Character portraits also look like low-detail cell phone art rather than the beautifully drawn Square Enix portraits we are used to seeing. That’s a minor complaint, especially given you only see those portraits while you’re on the menu screen. It’s just disappointing given how wonderful the FF IV character portraits have looked in the past.

Luckily, the gameplay holds up better than both the sound and graphics, despite its simplicity. You can still choose between the Active Time Battle system and one that lets you take time to make each move, and you still have your standard Attack, Black and White Magics, and Skill moves for each character.You can still play the game multiplayer like you could on the SNES, but now you can have four players at once, and each can be assigned a controller, rather than the old system which just had two controllers work as first player “" whoever pressed buttons first controlled that character.

There are two new wrinkles this time around though. The first of these is the “Band” system, which are essentially group attacks that you learn through the storyline or through experimentation. To perform a Band attack, the characters involved must have a bond of some kind, but you can use these with anywhere from two to five characters “" if you’re wondering where the Magic Points for non-magic users go, the Band system is your answer. The other change is the Moon Phase system, which gives you four different phases of the moon, each one with different results for your battles. The phases will strengthen one category, such as Black Magic, while downgrading another, such as physical attacks. The effect works on both your party and the enemies, which gives the battles a new level of strategy, and also makes you think twice about resting in a tent or cottage every time you find a save point in a cavern or dungeon.

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While the original North American version of Final Fantasy IV was difficult compared to many of today’s RPGs, it was less difficult than many other classics, at least until Matrix introduced their 3D remake for DS that cranked the difficulty back up to 11. Thankfully, Matrix kept with that theme for this sequel “" while early on the game holds your hand a bit with overpowered support characters, things become more difficult as you find more fights where you are outnumbered and over-matched. The add-on for Rydia’s quest is even more difficult, as you have four characters that are all severely under-leveled, little money to spend on armor and weapons you need to advance, and no White Magic user, hardcore physical fighter, or powerful Black Mage to support your needs when you first get going. That was actually a relief to me; given they went classic in design with everything else, the difficulty needed to be in place as well, but if you dislike grinding, you won’t be pleased.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is faithful to the original design of Final Fantasy IV, in both the implementation of the gameplay as well as the universe it resided in. Matrix came up with brand new gameplay elements that make this a new game on its own though, and they are worthwhile additions to the franchise. While not as wonderful as the original, this sequel is certainly worth your money, especially if you’re a fan of the original.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii’s WiiWare service. Chapter One of the main quest is available for 800 Nintendo Points, while the add-on, “The Eidolons Shackled” is available for 300 points.

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About The Author

Marc Normandin was gaming editor of Blast from 2008 to mid-2010. You can reach him via e-mail at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @Marc_Normandin

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