Final Fantasy II

"A diamond in the rough"

Final Fantasy II seems to be one of the two least popular Final Fantasy games, the other being FF8. It gets a lot of bad reputation that it doesn't deserve. If people would not compare it to the better games that came later and let it stand on its own, maybe they would see how good of a game it actually is.

Gameplay - 10/10

Final Fantasy II is very unique when compared to every other game in the series.

Its battle system is basically the same as Final Fantasy. You command a group of four fighters like the first game, but this time around, you get people that have names and unique personalities instead of generic characters. Throughout the game, you'll get different people to fill the fourth slot, while the first three are always the same characters. Also, you can see your fighter's faces on the status screen since they are no longer generic.

Magic is still bought at the shops, but you don't have to worry about space this time around. You can purchase as many spells as you want at any shop, and you can ''forget'' any spell through the status screen.

The experience system was given an enormouse overhaul for Final Fantasy II. This is the first game in which the ''SaGa'' level system appeared. Instead of experience points to gain levels, you must do certain things to increase your stats. For example, to increase your HP, you must let enemies attack you. To increase strength, you must attack with your weapons. To increase magic power, you must cast spells. After battle, stats are increased randomly depending on what you used.

Just getting more powerful equipment won't cut it in FF2. You also have to use spells and attack a lot. You get experience for whatever spell or weapon you use, and when you get 100 experience the level of that weapon type or spell will increase. This removes the need for spells like ''Cure 2'' or ''Fire 3.'' Instead you just need to level up Cure and Fire.

Class specific equipment is gone. Instead of classes being restricted in what they can use, anyone can use anything in FF2. That may seem a bad idea, but this forces you to make a mix of magic users and physical attackers, since using magic decreases your attacking power and vice versa.

I would have to say that this is the most difficult Final Fantasy game due to the need to balance your magic and physical abilities carefully. Also, the game gets progressively more difficult as you go deeper into it.

Story - 8/10

It all starts with a group of four friends being attacked by a bunch of knights while trying to escape from an invasion by the Paramekian empire. They are badly beaten and knocked unconcious. When they wake up, three of the friends are together in a castle, one of them is missing. After a talk with the princess, the three friends are suddenly rebels. She gives you the rebels password and sends you off.

Most of the story is about a rebellion against an evil empire. This is very different compared to the almighty power of a single insane villain in most of the other FF games.

Audio - 7/10

Nothing special here. There is a few great tunes and the music is overall superior to the original FF, but it's nothing to write home to mom about.

Video - 7/10

Like the transition of FF3 to 4 to 5, the graphics of FF2 are completely identical to FF. One of the characters is even made up of the fighter's tile from the original FF! I must say that the faces on the status screen are very good for an NES game though.

Overall - 9/10

If you like SaGa games, then definitely check Final Fantasy II out. Most likely it is commonly hated because of its similarities with the SaGa games which are also widely unpopular. Maybe that's why I like this game, I LOVED SaGa Frontier.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/01, Updated 10/30/02