Collection essentials #59: Final Fantasy II (NES)


You’ll notice that this is a Japanese release unlike Final Fantasy 1 from yesterday’s post. Final Fantasy II wasn’t originally released in America, mainly because the series was too late to get going there. Final Fantasy 1 didn’t come out in the U.S. until nearly two and a half years behind the original release in Japan, a month after the THIRD game had launched in the series’ home country. Final Fantasy II was nonetheless actively being worked on for an English release, but it eventually got canned as they realized it was taking too long and they were better off focusing on a timely release for the fourth game which was coming out on Nintendo’s impressive next console.


Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are the two huge old names in the world of JRPGs. Dragon Quest started the genre and had a very particular charm and style which captivated the Japanese public, and so the series embraced tradition and providing a familiar experience to the players as it continued, while Final Fantasy decided to be the more dynamic series that wasn’t afraid of change and trying new things. This is immediately apparent with the second installment, which does away with the common method of leveling up. In other words, when your characters win, they don’t gain experience points and reach a threshold of “leveling up” upon which their stats increase. Instead, in this game your characters’ stats and abilities will increase after a battle depending on their actions. For example, using a magic spell will make your character better at using that spell.


Final Fantasy II saw some very significant firsts for the series. Instead of having silent, customizable characters like the first game, Final Fantasy II’s main cast consists of characters that have names and pictures, and they are active participants in the game’s story. That sounds really basic, but in JRPGs it hadn’t been established as the norm yet. A couple other series traditions started here include having a character named Cid, and the appearance of a large yellow flightless bird called a chocobo that players can ride. Chocobos would go on to become a mascot of the series, and they have a fun and easily-recognizable musical theme that appears in just about every game in some form.


Unfortunately, Final Fantasy II is not considered an especially good game. The new gameplay mechanics are ambitious, but in practice don’t make for a smooth and enjoyable experience. The game has been remade several times, and the remakes are indeed improved, but even then virtually nobody considers this one of their favorite games in the series, or even close to that bar. This one’s an essential purely due to being an early entry in an excellent franchise.

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