Final Fantasy IV: The After Years coming to Wii

by Griffin McElroy { Feb 27th 2009 at 12:44PM }

It seems that Nintendo's recently discovered trademark for "The After Years" was, in fact, referencing a Wii port of the cell-phone based follow-up to the SNES role-playing classic Final Fantasy IV. An ESRB rating for the sequel confirms that the game will be hitting North American Wiis, though a time frame for its release, or even its release format (retail? WiiWare?) has yet to be revealed. The ESRB stamped the title with an E rating, as it doesn't classify the frequent usage of the word "spoony" as inappropriate for adolescent ears.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which was released in an episodic fashion on a number of Japanese mobile platforms last year, follows the exploits of Ceodore (the progeny of FFIV protagonists Cecil and Rosa) nearly 17 years after the events of the original game. It'll also feature appearances from other major characters from the SNES title -- well, the ones who survived, anyway. Those who played the title will recall that FFIV was somewhat Hamlet-esque in its final body count.

Tags: final-fantasy, final-fantasy-iv, final-fantasy-iv-the-after-years, square-enix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Dopple Boppler @ Feb 27th 2009 12:55PM

Tellah was the most BAMF Final Fantasy character ever; get your Sephiroths and Squalls the heck out of here.

Yami @ Feb 27th 2009 1:07PM

YOU SPOONY BARD!

WRE @ Feb 27th 2009 1:14PM

More badass than Golbez? Golbez was like Darth Vader with magic. Not just pussy pushing stuff and choking people, but exploding-fireball-raining-meteor-on-your-shit badass.

Dopple Boppler @ Feb 27th 2009 1:20PM

Golbez was sweet and all, but Tellah's like the white version of Samuel L. Jackson, what with his mini pimp cane and purple outfit with matching shades.

Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Feb 27th 2009 1:20PM

OMG you are talking about FFIV let me get my cat ears and my Inuyasha shirt.

Okay I kid I kid but I admit that with chrono Trigger is one of the best JRPGS ever.Still I haven't finish it,I'm still grinding in order to defeat the Behemoth.I'm almost and the end of the game.

If I have any interest in FFXIII is probably due IV (Okay a bit of VI) BTW when are we going to have a remake of VI?

(Spoiler: I'm not entirely sure but if memory serves only 1 playable character dies,the rest get okay after a while then again all playable characters seems to have suicidal tendencies. )

WRE @ Feb 27th 2009 1:02PM

OH FUCK YES!!!!!!!!

Eggman @ Feb 27th 2009 1:02PM

Thank you dear lord. Instant purchase.

Lee @ Feb 27th 2009 1:03PM

have to give this a shot.

Erwos @ Feb 27th 2009 1:05PM

Day 1 purchase, and THANK YOU SQUARE ENIX!

Want bonus points? Give us Before Crisis, too.

Mr Khan @ Feb 27th 2009 1:06PM

I would imagine that Square Enix had learned their lesson about releasing Wii ports of handheld games, mostly through how badly Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time on Wii did, so i don't think it will be a retail title if its a straight port

Could be a re-imagining, but Square Enix is already on with The Crystal Bearers for Wii (looks awesome too, btw)

koehler83 @ Feb 27th 2009 1:07PM

I will definitely be picking this up, though I will be hoping to hear about an iPhone, PSP or PS3 version rather than having to go play it on my mom's Wii.

esposch @ Feb 27th 2009 4:11PM

Vegeta (DAT ASS!!!) @ Feb 27th 2009 1:10PM

I love how the title sounds like some sequel to a sitcom about highschool kids like Saved by the bell: The college years.

Max @ Feb 27th 2009 1:17PM

I call BS Joystiq, only one hero actually dies. The rest all survive. Here I was so impressed by the sacrifices of my teammates, only to find them in a cave somewhere.

If you're gonna bring the bad guy(s) and NPCs into play, then other FFs are waaaay worse.

