Was FINAL FANTASY II Actually That BAD?!

Disclaimer: SORRY for the loud music audio
Was FINAL FANTASY II really as bad as everyone says it is? Is it really the worst FF game ever made? Let's find out

I also got the platinum trophy while playing, it was easy and fun to go for, basically just have to 100% the game. Looking forward to playing Final Fantasy 3 next

SOURCES for STEAM Review used in the video from Daniel Feneck:

[hvhs]

Masamune was in the original game just before facing Tiamat the second time near the end of the game.

[jesseherman]

The quality of life updates really help this game. Its still a shame that the bonus dungeon isnt around. I enjoyed the backstory of the destroy spell and the guy doomed to spend an eternity protecting it.

[kotowaza-sensei]

I was always hesitant to try it because everybody bashed it. But I tried the pixel remaster and loved it!

[gamedeuschronus]

I don't care what anyone says, I loved FF2. I've only ever played the pixel remaster but I still enjoyed it a lot. The leveling system is different and innovative but it's not a deal breaker. The story is fantastic and the music is phenomenal. Eventually I'll play every version of FF2. The one complaint I have is that your last character is always rotating, which is odd considering you can't expect to max that character's stats because there's essentially no point if they die off later in the game. But being able to dual-wield is fun as hell! And giving anyone any spell in the game is wild, I enjoyed the progression of my spells the more I use them.

[chandlerlowell]

Man came across this randomly. Instantly got my like and subscribe. The 333 subscribers is absolutely not reflective of the quality. Great audio sound and volume, good video structure. Good editing and background visuals. We need to get this guy’s stuff out there is this is top tier in my opinion. Good stuff man.

[JanusHoW]

The Teleport and Toad spells absolutely destroy 90% of the game once you get them. Both sre effectively instant-death spells, but you can access them much earlier than the actual Death spell, and work on far more enemies, even most bosses.

[murkywaters]

Cool video. While Final Fantasy 2 is not a game I'd really play for fun, it has some merit as paving the way for things that would come later, those things namely being Final Fantasy solidifying its direction away from the quirks of Final Fantasy 2 and the SaGa series. Maybe if Final Fantasy 2 was originally localized for territories outside of Japan and if it had been positively received then Final Fantasy and JRPGs would probably be a lot different.

[SirJoelsuf]

Fun Fact: FF9's pandemonium is the song you hear at 29:40, only slowed down.

[Cyril]

28:37 Kain's last name in IV is also Highwind.
Also the King of Tycoon in V is named Alexander Highwind Tycoon, though I'm not sure if his full name is ever mentioned in the game.

The battle mechanics of this game really do feel like a prototype of the SaGa series sometimes.

[Khalith]

I’ve been playing the pixel remasters and using the boost options. Holy crap has it made the experience so much more enjoyable. I remember playing the old versions on roms and they were brutal. I don’t care if they trivialize things a bit, I’d rather have a fun gameplay experience.

[bryansmith]

i actually really like final fantasy 2, despite its flaws. I've beaten the nes version twice, and the pixel remaster twice. the battle system is actually a really unique, intuitive, and natural way to level up, despite its flaws. pixel remaster is the way to go, but if i had to pick flaws, the battle system obviously, lack of end game grinding/unique high level monsters to keep it interesting, lack of optional side quests which considering its an nes game is understandable, and the dungeon 'doors to nowhere' ugh. the music is just great. i love this game though.

EDIT: another minor qualm i have with this game is the bosses. often times, the bosses are just higher level monsters that you eventually fight later in the game. in other ff games, they have unique bosses that aren't just high level monsters.

[DrewSwenson]

Played it for the first time as the Pixel Remaster. After doing some grinding in the early zones, I ended up over leveled for most of the game. Not ridiculously powerful but strong enough to continue without much trouble. Additionally I would just hit optimize and my party would swap weapons. Eventually they all ended up skilled with most weapons.

[abhirao]

'The fantasy is missing as it is grounded too much in topics of war'

That is such a bizarre statement it doesn't make sense to me.

[Sairiui]

I see you renamed the cast to later FF games.

When I play FF7, I'll be sure to do the same and rename Cloud, Tifa, and Barret to Firion, Maria, and Guy respectively to balance the pettiness.

[markkatain]

I really like Final Fantasy II- I always have. I stick Maria in the front row and make her use swords. Make Firion a white mage, Maria a black mage, and Guy a support. I've never done the nonsense where you hit yourself to get stronger- I just play the game and only grind for less than 5 minutes when I'm in over my head in an area (which isn't too often). Darker story, great soundtrack, tight experience than be finished in under 10 hours. I like it a lot! This game gets way, way too much hate. Same with FFVIII.

