Final Fantasy Project - Final Fantasy II

A few weeks ago IGN wanted to know which Final Fantasy characters were the most popular. Of course, I had a pretty good idea that Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII would win. When it was all said and done, Cloud had indeed been named the most popular character. I was pleased. The process was pretty simple. Two characters would be shown on the webpage, and you would click on who you liked more. I spent a lot of time on the page clicking on my favorite characters.

 Throughout the process I saw several characters that I simply was not familiar with, as I had only played the following Final Fantasy games: I, IV(briefly), VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII (briefly).

Therefore, there are only seven games that I have somewhat strong memories of, when it comes to the characters and story. Then I had a strong desire to go back and play through all of the main Final Fantasy games in chronological order. I have played through the first Final Fantasy three or four times already, so I decided to start with Final Fantasy II.

I played this version of FFI a few years ago, I believe, and I liked the updated graphics. There was the Playstation 1 Final Fantasy Origins that also contained FFI and FFII, but I never owned it. So, this would be my first attempt at FFII.



Reviewing the game isn't my goal here, but I do want to document my experience with it. Right away, the game seemed to have a lot more plot than the first Final Fantasy (which I absolutely love, by the way). The characters were actually characters and not generic fighters or mages. They came with names and personalities (somewhat). I didn't find myself loving the characters like I have with other Final Fantasy games, but I didn't dislike them either.

 The battle system is pretty much the standard Final Fantasy style with HP and MP, and you can use items and even switch out your weapons in the middle of battle. What I found interesting was that you do not level up like normal. If you want to have more HP, then you need to take damage. If you want more MP, then you need to use your spells. I suppose it's a more natural progression than simply getting enough experience points to reach the next level, thus increasing your stats. It allows you to make your characters whatever you would like them to be. A lot of grinding is required, but I never minded the hours of battles just to make my characters stronger.

I really enjoyed playing through this game. The story was decent, and the gameplay definitely felt like a Final Fantasy game should.  As usual, the music was great, too. 

My Rating: ****

Now on to Final Fantasy III (Nintendo DS)!