"Awww...is it too hard for you? Psht."

Following up on a ground breaking RPG is always difficult to do, and there really is no other game that I’ve played in this genre yet {emphasis on yet} in which a game tries damn hard to improve, but makes it difficult for the gamer to really get into the meat of the game! Final Fantasy II is an example of this in which some of the old ways that appeared in Final Fantasy {long battles and monstrous challenge} have been meshed together with a new leveling system and character development options. The story line has changed slightly from the original ‘save the world’ theme in which Final Fantasy II has a much darker feel and tone to the game, centering on war and death. While this may be nothing compared to what we have now, you have to consider that at the time, games that featured such a heavy emphasis on death and destruction were relatively unheard of! If you really can get past the difficulty of the game, and work with the truly {at the time} innovative leveling up system that the game has to offer, you’ll find that Final Fantasy II is definitely a challenge worth undertaking.

The game play still hasn’t changed from the focus of battles and trying different strategies against the more difficult characters in the game. Although this focus remains unchanged, the extra added features that the game has to offer is what will throw some original Final Fantasy gamers for a loop! The first of these changes comes with leveling system and what it branches out to. The leveling system is not done through the use of experience points, but rather different conditions that happen during the battles you face off in. If you want your health to go up, the difference in your maximum health and what you have left over will be taken into consideration by the all-forgiving {yeah right} game and calculated to give you a slight increase. The same can be said about the magic points and the strength, with each of those being controlled by your actions in battle.

Something else that is new to the game, is the leveling up of your weapons, in which you have to use that weapon a number of times before the attributes of it go up! This is what catches most RPG fans and makes them cringe, simply because the amount of leveling that you have to do is astronomical in some cases, and unless you’ve gotten yourself to a high enough level, there is no way in hell that you’re going to be able to advance. As before, magic and otherwise are bought in the shops, and you have your set of intricate menus to browse through, but something else that has changed, and much for the better, is the fact that the weapons you have at your disposal allows you to use them with ANY class of characters that you may have in your party at the time.

Control of Final Fantasy II is nothing different than it was for the first game, and veterans to the series will find that the game menus really haven’t changed much to accommodate anything new! While a veteran to this type of menu based action will find nothing new here, a beginner to a game of this type, especially with the interface that is being used, will probably find that the options you have and using them effectively is a matter of trial and error! This isn’t necessarily a bad thing in which you have to really learn what turn-based RPG action is all about if you really want to get into the later Final Fantasy games. Giving Squaresoft credit, the control interface isn’t too difficult in which anyone of any skill level can find their niche and learn how to use everything that the game has to offer in about an hour or so anyway.

Visually, the game hasn’t taken on much more than a topical face-lift, with most of the improvements being with the different characters and the fact that you no longer have a generic, faceless character to work with! Through the menu screens, you’ll find that your three main characters all have a face, and the fourth is a constantly revolving character that depends on who you pick up during your journeys. Other than that, you’ll find that there is nothing new for you to see, and the battle scenes that you may have seen in Final Fantasy 6 just weren’t thought of yet in this game. If you can really get past this little let-down, then you’ll find that familiar territory is something that is relatively comfortable and won’t shock you into thinking that you’re playing a completely different game or series. For the NES, this is something that really doesn’t matter much, and if you’re an avid fan of the Final Fantasy series, then you’ll find that there is nothing here that is terribly wrong, just a little tiresome!

The musical score follows that of the original, in which you have nothing too note-worthy that you have to listen to and there is nothing that you’ll remember ten minutes after you’ve shut the power down. Standard adventure music and traveling tunes accompany you through most of the game, but the star of the show still remains and the slightly catchy {though limited} track of fighting the different bosses! The sound effects are pretty much the same thing that you’ve heard before, only this time they’ve been recycled, stripped a little bit and packed back into another Final Fantasy game with nothing new to hear. Again, if you’re used to things such as this with older games, then it will come as no surprise when you hear the same tune over and over again.

Final Fantasy II isn’t the best improvement in the series, but it is better than most people think it is. Simply because the leveling up system is a little difficult to understand and use correctly shouldn’t deter fans of the series from having this gem. The menus and the action that you find are nothing more than recycled from the original, and the leveling system simply adds more challenge to the game play in which you, as the gamer, have to use some serious strategy to get you through the more difficult parts! The small face lifting on the visuals and the so-so audio will turn some off, but if you’re a dedicated fan of the Final Fantasy series and wish to continue the tradition, then find a copy of this and add it to your collection.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/02, Updated 01/02/02