Again, dusting off these old drafts. Don’t know why there are so many that I just felt needed some more passes before posting. They aren’t bad and it is nice reading my old thoughts on these games. I’m not starting FFVI, so trying to get caught up!
I jumped right into Final Fantasy II after finally beating Final Fantasy I. This time, I’m determined to beat the NES version, but I’m going to lean as heavily into quality of life improvements as much as possible, and if that fails, then using guides, and finally cheats and exploits if it becomes too frustrating. Again, games should be fun. Final Fantasy II is one of several “black sheep” of the Final Fantasy series. Released only in Japan and rushed out the door by Square the year following the release of FF1, it wouldn’t receive a release in the US until the PlayStation Origins version. Much as I liked the Origins version of FF1, I really regret not completing the NES version first, so I’m hoping to rectify that with FF2. FF2 is definitely going to come with its challenges. First off, the NES version of FF1 is well supported. It had an official US release, it has a ridiculous number of great romhacks, and you’ll find maps and guides and information on it up the wazoo. FF2 on the other hand is all but forgotten. There are comparatively few romhacks and translations. And even fewer guides and maps are hard to come by, and the ones that are out there mostly focus on the PSX and GBA versions, which are fortunately little changed from the NES/Famicom original.
After some research, I opted for the Final Fantasy II Restored improvement/bugfix romhack by Red Mage Joe with the recommended accompanying translation by ChaosRush. The fixes seem conservative, but common sense. What little information there is on FF2 seems to suggest that the game isn’t as hard as FF1 and less grindy, so hopefully I won’t regret this romhack combo which doesn’t do much to ease the difficulty or the grind.
Starting up FF2, it begins to subvert the formula established by FF1 right away. You compose your party by only choosing their names without the choice of class, and then are thrown immediately into a battle with foes many times your strength. Inevitably, your party will be defeated by these black knights and you’ll awaken with Princess Hilda and Minwu, a white mage, reviving you. You’ll be reunited with 2 of your companions, but your 4th companion is no where to be seen. Are they dead? Captured by your enemy? We’ll see. Already FF2 is much deeper and more story/character driven than FF1. Dialogue is longer, your own party have personalities and unique abilities (like one of your characters is fluent in beaver-language) and speak instead of just being cutouts for the player. The world seems much more alive right off the bat. You’ll be meeting a variety of characters right away and seeing an emerging backstory of an invading evil Empire picking off its neighbors and an underground rebellion attempting a seemingly hopeless resistance. The first quest requires use of subterfuge and discretion even, although it is only as a simple cloak and dagger mission as the NES would likely allow. Before too long, you’ll be feeling like you are in some kind of medieval fantasy Star Wars with the Empire unleashing a super weapon against the princess and her rebellion and your party tasked with stopping them.
I was also surprised at how many new assets there are since I expected this to be more of a reskin of the first game. But, most of the monster sprites are brand new, even for monsters that were in FF1. The game is a decent improvement graphically over its predecessor, even if the party characters look almost identical to the ones in the previous game.
Whereas FF1 seemed to be a JRPGish take on Ultima and D&D, FF2 is very much a pioneer: abandoning a traditional XP-based leveling system for one that involves use-based skill improvement, creating an intricate fantasy world with a highly emotional and character-driven story complete with betrayal, romance, loss, politics, oppression, and more. While I enjoyed FF1 and think it is worth playing, its formula is a bit dated, well-worn, and derivative. FF2 by contrast still feels fairly fresh, especially when compared to other Final Fantasies since its formula was not really re-used within the series (instead it lived on in the SaGa series).
Overall, FF2 doesn’t seem to be all that difficult so far. My characters are building stats steadily. And I’ve just been going through the story without obligatory grinding before every single dungeon like there was in FF1. The new dialogue system built around keywords is fun though not terribly deep. We’ll see how things progress.
PS I know some folks say that an FF game isn’t FF without chocobos or Cid, but 1 didn’t have them. 2 checks those boxes though…
Mental Centripetity 