This review is for Final Fantasy II, the original version. This is not a review for the American Super Nintendo release, which truly is Final Fantasy IV.
For the longest time you could only find Final Fantasy II on the internet through emulators. The few Americans who got a chance to play it were in for a real treat. This game was the beginning of the Chocobos and the beginning of the Cid era. This game is where Final Fantasy began to have some swagger to it.
Unlike the first Final Fantasy, or any Final Fantasy game for that matter, this game rid itself of the standard leveling system. Players don't level up from experience, their skills level up instead. So if you have a character who you constantly use for physical attacks, that character's physical attacks will level up. If you constantly use a character for magic attacks, that character's individual spells will level up. All of your characters can also use magic. While it is basically impossible to make a good hybrid character, the option is definitely appreciated. This type of leveling really opens up your strategy options.
The story is less rigid than the first Final Fantasy. There are also more twists and dramatic points. The characters are much less watered down than the first Final Fantasy installment. The game also isn't as vague as the first Final Fantasy. Unlike it's predecessor, Final Fantasy II does a decent job leading you to your next mission or item. Instead of having to travel the globe speaking to every single character or guessing where you have to go next, this sequel does a nice job guiding you around the game.
Final Fantasy II is not without shortcomings. The game still had the average graphics of its predecessor. The music was forgettable, but still decent. The game was also stretched out longer than it probably needed to be. You still weren't allowed to save in the dungeons, which would have been a nice improvement.
This game is definitely an improvement over the first Final Fantasy game. It's not for everybody, but definitely worth playing if you want to see origins of many Final Fantasy influences. It might also be beneficial to play the Final Fantasy Origins version of Final Fantasy II. This Playstation version upgraded the music, graphics, game play, and added a game saving feature to help out in the dungeons.
For the longest time you could only find Final Fantasy II on the internet through emulators. The few Americans who got a chance to play it were in for a real treat. This game was the beginning of the Chocobos and the beginning of the Cid era. This game is where Final Fantasy began to have some swagger to it.
Unlike the first Final Fantasy, or any Final Fantasy game for that matter, this game rid itself of the standard leveling system. Players don't level up from experience, their skills level up instead. So if you have a character who you constantly use for physical attacks, that character's physical attacks will level up. If you constantly use a character for magic attacks, that character's individual spells will level up. All of your characters can also use magic. While it is basically impossible to make a good hybrid character, the option is definitely appreciated. This type of leveling really opens up your strategy options.
The story is less rigid than the first Final Fantasy. There are also more twists and dramatic points. The characters are much less watered down than the first Final Fantasy installment. The game also isn't as vague as the first Final Fantasy. Unlike it's predecessor, Final Fantasy II does a decent job leading you to your next mission or item. Instead of having to travel the globe speaking to every single character or guessing where you have to go next, this sequel does a nice job guiding you around the game.
Final Fantasy II is not without shortcomings. The game still had the average graphics of its predecessor. The music was forgettable, but still decent. The game was also stretched out longer than it probably needed to be. You still weren't allowed to save in the dungeons, which would have been a nice improvement.
This game is definitely an improvement over the first Final Fantasy game. It's not for everybody, but definitely worth playing if you want to see origins of many Final Fantasy influences. It might also be beneficial to play the Final Fantasy Origins version of Final Fantasy II. This Playstation version upgraded the music, graphics, game play, and added a game saving feature to help out in the dungeons.