The After Years follows in the tradition of Final Fantasy spinoffs, and does the job well in spite of some problems.
Based off a hugely successful game for your cell phone, The After Years transpires several years after the end of Final Fantasy IV; with Cecil and Rosa giving birth to a son named Ceodore. Ceodore, as you can well imagine, is a typical self-deprecating young knight-in-training destined to be a great warrior just like his mom and dad. Everything seems all right following FFIV's triumphant end.....that is, until a Moon mysteriously appears in the sky and monsters are causing all sorts of trouble. Suddenly, the Kingdom of Baron is attacked, and Ceodore is forced to return home in haste to give aid to his father and get some grasp as to what's going on. The story is divided into several chapters which, unfortunately, you have to purchase if you want to bleed the most out of the experience. Each chapter details the personal journeys of individual characters from the Final Fantasy IV universe--Kain and Rydia are the only available chapters as of this writing--all leading up to the last chapter where things come full circle. Episodic content is nothing new these days, and it all boils down to your tolerance level when you reach an exciting story development only to be cut off by a cliffhanger when things are getting good.
The visuals are as you'd expect of a classic, retro Final Fantasy game. The original character artists lend their talents here, and everything is as 16-bit as they come. In retrospect, the entire game world is inexplicably recycled from Final Fantasy IV. Certainly not a bad thing for purists, of course, but I was hoping they'd juice it up a little more to appeal to today's gamers. The music has also been ported over from Final Fantasy IV, albeit remixed a little, and it sounds just as fantasic as it did more than twenty or so years ago. There are some new tunes thrown in for good measure--I just wish there were more of them.
Gameplay is a mixed bag, however. To a fault, the battle system has been faithfully replicated from its source material with a few interesting (and often frustrating) changes. For one, characters are now blessed with the opportunity to link attacks together based on their relationships with one another. It's an expanded take on the Twin attack first used by Palom and Porom in the original game and, for the most part, it shells out the hurt on enemies at the cost of a few MP for both involved. Another gameplay element stems from the Moon itself--if you rest at inns or tents, the Moon changes phases(from Full Moon, to Half-Moon and so forth). What this does is dramatically affect how powerful monsters become, which monsters appear, how powerful your magic and attack capabilities become, and so forth. While I do appreciate the effort in changing the classic FFVI gameplay up a bit, the Moon system is a double-edged sword (pun intended). It can help you if you want to increase your Black Magic power, but also hurt you if you didn't intend for your White Magic to suffer. Plus, some monsters suddenly become overpowered in Hit Points and Attack Strength, so don't be surprised if your party is easily wiped out by a seemingly weak Vampire Bat with overexaggerated attack strength and a boatload of HP.
All in all, the After Years is a good experience in spite of some problems. Players who got to experience Final Fantasy IV will find comfort in reuniting with old friends they haven't seen in a long time, and will be surprised at what new lives they lead following the conclusion of the original game. Newcomers need not necessarily have to play FFIV to get a grasp on the story--they can enjoy it all the same--but it might help them to understand some key points that are brought up during the course of the game. Overall, there's no need for me to recommend the After Years to die-hard Final Fantasy fans--no doubt they'll be flooding the Shop Channel posthaste. For everyone else, it's a pretty good game in its own merit.