Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection

released on Mar 24, 2011

After 20 years, Final Fantasy IV and its acclaimed sequel, The After Years, are now combined into one package as the ultimate role-playing game experience. A cast of unforgettable characters fight through one of the grandest stories ever told with stunning new graphics, a re-arranged, award-winning soundtrack, and bonus game features that provide the absolute Final Fantasy IV experience. Experience vibrant visuals and unforgettable melodies - includes all-new 2-D graphics designed for the PSP system's 16:9 format. Also includes a new arrangement of one of the most acclaimed video game soundtracks of all time!


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This one started out really strong but really started to drag for me and I dunno what it is but its missing the juice

This review contains spoilers

Wasn't a huge fan of this one, unfortunately. I'll start off with what I liked. The presentation is fantastic, as to be expected from Final Fantasy, the music and sprite art were very pretty. I think that this version of the game is the best-looking 2D version. The sprites are all very detailed while keeping the aesthetic of the original game. In regards to the music, I did prefer the original SFC compositions to the arranged ones, but luckily you can switch to the original game's music.

Now what disappointed me, I felt like the characters were kind of shallow and the writing was a little basic. Like the game will introduce characters that have compelling set-ups like Kaine and Rydia and do nothing with them. Rydia espcially dissapointed me. The fact that a big character development moment for Rydia happens off-screen drives me crazy. It just feels like the game was kind of speeding through story beats, there weren't a lot of moments where characters chilled and talked about their lives. I don't feel like I really got to know the party, I guess. And maybe that was expecting too much from this game, but that's the kind of thing I was expecting from a game that's so highly regarded.

I wasn't having a ton of fun with actual gameplay either by the end. The game has the first iteration of the ATB style of gameplay. And there's nothing wrong with it but there wasn't a lot of player choice when it came to party members or gameplay styles. I don't want to hold that against the game too much because it's old and I'm usually able to forgive JRPGS being a little basic with build options. But in a game like this, my enjoyment of the gameplay does have a lot to do with the characters and if I don't enjoy any of them the entire thing just kind of feels bland to me. I did like the ending at least, it was cute. And I think Golbez and Cecil's relationship was kind of compelling but like most things there wasn't a lot to it. It's possible I went into this game with the wrong mindset, it is an older game. And I don't want to act like this game's existence isn't really important to a ton of games I like. But what I played disappointed me, sadly. Bleh

Story was pretty interesting and much better than FF1 and 2. Cecil is a great character and Golbez was a decent villain. There are some really sad moments in the story which previous games were lacking (haven't played FF3 yet so only basing it off of 1 and 2). The areas are generally very interesting to explore and the endgame area is incredibly cool. The overall plot isn't anywhere as strong as titles that came after it though.

Gameplay was good but not that much deeper than before.

Incredible OST as expected of a Final Fantasy title. Theme of Love, Troian Beauty, Into the Darkness, Overworld theme to name a few.

The 4 star rating is for base FFIV on PSP.

FFIV sees the series returning to a more involved story, as FFII does, and it excels in building that story in a much better way than any from the series before it. The antagonist has many moments with the cast and it makes the journey all the more satisfying to go through. After Years, however, feels like a massive waste of time outside of those few moments the game sprinkles in of character interactions only to be muddled over with a retreading of the original story. The final dungeon is massive, and the game ends up taking longer than the base story, on top of advancing some established characters in an uninteresting way while introducing new ones that provide little substance to the plot. The game felt finished, so i would recommend finishing the base game and reading a synopsis on after years if you are interested in what happened to some of the characters after the base game.

i really like this game (base ff4) but i don't think it likes me lmao
had some really awful luck throughout my entire playthrough but i still had a good time! probably my second fav ff game so far.

The main story is really good, still playing the interlude and TAY. But so far a really good game