Final Fantasy II

Cutting through the darkness, a ball of light forms in the palm of a magician’s hand. Is he good or evil? His long nails and jewelry-laden horns might help you draw a conclusion. The fiery image fades into a quaint, once-peaceful town that’s being burned to the ground. Its inhabitants are trying to flee, some with more success than others. The scene is instantly reminiscent of Nibelheim from Final Fantasy VII, which also suffered the fate of an evil man with too much power.

It’s not long before the town’s structures start to break. As fire climbs a bell tower, the upper half loosens, collapsing toward the screen in a scene so intense you can almost feel it crumble.

The focus shifts from the town’s demise to a group of young warriors attempting to escape. One of the escapees, a young and frightened woman, is nearly finished when she stumbles in the presence of a knight. Typically thought of as the good guys, these knights are friends to no one. They’re taller than the average human, they walk slow and clunky like robots, and their bodies are covered in sword-proof armor. The knight’s attempt to strike the girl is blocked by one of her valiant comrades, who wards off (but is unable to kill) the attacker. Another knight is knocked down when two well-aimed knives are thrown past his armor and into his face.

Unaffected by the assault, the knight gets up and continues to pursue the runaway warriors, who manage to escape through the woods. They end their run after reaching the mountains. All they can do is watch as their homes go up in smoke. From this moment forward, their days will revolve around revenge and the struggle to restore peace. (Cue the title screen and Final Fantasy theme music…)

Thus begins the tale of Final Fantasy II, an epic RPG reborn for a new platform and a new audience of role-players. Join Firion, Guy, Maria and others as they fight to destroy the emperor of Palamecia. The game’s introduction, presented for the first time in beautiful computer animation, centers on these three heroes in the aforementioned scenario. It is their families, their homes, and their happiness that have been taken away. It’s just the catalyst gamers need to ensure they don’t lose interest in another lengthy Fantasy.

Cast…Away!

To me, the most defining character elements are those connected to each character’s story. But some players are more concerned with character individuality in battle – that is, the number of unique attacks each party member can perform. As a Final Fantasy that came long before PSone, FFII does not allow attacks, magic or otherwise, to be equipped. Every move is specific to one type of character.

The starting lineup is not too shocking: lots of physical attacks and very little magic. Firion is a swordsman, Maria uses a bow and arrow, and Guy hits hard with an axe. Minwu, a powerful magician, brings healing and protection-based magic to your party. He can also cure status ailments and revive the dead.

The first few battles are over very quickly and are generally a sign of things to come. Attacks are turn-based without any of the time-advancement features present in the more recent Final Fantasy games. You strike, they strike, repeat. Some monsters seem to have an agility advantage, allowing them to attack first. But that isn’t the norm.

Since the game is two-dimensional, spells and standard attacks do not involve more than a few frames of animation. As a result, the average monster encounter can be finished in a couple of minutes. When your characters grow stronger, the weaker battles could be over in less than 60 seconds.

This speed, while superior to RPGs with longer battle times, comes at a price – FFII’s encounter rate is exorbitantly high. You can’t step out of town and explore the world map without feeling encroached by enemies, nor will you be able to enter a cave without being bombarded. Anyone who plays RPGs has likely endured this kind of thing before. You may have also had teeth removed when you were a kid – but I doubt that means you’d like to go through it again. My advice is to get comfortable with FFII’s repetitions within the first couple of hours. That way you can stay focused on completing the quest as a whole, which is where this game is most enjoyable.

Ye Fight, Ye Lost, Ye Find a Better Way

You already know that the average monster encounter is short, but what about those that aren’t? There are many tough-as-nails moments where, in order to win, FFII will challenge players to use every tool at their disposal. If you read my preview, then you know about the no-win situations that are nothing more than death traps. But there are also battles that feel like death traps that actually can be won.

In a cave near the town of Salamand (one of the many places you’ll visit), I encountered an enemy known only as “Sergeant.” He was guarding an important item and the resulting battle felt helpless. My attacks rarely inflicted damage, while his were strong enough to wipe out half of one character’s HP in a single blow. Minwu didn’t have any useful magic attacks at this time. However, his list did include a defense-raising spell called Protect. After casting Protect on Firion, I noticed that Sergeant’s attacks were no longer inflicting damage. Every strike came up with zero HP reduction. I then cast Protect on the remaining party members, which only allowed a few attacks to get through.

Several minutes passed before I was able to wear down the enemy’s HP. Here I was with four warriors that were too weak and inexperienced to win the battle. In most other RPGs, even other Final Fantasy games, you’d have to gain experience and return to the area before that enemy could be defeated. FFII paved the way for a better solution, one that’s only discovered by experimenting with what you already have. It’s not brilliant by today’s standards, but it still rocks.

New-Gen Power

FFII looks and sounds better on PSP than on any other platform. The music is the best part, undoubtedly because it came from Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of FFI – FFX. He was still fairly new to game composing at the time of FFII’s creation, but you wouldn’t know it listening to the soundtrack. Its thumping battle songs, heroic entry tunes and engrossing character themes help advance the story as much as they secure a position for this game in our hearts.

The graphics aren’t as memorable, but do have some positive elements, particularly the volume of colors found in each town. If you were to look only at FFII’s backgrounds, you’d swear this was made for the SNES. But take a glance at the characters, whose shapes are often similar and whose eyes never differ, and the reality that this was once an NES game comes crashing back.

Text is displayed very clearly on the PSP’s widescreen, making it easy to read every story development. In addition to the English setting, messages may also be displayed in Japanese and Japanese Kana. This isn’t a feature the average player will utilize, but should be appreciated by the few American gamers who know Japanese and prefer their RPGs to be in that language.

Gameplay: 7.9
Exciting turn-based battles that grow tiring from time to time. The strategic elements are the most interesting. Rather than pressing the X button to attack until every foe has been defeated, there are times when you’ll have to think about which moves should be made. Unquestionably, those are the best moments of Final Fantasy II’s battle system.

Graphics: 6.0
Looks good, not great. Final Fantasy II is prettier on PSP but is still dated. I wasn’t expecting next-gen visuals but was hoping for that quintessential retro look – you know, the one that looks old but inspired, thereby avoiding the classification of being a dated game.

Sound: 8.7
Remastered to take advantage of the PSP’s audio capabilities (which far surpass the other systems this game appeared on), Final Fantasy II should be on every RPG lover’s “must hear” list of great soundtracks.

Difficulty: Medium
Much more challenging than the recent crop of Final Fantasy games.

Concept: 8.0
This upgraded port shines with improved audio (the original soundtrack is still intact), better graphics, and a solid story translation.

Overall: 8.0
For anyone who loves great music, older RPG battle systems, and a good story that’s told solely through text messages, Final Fantasy II is a must-own.