8.6 /10 1 Votes
9/10 IGN Publisher(s) Square Enix Producer(s) Hiroyuki Miura Writer(s) Takashi Tokita Series Final Fantasy Designer Takashi Tokita Platform PlayStation Portable | 4.7/5 Emuparadise 77% GameFAQs Director(s) Yoichi Yoshimoto Artist(s) Yoshitaka Amano Initial release date 19 April 2011 Developer Square Enix Holdings Genre Role-playing video game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Composer(s) Nobuo Uematsu
Junya Nakano
Masashi Hamauzu Similar Final Fantasy games, Square Enix Holdings games, Role-playing games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection is a compilation consisting of enhanced ports of the role-playing video games Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, as well as a new scenario called Final Fantasy IV Interlude, which is set between the two games. It was published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on March 24, 2011; in North America on April 19, 2011; in Europe on April 21, 2011; and in Australia on April 28, 2011. It was also released as digital download.
Contents
Gameplay
The compilation was supervised by Takashi Tokita. It features 16:9 high-resolution graphics, the same CG opening movie from the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, a new CG opening for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, a new soundtrack arrangement (you can also choose the SPC originals), and a gallery mode for viewing CG movies and Yoshitaka Amano's artwork.
In Japan, a collector's bundle called the "Ultimate Pack" was also released, featuring a game guide, an art book called Final Fantasy IV Complete Arts, and a seventeen-track CD called Final Fantasy IV: The After Years Sounds Plus, whose final five tracks were selected by polling the members of the Japanese Square Enix community website.
Plot
The compilation features the full versions of Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, along with a new game titled Final Fantasy IV Interlude, which is set roughly one year after the original game.
In Interlude, players take control of Cecil. The story begins at Baron Castle after Cecil has a dream about one of the Crystal Chambers, where he sees Rydia and hears a voice saying "Finally, it has a new form." Just as the voice is about to reveal itself, Rosa wakes him. Cecil and Rosa set off on one of the Red Wings airships for Damcyan. Meanwhile, at the Feymarch, Rydia is about to leave when she is confronted by Asura, Queen of the Feymarch, who asks her where she is going. Rydia tells her she is headed to Damcyan for its reconstruction celebration, and Asura lets her pass.
While at the celebration, a guard enters and tells Yang that some monks have been brutally attacked at Mt. Hobbs. Hearing this, Yang decides to leave, and Cecil and Rosa volunteer to join him. When they get to the summit of Mt. Hobbs, they find two injured monks, whom Rosa heals. Soon after, they are attacked by a Dad Bomb. When they defeat the Dad Bomb they head to Fabul where Yang's wife Sheila is about to give birth to Ursula. Yang asks Cecil to be Ursula's godfather, which he gladly accepts.
As Cecil and Rosa are about to leave they encounter Cid, Luca, Palom and Porom, who tell Cecil a swarm of monsters has emerged from the Sealed Cave. As they are about to take off, Cecil tells Yang to stay with his family. Cid notices that Rosa looks pale and Cecil asks Yang to take care of her while he is away. Once they get to the Sealed Cave, they notice the Tower of Babel pulse with light. Edge notices this as well from Eblan, and sets off to enter the Tower through the underground passageway. Once Cecil and the others reach the Crystal Chamber they are attacked by a Demon Wall and narrowly defeat it. In the Crystal Chamber they encounter Rydia. However, she cannot remember where she was, but she says that "they" were calling her. While everyone wonders exactly who "they" are, the party decides that they should go to the Tower of Babel and investigate.
While they are scaling the tower, Rydia begins regaining her summons and acting more strangely. As they pass the cannon control room, Rydia enters it and three guards come out to stop Cecil and the others from following her. The three guards merge into a Deus Ex Mechina, at which point Edge arrives to lend a hand in defeating it. After the sentry is destroyed, the party head into the control room, but Rydia is nowhere to be found. They decide to keep going up the tower in hopes that they will find her, only to learn that she is an impostor, as she attacks them with the Eidolons she has obtained. When the fake Rydia summons Bahamut, the real Rydia shows up and dissuades him from attacking the party. Although they defeat the fake Rydia, she escapes and reports to her "creator", who is residing in the True Moon, that the Eidolon project is complete. Back on earth, in Cecil's bed chamber, Rosa lies in bed and Cecil asks if she is alright. It is then revealed that Rosa is pregnant. Everyone is overjoyed with the news, and they tell Cecil that he should start coming up with some names.
Meanwhile, on Mt. Ordeals, Kain, who is still repenting for the wrongs he did during Final Fantasy IV, hears a voice call out to him.
Reception
The collection sold over 198,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2011. It has received mostly positive reviews. Famitsu gave it 30 out of 40 from a panel of four reviewers. IGN gave it 9 out of 10, concluding that if "you haven't played Final Fantasy IV, are a fan of RPGs, and don't find yourself utterly impressed with the game, I will be surprised." 1UP.com rated the collection a B-, describing the original game as a "masterpiece" but referring to its follow-ups as "a pale imitation."
GameZone were less impressed, giving the collection 4.5 out of 10, stating that "this Complete Collection is a hard one to recommend" as a package, and that its selling point, The After Years, "isn't any great shakes as a story, and the high-res makeover gives it some of the same visual hang-ups as the central quest."