Gamertell

Title: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - Rydia’s Tale
Price: 300 points / $3 (note: You need the 800 point / $8 FFIV: The After Years to play.
System(s): Wii (WiiWare)
Release Date: June 1, 2009
Publisher (Developer): Square Enix (Matrix Software)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone” for Alcohol Reference and Mild Fantasy Violence
Pros: Moves forward the The After Years story by showing what’s going on underground with the Eidoleons and Dwarves. Rydia and Luca star as the main characters. The “Pros” from the FFIV: The After Years review still apply.
Cons: Same complaints as FFIV: The After Years - too short and structured, but at least here you’re expecting that. Flashback sequences are in SNES style graphics, not the updated ones the rest of the game uses. Luca looks like a human, not a dwarf.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one sideways; 80/100; B-; * * * out of 5

With Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, only two parts of the episodic RPG are really required playing. The first 800 point ($8) installment is a must buy if you want to play any part of the game, and introduces the story’s conflict. The final Tales add-on, The Crystals, is another 800 point package that concludes the adventure, and it allows you to load data from the first part and seven other Tales into it.

That means that the seven character tales could be considered largely optional. To get an idea of what a 300 point Tale package includes, I decided to invest in the very first one, Rydia’s Tale: The Eidolons Shackled.

Trouble under the planet’s crust.

Rydia’s made a home for herself in Mist, but still occasionally makes visits to the Feymarch to visit with the Eidolons who saved her and raised her in Final Fantasy IV. It is during one of these visits that the second moon reappears and strange things begin happening on the planet.

Rydia’s Tale begins first with a brief montage of important moments in Rydia’s life, then picks up with her visiting with Leviathan and Asura in the Feymarch. Asura tells her she shouldn’t keep visiting and should leave. Leviathan at first seems to want to stop her, then quickly changes his mind and teleports Rydia out of the chamber. A mysterious, green-haired girl then walks in and steals Leviathan and Asura’s powers, sealing them away.

Outside, Rydia comes to and realizes that all of the Eidolons have been petrified. She vows that she will lose no more friends, and is going to save them.

Drawing heavily on nostalgia and magic.

Rydia’s Tale can be quite challenging. If you try to explore a dungeon during the wrong moon phase, it can prove disasterous. Rydia possess attack, summon and black magic abilities in her Tale, and, due to events portrayed in the openings of both Final Fantasy IV: The After Years and Rydia’s Tale, summons are inaccessible. Since Luca joins early, it isn’t too difficult, but I found I had to keep closer track of the moon here than I did in the first The After Years installment.

There’s something I don’t understand about Rydia’s Tale. At the beginning of her story, there’s a series of flashback segments. Instead of using the improved/optimised graphics that appear throughout the first installment of The After Years and Rydia’s Tale, Square Enix and Matrix Software relies on SNES quality graphics to show major points in Rydia’s life between Final Fantasy IV and The After Years. It’s nice to see the brief vignettes, but at the same time a little disappointing, especially if you’ve gotten used to the updated visuals.

I’m also wondering about Luca. Her character sprite and menu portrait both make her look like a normal human girl with an incredibly huge hat. She no longer strongly resembles the dwarves from FFIV. It’s a small qualm, but I wish she looked more like the other dwarves.

If Rydia’s one of your favorite characters, go ahead and invest in Rydia’s Tale.

Rydia’s Tale may not be essential playing, but if you are planning on playing through as much of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, it’s an interesting additional puzzle piece.

I’d recommend going with your favorite Final Fantasy IV characters’ additional Tales. If Rydia and Edge were your favorites, then pick up their story add-ons. Perhaps you preferred Palom and Porom, then spend 600 points to see their adventures.

Remember, keep separate save slots for all of your Final Fantasy IV: The After Years data! You don’t want all that hard work and effort to be for naught when The Crystals comes out.

Site [Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - Rydia’s Tale]