Kia @ Feb 27th 2009 1:54PM

...GBA doesn't count, kthx.

iofthestorm @ Feb 27th 2009 2:00PM

What? I don't think so....

WarchildX @ Feb 27th 2009 2:23PM

I agree with this person. Not even including the GBA version (I've never played it), only two playable characters die. One non-playable dies, I believe.

Donald @ Feb 27th 2009 4:06PM

With one exception, everyone gets better in FFIV.

Max @ Feb 27th 2009 4:18PM

Yeah, I looked it up. Never played anything but the SNES version either.

** SPOILER ALERT **
Palom & Porom. Revived later by the old guy in Mysidia.
Yang. In a cave, chilling with the slyphs. He leaves later too I think.
Rydia. This one's obvious.
Edward. Survives. I believe he spends his time recovering in that castle run by women.
Tellah. Dead.
FuSoYa. Survives the incident with Zemus.
Golbez (if he counts). Survives the incident with Zemus.
Cid. Survives, he's in the castle with the dwarves.

A bunch of them show up later in the battle with that giant. Not sure if it's affected by whether or not you do their sidequests though. A lot of NPCs die.

MLS @ Feb 27th 2009 1:20PM

I am no FF fan, or a fan of any JRPGs, but do know this game existed and was generally referred to as "the game us in the west will never ever ever play ever". So I'm happy for you guys. I imagine you feel as I did when Mega Man 9 was announced.

Tsubasa @ Feb 27th 2009 1:28PM

So essentially we're getting a IV-2. Only one thing to do now Square-Enix, remake Chrono Cross for the Wii and it'll make my day.

Roto13 @ Feb 27th 2009 1:52PM

I'd be happy if Sony would just release a path to make Chrono Cross actually playable on the PS3. >_>

Quiggy @ Feb 27th 2009 1:28PM

This sounds really exciting, but can we get FFIV on the Virtual Console first?

Roto13 @ Feb 27th 2009 1:53PM

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

No.

Like Square-Enix is going to sell their cash cow for eight dollars.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 27th 2009 1:30PM

I tried to get into FFIV twice. Once when I was in HS, when it came out, and again last year on DS. Both times I got to a point where I had like 2 or 3 consecutive boss fights that I just could not make it past the last one in the series and ended up losing like 2 hours of gameplay due to the archaic save system. The last one actually ended in me screaming "FUCK YOU!" at the game and throwing my DS across the room. I sold the game on ebay the next day. :(

On the other hand, I LOVED FFVI, VII, and IX.

trevor @ Feb 27th 2009 5:32PM

um.... why do you let that thing stay on your head?

Walo @ Feb 27th 2009 1:43PM

The guys that call bullshit on the characters dying must have played the GBA version. That's the only version where the dead characters return as an extra. In the original SNES, heck even the DS version they die forever.

jynxycat @ Feb 27th 2009 2:38PM

Some of them, lots of the seemingly lost characters return at the last minute, or make a surprise re-entrance during the story.

In fact, only a few actually stay down.

jsgbullseyetm @ Feb 27th 2009 3:54PM

Sounds like someone didn't get into the Giant of Bab-il's belly.

DarkTetsuya @ Feb 27th 2009 1:38PM

Well, at least it's coming to a platform I have access to...

I'm still wanting some sorta FFVI-2, though. :(

jsgbullseyetm @ Feb 27th 2009 1:39PM

NO NO NO! What ever happened to that rumored release on 360? I just sold my Wii because there's nothing on it worth playing, and they drop this??

By the way, FF4 may have seemed Hamlet-esque in it's body count, except for the fact that only one playable character actually dies. Jumping out of an airship with a bomb strapped to your chest would kill a normal man, but not Cid!

Kia @ Feb 27th 2009 1:53PM

"What ever happened to that rumored release on 360?"

....What?

Roto13 @ Feb 27th 2009 1:55PM

"I just sold my Wii because there's nothing on it worth playing, and they drop this??"

