A lot of major game developers have been focusing on their well-established, popular franchises. Square Enix has enough time invested in its myriad of sequels and spin-offs of properties like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts, not to mention its Western acquirements like Deus Ex and Tomb Raider. It’s comforting to see companies like this take a chance on something new and innovative. That’s certainly what they did with the uniquely-named The World Ends with You, and it was a risk that has certainly paid off.

The World Ends with You takes place in the Shibuya district of modern-day Tokyo. That’s right, instead of a fantasy or science fiction setting, you get an ordinary shopping mall. That’s an odd locale for an RPG, but it surprisingly fits well with the theme of the game. Having never been to Japan, I do not know first-hand what this district looks like, but I have heard that the game is a reasonable reproduction of the area and faithfully replicates major landmarks of the shopping district.

The main character is Neku, a teenage loner who vocally expresses his dislike of other people and his desire for independence. He wakes up in the middle of Shibuya one day with no memory other than his name and sees a digital billboard telling him that he has seven days. No one around him seems to be able to see or hear him, but he has a pin that allows him to read their minds. He soon learns that he has been involuntarily thrust into a competition called the Reapers’ Game. Each day, he or the other players in the game must complete a mission that will be sent to them on their cell phone. Failure to complete the mission will result in their erasure from existence. Their antagonists in this game are Reapers, who are attempting to erase players for points themselves. While reapers are usually not allowed to attack players directly, they can summon beings called Noise to attack players.

Players are provided psychic powers to defend themselves, which they execute through pins. Unfortunately, players are incapable of using pins on their own. They must make a pact with another player, and the two partners must compete in the game together. Neku quickly meets a girl named Shiki who talks him into making a pact. While Neku is untrusting of his partner at first, he must learn to trust her if the two of them are to win the game. Throughout the course of the week, they also meet and form alliances with other players, including two named Beat and Rhyme.

Combat in The World Ends with You is some of the most unusual that I have ever seen in an RPG, and it makes great use of the Nintendo DS stylus. Combat occurs on two screens. Neku fights on the bottom screen with the stylus, while his partner fights on the top screen and is controlled by the directional pad. Neku can take up to six pins into battle. Pins activate psychs that are performed by certain stylus controls. For example, one psych might require simply touching the screen while another may involve making a swipe on an enemy. Some psychs actually require you to blow or yell into the microphone. Pins have a limited number of uses, but they recharge over time.

Top screen combat is much simpler and just involves tapping directions on the directional pad to determine which direction your partner aims the attack. Most of the attacks are the same, but there is a combo map allows you to select cards with an attack. Selecting the right combination of cards will allow both players to perform a Fusion, an extremely powerful attack that involves both characters. Neku and his partner also have a puck that gets passed back and forth whenever one of them performs a combo. This increases the attack multiplier for whoever currently possesses the puck.

Fighting on both screens can be very confusing, and the puck exists so that the player can focus on only one screen at a time. If you don’t want to bother with this, you can set the top screen to auto-play. This is what I chose to do most of the time because I found Neku’s combat to be more fun and didn’t want to bother with the top screen. However, the auto-play AI is very poor, and most of the damage I would take from combat came from my partner. This made the top screen a liability in difficult encounters. However, I still thought that it was an interesting addition to combat, and players that are more competent may be able to use both screens to their advantage.

The combat is very fast-paced, especially if you are watching both screens. It was fun figuring out the best way to touch, swipe, draw on, or yell at the screen to defeat the Noise. This made it one of the most action-oriented RPGs that I’ve ever played. My only gripe is that using some pins, especially those with similar commands, can get confusing. The game is supposed to give priority to pins on the left side of the list, but it would inexplicably use other pins when I tried to use a pin’s command. There’s also a “scratch” command that I never could get to work properly. Overall, the variety of commands that you use to activate psychs makes the game a lot of fun, and battles never get boring.

The difficulty of the game is up to you. The game offers four different difficulty levels that can be changed at any time outside of battle, and you can also temporarily lower your level. This only affects pin drops. Enemies drop a different pin at each difficulty level with better pins usually at higher levels, and lowering your level improves the probability of a pin drop. Furthermore, almost all battles are voluntary, and you are only forced into boss battles and a few other encounters. If you simply want to experience the story, you can cruise through the game on Easy difficulty. Players who want a challenge can ramp up the difficulty to Ultimate and drop their level to 1.

There is a wide variety of pins available for Neku to use. Pins also have the ability to improve through battle by gaining Pin Points (PP). Gaining enough PP will cause a pin to raise a level, and when a pin reaches its maximum level, it will be mastered. Some pins will also evolve into different (usually stronger) pins once they get enough PP. While there are over 300 pins to attain, many of them have the same psych with differences only in their stats, number of uses, or recharge time. I stuck to the same pins throughout most of the game, rotating in others only as necessary. Mastering all the pins has a “Gotta catch ‘em all!” feel to it since most of the pins will go unused. This can be tedious, but I personally enjoyed completing my pin collection.

The pin evolution system has a twist to it because there are different types of PP. Battle PP (BPP) is the most straightforward and comes from fighting battles. Shutdown PP (SPP) comes from not playing the game. When you continue your game, you get SPP for the amount of time you spend not playing, up to seven days. Mingle PP (MPP) comes from connecting wirelessly with other devices. This is the most difficult to obtain if you don’t have a partner to play with. The game provides a way to obtain MPP when you’re alone, but it’s random and unpredictable. Pins will only evolve if they collect the right type of PP. If you’re not using a guide, this requires a lot of trial and error, especially in the case of SPP, which would take months to obtain if you do not cheat the system. I have mixed feelings about this odd use of PP, which rewards you for not playing the game. It is annoying to have to figure out which type of PP to use, but they make things spicier than grinding PP through battles, and SPP and MPP both fit with the underlying themes of the story.

About halfway through the story, you will come across a minigame called Tin Pin Slammer. In spite of my general dislike for minigames, this one was actually fun. It requires you to use your pins to knock you opponents’ pins off of a board. Each pin has its own set of Tin Pin Slammer stats, including “whammies” than can temporarily stun your opposing pins. The game is tough at first because the computer AI can react much faster than you can. Once you learn the strategy behind the game, it’s easy to get into. Fortunately, this game is mostly optional. You’re only required to play the minigame twice in the main story, and winning is not required. You can get some unique pins later on by playing the game, and the optional bonus level that you access after completing the story revolves almost entirely around Tin Pin Slammer. In addition, you can wirelessly connect to other players to compete in the minigame, and doing so nets you MPP.

The game does a great job of integrating the setting into its story and gameplay. The soundtrack is one of the best I’ve ever heard for a handheld game, consisting of songs from existing pop musicians in Japan. Many of the songs would stick in my head long after I had quit playing. Fashion is also incorporated into the game. Neku can shop at various stores in Shibuya to purchase pins or “threads” (clothing). Threads will change the stats of characters who wear them, and most of them offer passive abilities. Furthermore, each area of Shibuya has trends that cause certain brands of pins to receive bonuses while one brand is penalized. However, the player can alter these trends by fighting battles in the area while having threads and pins of a brand equipped.

The game’s story is as engaging as its setting. Neku learns more about himself and the game he’s in as he progresses through the week. There are some surprising twists that you discover, and you eventually learn that every character—even the villains—are much more complicated than they first seem. Nearly every character has issues that need to be addressed, and they develop in ways that seem appropriate for teenagers caught up in drastic situation. There is also much more to the Reapers’ Game than first appears, and the lore behind it is fascinating. Once the game is over, you can play an unrelated bonus mission that is much more comical than the rest of the game. You’ll also have the option to go back to any previous level of the game with your current stats, items, and abilities.

The World Ends with You breaks new ground by introducing a setting and gameplay that you rarely see in video games. The story incorporates a modern pop-culture setting seamlessly into an RPG setting. It has a story that seriously handles emotional baggage that teenagers deal with while including a fair share of humor and lightheartedness. There are plenty of things to pull the player into the game world, but anyone who just wants to see the story can do so as well. RPG fans will not want to miss this brilliant execution of a pioneering gaming concept.

After developing sequels for Final Fantasy VII, X, and XII, it came as a bit of a surprise when Square Enix reached further back into its history with a sequel to one of its classic Final Fantasy games. Widely recognized as the game that raised the standard for RPGs, Final Fantasy IV is highly regarded among long-time fans of the series. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years carries on the story of its characters by introducing its world to another peril.

The After Years was first released in Japan as a mobile phone game. Instead of being released at once, it was instead released as a series of episodes throughout 2008, each of which had to be purchased separately. A North American release was uncertain since mobile phone games are less popular here. However, the North American version was ported to the WiiWare in 2009, which allowed it to be played on the Nintendo Wii. Once again, it was released in episodes that had to be purchased separately. In 2011, the game was remade for the PSP and released as part of the compilation Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection, which also includes Final Fantasy IV and a new segment called Final Fantasy IV: Interlude that links the stories of the two games.

Setting

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is divided into 10 chapters: “Ceodore’s Tale,” “Rydia’s Tale,” “Yang’s Tale,” “Palom’s Tale,” “Edge’s Tale,” “Porom’s Tale,” “Edward’s Tale,” “Kain’s Tale,” “Lunarian’s Tale,” and “The Crystals.” (The WiiWare version of the game divides the tales a little differently.) “Ceodore’s Tale” must be completed first, and “Lunarian’s Tale” does not become available until all of the other tales are completed. “The Crystals” is unlocked after “Lunarian’s Tale” is finished and includes the ending of the game.

Most of the game takes place on the Blue Planet, the same world as Final Fantasy IV, 17 years after the ending of that game. There have been some changes to the world during that time, but it mostly remains the same until “The Crystals,” which causes many more changes to the world. The world is now at peace after the defeat of Zeromus and the departure of the Red Moon, and the kingdoms of the world have been rebuilt. “Lunarian’s Tale” takes place on Red Moon, which has been roaming through space. The end of “The Crystals” takes place on True Moon, a new moon that has appeared over the Blue Planet and now threatens its existence.

All of the final playable characters from the GBA version of Final Fantasy IV are back for The After Years. In addition, there are 12 new playable characters in the game. This makes a total of 22 characters in the final party. Some of these characters will only be brought to “The Crystals” if certain conditions are met in the earlier chapters. There are also another 13 characters who are only temporarily playable and cannot remain permanent party members. The party is predetermined during most of the chapters, but the final part of “The Crystals” allows you to switch out characters into your active party by talking to them at the Lunar Whale.

Story

In “Ceodore’s Tale,” Ceodore, the son of Cecil and Rosa and prince of Baron, is in training to become a member of the Red Wings. After Ceodore accomplishes his goal, the Red Wings head back to Baron. They are attacked by a swarm of strong monsters, causing the airship to go down. Meanwhile, the Castle of Baron is also attacked by monsters coming from the sky. Cecil, Rosa, and Cid try to fight off the monsters, but Cecil eventually orders the others to leave. He makes his last stand against Bahamut, who is accompanied by a Mysterious Girl. Looking up, all of the characters in the game witness the arrival of the True Moon from their respective locations around the world. The dwarves see a flash from the Tower of Babil, while the Mysterious Girl also goes to Feymarch, where she restrains the Eidolons.

At the airship crash site, Ceodore’s order from the dying Biggs and Wedge is to return to Baron. He is saved from a monster attack by a mysterious Hooded Man. The Hooded Man accompanies him to nearby Mysidia. They travel to Baron through the Devil’s Road, but Ceodore finds that his is not welcomed there. After sneaking in, Ceodore and the Hooded Man realize that the soldiers have all been replaced by impostors. They decide to go to Mist Village, escaping from Baron soldiers along the way. Once they pass through Mist Cave, the Hooded Man says that he is looking for Kain with the intent to kill him.

In “Rydia’s Tale,” Rydia goes to the Feymarch to check on the Eidolons, only to find them frozen in place and her unable to summon them any longer. She returns to the Underworld, where she is rescued from a group of monsters by Luca. They learn that the Red Wings took a Dark Crystal from Dwarf Castle, and they must retrieve the remaining one from the Sealed Cave. After getting the Crystal, they are attacked by the Mysterious Girl, who steals the Crystal. Luca and Rydia leave the Underworld, but the Falcon is in need of repairs, so they head to Agart. They get the supplies they need from the Agart Mine. However, Titan appears and attacks Agart. Rydia and Luca manage to fight him off, and they are subsequently visited by a mysterious Man in Black, who urges them to go to the Tower of Babil.

In “Yang’s Tale,” Yang’s daughter Ursula is once again refused the opportunity to be trained by Yang. Instead, she decides to go to Mt. Hobs to train herself but gets attacked. Yang rescues her, but they do not find the other monks who were training there. They investigate a nearby crater caused by a meteor and find a grave where the monks were buried. While returning to Fabul, they see a fleet of Red Wings on their way to the castle. Upon arriving, they defend the castle against invasion, only for their Wind Crystal to be once again taken by Kain. They set out by ship to Baron to confront Cecil. A monster attack damages Yang’s vessel, causing them to lose too much fuel. Stranded on a nearby island, they go in search of fuel. Yang and Ursula are forced to cooperate in a battle against a powerful monster to get the fuel. Yang finally agrees to train Ursula, and they return to the ship. Shortly after setting off, the ship is attacked by Leviathan.

