Final Fantasy II

• Release Date: 1988
• Genre: Role-Playing
• Style: Third-Person 2D RPG
• Similar Games: Crystalis (Nintendo Entertainment System), Final Fantasy (Nintendo Entertainment System), Dragon Warrior (Nintendo Entertainment System), Dragon Quest (Nintendo Entertainment System), Dragon Quest (Game Boy Color), Crystalis (Game Boy Color)

Game Description

The Emperor of Paramekia, drunk on his own power, has summoned monsters from another realm to terrorize his people and to aid him in his goal of world domination. The first victims of the Emperor's capriciousness are the citizens of the Kingdom of Phin. Three Phin youths vow to avenge their parents' murders and to destroy the monsters that have invaded the planet, eventually hoping to find and oust the Emperor.

Along the way, the three main characters meet up with, or are assigned by Queen Hilda, hired help to assist them along the way. There are a maximum of four party members at a given time. In order to travel about the world freely, the team must make use of several modes of transportation. These include a canoe, a pirate ship, an ice sled, an airship, and making his debut in Final Fantasy II, the Chocobo, all at specific points during the game.

Battles are conducted in the standard RPG menu-based format. Defeating monsters will bring in cash, and sometimes a special item or spell. However, instead of gaining experience points Final Fantasy II employs a unique feature: the more you use something, the more effective it becomes. Thus, while there are individual levels of expertise earned for each weapon, spell, or shield, the character himself doesn't "level up."

Final Fantasy II also makes use of a "password" feature. Chatting with townspeople can provide you with key words you can utter to other people, which can result in obtaining useful information. Passwords must be discovered and used in order to make progress throughout various sections of the game.

Dungeons are often bigger and harder than in the game's predecessor, Final Fantasy. Caves, castles and the like are often at least half a dozen floors high, and feature trap doors and false exits. Saving your progress is possible only on the overworld.

Roots & Influences

Final Fantasy II mixes the graphical flare and medieval style of The Legend of Zelda with a deep storyline, previously characteristic of text-based PC games like Zork.

Review: Overall

It would be in vain by now to hope that Square would one day bring its two "other" Final Fantasy titles stateside anytime soon. Both Final Fantasy II and III have collected dust for so long on Famicom owners' shelves that the window of opportunity for these two games to win any kind of success on American shores has shut entirely. Bad news for the casual gamer, but not so bad news for the hardcore RPG fan, who shouldn't have any real problem finding either title on the grey market or from a Japanese import shop. Although both games have been officially released only in Japanese, there are a number of worthy translations that can be found anywhere on the internet. And that's a good thing, because even today Final Fantasy II and III stand as two of the strongest, deepest, and most involving role playing adventures ever. Consider FF II and III the Apocrypha of the Final Fantasy canon; never really discussed, but still significant works.

Final Fantasy II is the dark horse of the FF series. It's the red-headed stepchild. No FF game (with the exception of the remedial FF Mystic Quest) has ever received as little attention from gamers or the gaming press as did this title. That's ironic, given the divergences II takes from the rest of the series. It was actually the first game to introduce to the series such staples as the Chocobo, the Moogles, and Cid the engineer. Final Fantasy II was released on the 8-bit Nintendo Famicom in 1988, one year after the debut of the original Final Fantasy in Japan and two years before the American port of the original.

The meat of every FF game lies in its story, and FF II is absolutely no exception. Following the tried-and-true, Star Wars-style, defeat-the-evil-empire scenario, our story takes place on an unnamed Earth-like planet where the evil Emperor of Paramekia has done something very naughty. It seems he's taken it upon himself to summon a few dozen hordes of ungodly beasts to terrorize civilians, thereby making a snap his ambition for world conquest... Or so it would seem. It appears the Emperor's army messed with the wrong people when they invaded and decimated the neighboring kingdom of Phin. Four Phin youths, enraged by the murder of their parents, have vowed to seek vengeance on the empire. Death, by the way, is a common theme in Final Fantasy II; much more so than in other installments, and you had better prepare yourself for plenty of it, as it starts from the very beginning and continues unabated to the very end. Another early example of death's prominence in the game: After the four characters are inevitably defeated in the first battle at the very opening of the game, we find that the fourth kid doesn't make it out alive, making for yet another murder to avenge. The gap left by the slain member is filled by various temporary characters; some very helpful, and others useless sacks of flesh.

Unlike the original Final Fantasy, FF II is more or less mission-based. Instead of wandering around aimlessly, you've got Queen Hilda of Phin to point you in the right direction. She'll tell you what you need to know, provided you ask the right questions, and this brings us to the first unique gameplay element found in FF II: the password feature. In case you haven't learned by now to talk to absolutely everyone everywhere when playing an RPG, this game makes it mandatory. Chatting with the townsfolk can teach you specific passwords, or key words, that serve as very useful icebreakers in conversations with others. For example, a character in one town may mention something about "ice cavern," which in turn, prompts another person to mutter something about "ice sled." Talk to the right person about "ice sled," and she'll tell you where to find it. The password feature is arguably the most innovative characteristic of FF II.

The second most innovative, and surprisingly intuitive feature is the level-building engine. Instead of collecting experience points and having your character's "level" increase every so often, FF II employs a method that's less abstract, and makes quite a bit of sense, really. The more you use something, the stronger it gets. That goes for weapons, armor, spells, you name it. Enough use out of an item will cause your ability to use that item to increase in level. This concept applies to your characters' attributes, too. Cast enough spells during a battle, and your MP goes up. Withstand a lot of damage and get an HP boost. The system works well; the trick is just to un-train yourself not to go up against more challenging foes.

The game's other elements are pretty much standard Final Fantasy fare. Random enemy encounters, spells to purchase, a handful of towns scattered upon the map, and of course, the dungeons. Be forewarned: Final Fantasy II's dungeons are unforgivably difficult. The average castle or cave is at least six or seven floors deep, the enemies get progressively harder the further up (or down, as the case may be) you go. What's more, the dungeons are substantially more labyrinthine here than in just about any other FF title. And, just to make life hard, Square has decided not to include save spots anywhere but on the overworld.

What game could possibly live up to the Final Fantasy moniker without top-notch graphics and sound? Not FF II, if Square's programming team have anything to say about it. The game takes a substantial step forward from its predecessor in the graphics department. Character portraits are visible on the menu screen for the first time, and just about every sprite in the game is more detailed and colorful than in the first title. And how about the music? I don't know how the man does it, but Nobuo Uematsu's genius orchestrations manage to entrance and enthrall even when filtered through the Famicom's pitifully primitive sound hardware. Uemastu's grand, sweeping compositions, as always, complement perfectly the epic ambitions of Final Fantasy II's story.

Simply put, Final Fantasy II is an amazing experience for the Famicom. Its scale is grander than the original Final Fantasy's, its gameplay and story more complex, and its challenge much greater. Square will never fully realize what a great disservice they've done for non-Japanese gamers by keeping this gem confined to Final Fantasy fans on the shores of just one island nation.

Review: Enjoyment

Deep story and addictive gameplay make for a good time.

Review: Graphics

A step up from the original FF, with more character detail and more attractive interior settings.

Review: Sound

Nubuo Uematsu's genius thrives, despite hardware limitations.

Review: Replay Value

Quest is somewhat linear, with only one possible ending.

Review: Documentation

Very descriptive, with info on spells, monsters, equipment, etc. Too bad I can't read Japanese.

Production Credits