You sold you Wii before the end of the generation and a game was announced for it that you want to play? Oh my god, what are the odds! It's almost as though selling a current gen console is a bad idea even if there's nothing on it you want to play right this minute.

baby sea tuna @ Feb 27th 2009 2:22PM

Yeah, but if there's only one or two games on the system that he wants to play, and he can still get a decent return on his investment, then why *not* sell it now and buy another one down the road when it has devalued...or has a library that's more appealing? That's what I did with the Gamecube, PSP, PS1, and should have done with my Wii (if my mom didn't ask to play tennis every once in awhile.)

Snowblind @ Feb 27th 2009 2:37PM

It has been rumoured to be coming to XBLA, and that could still easily happen.

Ahmad Yasser @ Feb 27th 2009 1:43PM

Oh boy, I can play cell-phone (we're not even talking iPhone here!) games on the Wii? Sign me up!

This REALLY isn't the best choice for the Wii(unless the game is remade in the progress of porting), this would've been a perfect fit for the DSiWare or PSP's PSN.

It's not like the Wii is oozing with games that are using it's possibilities to the max *cough*Crystal Chronicles*cough*

ChibiKawase @ Mar 1st 2009 4:41PM

From what I remember, ATY actually stuck pretty well to FF IV's visuals, if not looking sharper.

So really, it's almost like Megaman 9, in a way.

LokeSTL @ Feb 27th 2009 1:49PM

Ooohhhhh.......yeah, I'm gonna need to clean that up. Hope it's a full Wii game, not that Wii-ware crap. Can't wait to get my hands on this. Awesome!

Kia @ Feb 27th 2009 1:53PM

Fucking. AWESOME. Why the hell is this not on DS though? Wii? -Really-? That's kinda fail.

Nook @ Feb 27th 2009 2:59PM

I only own a Wii for home console. When I read the headline the first thing that popped into my head was - well this'll be another gimped up missed op on the Wii. Is that wrong of me?

TwEE @ Feb 27th 2009 3:14PM

At first this didnt seem that exciting, I thought this would be like the lame FFs found on the PS systems (all j-pop spin off, FF in name only games)... Took me googling screen shots of final fantasy IV to realize FF IV was what I always called FF 2 (I still prefer to call Peach, Princess Toadstool, so sue me).

I hope this game is filthy with red, white and black mages..

Kia @ Feb 27th 2009 3:42PM

...You do know that those are classes only in FFs with the job system...Right? >_>

TwEE @ Feb 27th 2009 5:07PM

Im pretty sure I remember white, black and red mages running around.. You couldnt play as them though.

Roto13 @ Feb 27th 2009 5:46PM

Just because their jobs aren't overtly stated, that doesn't mean the characters don't have them. Rosa is a white mage, Palom is a black mage, Porom is a white mage, Rydia is a black mage and a summoner, etc.

But yeah, there were also traditional-looking black and white mages running around in certain places.

Shoyz @ Feb 27th 2009 3:15PM

Crap!
I still haven't finished FF4 DS D: Why did they make it SOO HARD

I'm stuck in the *coughspoilerpossiblycough*giant's tummy*endofspoilers*, and I'm 10 levels behind with all my characters. I can hardly survive a random battle. Even if I do, the exp gained sucks. Help?

jsgbullseyetm @ Feb 27th 2009 3:52PM

Stop running away from fights, you need them to level.

Shoyz @ Feb 27th 2009 5:33PM

Yeah, I know. That's why I took a pledge after FF4 that any other FF game I play, I'll -never- run away from a fight.

Sadly, I did in FF4. Is it possible to fix this? Start over?

Roto13 @ Feb 27th 2009 5:48PM

The Moon in FFIV DS is hard even if you're at level 100. >_>

dronesensor @ Feb 27th 2009 3:44PM

I love FFIV, but if this is anything like Square-Enix's other follow-up to a beloved FF game, FFVII: Crisis Core, I'll pass. CC was the pinnacle of boring, uninspired cash-in. Only the blindest FFVII fanboy could have enjoyed that game, along with the equally-shitty FFVII: Advent Children.