Points/$37 USD. The apparent discrepency in Overall rating/score between these two reviews is due to the ’base game’ being okay, but the additional chapters drag the final product down. Also, this is a direct sequel to the original Final Fantasy IV; if you haven’t played it before, you really should do so before touching this game.

I love the setting of Final Fantasy IV; the characters, the world design, the general ’heroic high fantasy’ feel, it all holds a fond spot in my heart. So when I got to play the first few chapters of its sequel, titled "The After Years", I was thrilled. It started off well, featuring a classic RPG system, a mix of new and old characters, and a story that had a lot of potential. But after a while, I found that the game had so many design flaws and such a random quality to its story writing that in the end, I was left very disappointed.

The very core of the game is fine. It mostly takes the original FFIV world and game rules and updates them with some new things, like lunar phases that make certain tactics weaker or stronger; melee attacks might be better one day, then healing magic, then special skills, or perhaps attack magic will gain a boost. Depending on which characters you’re using, this can add a lot of depth to the battles they’ll partake in and it was a genuinely interesting idea. Likewise, the premise of making a sequel that takes place just shy of two decades after the original game was good; you got to see the story progress, while also having lots of potential for new characters.

It starts off quite well, with characters that are interesting both in terms of their story and game mechanics. Your initial encounters with a whole new threat to the world are well done, engaging, and genuinely make you want to keep going. The retro presentation is also nice, featuring what looks like a touched-up, improved version of the original Super Nintendo’s visuals; you get new sprites and colors, but it all looks pretty 16-bit and combined with the return of a lot of that game’s excellent music, fans will feel right at home. Sadly, it won’t last.

After Years unfortunately loses momentum quickly. What starts as a gripping story with an interesting premise ends up suffering from major game design flaws, and the plot becomes very inconsistent in terms of quality. The most obvious issue is the encounter rate, as it’s way too high. It’s very common to get into a random battle within just a few steps of entering an area, then another fight within a few steps of that, then another, and another... you get the point. This might be okay if the fights were interesting, but most of them are either too easy or are just plain cruel to the player and on more than one occasion I had my party instantly wiped out in an ambush before I could take a single turn. This is a hard game, and it fully expects you to level grind and seek out ’secret’ treasure to be able to make progress. This isn’t to say it’s unbeatable; it isn’t, but it is genuinely tough and at points it sets out to be mean to the player.

Worse, the plot does not always make up for this. Some parts are written very well, with a fascinating look at characters both old and new. Others stretch your disbelief a little too far, and a few take a flying leap into stupidity: My personal ’favorite’ is an event where a wooden ship with large sails runs out of fuel. No, I don’t mean the crew ran out of liquor; their wooden sail-ship somehow ran out of fuel for propulsion and it becomes your party’s job to find more. Sadly, it gets worse at points, including a few scenes that are virtual copies of events from the original game; that’s not indulging nostalgia, that’s lazy writing.