A fair and thorough review. I finally just played through FF II a couple of years ago (the PS1 version). It didn't remotely deserve the hate it gets, but it's still among my least favorite entries in the series. This game introduced a lot of ideas that weren't properly executed until later entries.
Experimentation could yield some uneven results. Zelda II is a great example. Nothing about the game is bad on its surface, it is just not as well executed as it could be. Another side-scrolling Zelda game has a lot of fun potential.
I tried this one, sucked at it and found it interesting when I did try it in the late 'aughts' (unlike Alexander Hellene not the early ones lol), it was a fascinating game. I didn't make it very far but watched a playthrough and found it even more interesting, I'm not the most skilled gamer so that I really appreciated the skill it requires. My eldest brother I believe has beaten it.
The story is the strong point here, with the Emperor really being quite the character, I always believed that he served as a major inspiration for later villains in the FF series. Great review.
I seem to dimly recall there being a Final Fantasy II NES cartridge. I think I played it. It obviously wasn't released at retailers.
What I love about this game is the story and characters. People swap in and out of the party at various story stages, and their stories flesh out the world in meaningful ways. (That dude who saved the party from a falling boulder stands out!) The Big Bad is like the Biggest Bad ever: Dude dies, kills god, flies to hell, kills the devil, and returns to join the three worlds into a massive cluster-verse! Most importantly, this is also the first time we see chocobos!
The keyword system of FF2 is kinda neat, but not all that useful.
The graphics and music are great.
The weird progression system is the biggest hangup for most players. I don't like it because it encourages exploitation to make numbers go up.
My understanding is that all of the first three games were programmed by one guy, Nasir Gebelli, who had overstayed a visa and they had to finish production in San Francisco. So this game was made in the US, but not released here. Wild.
But yeah, I forgive him because the game shines through.
I streamed the 3D remake and while I liked it a lot, it was much, much easier (aka “more balanced”) than the NES original Not having to deal with enemies that overfill the screen, even when every enemy is buffed, really reduces the craziness.
A fair and thorough review. I finally just played through FF II a couple of years ago (the PS1 version). It didn't remotely deserve the hate it gets, but it's still among my least favorite entries in the series. This game introduced a lot of ideas that weren't properly executed until later entries.
Experimentation could yield some uneven results. Zelda II is a great example. Nothing about the game is bad on its surface, it is just not as well executed as it could be. Another side-scrolling Zelda game has a lot of fun potential.
Remember when the second installment in a flagship Nintendo series would be totally different than its predecessor?
I tried this one, sucked at it and found it interesting when I did try it in the late 'aughts' (unlike Alexander Hellene not the early ones lol), it was a fascinating game. I didn't make it very far but watched a playthrough and found it even more interesting, I'm not the most skilled gamer so that I really appreciated the skill it requires. My eldest brother I believe has beaten it.
The story is the strong point here, with the Emperor really being quite the character, I always believed that he served as a major inspiration for later villains in the FF series. Great review.
I seem to dimly recall there being a Final Fantasy II NES cartridge. I think I played it. It obviously wasn't released at retailers.
What I love about this game is the story and characters. People swap in and out of the party at various story stages, and their stories flesh out the world in meaningful ways. (That dude who saved the party from a falling boulder stands out!) The Big Bad is like the Biggest Bad ever: Dude dies, kills god, flies to hell, kills the devil, and returns to join the three worlds into a massive cluster-verse! Most importantly, this is also the first time we see chocobos!
The keyword system of FF2 is kinda neat, but not all that useful.
The graphics and music are great.
The weird progression system is the biggest hangup for most players. I don't like it because it encourages exploitation to make numbers go up.
I liked that so many characters died. Gave some weight to the story.
Yep, but I admit it got heavily melodramatic at some times.
Oh and before I forget, this is also the first game where we meet Cid! (or Cyd, or Sid, or however your translator spells it).
My understanding is that all of the first three games were programmed by one guy, Nasir Gebelli, who had overstayed a visa and they had to finish production in San Francisco. So this game was made in the US, but not released here. Wild.
But yeah, I forgive him because the game shines through.
I streamed the 3D remake and while I liked it a lot, it was much, much easier (aka “more balanced”) than the NES original Not having to deal with enemies that overfill the screen, even when every enemy is buffed, really reduces the craziness.