Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - Huge Letdown

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Hey everyone. I thought I'd share a link to my latest review of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. This is a sequel to FFIV (FF2 SNES) that was just released June 1st. I have very mixed emotions about it. Check out the review and let me know what you think.

Don't forget to subscribe to my channel while you are there :-)

My Channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/ZeitgeistReview

My Review:[ame]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBZWHvPymBk[/ame]

Andreas · Jun 2009

Only watched the first bit because I want to avoid spoilers. But I fail to see your point. Episoding gaming is episoding gaming, and even as a freakin massive FFIV fanboy, I think the fact they decided it should be episodic is interesting to me, and the fact that I will have to wait doesn't frustrate me, it just makes me anticipate it more. I'd love to come home one day to find a new episode released. The dollar price is good value too (I'm sure the euro one will not be so much).

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Thanks for watching... Just difference in opinion. If you played the first episode I think you'd be upset too. It just ends. No conclusion or anything. Basically I got all excited while playing the game, and just as it seemed like it was about to start getting good, it was done. It was a huge disappointment. It would have been much better if the episode had a defined start and finish, but it didn't.

Parnell · Jun 2009

Or maybe you should have known what you bought?
I'm totally psyched that I can buy separate stories for each character. Also, you spent $8 (that's 2 lattes which I can drink in about 10 minutes) and you are pissed that you beat it in 5 hours? So is a game that costs $40 and has 25 hours worth of game-play a terrible buy then? Sounds like you are just impatient.
No reason to piss all over a game if you can't be patient.:)
Just be happy they even made a sequel to the first one and not just another re-remake, or worse some abomination casual version or some crap.

Oh and in a review not a good idea to "let me leave you with me playing the end" WTF?! Next time you do a review don't show the ending or allude that you are...I stopped the video dead in it's tracks at that point.
B

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Haha, it was a skit. I revealed no spoilers, I'm not that retarded ;-) And why all the hostility? I appreciate the discussion though, that's why I posted here.

Edit: I went ahead and added a YouTube annotation right before the skit, so you know there are no spoilers going into it.

Wells · Jun 2009

I think a 30 second intro is completely unnecessary.
I never want to actually see the person doing the review
It was 2 minutes into the review before I saw a shot of the game in action.
Do you really need to flash the name of your show before each 'category' ?

All these things combine to make it seem like you're making these more to promote yourself then to actually inform people on the game. The game being reviewed should be the star - not you.

That aside, it wasn't a bad review. A few more takes to get rid of the 'ums' and other stumbles would really help polish it.

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Sectaurs wrote: »

I think a 30 second intro is completely unnecessary.
I never want to actually see the person doing the review
It was 2 minutes into the review before I saw a shot of the game in action.
Do you really need to flash the name of your show before each 'category' ?

All these things combine to make it seem like you're making these more to promote yourself then to actually inform people on the game. The game being reviewed should be the star - not you.

That aside, it wasn't a bad review. A few more takes to get rid of the 'ums' and other stumbles would really help polish it.

See, now you are the other side of the spectrum as far as what some people want to see in a review. Let me explain. All of my reviews I've been posting on various forums across the internet. If you watch my first reviews, they don't have an introduction or section dividers.

Well some people on the forums have stated they wanted those things. Others have said they like having camcorder recordings of the reviewer as well because they like to follow the series of a reviewer and get to know the reviewer so they can better determine whether or not they are going to agree with them.

I completely see where you are coming from, but what I am trying to go for is kind of a web show, about video games I think.

Basically I'm finding that it is really hard to give a good video game review and impress everyone, you know? Everyone likes different things in reviews. Some say my reviews are too short, some say they are too long.

Thank you for watching though. Check out some of my other reviews and see if your opinion changes at all.

(Oh, and I agree with getting right to the video. I had to use extra camcorder footage in this review because the game was so damn short I couldn't capture enough good stuff to show!)

(I've also been criticized in the past that I need to act more real and less like I'm reading a script. That's why I kept some of those "Ums" in there. Bad idea?)