In “Palom’s Tale,” Palom is sent to Troia to train a new epopt named Leonora. They go to the Tower of Trials where Palom teaches her some basic Black Magic. After going back to Troia, the castle is soon attacked by the Red Wings. Palom and Leonora escape with the Earth Crystal through a secret passage. They catch a Black Chocobo and take it to Lodestone Cavern to hide the Crystal there. This revives the Dark Elf, who they defeat, but the Mysterious Girl catches up with them. With the help of Shiva, the Mysterious Girl defeats them and takes the Crystal, leaving them alone in the dungeon.

In “Edge’s Tale,” Edge is training four new ninjas in Eblan: Gekkou, Zangetsu, Izayoi, and Tsukinowa. They each see the True Moon appear, so Edge sends each of them on a reconnaissance mission. Gekkou is sent to the Impact Crater near Mt. Hobs. Zangetsu is sent to the Dwarven Castle disguised as a dwarf. Izayoi is sent to Troia disguised as an epopt trainee. Tsukinowa is sent to Mysidia disguised as a mage in training. Edge decides to go to the Tower of Babil himself to investigate. Shortly after arriving, he is joined by each of the Eblan Four, who inform him of what they found. They find the Mysterious Girl at the top of the tower. She summons Ifrit, and the team of ninjas is forced to flee. They eventually reach the airship dock and make a blind leap off of it, landing on the passing Falcon with Rydia, Luca, and the Man in Black.

“Porom’s Tale” begins with several flashbacks revealing that Palom desires to become a mage and that Rydia was banished from the Feymarch. In the present day, Porom is assisting the Elder in Mysidia when they both see the Lunar Whale emerge from the ocean and fly into space. Porom goes in search of Kain at Mount Ordeals. At the mountain’s peak, Porom enters the tomb of Kluya, whose mirrors are now shatters, and speaks to him briefly. After exiting, they are attacked by monsters and rescued by Kain. He goes with them back to Mysidia, but they find it attacked by the Mysterious Girl. She summons Ramuh, who severely injures the Elder. Kain gives the Water Crystal to the Mysterious Girl and offers to help her if she gives him the opportunity to kill Cecil.

In “Edward’s Tale,” Edward’s concern over the nearby Impact Crater causes him to send his secretary Harley to inspect it. His concern for her causes him to go to the crater himself to find her. Upon returning, they see the Red Wings leaving Damcyan. Edward decides to confront Cecil at Baron, and they head to Kaipo to set out from its port. When they reach Kaipo, Harley comes down with Desert Fever. Edward goes back through the Underground Waterway to obtain a Sand Pearl from the Antlion’s Den. This revives Harley, and they head to Baron by ship. In Baron, they question Cecil about his actions, but he assures them that everything is under control. Edward is still suspicious, so he secretly leaves some Whisperweed in Cecil’s throne room. On the ship back to Kaipo, Edward and Harley listen in on Cecil through the Whisperweed and hear him conversing with the Mysterious Girl.

“Kain’s Tale” begins with a flashback to just before the events of the game. Kain visits the tomb on Mount Ordeals and confronts his dark half, but he seemingly fails. He then sees Porom and participates in the events of her tale. He follows the Mysterious Girl back to Baron, where she tells him that she will let him kill Cecil only if he retrieves the Wind and Fire Crystals for her. Meanwhile, Ceodore and the Hooded Man climb the cliffs near Mist Village and head to Damcyan. They arrive just in time to see Kain leave with the Fire Crystal and Rosa, who had come to Edward for help. Cid soon arrives with the Enterprise, and he returns to Baron with Ceodore, Edward, and the Hooded Man. They confront Kain inside the castle, where it is revealed that this is Kain’s dark half, with the Hooded Man being the real Kain. Kain faces his dark half again and succeeds, becoming a Holy Dragoon. The group steps into the throne rooms to face Cecil and the Mysterious Girl.

In “Lunarian’s Tale,” Golbez awakes from his sleep on Red Moon and finds Fusoya missing. He leaves through the Lunar Subterrane, finding Fusoya along the way. They notice that the Crystals are losing their light and decide to check on Bahamut, but they find him petrified. They investigate a recently-formed Impact Crater and defeat the Mysterious Girl, but another one appears in her place. They return to the Crystal Palace and defeat another Mysterious Girl, but the Crystals begin to shatter. They quickly head down the Lunar Subterrane, but they are too late. All of the Crystals have broken, allowing another Mysterious Girl to summon Zeromus’s Malice. It begins to destroy the Crystal Palace, but Fusoya is able to summon the Lunar Whale and teleports Golbez to it. Golbez uses it to return to the Blue Planet.

“The Crystals” is the final chapter of the game. True Moon begins getting closer to the Blue Planet, and meteors from it start pelting the world. Rydia, Luca, Edge, and the Man in Black try to enter Baron, but the castle is protected by a barrier. A visit to Mist causes Rydia to realize that she must get the power of Eidolons back. The four of them travel around the world, defeating the Eidolons and freeing them from the control of the Mysterious Girl. They also find characters from the other chapters of the game, each of whom stay on the Falcon to recover from their injuries. With most of the Eidolons free, they return to Baron, where the barrier has been weakened. They arrive just in time to see Ceodore, Kain, Rosa, Cid, and Edward fight Cecil and Odin. Odin refuses to fight his own people, and he turns on Cecil instead, freeing him from control of the Mysterious Girl. The rest of the team defeats the girl, only for several other Mysterious Girls to appear around them. The Man in Black reveals himself to be Golbez, and he pilots the Lunar Whale to the True Moon at the girls’ invitation.

The Lunar Whale crash lands on True Moon, and Cecil remains in a catatonic state. The party makes its way into the Subterrane, fighting the revived versions of various people from their past, including the Four Elemental Archfiends. Rydia also frees the Eidolons Asura and Leviathan. Eventually, they find the Dark Knight Cecil. With help from Golbez, Ceodore, and Rosa, Cecil defeats his dark half once and for all and recovers completely. The party continues to make its way into the moon, now encountering powerful creatures from other worlds along the way. They also free the final Eidolon Bahamut by defeating yet another Mysterious Girl. Eventually, they come to a room full of many pods of Mysterious Girls, which are called Maenads. One of them opens, revealing a very young Maenad who obeys the party’s instructions.

At the core of the moon, the party finally encounters the Creator. He claims that he experimented with evolution and created the Crystals to monitor life on other planets. The Maenads were created to do his bidding. He deemed the Blue Planet to be a failure of evolution, and it was his responsibility to consume it with the True Moon. The party defeats the Creator, causing the moon to start to explode. The Creators pursues the party as they escape, and he is eventually killed by a team of his own Maenads. The heroes leave on the Lunar Whale, but they take the young Maenad they found earlier with them. The True Moon leaves the Blue Planet.

The world begins to recover from the effects of the True Moon. Leonora is offered a position as epopt at Troia, but she turns it down. The Elder of Mysidia appoints Porom and Palom as the next elders of Mysidia. Leonora joins them and says she wants to train to be a Sage. At Dwarf Castle, King Giott and Luca join Cid and Mid as they work on an airship and disarm their weapons. Yang begins training Ursula at Fabul. Edward and Harley discuss plans to help Cecil rebuild the world using the Crystals. The Eblan Four swear their loyalty to Edge, and he visits Rydia in Mist. Rydia is raising the Maenad as a Summoner and named her Cuore. At Baron, Kain is now leader of the Red Wings, and he recruits Ceodore to help rebuild the world. They join Cecil on a trip to Damcyan to see Edward. Golbez takes the Lunar Whale to search for the Lunarians.

Gameplay

Most of the core gameplay in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is unchanged from Final Fantasy IV. It uses the same ATB system, and the party still consists of up to five characters. Throughout most of the game, the party is determined by the story, but once you reach True Moon, you can change party members at the Lunar Whale and at certain teleporters in the dungeon. Levels continue to be gained through experience by fighting battles, and stat gains are predetermined for each level. For most characters, magic is learned automatically upon reaching a certain level, although Summons are learned by fighting battles with Eidolons or through storyline events. Every character has a set of abilities that they can use based in part on their job, and only a few new abilities are learned during the game due to special events.

One of the new features is the Moon Phase. Every time the party rests for the night using an Inn, Tent, or Cottage, the moon will cycle to the next of four phases: New Moon, Waxing Moon, Full Moon, and then Waning Moon. This will also happen after 30 minutes of play. At each phase, some commands will be weakened while others will become stronger. For example, the Full Moon will cause Black Magic to be stronger, but Attack commands will be weaker. This affects both characters and enemies, so it can be used strategically to help you characters. There are also some rare enemies that only appear during certain moon phases.

The other addition to the game is Bands, which are an evolution of Twin magic from Final Fantasy IV and bear some resemblance to limit breaks. Bands allow two or more characters to combine their powers to perform an even stronger action. All Bands require MP, so even characters who cannot use magic will need MP for Bands. Some Bands are learned automatically through storyline events, but most of them must be learned through experimentation. You have to choose the characters who participate in the Band and the command they use and hope that it works. Once a Band is found, it will permanently appear on the list of Bands that the character will perform and can be done simply by selecting it from the menu. Considering how many characters and abilities there are in the game, the number of possible Bands is astounding.

Review

When I first heard about a sequel to Final Fantasy IV, I was a little unsure how I felt about it. Final Fantasy IV is still one of my favorite games in the series, and the story wrapped up with such finality that I didn’t see how a sequel could develop it further. The more I heard about it, the more open I became to the idea. I never played the WiiWare version of the game, but I did complete the PSP version in The Complete Collection.

In terms of gameplay, not much changes in The After Years. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and too much change probably would have detracted from the game. This is based on Final Fantasy IV, so it makes sense that it would have similar gameplay. The lack of innovation means that you’re mostly playing the same game as the original, just with a different story. This is fine if you loved the gameplay of IV as I did, but people who weren’t fans of it will just find it bland. The introduction of Bands was a welcome feature though, and the variety that comes from discovering new Bands will entertain those who wanted to experiment with something new.

One thing that the game does do well is force you to come up with new strategies. In most chapters, you will only have access to two characters. In some cases, both characters are mages, and many chapters don’t have healers at all. This is a stark contrast from the previous game, where you always had Cecil as a high damage-dealer and usually had a healer with you. As a result, you have to get creative and regularly change your approach to the game. This is annoying at times, especially in “Palom’s Tale” where Palom is the only damage-dealer, and he is limited by his MP. Most of the time, it works by regularly adding some variety to the game.

The Moon Phase system was an interesting addition. It fits well with the story since so much emphasis is placed on moons in this universe. However, most of the time, you can just ignore the Moon Phase. It rarely has a meaningful affect on the game, and when it does, it can be just as annoying as it is helpful. I don’t think that the Moon Phase detracted from the game, but it really didn’t add much either.

Repetition is probably my biggest complaint about the game. Many of the plot elements of the game are only slight variation of its predecessor. For example, you have fights with your dark side, people falling ill from Desert Fever, Baron using the Red Wings to collect Crystals, and antagonists manipulating your characters into getting the Crystal from the Sealed Cave. Even the battle at Fabul is nearly an exact reenactment of the same battle in Final Fantasy IV. You have to make four trips through the Underground Waterway through the course of the game. The laziness of the developers was also apparent in many of the new dungeons, some of which are merely copies of other dungeons. It didn’t help that the final dungeon was full of bosses from previous Final Fantasy games rather than original designs. I often felt that a little more work could have been put into this game to make it better.

Breaking the game into chapters was a nice diversion from most Final Fantasy games. I enjoyed exploring each character’s story separately, knowing that another team with completely new characters would be waiting for me once I finished a chapter. The only downside to this is that it makes it easy to permanently miss certain items since there is no way to go back once you start the final chapter. In fact, once you reach True Moon, you cannot leave, preventing you from revisiting dungeons, towns, and shops on the main world at all. On the other hand, missing something in a chapter means that you only have to replay that chapter instead of restarting the entire game from the beginning.

I see Final Fantasy IV: The After Years as being more of an extension of Final Fantasy IV than a new game. It’s played in mostly the same way, and the story is an expansion of its predecessor. This makes The Complete Collection the best way to experience the series. As a result, you’re not going to get anything new out of the game, and anyone who is apathetic towards Final Fantasy IV will have no reason to play it. On the other hand, fans of IV will love having more to do, and it’s interesting to see what happens to the world and its characters when the next generation comes around. This makes The After Years a great experience for fans for IV and of classic RPGs in general.