[Chelaxim]

No it just isn't made for casual JRPG fans. Think about it, the people who hate Final Fantasy II...what do they think of other 8 bit JRPGs and what do they think about the SaGa franchise? Final Fantasy II is both of those. People say the Mastery system is "good in theory but bad in execution" are lying to themselves. They have redone the mastery system for Final Fantasy II 6 times, there's 12 SaGa games, The Legend of Legacy and The Alliance Alive (both were made by former SaGa staff members) if they haven't thought it has worked even a single time...they just don't like the Mastery system. Final Fantasy II "wastes your time" as much as any other 8 bit RPG. Ys I is only 6 hours long but it would be about 3 if it wasn't for the backtracking. People in the west legally only got Final Fantasy II in 2003 so it was going to be seen as archaic no matter what. Even judging it to the SaGa series it came across as archaic, it came out 4 years after SaGa Frontier II.
😊

[lendrigangames]

My first experience with FF2 was a translated rom, and my first full playthrough was Dawn Of Souls on the GBA. The training style of character growth, I had already enjoyed in Daggerfall and Quest For Glory, so while it did take me off guard at first, I figured out an optimal way of grinding, which involved putting a shield in the dominant hand, nothing in the other hand, and a weight on the A button. They'd punch themselves in the shield while I walked away, and when I got back, they'd reach the next tier of monk damage. I laughed when the Emperor claimed to be "beyond the hand of man, " and then my party punched him to death pretty quickly.
Of course, the experience was helped by the fact that Dawn Of Souls actively increases how quickly character get powerful, thus reducing grind times.

[pauldyson]

FFII is pretty low on my list, but I don't hate it. I really like rotating fourth characters, Minwu in particular.
I also appreciate what they were trying to do with the leveling system, even if it is clunky and easily abused.

[portaalchemica]

Biggs and Wedge first appear as characters in Final Fantasy 6, not 7.

[jonathanhargraves]

Just beat the PSX version of the game today! I love this game, despite all of its flaws. My biggest problems with the game were that the game had a nack for being annoying, either for the sake of padding or from not properly implementing mechanics.

Dungeons regressed from FFl thanks to adding empty rooms with forced battles, which makes maps a must have. Magic leveling took too long since magic increased by 1 point per use, meaning you'd have to cast a spell 100 times before it raised up a level; the exception to this was Cure since you could cast it multiple times in the overworld if your party was low health, and it would raise by 2 points per use. Without the cursor select bug, you'd never get proper use of magic except for buff spells if you used them enough.

Even if you were willing to level up these spells individually, only a select few spells have any real uses. These spells are: Osmose at any level, Holy/Flare if you get them high enough, Cure, Life, Berserk, Haste, Shield/Shell, Warp at any level, Blink, and a high level Swap if you plan on increasing your MP and HP. All of the buff spells are useful at any point, but I can't say the same for offensive spells at all.

Almost all enemies that get annihilated by a type advantage spell are killed just as easily with simple attacks, although Holy and Flare are good for all enemies with high physical defense. The same can't be said for Ultima, which is this game's ultimate disappointment. The wrath of the ancients said to annihilate ancient evil gets out done by *EVERY* spell that can deal damage, with Flare 16 dealing 1000 damage less than Flare 16 at a measly 560 damage, and getting outclassed by Holy 10 by over 500 damage. The coveted war-ending spell that people died trying to obtain is completely obsolete in comparison to everything short of a wooden staff, all according to the developer's flawed intentions. There is basically no reason you should use offensive spells after the beginning of the game outside of pure curiosity, since you can do just about anything with a Berserk or Haste cast.

There is also the 4th party member slot, which is less of an issue compared to everything else, but still. You get temporary party members of various strength, who range from being above average to deadweight. Since the game assumes how much experience you have at certain points in the game, you typically get members who only serve as a fourth member and nothing more. The exceptions to this are Mindu, a powerful white mage for the early game, and Leila and Josef, who are strong fighters with an Ice Bow and unarmed respectively. Excluding Leon, if your fourth party member is underleveled, they are going to stay that way until they leave your party since there is no point in powering them up.

These are my main gripes with this game, and they are singlehandedly responsible for giving this game a bad wrap. If you get around this game's status as a black sheep, however, you get to experience one of the unique RPGs around. You get a grim war story with a heavier narrative than in FF1, with a depressing story where victories are almost always followed up by another loss, music that pairs excellently with the courageous but hopeless, and a flawed but functional experience system that allows for a lot of replayability. This game is good, and Final Fantasy as a series only got better from here. Whenever you get the chance to, you should give this game a try.