Final Fantasy IV The After Years Retrospective - A Wasted Opportunity

[@Dancarnate]

I really wanted to love this game due to how nostalgic and a piece of my gaming history FFIV was but it just didn't resonate with me. If you have played or seen a playthrough of this game, what were your thoughts?

[@Lordslothable]

They wasted a golden opportunity. How could anyone mangle a sequel with Cecil? Well they managed to do just that 😭😭😭

[@Dancarnate]

@@Lordslothable Right? Maybe if they actually used Cecil for some plot points or something instead of just having him sitting in a chair for like the whole game. Haha Thanks for checking out the vid!

[@Lordslothable]

@@Dancarnate I felt Cecil was more memorable selling bazookas in secret of evermore than this lol but for real.

[@Dancarnate]

@@Lordslothable I do love me some Secret of Evermore though. Now there's a game nothing like it's namesake that I wished would have been even longer. Well until the future portion, it kinda loses it's magic for me at that point.

[@Lordslothable]

@@Dancarnate Energize!

[@LowCountryMatt]

That zoom in on Golbez caught me off guard

[@Dancarnate]

Gotta keep ya on your toes. Thanks for checking out the vid!

[@funkywaltdogg6133]

Having watched much of your playthrough, I’m really impressed with how many good things you found to say about the game. 😁 Great review!

[@Dancarnate]

Aww thanks! Yeah I had trouble putting this one together cause I didn't want to just crap on the game completely cause just like FFII it has some good thoughts it just missed the mark on what it could have been.

[@tmo42i]

After watching you play through this, I realized how much better it seemed as an actual episodic release, rather as one big chunk. Its shortcomings were restrained by the fact that you had to play it in bite-sized chunks. Map zoom was way better on the Wiiware version too.

[@Dancarnate]

Yeah, perhaps having it in doses would have been better, it wouldn't have helped the design, but the slow band aid pull might have been for the best perhaps.

[@dennislam1501]

Well at least got new Game + for all bands learned and levels… hardest one is getting rings

[@Dancarnate]

That is a serious commitment, GG!

[@bubbletea_]

Always good to see the rare After Years review. I personally enjoyed The After Years quite a bit, though I played the PSP version, though I followed an in-depth Let's Play and it's been a while since I played it. The only chapter I wasn't too crazy about was Edward's. I really liked Ceodore, the twins, Kain, and the Lunarians' chapters as well. The bosses in the final dungeon are way cooler in the 2D version because pretty much all of them are throwback bosses to the other classic FF games (I-VI). I thought some of them were brutal (Omega especially), but still a good time.

[@Dancarnate]

Yeah the PSP versions of ever FF have seen has been awesome. I mean has anyone ever been excited about Edward in any regard? hahaha. To be honest by the time I got to the final dungeon the thought of grinding out more power and stuff was definitely not on my mind. Thanks again for watching, glad you enjoyed the review and thank you for the comment!

[@richardmathieu5565]

How can I access the bestiary on the pc version. I was told in the player menu, but it is not there. Please help.

[@gronodon]

So glad someone covered this game - NOBODY talks about this one. I can’t describe just how much I hate this game so far. I’m onto Kain’s tale on the steam release and I think this may be my least favorite game in the series, it’s so poorly put together and the story sucks ass.

[@Dancarnate]

I definitely feel you on all of that. I am pretty much in the same boat. So much potential to make something truly special but mostly squandered. A couple of the story's were ok but this of all of the Steam versions needs speed up options whether it be xp/fast forward/0 encounters or whatever haha. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@gronodon]

@@Dancarnate no problem, it was a good video! Let’s hope Square never pulls something like this again, seriously. I can’t believe that the steam release made all stories mandatory instead of just the important ones, I get that it makes more sense that way but there isn’t anything I’d want to replay less than any of these beginning stories 😭

[@kilicool64]

You're wrong about the game having originally been made for iOS, Android and the Wii. In actuality, the game was made for Japanese cellphones, which are platforms whose lineup has been almost entirely lost to history due to the lack of piracy. So people tend to forget about their existence. Then came the Wii port. Then it was included in the PSP port of Final Fantasy IV. Then it got a 3D remake for iOS and Android. And then that finally got ported to Windows.

[@Dancarnate]

Yeah, that’s a good point, you are correct. What I meant more is that it was released in an episodic nature to more take advantage of that release strategy. Thanks for checking out the video.

[@ThatBeingCed]

I'm late to the party but I really enjoyed the final dongeon... all that came before tho... eeesh

[@Dancarnate]

Never too late to the party! The last dungeon had its ups and downs for sure but definitely by that time I was ready for the game to end. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@LuisParson]

I have a lot of problems with this game and one of them is the beginning of the final chapter. The other characters outside your party don't gain experience points. This means if you grind Edge, Rydia, Luca and Golbez a lot, their levels will be way higher than everyone else when you get to the party switch part. The reason I think the game is zoomed is because that's how the DS version of FF4 was. It was zoomed in and the 3D version of the After Years copied and pasted many things from that game. Including reused locations, 3D models and animations. They didn't bother making 3D models for the Final Fantasy 1-6 bosses. They were all removed in the 3D version because they didn't exist in FF4 DS.

[@Dancarnate]

Yeah, the grinding was hellacious for sure. The zoomed in nature was just obscene, I don't remember the 3d FFIV version being that bad when I played through it years ago. Thanks for watching!

[@duduamrosh]

Also if I remember correctly, someone said that they made the creator (the final boss) look like a pufferfish or something

[@sonnykane6900]

Well worth the buy. Nostalgic, with enough new to keep you involved, and stories that not only follow all the characters, but combine all the original ff games into the same universe. Great idea.

[@HansAlRachid]

Glad to see people haven't deluded themselves into thinking this game was a misunderstood masterpiece yet. This was hot fanfic garbage on the Wii and it still is all the way to the 3D remake.

[@Dancarnate]

I do my best to be as objective as possible. It is real easy to ride the nostalgia train on many of these games. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@Rackatiakka]

This looks great if you love that game...

[@BillyLavoie]

I played the WiiWare version, the PSP one and the mobile 3d port which is the same as the Steam one. By far the 3D one is the weakest. I liked the 2D visuals from either versions better but the bad random generator on the WiiWare version ruined it a bit. Good game, but definitely didn’t live up to FF4’s standards.

[@Dancarnate]

Yeah, I unfortunately only played the 3D version and was not happy with it. I feel like there were a lot of decent ideas but overall it just felt kinda hollow to me. I absolutely love FFIV and its characters and I think that is what made it hurt all the more. Thanks for checking out the video though, appreciate it!

[@Rackatiakka]

But yeah it could have been cooler

[@Dancarnate]

Yeah, there was just so much that I wanted from it and sadly it didn't deliver.