Trivia

• The logo for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is two moons, one much larger than the other.
• This is the first video game sequel to a Final Fantasy game from the 2D era of the series.
• The WiiWare version of the game is based on the continuity established in the NDS version of Final Fantasy IV. The PSP version in The Complete Collection updates some storyline information to make the game consistent with the version of IV that was released in that compilation.
• With 22 characters in the final party, this game beat Final Fantasy VI to have more playable characters than any other game in the series (excluding the tactical games).
• The Chocobos in the game match their appearance in Final Fantasy IV. Yellow and White Chocobos can be found in Chocobo Forests. Yellow Chocobos can be ridden to avoid enemies and cross rivers. White Chocobos restore MP when found. Black Chocobos can fly, but due to their rarity, they only appear in a storyline event. All of these Chocobos disappear in “The Crystals.” There is also a Chocobo Eidolon that can be summoned by Rydia if the player finds it.
• Much like Final Fantasy IV, Moogles do not appear in this game. However, Namingway and the Hummingways somewhat resemble Moogles.
• The Cid of this game is Cid Pollendina, returning from Final Fantasy IV. He is still an airship engineer and is also Luca’s teacher. He is briefly playable in “Ceodore’s Tale” and “Kain’s Tale,” and he becomes a permanent party member in “The Crystals” after reaching True Moon. Mid also appears in the game as Cid’s young grandson.
• Airships remain common due as party of Baron’s fleet of Red Wings. The three airships from Final Fantasy IV—Enterprise, Falcon, and Lunar Whale—also return in this game. The Falcon is the only one controllable by the player and only in “The Crystals.” The other airships only appear as story events.
• Bahamut returns as the Hallowed Father of the Eidolons. He still lives in the Lair of the Father on the Red Moon. He is the Eidolon that attacks Cecil at Baron in the beginning of the game, and he cannot be obtained as a summon until almost the end of the game. His ability Megaflare is the most powerful Summon attack and one of the most powerful attacks in the game.
• The Gilgamesh who appears in this game is taken directly from Final Fantasy V and fought in the final dungeon along with the other Final Fantasy V bosses. After defeating him, the party members remark that he wasn’t a bad person.
• Although there is no job system in this game, all of the characters are assigned a job, much like its predecessor.
• Four characters go through a job change throughout the course of the game. Ceodore starts out as a Prince and becomes a Red Wings. Ursula starts as a Princess and becomes a Monk. Leonora goes from being an Epopt Trainee to an Epopt. Kain begins as a Dragoon, has a job called ??? as the Hooded Man, and then becomes a Holy Dragoon.
• The identities of the Hooded Man and the Man in Black are left obscure through most of the game. The Hooded Man is revealed to be Kain at the end of “Kain’s Tale,” and the Man in Black is revealed to the player as Golbez in “Lunarian’s Tale.” However, the other characters do not identify Golbez until the battle with Cecil, so he is still called the Man in Black for the first half of “The Crystals.”
• Ceodore’s name is a combination of Cecil and Theodor, Golbez’s real name.
• Leonora is revealed to be the young girl talking to Palom at the end of Final Fantasy IV.
• Several characters can be permanently killed in the game. Calca and Brina are damaged during “Rydia’s Tale,” and if the proper supplies are not found in the Agart Mine, they will not be brought back for “The Crystals.” Each of the Eblan Four will be permanently killed if they die in their respective reconnaissance missions during “Edge’s Tale.” Finally, Golbez will be permanently killed during the battle with the Dark Knight if either Ceodore or Rosa is not in the party.
• The girl disguised as Rydia in Final Fantasy IV: Interlude is most likely a Maenad from this game. Interlude explains where they learned summons. The voice that Cecil hears in his dreams and that speaks to the Mysterious Girl at the end of Interlude is the Creator.
• When he first appears, the Creator strongly resembles PuPu, a recurring alien character in the Final Fantasy series.
• The Creator’s ultimate attack is Explode, which does heavy damage to all party members. He is also able to use the traditional Black Hole attack.
• There are several optional superbosses leading up to the final battle, all of them taken from previous Final Fantasy games. Omega and Nova Dragon are superbosses from Final Fantasy V, while Ultima Weapon is a boss from Final Fantasy VI. The Complete Collection has another optional superboss that becomes available after completing the game. Lost Babil is a massive superboss that is fought in three stages, each with a different set of party members.
• One of the most powerful Bands in the game is called Final Fantasy. This Band is a joint attack by the five main heroes of the two games: Cecil uses Attack, Kain uses Jump, Rosa uses White Magic, Rydia uses Black Magic, and Edge uses Throw. This is the only attack named Final Fantasy in the entire Final Fantasy series.
• The world of this game is the Blue Planet. The characters sometimes call it “earth,” but this is apparently a generic name rather than the name of the world. Part of the game also takes place on Red Moon and True Moon. Red Moon is the home of the Lunarians and former satellite of Blue Planet. True Moon is a space vessel that suddenly appears over the Blue Planet.

People enjoy video games for a lot of different reasons. Adventure games appeal to those who enjoy the mental stimulation of solving puzzles. Action games and shooters provide fast-paced excitement and a sense of danger. Role playing games let you create a character or experience a world in a way that you could never do in real life. Horror games are different. They are for people who like the psychological torment of being in constant fear for your life. Not many games have done that as well as Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Horror games aren’t necessarily a new thing. Nearly a decade ago, I experienced Clive Barker’s Undying, which was unexpectedly fun and legitimately scary. Earlier this year, I played Alone in the Dark for the first time, and in spite of being a twenty-year-old game, it still freaked me out at times. Although I’ve never played any of the Resident Evil games, they are well known for popularizing the survival horror genre. Amnesia is a little different though. These other games focus on the puzzle or shooter elements in addition to the scares. In Amnesia, it’s all about the horror.

The game takes place in 1839. You are seen running through the corridor of an old castle telling yourself to remember that your name is Daniel. You then collapse, and that’s when you gain control over your character. You follow a trail of red liquid to a note that was apparently written by you and addressed to yourself. It says that you deliberately drank a concoction that would erase your memory, but it instructs you to locate and kill someone named Alexander in the castle’s Inner Sanctum. From there, you must explore the castle, delving into its deepest levels in search for this person and learning why you must kill him. Along the way, you are confronted by hideous creatures that will kill you on site and are pursued by dangerous entity that has been hunting you for some time.

What makes Amnesia different from other survival horror games is the utter helplessness of your character. You have no weapons and no way to defend yourself. If you see a monster, your only options are to run or hide. The monsters can run faster than you can, so running is only a limited option. The best thing to do is to avoid being seen by them. If you are seen, you must find a way to impede them until you find a hiding place or escape to the next area of the castle.

Complicating the matter is that Daniel is on the verge of losing his mind. Staying too long in the dark, witnessing supernatural events, performing a disturbing action, and looking directly at a monster will diminish his sanity. When his sanity is low, Daniel will experience both visual and auditory hallucinations, making it harder for the player to see or control him. When his sanity is gone, he will cry out and collapse for a few moments, leaving him vulnerable to nearby monsters, and he will lose some health. Remaining in lit areas will improve his sanity, but only a limited amount. The only way his sanity significantly improves is by progressing in the game.

The addition of the sanity meter complicates the gameplay. Monsters have limited vision in the dark, so dark rooms are the best places to hide. However, spending too much time in them will risk losing too much sanity, which has long term implications since you don’t know when you will be able to improve it. You have to balance these two elements in order to get through the game.

Darkness is prevalent throughout the entire game, and there are few well-lit areas. Most areas have small patches of light from torches, candles, or windows. Daniel’s only resources to combat the darkness are tinderboxes and a lantern. Tinderboxes that light torches or candles are plentiful, but only the area immediately around the source will be lit. The lantern is a mobile source of light, but turning it on consumes oil, which is harder to find.

It may surprise you to know that there actually isn’t much danger in the game. You don’t encounter any enemies at all for the first quarter of the game, and the first ones you see are harmless as long as you do not approach them. When you do start encountering monsters, they tend to be quite rare, only a few in each area. The rarity of the danger actually adds to the fear. It becomes that much more startling when you do see a monster since you never become completely accustomed to seeing them. The game uses sounds and darkness to give you a constant sense of danger, so you will always be on edge regardless of the actual threat.

The pacing of the game is one of its best parts since it is set up to ensure that you experience as much terror as possible. If enemies had been thrown at you constantly, you would eventually get used to it and no longer be freaked out by them. Instead, you occasionally come across “safe areas” where there are no enemies to fear. This calms you down just enough to make it that much more terrifying when you do encounter a monster again. Even the safe areas have enough of a horrific atmosphere (especially if your sanity is low) that the impeding sense of gloom never goes away completely.

The game is divided into several sections, each with a few puzzles you have to complete to progress to the next area of the castle. None of the puzzles are particularly difficult. Most of them simply require you to find the right item, and once found, it’s pretty easy to figure out what to do with it. Most areas of the game are straightforward, and the few maze-like areas that exist are generally the ones where you will be threatened the most with monsters. The purpose of these puzzles and mazes is to keep your attention focused on the game, making it easier for monsters to startle you when they appear. If the entire game consisted of running from monsters, it would become rudimentary after a while.

My only real complaint with the game was the stinginess in regards to light. Torches and candles provide light only for a few feet around them, making them a waste of tinderboxes in many situations. The lantern is the best sources of light, but it’s easy to run out of oil while searching in new areas, making it nearly impossible to progress in the game. I came very close to restarting the game when I forgot an item and had to return to an area to retrieve it, doubling my oil use in the process and causing me to run out. I understand that the lack of light is an essential component to the challenge, but being unable to see made it harder for me to explore the castle, which is part of the fun.

Another minor complaint is the difficulty in handling objects, particularly doors. Objects move with your mouse, so you could supposedly open a door simply by swinging your mouse to the side. However, objects are held a constant distance from you, so in practice, you often have to take a few steps back while holding the door to open it. That may sound like a minor complaint, but when you’re being pursued by a monster, those few moments can make the difference between life and death. In real life, I don’t have to walk to move an object in arms length, and it shouldn’t be that way in the game either.

The story is revealed through notes and diary entries that you find scattered throughout the castle. Daniel will also experience flashbacks (or possibly hallucinations) when he reaches certain points. This is not a story-driven game, but it effectively captures the eeriness of the situation. It’s particularly horrific as you learn what Daniel and Alexander did that drove him to drink the amnesia potion. The mere descriptions of some behaviors are more disturbing than the things you actually see.

The game is quite short and can probably be completed in less than ten hours as long as you do not have to restart it. A lot of fear is compacted into that ten hours, and making it any longer would have drawn it out and caused it to become repetitive. As it stands, there is just enough of the game as there needs to be.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is by far the scariest game I’ve ever played. The ambiance is constantly spooky, and the level design is perfect for keeping you in a constant state of fear. The instructions recommend that you play the game at night with the lights off, but even though I have no belief in ghosts or the paranormal, I still had to turn on the lights a few hours into the game. Not everyone is going to want to play a game whose purpose is just to freak them out, but it’s a uniquely satisfying experience for anyone who enjoys horror.

People can’t seem to get enough True Blood, and HBO doesn’t seem shy about keeping the series going. Season 4 is loosely based on the novel Dead to the World, the fourth book in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, although by now, the series has deviated far from its source material. It explores the dynamics of the relationships that Sookie Stackhouse has with both Bill Compton and Eric Northman, which have changed dramatically after the events of the previous season. It also expands the mythology of the series to include magic, witches, mediums, ghosts, and demons, most of which have only been hinted at in previous seasons.

After being drawn into the fairy world at the end of season 3, Sookie learns that the fairies are not as benevolent as they first appeared, and she escapes back to Bon Temps with the help of some rebellious fairies. Time passes differently in the fairy world, and more than a year has gone by when she returns. Bill is now the vampire king of Louisiana, Tara Thornton is living with her girlfriend in New Orleans, Jason Stackhouse is a police officer, Hoyt Fortenberry and Jessica Hamby are now living together, Arlene Fowler has given birth to a son, and Sam Merlotte has joined with a group of other shape shifters. The main plot concerns a coven of witches led by Marnie Stonebrook that has set up in Bon Temps. While the group is initially harmless, they gain the ability to control the dead, a power that can be devastating to vampires. Bill orders Eric to handle the situation, but when Marnie is possessed by the ghost of a vengeful witch named Antonia, she puts a curse on Eric that causes him to lose his memory. Sookie finds Eric in this vulnerable state and starts taking care of him. She falls for his now gentile demeanor, which results in a relationship between the two. Meanwhile, the Antonia-possessed Marnie plans to start a war with the vampires that threatens their existence.

The number of subplots in the series has increased dramatically, but more amazing is that most of them connect seamlessly to the main story. The exception is Sam’s plot, in which he gets involved with another shifter named Luna Garza. This ties into the story of Alcide Herveaux and Debbie Pelt, the werewolf couple from season 3. While this plot crosses over to the main pot occasionally, it is primarily an independent story. What makes this awkward is that the climax to this plot occurs at the same time as the climax to the main plot, and the shift between them messes with the mood of the show. In spite of this, I liked the werewolf plotline in this season much better than the one in the previous season.

