So I downloaded FF IV: The After Years today

[Crossblades]

And so far I like it! Spent about $37 worth of wii points to get the game itself and the the rest of the tales that come with it. But I'm curious to know how long will take it to complete the entire game? Because I was told that the game was pretty short. So should I expect about 25-30 hours of gameplay?

[Roogle]

It depends on how much you choose to develop the characters after the ending of a chapter.

A character chapter, aside from the Prologue and the ending chapters, only lasts for about 2 - 3 hours by itself at the most. There are sidequests after the completion of each chapter in the form of Challenge Dungeons which have much more difficult enemy encounters and treasures that can take some time to get to.

The game effectively lacks a middle stage. Each character begins at a low level, aside from The Lunarian chapter, and has the opportunity to prepare for end game. There is one chapter that serves as the middle of the game leading up to the final chapters, and its difficulty is moderate at best.

[Bastian]

But don't let Roogle's negativity dissuade you! :P It really is an awesome game. Its structure is a bit wonky, but it is still very enjoyable. And while it's true that each character's chapter is only about three hours (without doing the bonus dungeons at the end of each) the second to last and the last chapters are quite long. I think all in all, this game as a whole might be just about as long (if not longer) than the original FFIV.

[Crossblades]

I have another question(s). Since I'll be playing different character tales, would I need a different save file for each? Also, how and when can I import data?

[Bastian]

I have another question(s). Since I'll be playing different character tales, would I need a different save file for each? Also, how and when can I import data?

Yes, dear god yes! Do NOT make the same mistake my buddy and I made. We kept saving in the same save slot only to find that each chapter requires its own save slot. When you get to the final chapter it will ask you if you'd like to import the save data from those other chapters.

[Crossblades]

Yes, dear god yes! Do NOT make the same mistake my buddy and I made. We kept saving in the same save slot only to find that each chapter requires its own save slot. When you get to the final chapter it will ask you if you'd like to import the save data from those other chapters.

Ah, okay. Thanks alot. I have read before that I would need a different save file for each tale and it didn't really make much sense to me until I beat Kain's story and it took me back to the title screen. Then I started Rydia's Tale and saved in a different file just to play it safe. But now it's all too clear for me on what I need to do with the future tales.

[Bastian]

Alas, it was NOT clear to me and I made it all the way to the last chapter and tried to import my saved data . . . to find out that I needed to replay the entire game (all of the chapters) again. Which I did in three days.

[Roogle]

But don't let Roogle's negativity dissuade you! :P

Oh, this was my favorite Final Fantasy title in recent years. I liked it a lot! I think it could have been better if it was developed as a virtual console game across multiple platforms rather than as a mobile game, as I think the chapter to chapter format has inherent flaws like the lack of a midgame that I mentioned.

[Bastian]

I've only recently started playing Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen for the first time . . . and I'm struck by how similar the structure is to FFIV:TAY. I hate to say it, but clearly FF borrowed from DQ in this regard.

Each chapter is a short little 2-dungeon and a few towns afair with an individual character or two from a different part of the world out on a personal quest only to realize that their quest is tied into a major quest and ends with them setting off to join that major quest.

Anyway, I agree with Roogle that it seems like only nine or so different "beginnings" and then the last chapter is the end all of a sudden . . . sans middle part. But it's wonderful. I would take more like this over all the FFXIIIs in the world.

[Crossblades]

Anyway, I agree with Roogle that it seems like only nine or so different "beginnings" and then the last chapter is the end all of a sudden . . . sans middle part. But it's wonderful. I would take more like this over all the FFXIIIs in the world.

But it seems to me that even though the game does indeed lack a middle part, I noticed that leveling up seems to be a breeze. I'm not up the final chapters yet(just started Porom's tale yesterday), but it seems that it don't need one due to the easy leveling. Unless I'm wrong o.O

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm hijacking this thread cause I don't see the point in starting a new one since its the same topic.

I just started The After Years and I believe I'm still in the Prologue since my party just got to Kaipo after escaping Baron.

I like many of the new game mechanics such as Band's and the overlooked Moon Phase system. The NPC party members have been pretty amusing as well. The plot is interesting so far, though I am having a very hard time not drawing parallels to the first season of DBZ (SPOILER)with the old main character quickly removed from the picture and the game focusing on the son who happens to be getting a bit of a fatherly mentoring from the previous main characters rival.

I think I've been rushing through the story too much though cause I feel Ceodore and his group is underleveled, not to mention I just realized now that Ceodore keeps taking so much damage cause he surprisingly has a very low stamina rating. His defense and level is the same as the Hooded Man but good god does it annoy me he takes almsot 2x to 3x more damage than him. Beyond that, I am liking the difficulty of the game, making me have to stop and level some more, the overpriced items help with that as well. Not to mention that the overabundance of Flan type enemies and my parties constant inability to keep mages in my party means I'm actually using all those magic casting items in my inventory which is a nice change of pace.

[Crossblades]

Glad you like this game I'm currently on the last tale and I've been doing some heavy grinding to some of my characters for the past few days since I they were underleveled. I'm glad you're taking the time out to grind a bit, because I never did that with any character tales until the last one. Grinding in the last tales was a kinda hard at first, but after a while it's gets progressively easier.

[NeoCracker]

I just barely beat it, and I must say I'm happy with the ending. It doesn't ret-con anything in FF IV, all the characters stay true to who they were in IV, and are well developed, and the additional NPC's were very well done, though a bit underdeveloped for the most part.

That's the games biggest flaw is the under developed of the new characters, though on a whole the game is definitely awesome. The ending may have come a bit fast, but theres not a lot of story I can see them fleshing out, so it's not to big of a deal.

It's also a bit to easy on a whole, but at least not mind numbingly so.

[Crossblades]

I just barely beat it, and I must say I'm happy with the ending. It doesn't ret-con anything in FF IV, all the characters stay true to who they were in IV, and are well developed, and the additional NPC's were very well done, though a bit underdeveloped for the most part.

That's the games biggest flaw is the under developed of the new characters, though on a whole the game is definitely awesome. The ending may have come a bit fast, but theres not a lot of story I can see them fleshing out, so it's not to big of a deal.

It's also a bit to easy on a whole, but at least not mind numbingly so.

What level were your characters when you completed the game? I'm currently level grinding and almost all my characters are at level 50.

[Evastio]

I was wondering, how does the final chapter work if you didn't play all of the tales? I heard that any new characters that you get in the specific tales won't show up at all in the Final Chapter. So characters like Harley, Leonora, the Eblan Four, etc. won't be available for you to use on your team. Will Golbez and Luca still be available without playing the other tales? Are you unable to switch out characters for the final dungeon without playing the other tales? That's the impression I was under, trying to figure it out in YouTube videos.