Andreas · Jun 2009

Parnell wrote: »

Or maybe you should have known what you bought?

This. I am not even following this one very closely and I knew it was episodic.

And that's what episodes do...they 'just end'. HL2 Episode 1 'just ended' and so did the second one.

I'll DEFINITELY be reserving judgements on this till I play it for myself...lol.

Anyone know if its on the european Wii shop yet?

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Blenderhead wrote: »

This. I am not even following this one very closely and I knew it was episodic.

And that's what episodes do...they 'just end'. HL2 Episode 1 'just ended' and so did the second one.

I'll DEFINITELY be reserving judgements on this till I play it for myself...lol.

Anyone know if its on the european Wii shop yet?

It should have been released in PAL regions on June 5th, so it should be there for you. Let me know what you think after you play it. Maybe you won't be as upset as I was.

Parnell · Jun 2009

ZeitgeistReview wrote: »

Haha, it was a skit. I revealed no spoilers, I'm not that retarded ;-) And why all the hostility? I appreciate the discussion though, that's why I posted here.

Edit: I went ahead and added a YouTube annotation right before the skit, so you know there are no spoilers going into it.

No hostility...just no real praise either. I mean your thread title states HUGE LETDOWN. Yet you praise the game for it's graphics, sound, even gameplay. The only reason you slam the game is the length which really is not a problem at all seeing as it's Chapter 1 of an episodic game. $8 for 5 hours of gameplay? Sounds like a deal to me. When a song on Itunes cost .99-$1.29 for barely 3 minutes of music.
Just seems you like you are impatient waiting for the next part of the game. As you wanted to keep playing the game. The fact that the game is setup with a different strategy for online distribution is hardly a reason to say the game is a HUGE LETDOWN like you state in your thread. Especially, when it sounds like you thoroughly enjoyed the game so much that you finished it. I will give you props on that...a reviewer that actually plays a game they are reviewing for more than 20 min?! Unbelievable!
B

p.s. I agree with the constant spinning Zeitgeist Review stuff flashing all over just better to have a little logo at the bottom of the video.

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

I may end up stripping the ZeitgeistReview stuff and just flash in Story/Presentation etc... And you are right, I'm VERY impatient. Always have been. My main problem is that I did not know the game was episodic until after I beat it. I played, got to a fun part and wham, game over. I was pissed.

Slum · Jun 2009

How is that the game's fault?

Man, when I installed Half Life 2 I was so pissed when I realized it was an FPS. I thought it was going to be an RTS. HL2 sucks!

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Tell you what. You go download this game and play through it and tell me you're not pissed when you reach the end.

Andreas · Jun 2009

Slum wrote: »

How is that the game's fault?

Man, when I installed Half Life 2 I was so pissed when I realized it was an FPS. I thought it was going to be an RTS. HL2 sucks!

There is actually a RTS HL2 mod as far as I am aware...:P Never played it though.

[Deleted User] · Jun 2009

I was pissed when I beat WarioWare Smooth Moves, having paid $50 for a game that lasted about an hour and a half at most. The game was really fun while it lasted though, and aside from the playing time to money spent ratio, there was essentially nothing that I didn't like about that game. It was a ton of fun. I really enjoyed it. And I shall end this paragraph with HUGE LETDOWN.

ZeitgeistReview · Jun 2009

Fly_soup, that is exactly what I'm talking about. The game was quite fun, except for its abrupt ending and lack of additional story right away. I imagine that if the game player waits for the entire FFIV sequel to be released, they could download them all and be very happy with this game.

Pope Adam · Jun 2009

ZeitgeistReview wrote: »

.

Basically I'm finding that it is really hard to give a good video game review and impress everyone, you know? Everyone likes different things in reviews. Some say my reviews are too short, some say they are too long.

polycounters are particularly hard to impress in almost every aspect of life. people here hate me lulz

Andreas · Jun 2009

I was going to say this haha...pc are a tough crowd sometimes Zeit.

Good for some good honest advice though. I agree that you should cut down the credits at the beggining, cut out the in betweeny bits, and show the game far sooner in the review.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years - Huge Letdown

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