The love triangle between Sookie, Eric, and Bill is the crux of the season, and the show had an interesting way of handling it. I had some doubts about the authenticity of Eric’s proclaimed love for Sookie. Her love for him in his amnesia-afflicted form was believable since he was essentially a different, more sensitive character at the time. At the same time, his treatment of her in previous seasons could hardly be considered loving. Much like Edward Cullen from Twilight, it was more of a stalker-like obsession in which he manipulated her to get what he wanted under the guise of love. In spite of this, the triangle was resolved in a way that I was satisfied with, at least in the sense of showing that the obsessive love of Sookie’s vampire suitors is not healthy, regardless of who she ends up with on screen.

Of course, this isn’t the only relationship in the show. A number of other relationships, both romantic and familial, got shaken up this season. Some of them were welcomed since they were the natural progression that those characters would take. Others I wasn’t so fond of. It felt like the writers were breaking up relationships just to cause drama as the characters behaved in ways that were atypical for them. This was some of the weaker writing of the season since the goal seemed to be rewriting the characters from scratch rather than letting them evolve naturally.

I was also rather annoyed with the portrayal of Bon Temps. It’s supposed to be a small town in rural Louisiana. So why is it getting so much attention from the vampire community? It’s not the likely location for a tolerance rally featuring nationally-recognized vampire leaders. I know that Bill is the king now, but I would think he would be doing the bulk of his work in bigger cities like New Orleans. Suspension of disbelief can only go so far, and Bon Temps is looking more and more like a major city made to look like a smaller one. That ruins the small city feeling that I got from the first couple of seasons.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the villain of the season. Marnie and Antonia represent the first time that humans have been a threat to vampires. They have a valid reason for opposing the vampires, so it’s reasonable to see why other humans joined with them. I’ve become more and more frustrated with the vampire leadership, who don’t seem to embrace the equality that they try so hard to achieve, and it’s good to see them meet a match from a human. The actress who played Marnie was amazing, able to shift between her Marnie character and Antonia character flawlessly. It also gave an opportunity for Lafayette Reynolds and Jesus Velasquez to show off what they can do. I’m particularly fond of Lafayette, and he has been underutilized in the past couple of seasons. I was annoyed at how his powers came out of nowhere at the end of last season, and both he and Jesus became too powerful too quickly for my liking this season, but they’re such awesome characters that I was able to overlook it.

In spite of all the negatives I heard about season 4, I found it to be better than the previous season. The show has lost its charm from the first couple of seasons, which was probably inevitable, but it has maintained much of its production quality. It continues to live up to its reputation of being a sex-obsessed show, but they managed to tone it down to reasonable levels this season. The villain of this season is much more interesting than the villain of season 3, and the characters are becoming much more dynamic with numerous storylines to liven up the plot. All of this makes True Blood continue to be the best vampire series on television right now.

I have been a fan of the Assassin’s Creed series since the second game. The story was fascinating, the gameplay was addictive, and the lore behind the series kept drawing me in. It was fun watching the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze play out in front of me. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood took all of the elements that made that game great and added to them to produce an even more amazing experience. Ezio’s story concludes in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, but how does the conclusion to his saga live up to the previous games?

As always, there is a framing story that takes place in the year 2012. After the startling conclusion of Brotherhood, Desmond Miles’s mind has fractured, leaving him in a comatose state. To save him, the other assassins place him in the Animus in hopes that it would keep his mind from going completely. Desmond experiences the Animus as testing area called the Black Room, which resembles an island. He meets Subject 16 (whose real name is Clay Kaczmarek) here, who had downloaded his memories into the Animus before he died. Clay tells Desmond that he must finish reliving the experiences of his ancestors until there is nothing left for him to see. All that’s left are the final missions of Ezio Auditore.

Ezio’s story takes place in the years 1511 and 1512. Now a middle-aged man and mentor in the Assassin Order, Ezio wants to unlock the history of the assassins, so he seeks out the secrets of their ancient leader Altaïr ibn La’Ahad, who reformed the Order into what it is today. Unfortunately, when he arrives at the assassin stronghold in Masyaf, he finds it overrun by Templars. After a narrow escape, he learns that Altaïr’s vault has been sealed by five keys that have been hidden in various locations around Constantinople. Ezio travels there to locate the keys. During his visit, he helps strengthen the city’s Assassin Order, gets tangled up in a Templar attempt to overthrow the sultan, and falls in love with an Italian librarian who has made her home in Constantinople. However, the keys to the vault are no ordinary keys. They also store memories of Altaïr and reveal his role in rebuilding the Order centuries earlier.

The core gameplay from Brotherhood is unchanged. Almost all of the weapons, items, and skills from that game return, including the crossbow and parachutes. In spite of his age, Ezio can still practice parkour better than anyone, assassinate people with his hidden blade without being noticed, and fight off groups of soldiers with all kinds of weaponry. Combo kills, counter-kills, and execution streaks are still in full effect, although battles are generally tougher. Ezio still has Eagle Sense, and he has honed his talents to now be able to see trails and enemy patrols. Most of the game takes place in Constantinople with a few excursions to Masyaf and Cappadocia. The main story is mostly linear, although there are plenty of side missions, and Ezio is generally free to explore Constantinople as much as he wants between missions.

A new piece of equipment is Ezio’s infamous hookblade, which replaces his second hidden blade. It functions just like the original hidden blade, but it can also hook onto walls. Supposedly, this gives Ezio some extra reach so he can grab ledges that he couldn’t before, but I didn’t notice much of a change from previous games. It can also be used to latch onto ropes so that they can be used as zip lines. While this would be an excellent idea to speed up getting around the city, in practice, these zip lines aren’t very common and are not placed in areas where they would be most useful. The hookblade was a great concept, but it was too underutilized to be an effective addition to the game.

Another notorious addition is bomb crafting, which replaces the smoke bombs of previous games. Early in the game, Ezio becomes able to assemble various types of bombs using four varieties of shells, three kinds of gunpowder, and ten types of effect ingredients. These bombs can be used to injure guards, distract them from their posts, or give Ezio a tactical advantage in battle. The best ingredients tend to be rare, but Ezio shouldn’t have trouble finding the core ingredients he needs for basic bombs. The large number of options means that you can probably find one to help in any situation. Many people have complained about the bomb crafting system, but I was rather fond of it. Bombs are rarely necessary, and you’ll probably only use three or four of the many options available, but they still add more to the game than they detract.

Unfortunately, that cannot be said of the assassin recruitment system. This was one of the best additions in Brotherhood, and it returned for Revelations. The basic system for recruiting assassins isn’t changed. Most of them are obtained by rescuing them from Templar soldiers, although a few are recruited through unique side missions. They gain experience by being called by Ezio to fight enemies or by being sent on missions to other cities through the Mediterranean Defense mini-game.

This latter option is the main weakness of the system and possibly the entire game. Unlike Brotherhood, your assassins can retake Mediterranean cities from the Templars and increase their own control in these cities. This grants additional experience, money, and bomb ingredients. On the surface, this sounds like a good idea since it provides a tangible purpose behind these missions, and it could have been good in the right situation. The problem is that the Templars will regain some control over each city on every game day (about 20 minutes of play time), and if you don’t keep your assassins on missions, the Templars will retake them. The amount of control that Templars regain is immense, and since missions take a long time, you rarely have time to make up for it before the next day. The only way to keep control over your cities is to regularly seek out a pigeon coop whenever your recruits finish a mission so that you can immediately send them on another one. This is a constant distraction from the core gameplay, and it means that you will rarely have your recruits by your side to help you on your own missions, which is the one thing that made them fun to have around.

Another new feature related to assassin recruits is Assassin Dens. Much like Brotherhood, you can regain control over districts of Constantinople by assassinating the Templar leader residing in certain towers. This turns that tower into an Assassin Den, and it lets you renovate shops and landmarks in that area. Once a recruit reaches level 10, he or she can be assigned to a free Assassin Den. Completing certain missions with that recruit will allow him or her to become a level 15 Master Assassin. The renovation system and side missions are fine, and they actually made up some of my favorite missions in the game. My problem with it is the Den Defense mini-game, which is probably the most highly-criticized portion of Revelations. If Ezio’s notoriety gets too high (easier now since renovations now increase notoriety and wanted posters no longer exist), the Templar may attack an Assassin Den. Ezio has to go to the Den to start a Den Defense.

The concept of Den Defense is similar to tower defense Flash games that you find online. Ezio is positioned on a rooftop, and he must assign assassins to other rooftops or barricades to snipe at hoards of Templar soldiers as they rush through the streets. I like tower defenses, so I thought that I would like this as well. However, the execution was very poor. In most tower defenses, you get a top-down view of the entire field. However, in the Den Defense, you only see from Ezio’s perspective, which provides a limited view of the battlefield. You have to turn to see things on the ground or to your side. It is very difficult to see distant rooftops, so it’s hard to assess the status of your forces. Assassins are slow to respond to your commands, and the placement of assassins is not intuitive. You get very little time between waves to prepare, and enemies can wipe out your forces quickly. The difficulty of these missions rises quickly, and you get few attempts to practice them. Fortunately, only one of these missions is required in the story, and Assassin Dens become immune to them once the resident den leader reaches level 15. As a result, they can be easily avoided unless you are striving for 100% completion, but I still think that the game would have been better off without them.

Much like Brotherhood, most missions in Revelations have a secondary objective that must be completed to reach 100% synchronization. This is only for completionists since there is no reward for getting higher synchronization. While this objective is sometimes logical for the mission, it’s often nothing more than an arbitrary rule. If you fail a secondary objective, you have to restart the mission from the beginning if you want to get 100% completion, making it worse to fail the secondary objective than to fail the main objective of the mission. A simple “Restart from Checkpoint” option would have gone a long way towards making secondary objectives more fun to handle. On the plus side, missions are broken into smaller chunks than before, making repetition slightly less of a nuisance.

Constantinople was an interesting choice for the setting. I think it was a great idea to choose a setting so different from the Italian cities of the last two games. The Muslim garb and Ottoman architecture is a welcome change, and it’s a setting you don’t see that often in video games. However, the city design was inferior to any previous game, even the original Assassin’s Creed. Even though Constantinople is larger than any other city in the series, it’s also less remarkable. Other than a few landmarks, every part of the city looks alike. It’s often impossible to tell what district you’re in because they all look the same. This is a disappointment after Assassin’s Creed I and II, where you had several cities to explore, each with a unique design. Even though Brotherhood only let you see Rome, each district of the city had a distinct feel to it that made it seem larger than it really was.

Much like the Glyphs in Assassin’s Creed II and the Rifts in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Revelations has a special side mission that has to do with modern times rather than Ezio. In this case, it is Desmond’s Journey, which is unlocked by finding Animus Fragments in Ezio’s memory and accessing them through the Black Room. Instead of being puzzles like the last two games, these are first-person platform mazes that Desmond must get through by placing blocks to get around obstacles. Now, anyone who has played first-person perspective games before knows that platform puzzles do not work for them simply because you can’t see your feet or determine where you are in relation to an edge. These missions are no exception and represent a grievous error on the part of the developers. They should have known better. In spite of this, these segments provide insight into Desmond’s past and work better than simply reading about it.

Even though you’ll spend most of your time as Ezio, the story isn’t so much about him. Whereas Brotherhood is a direct continuation of the plot that began in Assassin’s Creed II, Ezio’s story in Revelations is altogether different. It has something to do with a scheme by the Templar-controlled Byzantines to take control of the Ottoman Empire by placing one of their sympathizers in the sultanate. It’s passable, but it’s not that important in the grand scheme of things. The important part of the story is Ezio’s collection of the five Masyaf keys, which are found in secret locations resembling the hidden areas of Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood. Once a key is found, it is followed by a memory of Altaïr. These are the best parts of the story. We’ve experienced the important parts of Ezio’s life, but we haven’t heard much about Altaïr since the first Assassin’s Creed, even though that ending implied that there was much more to tell. In this sense, the story of Revelations is more about Altaïr than it is about Ezio, even though it concludes the lives of both protagonists.

After the outstanding advances in gameplay made by Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is a step backwards for the series. The few additions to the gameplay add too little to the game to make up for the many aggravations that were added to it. This game exists mostly to finish Altaïr’s story and doesn’t do much to advance Ezio’s story or improve gameplay. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad game though. It’s still fun to play, and it’s far better than the original Assassin’s Creed. All the things we like about the series, such as the hiding, blending, parkour, fighting, and assassinating, are still there. They just weren’t used to their fullest extent. This makes Revelations worthwhile if you want to see how the story continues, but it’s better to stick with the earlier games if you just want to do some assassinating.

Since I was on staff for MTAC this year, I decided to try out some more anime series. Anime is something of which I have a lot of knowledge but relatively little experience since most of it isn’t good enough for me to spend time on it. However, I have had very favorable experiences with series such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Death Note. I had been hearing quite a bit about CLAMP but had never actually seen or read any of their work, so I decided to remedy that. My first attempt was xxxHolic, which I found to be mildly entertaining but ultimately mediocre. While at MTAC, I heard about Chobits, which is one of CLAMP’s more popular works of recent years. I decided to make it my next venture, if nothing else just to find out about those strange ears I see girls wearing at conventions.

