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The remake is an operation that touches very delicate chords in the hearts of fans, especially when it comes to games that have made the history of a genre or the media itself. Final Fantasy IV undoubtedly falls into this category and although since 1991 technology has made great strides and the franchise has produced at least ten more episodes, not to mention the countless spin-offs, the epic of Cecil, Kain and company remains one of the most popular of all. Not surprisingly, Final Fantasy IV has enjoyed numerous successive releases on multiple consoles, most notably PSOne and Game Boy Advance. A few years ago, Square Enix even proposed a complete remake for the Nintendo DS, complete with polygonal graphics and new mechanics.

Additionally, Cecil's story also enjoyed an episodic sequel, The After Years, released in Japan for mobile phones and later also for Wii via the WiiWare service. A really important chapter, therefore, which heavily influenced the JRPG genre and of course the franchise itself, becoming an inexhaustible source of quotes and references. At the dawn of 2011, Square Enix celebrates its twentieth anniversary with a definitive edition full of content: will it bring together the old and new generations of gamers?

From Cecil to Ceodore

Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection is a real compilation of the universe conceived by Hironobu Sakaguchi and inherited by Toshio Akiyama with his The After Years. The UMD contains precisely both stories, accessible individually from the initial menu and linked by an intermediate chapter, precisely entitled Interlude, which acts as a bridge between the original story and the sequel, also accessible individually. Needless to say, if you've never played Final Fantasy IV, it's a good idea to start at the beginning and follow the story in chronological order, as The After Years picks up on themes and characters from the original that players are assumed to already know. If you fall into that category of players who have never heard of Final Fantasy IV, it is worth spending a few lines on the plot of the game: the protagonist is Cecil, a Dark Knight from the kingdom of Baron who, after having spent years doing nefarious acts on behalf of the King, he decides to rebel against the tyrant and start a path of redemption that will lead him to become a Paladin. He will be joined by a heterogeneous group of heroes, including the ambiguous Dragoon and fellow soldier Kain and their common sentimental interest Rosa, the lord of the ninja Edge and the summoner Rydia: together with them Cecil will have to face an inscrutable enemy to bring back peace in the world.

Seventeen years after the epilogue begins The After Years, in which the protagonist is the son of Cecil and Rosa, Ceodore, who in turn will gather around him a cast of old and new characters to face the umpteenth dangers that come directly from the past. In Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection the story is not told through spoken cutscenes and dynamic shots as in the case of the most recent Nintendo DS remake; following directly the original script, in fact, the story unfolds through textual dialogues (which propose a brand new adaptation, but completely in English) without any cutscenes, apart from the introductory ones, strictly maintaining the classic and exquisitely retro exposure. That of Final Fantasy IV is an altogether simple story and nowadays some situations may seem almost a cliché, but the charisma of the characters and their characterization are still unsurpassed, both by the saga itself and by the competition, twenty years later.

From the 1991 to the 2011

The compilation assembled by Square Enix is a product that is difficult to place because diametrically opposed elements coexist in it, such as a very faithful reproduction of the almost retro gameplay and an equally faithful and colorful 2D cosmetics that reproduces Final Fantasy IV exactly as it was twenty years ago, embellished, however, with a better definition, special effects in step with the times and totally new sprites, redesigned for the occasion.

The result is a bizarre blend of old and new that keeps the vintage charm of the game intact while offering a pleasing and colorful visual experience. Mind you, the PSP can do better and the sprites of the ultra-detailed enemies without any animation are also a bit turn up your nose, but with this solution Square Enix manages to pay homage to the original without distorting it or changing it drastically: Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection it is especially aimed at nostalgics and the gameplay also demonstrates it, devoid of all the trappings added in the recent Nintendo DS edition, such as the Augment system and the general rebalancing of mechanics and fighting. From a strictly playful point of view, the entire compilation offers a very simple game system, based on the Active Time Battle System that makes frequent casual fights a curious hybrid between turn-based and real-time style.

Each character has various peculiar abilities and traditional black and white magic, in this sense the adventure does not lack complexity or challenge and it is important to know the weak points of the enemies, for example the most effective spells against them. Finally, a nod to the musical accompaniment signed by Nobuo Uematsu cannot be missing, which if already at the time stood out as one of the best of the entire franchise is now literally glorified by a perfect remastering work for each track. The result are songs that have made the history of the videogame genre, as before and definitely better than before: a true musical triumph.

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Be transparent in cases like these: Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection it could be indigestible to the new generations accustomed to intricate modern gameplay and cinematic scripts, to which Square Enix has also accustomed us with the latest episodes of the franchise: in that case, it would be better to turn to the Nintendo DS edition of Final Fantasy IV. For nostalgics and fans of the saga, this is the bible of Final Fantasy IV, overflowing with content: in one fell swoop there is the original story, the sequel and the unpublished interlude, as well as the extras present in the Game Boy edition Advance. Fans of the JRPG genre, especially the new ones, in the absence of alternatives would do well to recover this edition, at least to know, and certainly love, one of the best Final Fantasy ever.