"Yes, it is the black sheep of the series. And a very ugly one, unfortunately..."

Experimental sequels.....That was like a mode back in the NES days. Immediately after a game was successful, a sequel was made, but with a lot of changes in the gameplay. That was the case with Mario, Castlevania, Mega Man, etc... And while a few of these sequels were as good if not better than the original game (Mega Man 2 comes to my mind), the others turned into the black sheep of their respective series. That was the case with Zelda II and, especially, Final Fantasy II.

The original FF game saved square from bankrupt. What was supposed to be their last game has spawned over ten sequels (eleven pretty soon) and three side-series titles (Mystic Quest, Tactics and Crystal Chronicles). Each of these sequel had something special. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about FFII. This so called ''sequel'' is definitely different from its predecessor.

STORYLINE (7.5/10): Four warriors have been wiped out in a battle against a horde of dark knights from Parmekia. Luckily, they are rescued by a group of rebels led by princess Hilda, who is looking to take back the her kingdom. The basic of the storyline may seem cliché, but it's actually where the game gets surprisingly good. The character development is great for a NES game. Each character has something to say, something that wasn't in the original FF. Also, the storyline has some pretty good plot twists toward the end of the game.

GRAPHICS (6/10): Couldn't Square have been more original? Everything (or almost) is directly taken from the original Final Fantasy. Take the main character, for example (Frionel). Doesn't he strongly remind you the fighter? The graphics of the world map are identical, only this time the water is animated (finally an improvement). As far as the battle screen goes, gone are the separated windows from the original game (the other improvement). And ironically enough, the only moment the graphics start to really impress is during the final dungeon. Oh, alright, I forgot something: the menus. They are more organized than in the original FF. And for the first time of the series, you can actually see the face of your characters, an interesting that wasn't used in the much more superior FF3. This is what saves the game from getting a 5 in the graphical department.

SOUND (6/10): Nobuo's second soundtrack of the series is not bad. Some of the musical tracks are really good, especially the Castle theme. The rest is mediocre at best. The world map music gets annoying after three minutes. But the worst track of them all is definitely the battle theme. You might want to lower your speakers when you'll get stuck in a long battle, because your ears might suffer a lot, I'm afraid.
As far as the sound effects go, it's pretty much the same as FFI. A few of annoying beeps, but the rest is supportable. Overall, Square could have done much better in that department. It's not unbearable, but pretty close.

GAMEPLAY (4/10): This is where (almost) everything went wrong. You see, gone is the job system. In the original FF game, you could choose a job for each character. In FF2, you get four characters with no distinct stats (Guy, however, is slightly inclined toward Strength). This allows you the freedom to customize the characters as you desire. Impressed so far? I'm afraid you won't be anymore after reading what follows: There are NO levels. That's right. Instead, you're stuck with a leveling-up system similar to FF Legend I and II. You see, EVERYTHING is randomized. Your stats go up separately and once in a while. You can, however, help a specific stat to grow. For example, let's say you want to improve your magic power. What do you do? You keep using magic until it's high enough. Interesting you say? No, it's not. Trust me; you'll get irritated after twenty minutes. The way your HPs increase is not very logical. If you want characters with a high HP meter, they'll have to go through the ordeal of getting hit repetitively. The more damage you receive, the higher your HP will be. As far as the MP meter goes, it's pretty much the same way to increase your magic power: you have to use magic OFTEN! Although you may think it's easy to raise these stats, it's not. You don't have control on things because everything goes up randomly. To spice up things, Square have added Levels on Weapons and Magical Spells (very similar to Secret of Mana). The seemingly endless leveling-up session are now even longer thanks to the ''pleasure'' of raising those weapon and magic levels.

FUN FACTOR (4/10): Let's be honest. The first FF game was irritating. However, it was still fun to play. Well, Square seem to have forgotten the definition of FUN when they made this game, because everything is irritating, and nothing seems rewarding...except maybe for the decent ending, but you'll have to go trough a lot of pain before even reaching the final boss. Also, about 70% is this game consists of leveling up sessions. Have fun!

Difficulty (6/10): This game is not that hard. The dungeons are repetitive and simple. Well, nothing that can't be completed, although the final boss is pretty tough. The real challenge in FF2 is to survive the long and boring leveling sessions. You see, the game is not too difficult, but you HAVE to level up, otherwise you'll get nowhere. Also, it takes a lot of training in order to receive enough money to buy newer equipment.

REPLAY VALUE (3/10): What? Replay value?! In this game?! Nope...not at all. Once you'll finish this game, you'll probably won't want to even touch this game anymore. At least, that was my case. This is a game that should be completed once, and ONLY once.

The Good
No more separated windows in battles
Good storyline; great plot twists
More than decent character development
Some musical tracks

The bad
A little too easy
The leveling-up system
Hard to gain money
The dungeons are a little bit boring with the exception of two of them

And the ugly
The leveling-up system (it's bad AND ugly)
The battle music

Buy or rent?: It's very difficult to rent this thing, especially because it has never left Japan. However, Square has announced today that its PSone remake (along with FFI) will be released in North America under the name of FF Origins. My suggestion is to TRY this game. If you can tolerate 25 hours of boring leveling-up, then this one might be for you. For those looking for something similar to FFI, go play FFIII instead, a much more superior sequel.

CONCLUSION: The potential that FFII is beyond belief. Great storyline and character ruined by an unbearable leveling-up system and boring dungeons. I hope they fixed many of the bugs in the PSone version (such as the Ineffective problem, which occurs VERY often), otherwise the black seep WILL remain the black sheep forever.

Storyline – 7.5/10
Graphics – 6/10
Music – 6/10
Sound Effects – 6.5/10
Control – 8/10
Gameplay – 4/10
Replay Value – Poor
Challenge – Average
Worth a Purchase? – Wait for FF origins on the PSone before considering a purchase. Otherwise, it doesn't worth any penny.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/10/03, Updated 01/10/03