Hideki Motosuwa is a farm boy in Japan who failed to get into a university. To make up for it, he moves to Tokyo to attend a prep school. Here, he sees persocoms for the first time. A persocom is a computer designed to look like a human (usually a young, attractive girl) and can be programmed to perform many human behaviors. The only physical trait that distinguishes a persocom from a human is its ears, which house cables and ports that allow the persocom to connect to other persocoms or devices. Hideki can barely afford his rent, so a persocom seems out of reach. While coming home one day, he finds a very cute persocom in the trash. He takes her home and turns her on, only to find that she cannot say anything but the word “Chi.” Hideki names her Chi and takes her on as his own persocom. Chi is a blank slate with no memory or knowledge of the world, and Hideki cannot afford software for her. Fortunately, Chi has an uncanny ability to learn things on her own.

Much of the early part of the series deals with Chi’s growth as Hideki teaches her how to talk and interact with the world. He hears rumors of “Chobits,” which are mythical persocoms so powerful that they possess true artificial intelligence that makes them capable of experiencing human emotions. During this time, Hideki is also trying to get through prep school, maintain a job, and handle his crushes on several women in his life. As the series continues, it changes focus to the relationship between humans and persocoms. People are becoming more and more isolated as they use persocoms to replace their relationships with others in their lives. This impacts Hideki more powerfully as Chi begins to fall in love with him, something that persocoms are not supposed to be able to do. In the meantime, other people have plans for Chi with less benevolent motivations.

In spite of the sci-fi elements to the story, Chobits is a romance story at its core. There are hints of love between Hideki and Chi from the very beginning. Unfortunately, I believe that this is the show’s biggest weakness. Anime romances seem to follow the same basic structure with similar personality types. The male protagonist is romantically inexperienced, socially awkward, and has a tendency to say what he’s thinking out loud, creating embarrassing situations that defy reality. He also has an obsession with pornography while getting uncomfortable with sex or nudity from a real person, which keeps him from acknowledging the girls who flirt with him. Hideki fits that stereotype perfectly, and he is so similar to Kimihiro Watanuki from xxxHolic that the latter almost seems like a recycled character. While social awkwardness is a real trait that many people can identify with, it was taken to such an extreme that it challenged the believability of the romance.

I honestly found the relationship between Hideki and Chi to be a little disturbing. Chi is very childlike, and Hideki’s role is closer to that of a father or teacher than a romantic partner. Chi presents a submissive demeanor throughout the show, having no dreams or goals of her own other than to make Hideki happy. Even the poses she takes, such as crawling on all fours when around Hideki instead of standing, portray submissiveness. Fortunately, Hideki does not take advantage of his position with Chi, so his love for her is conveyed as legitimate. However, it bothered me that the show saw the idealistic woman (as Chi was implied to be) as one whose only reason for existence to be in servitude to a man.

Chobits was strongest when it dealt with the philosophical issues about a society with persocoms. Persocoms do not have free will and can only do what they are programmed to do. However, there are people who fall in love with their persocoms, and some even abandon their relationships with other humans so that they can spend more time with their persocoms (a parallel to real-life people who become obsessed with the internet at the expense of human interaction). However, if the persocom can merely be programmed to do what their owners want, is their love real? Is this healthy for the people who love persocoms? Do humans really have free will in the first place, and if not, how is this any different from their persocoms’ lack of free will? The show addresses this in a variety of ways, but it never gives a clear answer, as it shouldn’t. It works better when viewers are allowed to ponder these issues on their own.

The end of the series picks up as it reveals more of Chi’s past and shows just how special she really is. This introduces some new characters who are put in place to prevent Chi from completing a purpose that she has no knowledge or control over. I found these new characters to be some of the most interesting in the series, but sadly, they were highly underutilized. I wanted to know more about these characters and their motivations, but we saw too little too late. This led to an anti-climactic ending that involved some sudden and unexplained changes in behavior from certain characters. The resolution occurred in the minds of the characters with little of that presented to the audience.

Chobits actually isn’t that bad, and if you can get past a slow beginning, there is some payoff in the third act. It’s hardly an essential anime though. You can probably get more from the show by reading summaries about it than from actually watching it. The best parts of it are the philosophical issues it brings up, but it’s hardly the only medium to do so (for a western example, check out A.I.: Artificial Intelligence). If you really like anime, particularly those with a romantic bent, Chobits is a good one to check out. Otherwise, there isn’t much to recommend about this anime.

I had been wanting to try out Vagrant Story for quite some time. It holds a special place in the RPG community due to its excellent story, unique weapon system, and genre-defying gameplay. I had held off on the game for far too long, and I recently decided that it was time for me to see what this game was all about. What I found was a highly flawed game with a terrible interface, but one that managed to move beyond its defects and become an excellent piece of work in spite of them.

The protagonist of the game is Ashley Riot. He is a Riskbreaker, a group of elite knights in the kingdom of Valendia. A cult called Müllenkamp, led by Sydney Losstarot, infiltrates the manor of Duke Bardorba and kidnaps his son Joshua. Ashley is sent to stop Sydney, but he is hindered by Romeo Guildenstern of the Knights of the Cross or “Crimson Blades,” a militant division of a church that controls much of the kingdom. The Crimson Blades have come to capture Sydney in spite of having no authorization to do so. Although Ashley seemingly kills Sydney, the cult leader manages to escape with Joshua and heads to the ruined city of Leá Monde, where the game takes place.

Ashley is aided by Callo Merlose, a fellow member of the Valendia Knights of Peace, but she is quickly captured by Sydney. Guildenstern has also laid siege to Leá Monde, and the Crimson Blades have captured much of the city. Ashley must manage both the defenses of Crimson Knights, the traps set by Sydney, and the inherent evil that occupies all of the mysterious city. Here, he learns to question his own past as the city’s dark powers begin to affect everyone who has come to it.

While it is generally considered an RPG, it’s rather hard to accurately classify Vagrant Story. In many ways, it feels like a dungeon crawler along the same lines as Diablo. However, it’s not an action RPG, because even though Ashley and the enemies move in real time, time pauses as soon as an action is taken. Unlike most RPGs of the time, there are no shops or towns, nor are there any NPCs outside of cut scenes. Other than the introduction (which can be skipped), the entire game takes place in Leá Monde, so you do not travel to other cities or dungeons. Furthermore, the game is known for the frequency of block puzzles that are dotted throughout the ruins.

The battle system is quite innovative for the time, and it continues to stand out today. When you try to attack an enemy, a menu comes up showing which body parts (arms, legs, head, body, and so on) are within range. You can choose which part you want to attack, and various enemies have weaknesses in different parts of their anatomy. In some cases, you have to trade damage for hit rate since the weakest body part isn’t always the easiest to hit. Armor also makes a difference. If an opponent is wearing strong body armor but no helmet, you may do more damage to its head. The type of weapon used also matters since some weapons have longer ranges than others.

One thing that was sorely lacking with this system is that enemies are not hindered by attacking different body parts, except for their legs, which slows movement speed. This does not apply to Ashley himself, who suffers penalties when certain limbs receive critical damage. For example, a wounded right arm lowers his attack damage, while an injured body decreases his attack range. It would have been nice to see this applied to enemies as well.

Early in the game, Ashley will gain the ability to chain attacks. This works much like a rhythm game. You can have up to three Chain Abilities assigned to the controller. If you press one of these buttons at just the right time in the attack, Ashley will continue to attack uninterrupted and will continue to do so until you miss the timing on a chain. Beneficial effects are also assigned to each chain, such as refilling HP or doing extra damage to enemies. Ashley can learn more types of Battle Abilities as he goes through the game, including Defense Abilities, which can protect him if you press the button at the right time while being attacked.

Chaining is a necessary skill to develop in the game because even though it is essential for success, it’s very difficult to do. Enemies can be very, very strong, and you are often limited to less than 10 damage with each attack. This makes it necessary to chain attacks if you want to have a reasonable chance to kill stronger enemies before they kill you. However, the timing has to be precise, and there is very little margin of error. The game alerts you with an exclamation point to signal when you are supposed to press the button, but if you see that signal, it’s already too late. This requires some trial and error on the part of chaining, and you often have to rely on deceptive visual cues instead. This is especially annoying for Defense Abilities since you generally have no way to know when to time the button press until after you’ve seen the attack. In practice, I rarely had successful chains higher than three, and getting more than eight chains was particularly difficult.

Another unique feature that applies to this system is Risk. Every attack adds a point of Risk to Ashley with stronger weapons using more Risk. Chain Abilities and Defense Abilities also add to Risk, and if you chain more than eight attacks, the Risk multiplies. Higher Risk means that Ashley will have both a lower hit rate and lower damage. This means that you have to manage you attack chains to keep your Risk from getting too high. This made long boss battles particularly difficult since your Risk could easily skyrocket as the battle went on. Fortunately, Risk decreases pretty quickly on its own when you’re not in battle mode.

The Vagrant Story stat system is rather unusual, and it’s rather frustrating. There are no levels in the game. There are only two ways for Ashley to increase his stats. First, a stat wheel will appear after defeating certain boss battles, and Ashley will receive a bonus of 1 to 4 points in a stat depending on where the wheel lands. Second, certain elixirs or wines can be found that will increase a stat by 1 to 4 points. The stat wheel moves so quickly that it is nearly impossible to time it properly to land on a certain stat, so it’s not possible to game that system. Most of the time, you will get a HP bonus, and most of the stat-boosting items are also for HP, so your other stats will likely go neglected. This means that Ashley won’t be much stronger at the end of the game as he is at the beginning. This really causes some problems as enemies continue to strengthen as you progress through the game, and there is no way to grind for stat increases. I thought it was a little restrictive for the developers to limit your character development that way, and the only way to substantially improve your character is through equipment.

Now let’s talk about equipment…

Vagrant Story has one of the most complicated and sophisticated equipment systems of any game that I’ve played. As I mentioned before, there are no towns or shops to buy equipment, so any equipment you obtain must be from enemy drops or treasure chests. Even this is somewhat limited, and if you want to get the best equipment, you’re going to have to make it yourself. Throughout the game, Ashley will come across workshops that can be used to combine pieces of equipment, creating new ones in the process. A lot of factors go into the result, including the types of both items being combined and the material that each one is made of. For example, a short sword made out of bronze will be weaker than one made out of silver. All in all, there are hundreds of possible combinations, and unless you consult a guide, you’re going to have to use trial and error to find out the best ones.

In and of itself, this wouldn’t be much of a problem, and it could even be fun except for the limited inventory system. Ashley can hold only 8 weapons, 8 shields, and 16 pieces of armor, including the ones he has equipped. Any additional equipment must be stored in a magical container. Fortunately, there is one located in every workshop, but accessing it is difficult. You will have to take equipment in and out of the container many times if you want to try out different combinations, and due to technical limitations, you have to save the game every time you access a container. This makes the workshop process very slow and arduous. I found myself spending an hour or more in the workshop every time I did any item crafting, and it significantly slowed the pace of the game.

Another problem with the equipment is having to deal with enemy weaknesses. In addition to its base statistics, every weapon, armor, and shield has three additional characteristics: Type (edged, piercing, or blunt), Class (refers to six categories of enemies), and Affinity (refers to seven elements). The Type of a piece of equipment is set and cannot be changed except through combining with other equipment. However, Class and Affinity can be modified by attacking enemies of that Class or have a weakness to that Affinity. This is pretty cool except for one thing—increasing an item’s stat in one Class or Affinity can potentially decrease it in another. Furthermore, stats can become negative. Making a weapon strong against enemies in the Beast Class will probably make it weak against the Undead. Because of this, equipment needs to be somewhat specialized, and it is possible to give your equipment too many negatives if you don’t handle it properly.

Enemies come in many different combinations, and it’s often not possible to take advantage of their weaknesses. For example, suppose you have an Edged weapon that you have developed to be strong against Beast enemies. You then encounter a Beast enemy that is strong against Edged weapons. Since your Beast weapon is Edged, it won’t be very effective against it. There are 126 possible combinations of Types, Classes, and Affinities, and you can’t create a weapon to handle every one of them. In fact, since you can only carry eight weapons at a time, there’s a good chance that you won’t have an appropriate weapon with you at all. It’s far too easy to get stuck with weapons that do 0 damage against an enemy with a unique set of weaknesses. I believe that giving enemies weaknesses that are so specific is a major hindrance in the game, and it led to a few instances where I came close to giving up completely because I didn’t have the right equipment on me for a boss battle.

