Final Fantasy Quest - Gauntlet of the Past

I thought Final Fantasy IV: The After Years would break free from repetition at some point?

Ha! Wrong.

Now that I'm in the final dungeon(s), I've already seen major bosses and archfiends from FF IV (slightly excusable if the dungeon was different or new - it wasn't) and the elemental fiends from the original Final Fantasy. With the exception of Tiamat, the latter inter-game refights were pushovers.

Reading a little ahead in a walkthrough, I see that there are bosses from subsequent entries in the franchise. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Gilgamesh, but having to slog through a bunch of others before and after him won't be fun.

Gilgamesh was not a pushover, but I still managed to triumph. After each of the fights, the party muses on who or what they just faced - for Gilgamesh, there is a more sympathetic tone to their thoughts of him. Thankfully, a few of the returning (super)bosses were optional, so I decided to skip them.

I wasn't really stuck on anything until Bahamut showed up. I took grinding a bit too far, maybe, and got 6 of my characters (since Rydia was required for the fight) up to level 99. Even then, the fight was no picnic. After this major hurdle, there were a few more uneventful floors until the final boss.

Taking a page out of Final Fantasy Legend's book, the final boss is "the Creator." However, following SNES FF standards, the fourth (final) form is a Gigeresque mass reminiscent of FF IV's Zeromus and FF V's Exdeath. He too wasn't a pushover, but fell within a few attempts. One escape sequence later, and I was finally finished.

Overall, it was a mixed experience. On the one hand, there were so many repeated story elements, bosses and locations. On the other hand, there were a few interesting story points and amusing moments. The band system was pretty cool, once I got a few to use. (My theory will be that sequel games' redeeming factor is the battle system. I've just beaten Final Fantasy X-2, so corroborating data is coming soon!)

As a standalone game, it's not entirely worth spending the full asking price. However, as part of the PSP collection of Final Fantasy IV, I'd say it's worth it.

Besides, it's the only official FF IV release that lets one play as Golbez!

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Image source: finalfantasy.wikia.com