Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy for NES was released in 1988 in Japan. Like many people of that time, I only get to play it in mid 90’s when NeoDemiforce made a fan translation of the game in English. Final Fantasy II remains a classic, for it is noted to start many of the Final Fantasy famous recurring themes, such as Cid and Chocobo.

In terms of gameplay, it is the first to feature character names, and a simple version of dialogue between the playable characters and NPC. It is not as efficient as other Final Fantasy games to come, but it was enough to make gamers hooked up to the game. In terms of character differences, there is little to be said. Each one of the playable characters has no difference other than their character palletes. It is up to the players to actually specialise a character as a particular weapon or magic user.

The skill system used in Final Fantasy II differ greatly from other Final Fantasy games. There is no level-based system. You gain more skill in a particular area as you use more of the skill. Like for example, if you want a character to be more proficient in sword, then the more and more that character uses sword in battle, the higher the skill he has in using sword. This does not apply to other weapons though, as there are 16 different weapon skills in this game, and were it your choice, you can have all characters master all areas. The same goes with magic.

You can see why this caused many gamers to somewhat complain about the skill system. It is tedious and you would spend many time just increasing characters statistics this way. And I tell you, it is difficult to gain stats in this game, were it not for a fine trick, if you know what I mean.

The storyline is direct to the point. A group of rebels, led by the main playable characters, fights an evil empire bent on destroying and conquering the entire world, led by a mischiveous emperor. The empire is huge, has thousand of armies, while the rebels are just a small group, but somehow managed to pull through till the end.

For a classic Final Fantasy, this is one of those games you have to play, if you are a Final Fantasy fan.