After all these negative comments, you’re probably thinking that I’m giving the game a scathing review. Quite the opposite—I loved the game, and I actually have a favorable opinion of it. The equipment problems are due in large part to the technical limitations of the PlayStation. This game pushed the system to its limits. Had it been released on the PS2, many of these problems wouldn’t exist. There are some issues with the user interface, and in particular, there was a need to be able to quickly swap weapons without going through multiple menus. However, the core gameplay is amazing once you get used to the interface problems. Even the equipment crafting system is ingenious, and I found it to be an innovative, if toilsome, feature of the game.

I have not discussed the story yet at all, and any player will say that this is one of best features of Vagrant Story. I agree, and it’s one of the things that will drive you to continue in the game. The plot and characters are amazing, but where the story really shines is in its dialogue, which features the best writing I’ve seen in a video game. The localization team used a pseudo-Shakespearean style of writing that fits well with the setting and theme of the game, and it gives a poetic feel to many conversations. It’s suitable for a classic story full of ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice, and the plot progression feels appropriate for a classic Greek tragedy.

The game’s block puzzles can slow down your progress, but I found them to be a nice diversion from the constant battles. Some of the puzzles are quite challenging, but none of them is so hard that you won’t get through them if you work at them long enough. It’s especially fun to figure out how to work with the blocks in a 3D environment. I wouldn’t consider them a highlight of the game, but I did think that they were worthwhile to include.

I will warn you that this game is hard. Very hard. There are some places where doing 10 points of damage to an enemy could be considered extraordinary given the complicated system of strengths and weaknesses, and you will miss with attacks more often than I consider acceptable. It admittedly isn’t balanced well either, and I came close to getting stuck in an unwinnable situation. If you want to play this game, expect a challenge. However, something about this game gave me a sense of satisfaction every time I figured out the best way to approach a difficult section. I don’t generally like hard games, but the challenge of Vagrant Story didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it.

I found Vagrant Story to be an excellent game with some serious technical limitations. In spite of this, the innovation and originality of the game grants it a well-deserved title as an RPG classic. It’s definitely not a lighthearted RPG for a casual player. This game will take some dedication to get through and will likely result in a lot of frustration. However, the story and gameplay are so rewarding that you won’t mind the experience. If you are out for a challenge and want to try out a different RPG experience, Vagrant Story is a game for you to try.

The upcoming movie adaptation of The Hunger Games will soon show us what happens when teenagers are pit against one another in deadly combat. However, this isn’t the first story to have this theme. One of the best narratives to make use of this plot is the Japanese novel Battle Royale, which had its own well-made film adaptation in 2000. The somewhat disturbing nature of the film made it hard to find until just a few years ago, but it has since become a classic among pulp film enthusiasts.

The movie takes place in an alternate version of Japan. Youth violence against adults has gotten out of hand in the country, leading to the passing of the BR Act. This law requires a randomly selected high school class to be taken to a remote island where the class members will be forced to kill each other off until only one remains. Kitano is the teacher of class 3-B, which is particularly unruly and violent. He resigns after one of his students injures him with a knife. This motivates him to become the head of the Battle Royale program, and class 3-B is selected to participate.

During the orientation process (which results in the death of two students at the hands of Kitano), the class is given the rules of the competition. All of the students must wear a collar that monitors their location and pulse. This collar also has a small explosive that will go off if the student tries to escape the island, remains in forbidden zone, or otherwise breaks the rules. Each student is given a duffle bag that includes food and water for three days as well as some navigational items such as a map and compass. Each bag also contains a randomly assigned weapon. Some of the “weapons” are useless items like fans or megaphones. If there is not a winner after three days, all of the collars will detonate, killing everyone.

The rest of the film follows the 42 students of class 3-B as they handle the program in different ways. Some of them find a hideout and wait out the time until their deaths. Some search for their crushes so that they take advantage of their last chance to declare their love. Some can’t handle it and commit suicide. Some look for a way to break the system. Of course, some go on killing sprees. With only one winner, it’s not a good idea to get too attached to any individual character.

In spite of the high mortality rate, one of the things I liked about the movie was how distinct of a character each student was. With 42 individuals to follow, most of them don’t get much screen time. However, the movie does a lot with the little time dedicated to the characters who die off quickly. Whether it is through their dying words or the methods they use to attack, you learn a little about what kind of person the student is even if they are not one of the central characters to the plot.

A lot of hype was made of the supposedly extreme violence of this film. In reality, it’s surprisingly less violent than you would expect. Some of the more violent deaths occur off screen or in the distance, and gore is kept to a minimum. It is no more violent than the typical action film of its day, and it’s considerably less gory than many comparable present-day films. If there is anything disturbing about the violence, it’s not so much the violence itself as much as it is the fact that it is being committed by young teenagers. It’s one thing to see someone get beheaded; it’s another thing entirely to see a child do the beheading.

While dubbing in foreign films is often criticized, this film shows that subtitling can be done poorly as well. While most of the subtitles were fine, there were many examples of misspellings, absent words, bad grammar, and other common Engrish mistakes. While this might be expected in an average fan dubbing, I expected better quality in a professional film like this.

The thing I liked most about the movie is the way it brought out the characters’ inner qualities when they were faced with danger. What would we do if we were in a situation where we must fight for our lives? How would our morals our ethics hold up in such a situation? Would we really fight even if that meant killing our friends? If not, would we hold out to the end or just give up a hopeless battle? Could we even trust our friends, who may very well turn on us to save their own lives? While the 42 students in class 3-B reacted in many different ways, most of their reactions were understandable. While we all think that we would take the higher road, we don’t realize how difficult that is until we come face to face with the implications.

Battle Royale isn’t a pleasant movie by any means, but in its own way, it is rather uplifting. Every student has a story, and even if they don’t make the “right” decisions, you still understand why they did what they did. In spite of all the evil that confronts the students, there are always those who want to stand up for what is right. They make an effort to make the world a little better for others, even if it means sacrificing themselves. It’s an odd lesson learned from what is essentially a grindhouse film, but there’s a sentiment behind this film that goes beyond the meaningless violence. To me, that’s what makes it distinct from the stereotypical gore fest. It’s less about the violence and more about the reasons why the violence is being committed. That makes Battle Royale more poignant than a typical action flick.

I realized that most of my goals for this year are simply a big "ditto" from 2011, so I decided to be more concise. Here they are.

• Buy a house
• Run at least once a week
• Cut back on sweets
• Get at least seven hours of sleep a night
• Go to Enter the Blues
• Focus on expanding my blues dancing abilities
• Attend at least one other out-of-town dance event
• Go dancing at least once a week
• Attend at least one other social event per week
• Attend at least four shows at TPAC
• Go to all of the drama productions at Trevecca
• Attend MTAC, GMX, and at least one other convention (probably Dragon Con)
• Complete at least six video games
• Update my blog at least once per month
• Stretch myself by doing at least one thing I really want to do but am uncomfortable doing
• Try to be a generally more friendly and more positive person

Throughout most of my life, I’ve struggled with uncertainties and insecurities at times. I’m sure that most of us have to some extent. It happens when it comes to dating, job interviews, presentations, performances, and other things that cause anxiety or stress. Inevitably, there will be someone who comes along and tries to help by saying, “Just be confident.” While I’m sure that the sentiment was provided with the best intentions, it’s a piece of advice that serves virtually no purpose.

Telling person who is unsure of themselves to be confident is like telling a student who is making poor grades to just be smarter. It states what the problem is without providing any information towards arriving at a solution. Most insecure people are well aware that they lack confidence and don’t need to be told that. In fact, reminding them of their problem may only contribute to it.

A person who is struggling in school can’t just make themselves suddenly understand the material. They may need help in other ways, such as tutoring, studying tips, or suggestions for time management. Likewise, someone who is lacking confidence needs guidance on what they can do to feel less nervous about what they are doing. For example, if a guy has trouble asking a girl out, don’t tell him to just be confident; let him know what he can do or say to make it go more smoothly.

I do believe that confidence is something that can be improved in most people. However, it is not simply a magic switch that we can turn on and off in our heads. A person who isn’t self-confident usually does not have the knowledge it takes to be more confident. This can be difficult to understand for someone who is naturally confident. Confidence is something that has to grow over time, and that growth can be set back if the person keeps getting hit with things that reduce their confidence.

So instead of reminding a timid person of their insecurities by telling them to be confident, think about what you do that makes you confident in the situation. Give the person practical, viable actions they can take that will improve their confidence over time. This is going to be a lot more beneficial than the trite response of “Just be confident.”

A lot of major game developers have been focusing on their well-established, popular franchises. Square Enix has enough time invested in its myriad of sequels and spin-offs of properties like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts, not to mention its Western acquirements like Deus Ex and Tomb Raider. It’s comforting to see companies like this take a chance on something new and innovative. That’s certainly what they did with the uniquely-named The World Ends with You, and it was a risk that has certainly paid off.

The World Ends with You takes place in the Shibuya district of modern-day Tokyo. That’s right, instead of a fantasy or science fiction setting, you get an ordinary shopping mall. That’s an odd locale for an RPG, but it surprisingly fits well with the theme of the game. Having never been to Japan, I do not know first-hand what this district looks like, but I have heard that the game is a reasonable reproduction of the area and faithfully replicates major landmarks of the shopping district.

The main character is Neku, a teenage loner who vocally expresses his dislike of other people and his desire for independence. He wakes up in the middle of Shibuya one day with no memory other than his name and sees a digital billboard telling him that he has seven days. No one around him seems to be able to see or hear him, but he has a pin that allows him to read their minds. He soon learns that he has been involuntarily thrust into a competition called the Reapers’ Game. Each day, he or the other players in the game must complete a mission that will be sent to them on their cell phone. Failure to complete the mission will result in their erasure from existence. Their antagonists in this game are Reapers, who are attempting to erase players for points themselves. While reapers are usually not allowed to attack players directly, they can summon beings called Noise to attack players.

Players are provided psychic powers to defend themselves, which they execute through pins. Unfortunately, players are incapable of using pins on their own. They must make a pact with another player, and the two partners must compete in the game together. Neku quickly meets a girl named Shiki who talks him into making a pact. While Neku is untrusting of his partner at first, he must learn to trust her if the two of them are to win the game. Throughout the course of the week, they also meet and form alliances with other players, including two named Beat and Rhyme.

Combat in The World Ends with You is some of the most unusual that I have ever seen in an RPG, and it makes great use of the Nintendo DS stylus. Combat occurs on two screens. Neku fights on the bottom screen with the stylus, while his partner fights on the top screen and is controlled by the directional pad. Neku can take up to six pins into battle. Pins activate psychs that are performed by certain stylus controls. For example, one psych might require simply touching the screen while another may involve making a swipe on an enemy. Some psychs actually require you to blow or yell into the microphone. Pins have a limited number of uses, but they recharge over time.

Top screen combat is much simpler and just involves tapping directions on the directional pad to determine which direction your partner aims the attack. Most of the attacks are the same, but there is a combo map allows you to select cards with an attack. Selecting the right combination of cards will allow both players to perform a Fusion, an extremely powerful attack that involves both characters. Neku and his partner also have a puck that gets passed back and forth whenever one of them performs a combo. This increases the attack multiplier for whoever currently possesses the puck.

Fighting on both screens can be very confusing, and the puck exists so that the player can focus on only one screen at a time. If you don’t want to bother with this, you can set the top screen to auto-play. This is what I chose to do most of the time because I found Neku’s combat to be more fun and didn’t want to bother with the top screen. However, the auto-play AI is very poor, and most of the damage I would take from combat came from my partner. This made the top screen a liability in difficult encounters. However, I still thought that it was an interesting addition to combat, and players that are more competent may be able to use both screens to their advantage.

The combat is very fast-paced, especially if you are watching both screens. It was fun figuring out the best way to touch, swipe, draw on, or yell at the screen to defeat the Noise. This made it one of the most action-oriented RPGs that I’ve ever played. My only gripe is that using some pins, especially those with similar commands, can get confusing. The game is supposed to give priority to pins on the left side of the list, but it would inexplicably use other pins when I tried to use a pin’s command. There’s also a “scratch” command that I never could get to work properly. Overall, the variety of commands that you use to activate psychs makes the game a lot of fun, and battles never get boring.

The difficulty of the game is up to you. The game offers four different difficulty levels that can be changed at any time outside of battle, and you can also temporarily lower your level. This only affects pin drops. Enemies drop a different pin at each difficulty level with better pins usually at higher levels, and lowering your level improves the probability of a pin drop. Furthermore, almost all battles are voluntary, and you are only forced into boss battles and a few other encounters. If you simply want to experience the story, you can cruise through the game on Easy difficulty. Players who want a challenge can ramp up the difficulty to Ultimate and drop their level to 1.

There is a wide variety of pins available for Neku to use. Pins also have the ability to improve through battle by gaining Pin Points (PP). Gaining enough PP will cause a pin to raise a level, and when a pin reaches its maximum level, it will be mastered. Some pins will also evolve into different (usually stronger) pins once they get enough PP. While there are over 300 pins to attain, many of them have the same psych with differences only in their stats, number of uses, or recharge time. I stuck to the same pins throughout most of the game, rotating in others only as necessary. Mastering all the pins has a “Gotta catch ‘em all!” feel to it since most of the pins will go unused. This can be tedious, but I personally enjoyed completing my pin collection.

