Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

If there’s one thing nerds love to do, it’s argue about our favorite things and which one is better. SNES or Genesis? Batman or Superman? Mike or Joel? Amongst the myriad of geeky topics than can spur internet flamewars, there’s a particularly contentious one: which Final Fantasy game is the best?

Anyone who has attempted to engage in such a debate has discovered something: your favorite FF game is somebody else’s least favorite FF game – and oftentimes for the very same exact reasons that you love it. With that in mind, we’ve set out to settle the debate once and for all. We’ve taken a long, hard look at all the mainline, numbered FF games – no spinoffs, no direct sequels ala X-2 – and have decided to end all arguments once and for all by describing why each and every one is simultaneously both the best and the worst Final Fantasy game ever. In the face of such irrefutable evidence, all arguments are certain to cease now and forevermore… right?

Final Fantasy IV is returning once more in a very big way this April. Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection is a compilation of the original game, the post-game tale The After Years, and an all-new original Interlude story, all with enhanced visuals and sound. This edition has been carefully overseen by original lead designer Takashi Tokita, one of Square-Enix’s most experienced employees...

Let's get this out in the open. We're all sick of nature. Yes, it's trendy to cry about saving the panda and preserving the precious rainforest, but secretly, we've had enough of plants and animals getting in the way of our lives. Wouldn't it just be easier if we could take a golf club to the face of every panda we see gurning at us from behind their ill-gotten bamboo shoots? Of course it would!

There are few videogame franchises that have as rabid a fanbase as Final Fantasy. Stretching all the way back to the series’ NES debut, the intense love FF fans have shown the series has made its title increasingly oxymoronic over the years. But you know what? We’re not here to love your favorite game. No, we're here to hate.

During the past three days we’ve declared the greatest Final Fantasy game of all, hand-picked the franchise’s best LINK TO HERO heroes and jeered at its mightiest LINK TO VILLAINS villains. Today, we’re digging a bit deeper into the series and acknowledging the nearly unsung greatness of their rich, moving soundtracks.

The RPG holds a special place in gamers’ hearts, and with good reason; epic, sweeping stories filled with interesting characters draw the player in and get combined with magic-filled battles against towering monsters and villainous cads.

Yesterday we played goody two shoes and honored the most effective and selfless Final Fantasy heroes in the series’s history. Today, we’re treading the Sith-tinged “fast and easy” path and cuddling up to the franchise’s worst (as in best) villains. Like it or not, they make the story what it is – without their sociopathic antics, we wouldn’t even have a game to play.

Our look back on gaming’s most-massivest RPG franchise continues with a shakedown of the coolest, most capable or selflessly tragic heroes the series has to offer. Yesterday we sorted out which LINK TO TOP 7 game was at the top – today it’s all about the man who ties it all together

As series with 13 entries and an ungodly amount of spin-off titles, Final Fantasy stirs up a great amount of excitement when a new game arrives. XIII hits the US next week, making it not just the first entry on the PS3/360, but also the first numbered sequel since 2006’s Final Fantasy XII.