➤ The weight of the years 🎮

If they asked us which is the most representative Final Fantasy of the famous series of the same name, we could easily talk about the fourth episode and close it there. The epic of Cecil, Rosa, Kain and the others has all the best qualities that the series is normally associated with: the fantasy setting, a great love story, a charismatic antagonist, a world crisis, magic, summons and well-rounded characters. distinct in both characterization and battle capabilities.

No wonder, then, that it was one of the first Final Fantasy to have a real sequel. Released in Japan for mobile systems in 2008, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was later brought, via WiiWare, to the rest of the world. The sequel to the jRPG that made history in 1991 was received lukewarmly: it recycled many of its assets, proposing an episodic story that left fans of the saga with a bad taste in their mouths. Subsequently, the two games were collected in a revised and corrected compilation for PSP, considered by fans to be the best edition of "bilogy". Now that both Final Fantasy IVs have landed on Steam, let's take a look at the best way to play them.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years deserved more than a lame conversion from iOS

Generational transitions

In 2007, shortly before the release of The After Years, Final Fantasy IV had also landed on the Nintendo DS with a real remake that further divided audiences and critics: some did not appreciate the three-dimensional revamp that so clung to Yoshitaka's ethereal style. They love, but objectively that version of the fourth Final Fantasy was a little gem thanks to the addition of voice acting, dynamic cutscenes and the implementation of small and welcome changes in the gameplay.

The same version was then brought to iOS and Android in 2012, enjoying some success despite the heaviness of an engine that is now more than old. A year later, Square Enix also decided to remake The After Years using the same graphics engine as the prequel for the Nintendo DS, developing it directly for mobile systems. That is the version also released for PC these days, and the weight of the years is felt all the way: just like the very first two-dimensional edition recycled the sprites and assets of the original Final Fantasy IV (or rather, of its conversion for Game Boy Advance) too this The After Years heavily reproduces the same polygonal models and the same textures as the prequel for Nintendo DS and mobile operating systems. Sadly, it's also a bit of the story's fault: set seventeen years after the Final Fantasy IV epilogue, the new storyline focuses on a new generation of heroes who will join the old to foil a supernatural threat that threatens to destroy the world. . The central pillar of the new cast is Ceodore, the son of Cecil and Rosa who begins his adventure as a cadet of the Red Wings of Baron, eager to prove his worth to get out of the prestigious shadow of his parents. His initiation rite will coincide, however, with an attack on the kingdom of Baron, carried out by mysterious and lethal enemies. This version of The After Years is also divided into a dozen episodes that each focus on a different group of characters, up to bring them together in the last chapters of the adventure. Unfortunately, this is a questionable decision that disrupts the pace and the feeling of progress: every time a new chapter begins we find ourselves controlling characters who start practically from scratch, temporarily devaluing all the time spent on leveling and grinding in the next chapter to improve our skills in combat. To reunite the cast it will be necessary to wait several hours, and this ups and downs in terms of progression is felt a lot, especially because the combat system, an old-fashioned Active Time Battle, is initially rather lackluster.

I do not want the moon

The mechanics introduced from the first minutes of the game are, in fact, rather irritating. In essence, The After Years forces us to take into account the phases of the moon, since they affect our effectiveness in combat, but also on that of monsters. During the full moon, for example, black magic becomes more powerful, while the effects of white remain unchanged, but physical attacks deal half the damage. Therefore, every time you face a fight, you must keep in mind these variables, fortunately illustrated in the interface, but in certain cases, especially in the most challenging dungeons, it is necessary to manipulate the passage of time, even sleeping in the inns, if you want to survive. up to the boss on duty.

Consequently, the alternation of the lunar cycles soon becomes more artificial than strategic. Nice addition, however, the system of group attacks, which involves multiple characters with special and sometimes spectacular animations. Unfortunately, however, the fights are very slow even by changing the speed in the options screen, and the inconsistent frame rate soon becomes very annoying, also because The After Years certainly does not move who knows what graphics: indeed, we were forced to play it in a window, because in full screen and at maximum resolution the antiquated cosmetics of the game is a real eyesore. From this point of view, Square Enix's conversion really leaves something to be desired. The absence of dubbing, for example, is a real drama: some narrative sequences fall into absolute silence, and it is not possible to skip them, forcing us to look at the crude polygonal models gesturing or opening and closing their mouths until the end of what should be a joke that we may have finished reading for several seconds. Fortunately, when the music is there, it's a delight ... but Nobuo Uematsu fans will quickly recognize the recycled tracks and the qualitative and stylistic difference with those of his substitute composer, Junya Nakano. Last but not least, so to speak, this version of The After Years lacks the chapter entitled Interlude, present in the PSP compilation, which was a bridge between the two Final Fantasy IVs, and all the content extras, such as some bosses exclusive.

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Digital Delivery Steam Price 14,49 € Resources4Gaming.com

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From a conversion of The After Years for iOS / Android we certainly did not expect who knows what miracle, but Square Enix has really committed very little, proposing a superficial and incomplete port that carries with it a lot of now unjustifiable technical problems. The PSP compilation remains objectively the best way to enjoy Final Fantasy IV, but if you can't recover it, you will have to ask yourself if you enjoyed the original adventure of Cecil and company so much that you can override the defects of this monument to laziness. .