The pin evolution system has a twist to it because there are different types of PP. Battle PP (BPP) is the most straightforward and comes from fighting battles. Shutdown PP (SPP) comes from not playing the game. When you continue your game, you get SPP for the amount of time you spend not playing, up to seven days. Mingle PP (MPP) comes from connecting wirelessly with other devices. This is the most difficult to obtain if you don’t have a partner to play with. The game provides a way to obtain MPP when you’re alone, but it’s random and unpredictable. Pins will only evolve if they collect the right type of PP. If you’re not using a guide, this requires a lot of trial and error, especially in the case of SPP, which would take months to obtain if you do not cheat the system. I have mixed feelings about this odd use of PP, which rewards you for not playing the game. It is annoying to have to figure out which type of PP to use, but they make things spicier than grinding PP through battles, and SPP and MPP both fit with the underlying themes of the story.

About halfway through the story, you will come across a minigame called Tin Pin Slammer. In spite of my general dislike for minigames, this one was actually fun. It requires you to use your pins to knock you opponents’ pins off of a board. Each pin has its own set of Tin Pin Slammer stats, including “whammies” than can temporarily stun your opposing pins. The game is tough at first because the computer AI can react much faster than you can. Once you learn the strategy behind the game, it’s easy to get into. Fortunately, this game is mostly optional. You’re only required to play the minigame twice in the main story, and winning is not required. You can get some unique pins later on by playing the game, and the optional bonus level that you access after completing the story revolves almost entirely around Tin Pin Slammer. In addition, you can wirelessly connect to other players to compete in the minigame, and doing so nets you MPP.

The game does a great job of integrating the setting into its story and gameplay. The soundtrack is one of the best I’ve ever heard for a handheld game, consisting of songs from existing pop musicians in Japan. Many of the songs would stick in my head long after I had quit playing. Fashion is also incorporated into the game. Neku can shop at various stores in Shibuya to purchase pins or “threads” (clothing). Threads will change the stats of characters who wear them, and most of them offer passive abilities. Furthermore, each area of Shibuya has trends that cause certain brands of pins to receive bonuses while one brand is penalized. However, the player can alter these trends by fighting battles in the area while having threads and pins of a brand equipped.

The game’s story is as engaging as its setting. Neku learns more about himself and the game he’s in as he progresses through the week. There are some surprising twists that you discover, and you eventually learn that every character—even the villains—are much more complicated than they first seem. Nearly every character has issues that need to be addressed, and they develop in ways that seem appropriate for teenagers caught up in drastic situation. There is also much more to the Reapers’ Game than first appears, and the lore behind it is fascinating. Once the game is over, you can play an unrelated bonus mission that is much more comical than the rest of the game. You’ll also have the option to go back to any previous level of the game with your current stats, items, and abilities.

The World Ends with You breaks new ground by introducing a setting and gameplay that you rarely see in video games. The story incorporates a modern pop-culture setting seamlessly into an RPG setting. It has a story that seriously handles emotional baggage that teenagers deal with while including a fair share of humor and lightheartedness. There are plenty of things to pull the player into the game world, but anyone who just wants to see the story can do so as well. RPG fans will not want to miss this brilliant execution of a pioneering gaming concept.

After developing sequels for Final Fantasy VII, X, and XII, it came as a bit of a surprise when Square Enix reached further back into its history with a sequel to one of its classic Final Fantasy games. Widely recognized as the game that raised the standard for RPGs, Final Fantasy IV is highly regarded among long-time fans of the series. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years carries on the story of its characters by introducing its world to another peril.

The After Years was first released in Japan as a mobile phone game. Instead of being released at once, it was instead released as a series of episodes throughout 2008, each of which had to be purchased separately. A North American release was uncertain since mobile phone games are less popular here. However, the North American version was ported to the WiiWare in 2009, which allowed it to be played on the Nintendo Wii. Once again, it was released in episodes that had to be purchased separately. In 2011, the game was remade for the PSP and released as part of the compilation Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection, which also includes Final Fantasy IV and a new segment called Final Fantasy IV: Interlude that links the stories of the two games.

Setting

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is divided into 10 chapters: “Ceodore’s Tale,” “Rydia’s Tale,” “Yang’s Tale,” “Palom’s Tale,” “Edge’s Tale,” “Porom’s Tale,” “Edward’s Tale,” “Kain’s Tale,” “Lunarian’s Tale,” and “The Crystals.” (The WiiWare version of the game divides the tales a little differently.) “Ceodore’s Tale” must be completed first, and “Lunarian’s Tale” does not become available until all of the other tales are completed. “The Crystals” is unlocked after “Lunarian’s Tale” is finished and includes the ending of the game.

Most of the game takes place on the Blue Planet, the same world as Final Fantasy IV, 17 years after the ending of that game. There have been some changes to the world during that time, but it mostly remains the same until “The Crystals,” which causes many more changes to the world. The world is now at peace after the defeat of Zeromus and the departure of the Red Moon, and the kingdoms of the world have been rebuilt. “Lunarian’s Tale” takes place on Red Moon, which has been roaming through space. The end of “The Crystals” takes place on True Moon, a new moon that has appeared over the Blue Planet and now threatens its existence.

All of the final playable characters from the GBA version of Final Fantasy IV are back for The After Years. In addition, there are 12 new playable characters in the game. This makes a total of 22 characters in the final party. Some of these characters will only be brought to “The Crystals” if certain conditions are met in the earlier chapters. There are also another 13 characters who are only temporarily playable and cannot remain permanent party members. The party is predetermined during most of the chapters, but the final part of “The Crystals” allows you to switch out characters into your active party by talking to them at the Lunar Whale.

Story

In “Ceodore’s Tale,” Ceodore, the son of Cecil and Rosa and prince of Baron, is in training to become a member of the Red Wings. After Ceodore accomplishes his goal, the Red Wings head back to Baron. They are attacked by a swarm of strong monsters, causing the airship to go down. Meanwhile, the Castle of Baron is also attacked by monsters coming from the sky. Cecil, Rosa, and Cid try to fight off the monsters, but Cecil eventually orders the others to leave. He makes his last stand against Bahamut, who is accompanied by a Mysterious Girl. Looking up, all of the characters in the game witness the arrival of the True Moon from their respective locations around the world. The dwarves see a flash from the Tower of Babil, while the Mysterious Girl also goes to Feymarch, where she restrains the Eidolons.

At the airship crash site, Ceodore’s order from the dying Biggs and Wedge is to return to Baron. He is saved from a monster attack by a mysterious Hooded Man. The Hooded Man accompanies him to nearby Mysidia. They travel to Baron through the Devil’s Road, but Ceodore finds that his is not welcomed there. After sneaking in, Ceodore and the Hooded Man realize that the soldiers have all been replaced by impostors. They decide to go to Mist Village, escaping from Baron soldiers along the way. Once they pass through Mist Cave, the Hooded Man says that he is looking for Kain with the intent to kill him.

In “Rydia’s Tale,” Rydia goes to the Feymarch to check on the Eidolons, only to find them frozen in place and her unable to summon them any longer. She returns to the Underworld, where she is rescued from a group of monsters by Luca. They learn that the Red Wings took a Dark Crystal from Dwarf Castle, and they must retrieve the remaining one from the Sealed Cave. After getting the Crystal, they are attacked by the Mysterious Girl, who steals the Crystal. Luca and Rydia leave the Underworld, but the Falcon is in need of repairs, so they head to Agart. They get the supplies they need from the Agart Mine. However, Titan appears and attacks Agart. Rydia and Luca manage to fight him off, and they are subsequently visited by a mysterious Man in Black, who urges them to go to the Tower of Babil.

In “Yang’s Tale,” Yang’s daughter Ursula is once again refused the opportunity to be trained by Yang. Instead, she decides to go to Mt. Hobs to train herself but gets attacked. Yang rescues her, but they do not find the other monks who were training there. They investigate a nearby crater caused by a meteor and find a grave where the monks were buried. While returning to Fabul, they see a fleet of Red Wings on their way to the castle. Upon arriving, they defend the castle against invasion, only for their Wind Crystal to be once again taken by Kain. They set out by ship to Baron to confront Cecil. A monster attack damages Yang’s vessel, causing them to lose too much fuel. Stranded on a nearby island, they go in search of fuel. Yang and Ursula are forced to cooperate in a battle against a powerful monster to get the fuel. Yang finally agrees to train Ursula, and they return to the ship. Shortly after setting off, the ship is attacked by Leviathan.

In “Palom’s Tale,” Palom is sent to Troia to train a new epopt named Leonora. They go to the Tower of Trials where Palom teaches her some basic Black Magic. After going back to Troia, the castle is soon attacked by the Red Wings. Palom and Leonora escape with the Earth Crystal through a secret passage. They catch a Black Chocobo and take it to Lodestone Cavern to hide the Crystal there. This revives the Dark Elf, who they defeat, but the Mysterious Girl catches up with them. With the help of Shiva, the Mysterious Girl defeats them and takes the Crystal, leaving them alone in the dungeon.

In “Edge’s Tale,” Edge is training four new ninjas in Eblan: Gekkou, Zangetsu, Izayoi, and Tsukinowa. They each see the True Moon appear, so Edge sends each of them on a reconnaissance mission. Gekkou is sent to the Impact Crater near Mt. Hobs. Zangetsu is sent to the Dwarven Castle disguised as a dwarf. Izayoi is sent to Troia disguised as an epopt trainee. Tsukinowa is sent to Mysidia disguised as a mage in training. Edge decides to go to the Tower of Babil himself to investigate. Shortly after arriving, he is joined by each of the Eblan Four, who inform him of what they found. They find the Mysterious Girl at the top of the tower. She summons Ifrit, and the team of ninjas is forced to flee. They eventually reach the airship dock and make a blind leap off of it, landing on the passing Falcon with Rydia, Luca, and the Man in Black.

“Porom’s Tale” begins with several flashbacks revealing that Palom desires to become a mage and that Rydia was banished from the Feymarch. In the present day, Porom is assisting the Elder in Mysidia when they both see the Lunar Whale emerge from the ocean and fly into space. Porom goes in search of Kain at Mount Ordeals. At the mountain’s peak, Porom enters the tomb of Kluya, whose mirrors are now shatters, and speaks to him briefly. After exiting, they are attacked by monsters and rescued by Kain. He goes with them back to Mysidia, but they find it attacked by the Mysterious Girl. She summons Ramuh, who severely injures the Elder. Kain gives the Water Crystal to the Mysterious Girl and offers to help her if she gives him the opportunity to kill Cecil.

In “Edward’s Tale,” Edward’s concern over the nearby Impact Crater causes him to send his secretary Harley to inspect it. His concern for her causes him to go to the crater himself to find her. Upon returning, they see the Red Wings leaving Damcyan. Edward decides to confront Cecil at Baron, and they head to Kaipo to set out from its port. When they reach Kaipo, Harley comes down with Desert Fever. Edward goes back through the Underground Waterway to obtain a Sand Pearl from the Antlion’s Den. This revives Harley, and they head to Baron by ship. In Baron, they question Cecil about his actions, but he assures them that everything is under control. Edward is still suspicious, so he secretly leaves some Whisperweed in Cecil’s throne room. On the ship back to Kaipo, Edward and Harley listen in on Cecil through the Whisperweed and hear him conversing with the Mysterious Girl.

“Kain’s Tale” begins with a flashback to just before the events of the game. Kain visits the tomb on Mount Ordeals and confronts his dark half, but he seemingly fails. He then sees Porom and participates in the events of her tale. He follows the Mysterious Girl back to Baron, where she tells him that she will let him kill Cecil only if he retrieves the Wind and Fire Crystals for her. Meanwhile, Ceodore and the Hooded Man climb the cliffs near Mist Village and head to Damcyan. They arrive just in time to see Kain leave with the Fire Crystal and Rosa, who had come to Edward for help. Cid soon arrives with the Enterprise, and he returns to Baron with Ceodore, Edward, and the Hooded Man. They confront Kain inside the castle, where it is revealed that this is Kain’s dark half, with the Hooded Man being the real Kain. Kain faces his dark half again and succeeds, becoming a Holy Dragoon. The group steps into the throne rooms to face Cecil and the Mysterious Girl.

In “Lunarian’s Tale,” Golbez awakes from his sleep on Red Moon and finds Fusoya missing. He leaves through the Lunar Subterrane, finding Fusoya along the way. They notice that the Crystals are losing their light and decide to check on Bahamut, but they find him petrified. They investigate a recently-formed Impact Crater and defeat the Mysterious Girl, but another one appears in her place. They return to the Crystal Palace and defeat another Mysterious Girl, but the Crystals begin to shatter. They quickly head down the Lunar Subterrane, but they are too late. All of the Crystals have broken, allowing another Mysterious Girl to summon Zeromus’s Malice. It begins to destroy the Crystal Palace, but Fusoya is able to summon the Lunar Whale and teleports Golbez to it. Golbez uses it to return to the Blue Planet.

“The Crystals” is the final chapter of the game. True Moon begins getting closer to the Blue Planet, and meteors from it start pelting the world. Rydia, Luca, Edge, and the Man in Black try to enter Baron, but the castle is protected by a barrier. A visit to Mist causes Rydia to realize that she must get the power of Eidolons back. The four of them travel around the world, defeating the Eidolons and freeing them from the control of the Mysterious Girl. They also find characters from the other chapters of the game, each of whom stay on the Falcon to recover from their injuries. With most of the Eidolons free, they return to Baron, where the barrier has been weakened. They arrive just in time to see Ceodore, Kain, Rosa, Cid, and Edward fight Cecil and Odin. Odin refuses to fight his own people, and he turns on Cecil instead, freeing him from control of the Mysterious Girl. The rest of the team defeats the girl, only for several other Mysterious Girls to appear around them. The Man in Black reveals himself to be Golbez, and he pilots the Lunar Whale to the True Moon at the girls’ invitation.

The Lunar Whale crash lands on True Moon, and Cecil remains in a catatonic state. The party makes its way into the Subterrane, fighting the revived versions of various people from their past, including the Four Elemental Archfiends. Rydia also frees the Eidolons Asura and Leviathan. Eventually, they find the Dark Knight Cecil. With help from Golbez, Ceodore, and Rosa, Cecil defeats his dark half once and for all and recovers completely. The party continues to make its way into the moon, now encountering powerful creatures from other worlds along the way. They also free the final Eidolon Bahamut by defeating yet another Mysterious Girl. Eventually, they come to a room full of many pods of Mysterious Girls, which are called Maenads. One of them opens, revealing a very young Maenad who obeys the party’s instructions.

At the core of the moon, the party finally encounters the Creator. He claims that he experimented with evolution and created the Crystals to monitor life on other planets. The Maenads were created to do his bidding. He deemed the Blue Planet to be a failure of evolution, and it was his responsibility to consume it with the True Moon. The party defeats the Creator, causing the moon to start to explode. The Creators pursues the party as they escape, and he is eventually killed by a team of his own Maenads. The heroes leave on the Lunar Whale, but they take the young Maenad they found earlier with them. The True Moon leaves the Blue Planet.

The world begins to recover from the effects of the True Moon. Leonora is offered a position as epopt at Troia, but she turns it down. The Elder of Mysidia appoints Porom and Palom as the next elders of Mysidia. Leonora joins them and says she wants to train to be a Sage. At Dwarf Castle, King Giott and Luca join Cid and Mid as they work on an airship and disarm their weapons. Yang begins training Ursula at Fabul. Edward and Harley discuss plans to help Cecil rebuild the world using the Crystals. The Eblan Four swear their loyalty to Edge, and he visits Rydia in Mist. Rydia is raising the Maenad as a Summoner and named her Cuore. At Baron, Kain is now leader of the Red Wings, and he recruits Ceodore to help rebuild the world. They join Cecil on a trip to Damcyan to see Edward. Golbez takes the Lunar Whale to search for the Lunarians.

Gameplay

Most of the core gameplay in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is unchanged from Final Fantasy IV. It uses the same ATB system, and the party still consists of up to five characters. Throughout most of the game, the party is determined by the story, but once you reach True Moon, you can change party members at the Lunar Whale and at certain teleporters in the dungeon. Levels continue to be gained through experience by fighting battles, and stat gains are predetermined for each level. For most characters, magic is learned automatically upon reaching a certain level, although Summons are learned by fighting battles with Eidolons or through storyline events. Every character has a set of abilities that they can use based in part on their job, and only a few new abilities are learned during the game due to special events.

One of the new features is the Moon Phase. Every time the party rests for the night using an Inn, Tent, or Cottage, the moon will cycle to the next of four phases: New Moon, Waxing Moon, Full Moon, and then Waning Moon. This will also happen after 30 minutes of play. At each phase, some commands will be weakened while others will become stronger. For example, the Full Moon will cause Black Magic to be stronger, but Attack commands will be weaker. This affects both characters and enemies, so it can be used strategically to help you characters. There are also some rare enemies that only appear during certain moon phases.

The other addition to the game is Bands, which are an evolution of Twin magic from Final Fantasy IV and bear some resemblance to limit breaks. Bands allow two or more characters to combine their powers to perform an even stronger action. All Bands require MP, so even characters who cannot use magic will need MP for Bands. Some Bands are learned automatically through storyline events, but most of them must be learned through experimentation. You have to choose the characters who participate in the Band and the command they use and hope that it works. Once a Band is found, it will permanently appear on the list of Bands that the character will perform and can be done simply by selecting it from the menu. Considering how many characters and abilities there are in the game, the number of possible Bands is astounding.

Review

When I first heard about a sequel to Final Fantasy IV, I was a little unsure how I felt about it. Final Fantasy IV is still one of my favorite games in the series, and the story wrapped up with such finality that I didn’t see how a sequel could develop it further. The more I heard about it, the more open I became to the idea. I never played the WiiWare version of the game, but I did complete the PSP version in The Complete Collection.

In terms of gameplay, not much changes in The After Years. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and too much change probably would have detracted from the game. This is based on Final Fantasy IV, so it makes sense that it would have similar gameplay. The lack of innovation means that you’re mostly playing the same game as the original, just with a different story. This is fine if you loved the gameplay of IV as I did, but people who weren’t fans of it will just find it bland. The introduction of Bands was a welcome feature though, and the variety that comes from discovering new Bands will entertain those who wanted to experiment with something new.

One thing that the game does do well is force you to come up with new strategies. In most chapters, you will only have access to two characters. In some cases, both characters are mages, and many chapters don’t have healers at all. This is a stark contrast from the previous game, where you always had Cecil as a high damage-dealer and usually had a healer with you. As a result, you have to get creative and regularly change your approach to the game. This is annoying at times, especially in “Palom’s Tale” where Palom is the only damage-dealer, and he is limited by his MP. Most of the time, it works by regularly adding some variety to the game.

The Moon Phase system was an interesting addition. It fits well with the story since so much emphasis is placed on moons in this universe. However, most of the time, you can just ignore the Moon Phase. It rarely has a meaningful affect on the game, and when it does, it can be just as annoying as it is helpful. I don’t think that the Moon Phase detracted from the game, but it really didn’t add much either.

Repetition is probably my biggest complaint about the game. Many of the plot elements of the game are only slight variation of its predecessor. For example, you have fights with your dark side, people falling ill from Desert Fever, Baron using the Red Wings to collect Crystals, and antagonists manipulating your characters into getting the Crystal from the Sealed Cave. Even the battle at Fabul is nearly an exact reenactment of the same battle in Final Fantasy IV. You have to make four trips through the Underground Waterway through the course of the game. The laziness of the developers was also apparent in many of the new dungeons, some of which are merely copies of other dungeons. It didn’t help that the final dungeon was full of bosses from previous Final Fantasy games rather than original designs. I often felt that a little more work could have been put into this game to make it better.

Breaking the game into chapters was a nice diversion from most Final Fantasy games. I enjoyed exploring each character’s story separately, knowing that another team with completely new characters would be waiting for me once I finished a chapter. The only downside to this is that it makes it easy to permanently miss certain items since there is no way to go back once you start the final chapter. In fact, once you reach True Moon, you cannot leave, preventing you from revisiting dungeons, towns, and shops on the main world at all. On the other hand, missing something in a chapter means that you only have to replay that chapter instead of restarting the entire game from the beginning.

I see Final Fantasy IV: The After Years as being more of an extension of Final Fantasy IV than a new game. It’s played in mostly the same way, and the story is an expansion of its predecessor. This makes The Complete Collection the best way to experience the series. As a result, you’re not going to get anything new out of the game, and anyone who is apathetic towards Final Fantasy IV will have no reason to play it. On the other hand, fans of IV will love having more to do, and it’s interesting to see what happens to the world and its characters when the next generation comes around. This makes The After Years a great experience for fans for IV and of classic RPGs in general.

Trivia

• The logo for Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is two moons, one much larger than the other.
• This is the first video game sequel to a Final Fantasy game from the 2D era of the series.
• The WiiWare version of the game is based on the continuity established in the NDS version of Final Fantasy IV. The PSP version in The Complete Collection updates some storyline information to make the game consistent with the version of IV that was released in that compilation.
• With 22 characters in the final party, this game beat Final Fantasy VI to have more playable characters than any other game in the series (excluding the tactical games).
• The Chocobos in the game match their appearance in Final Fantasy IV. Yellow and White Chocobos can be found in Chocobo Forests. Yellow Chocobos can be ridden to avoid enemies and cross rivers. White Chocobos restore MP when found. Black Chocobos can fly, but due to their rarity, they only appear in a storyline event. All of these Chocobos disappear in “The Crystals.” There is also a Chocobo Eidolon that can be summoned by Rydia if the player finds it.
• Much like Final Fantasy IV, Moogles do not appear in this game. However, Namingway and the Hummingways somewhat resemble Moogles.
• The Cid of this game is Cid Pollendina, returning from Final Fantasy IV. He is still an airship engineer and is also Luca’s teacher. He is briefly playable in “Ceodore’s Tale” and “Kain’s Tale,” and he becomes a permanent party member in “The Crystals” after reaching True Moon. Mid also appears in the game as Cid’s young grandson.
• Airships remain common due as party of Baron’s fleet of Red Wings. The three airships from Final Fantasy IV—Enterprise, Falcon, and Lunar Whale—also return in this game. The Falcon is the only one controllable by the player and only in “The Crystals.” The other airships only appear as story events.
• Bahamut returns as the Hallowed Father of the Eidolons. He still lives in the Lair of the Father on the Red Moon. He is the Eidolon that attacks Cecil at Baron in the beginning of the game, and he cannot be obtained as a summon until almost the end of the game. His ability Megaflare is the most powerful Summon attack and one of the most powerful attacks in the game.
• The Gilgamesh who appears in this game is taken directly from Final Fantasy V and fought in the final dungeon along with the other Final Fantasy V bosses. After defeating him, the party members remark that he wasn’t a bad person.
• Although there is no job system in this game, all of the characters are assigned a job, much like its predecessor.
• Four characters go through a job change throughout the course of the game. Ceodore starts out as a Prince and becomes a Red Wings. Ursula starts as a Princess and becomes a Monk. Leonora goes from being an Epopt Trainee to an Epopt. Kain begins as a Dragoon, has a job called ??? as the Hooded Man, and then becomes a Holy Dragoon.
• The identities of the Hooded Man and the Man in Black are left obscure through most of the game. The Hooded Man is revealed to be Kain at the end of “Kain’s Tale,” and the Man in Black is revealed to the player as Golbez in “Lunarian’s Tale.” However, the other characters do not identify Golbez until the battle with Cecil, so he is still called the Man in Black for the first half of “The Crystals.”
• Ceodore’s name is a combination of Cecil and Theodor, Golbez’s real name.
• Leonora is revealed to be the young girl talking to Palom at the end of Final Fantasy IV.
• Several characters can be permanently killed in the game. Calca and Brina are damaged during “Rydia’s Tale,” and if the proper supplies are not found in the Agart Mine, they will not be brought back for “The Crystals.” Each of the Eblan Four will be permanently killed if they die in their respective reconnaissance missions during “Edge’s Tale.” Finally, Golbez will be permanently killed during the battle with the Dark Knight if either Ceodore or Rosa is not in the party.
• The girl disguised as Rydia in Final Fantasy IV: Interlude is most likely a Maenad from this game. Interlude explains where they learned summons. The voice that Cecil hears in his dreams and that speaks to the Mysterious Girl at the end of Interlude is the Creator.
• When he first appears, the Creator strongly resembles PuPu, a recurring alien character in the Final Fantasy series.
• The Creator’s ultimate attack is Explode, which does heavy damage to all party members. He is also able to use the traditional Black Hole attack.
• There are several optional superbosses leading up to the final battle, all of them taken from previous Final Fantasy games. Omega and Nova Dragon are superbosses from Final Fantasy V, while Ultima Weapon is a boss from Final Fantasy VI. The Complete Collection has another optional superboss that becomes available after completing the game. Lost Babil is a massive superboss that is fought in three stages, each with a different set of party members.
• One of the most powerful Bands in the game is called Final Fantasy. This Band is a joint attack by the five main heroes of the two games: Cecil uses Attack, Kain uses Jump, Rosa uses White Magic, Rydia uses Black Magic, and Edge uses Throw. This is the only attack named Final Fantasy in the entire Final Fantasy series.
• The world of this game is the Blue Planet. The characters sometimes call it “earth,” but this is apparently a generic name rather than the name of the world. Part of the game also takes place on Red Moon and True Moon. Red Moon is the home of the Lunarians and former satellite of Blue Planet. True Moon is a space vessel that suddenly appears over the Blue Planet.