Final Fantasy 2/II - Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy II (2) is the second installment of the flagship Final Fantasy series. The fantasy RPG game was originally produced by Square (Later to become Square Enix) and released in 1988 for use on the Nintendo Entertainment Series exclusively in the Japanese market. The game was later released worldwide and has been adopted for play on the Gameboy advance, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, and other systems.
It was released as Final Fantasy II and was directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, scored by Nobuo Uematsu. In charge of character design and concept art was Yoshitaka Amano. Though directly following Final Fantasy I, the sequel did not contain any characters or places from the first game. The game centers on four youths whose parents were killed in an army invasion of the empire of Palamecia. The empire wishes to achieve world domination using their hellspawn. The story follows their fight against the Empire, their collaboration with members of the rebellion, and various struggles and quests to return the world to peace.
Prologue
A long-lived peace...is at an end. The emperor of Palamecia has called forth monsters from the underworld... and has begun his campaign for world conquest. A rebel army arose in the Kingdom of Fynn to thwart the emperor's plan. But the rebels' castle fell to an all-out assault by the empire. Left with little choice, the rebels withdrew to the remote town of Altair. Four youths from Fynn also found themselves fleeing the imperial forces. They had lost their parents at the hands of the empire. But their escape wasn't over…
Final Fantasy II Plot
The game begins and Firion, Maria, and Guy are attacked Black Knight Palamecian soldiers, but saved by Princess Hilda, who has established a rebel base in the town of Altair after her kingdom Fynn was attacked by the Emperor. Hilda does not allow them to join the rebels due to a lack of experience. The three depart for Fynn to find Leon; there encounter a dying Kashuan prince named Scott. Scott is Hilda's fiancé, who tells them that Borghen left the rebellion and became a General in the Imperial army. The party returns to Altair to inform Hilda, who allows them to join the rebellion and tasks them with finding mythril.
The party travels to the village of Salamand, saves the enslaved villagers, kills Borghen, and retrieves mythril. They are then sent to the city of Bafsk to halt construction of the airship Dreadnought; which takes off as they arrive. The group acquires Sunfire, a weapon capable of destroying the Dreadnought. They watch helplessly as Hilda and her airship are captured by the Dreadnought. The party rescues Hilda and throws the Sunfire into the Dreadnought’s engine when it lands to resupply. The party runs into a knight that Maria thinks is Leon.
On his deathbed the King of Fynn asks the party to find the Dragoons of Deist. But once in Deist they learn that only one Dragoon is alive. They place an egg in a wyvern cavern, return to Altair, once more to rescue Hilda, and reclaim Fynn from the empire’s forces.
They travel west to find a powerful magic tool and join the last Dragoon on the way. When they return to Fynn they discover it has been destroyed by a cyclone summoned by the Emperor. The party takes the newly born last wyvern to take them to a castle inside the cyclone. They defeat the emperor but a wounded Fynn soldier states that Leon assumed rule of the empire and plans to destroy the Rebels.
In the castle of Palamecia the party confronts Leon. The Emperor is then reincarnated in a demonic form, saying returned from Hell with the intention of destroying the world. With Leon and the wyvern, the party escapes. The castle becomes Pandaemonium, the castle of hell. Leon agrees to join the group and forever seal away the Emperor. They travel to the Jade Passage, an underground passage to the underworld, and find the portal to Pandaemonium, and defeat the Emperor. After, Leon wishes to leave out of guilt, but Firion assures him that he will be welcome when he returns.
Gameplay
Final Fantasy II breaks with the previous game in its experience system. Instead of earning experience after each battle, players increase their skill in a certain category by using that category. For example, using magic would increase magic efficacy and potential, or, taking more damage results in more HP experience.
Bugs existed in the first releases, allowing players to abuse the experience system. Character statistics include hit points, magic points, strength, agility, intelligence, spirit, vitality/stamina, magic power, attack, accuracy, defense, evasion and magic defense. The gameplay is similar to its predecessor, where players can roam through various landscapes and dungeons to complete quests and acquire items. A menu system allows the player to utilize various equipment and items.
A memorization system is introduced in which players can ‘ask about’ or ‘memorize’ certain NPC phrases that can be used later to gain items or in other NPC dialogues. The game uses the turn based combat system of the first game, but allows for combat with less than four characters, which was not possible in the first game. In battle, players may choose from attack, magic, items, or flee. It also allows characters to move closer or step back in battle, affecting the attacks they may use and how they may be attacked by the enemy.
Random encounters with enemies and bosses occur, and victory results in greater strength and skill. The player can suffer from permanent or temporary ailments during and after battle, and must use spells or items to cure themselves. Venom, Sleep, Silence, Mini, Paralysis, Confuse, Darkness, Poison, Curse, Amnesia, Toad, Petrify, and KO.
Characters
Final Fantasy II introduces characters who appear again in the franchise, including the Chocobo and Cid Highwind, Dragoons and unlike the first game, focuses on the character history, development and identity.
A list of the game’s characters:
- Firion- Main character. He wishes to avenge his family and bring down the empire of Palacia. Adopted by Leon’s family and is befriended by Maria.
- Maria- Main character and the female lead. Friends of Firion and Guy since childhood. She often worries about her brother Leon, who disappeared.
- Guy- Main character. Friend of Maria and Firion who is able to speak with animals.
- Minwu- Skillful mage that joins the group in the beginning of their adventures. A white mage that advises Hilda.
- Josef- Miner that works with the resistance and helps them acquire mythril.
- Gordon- Prince of Kashuan who fled the battle of Fynn after his brother Scott died. He looks down on himself as a coward, and to prove himself fit for the throne accompanies the main party on their expeditions against the empire.
- Leila- Pirate who attacks the group but loses and eventually relents, joining their fight against the empire.
- Richard- Dragoon of Deist. For a long time he was stuck in Leviathan, and is now eager to aid the resistance.
- Leon- Maria’s brother that went missing. He becomes the new Dark Knight of Palamecia and is devoted to the empire.
- Scott- Gordon’s older brother and the prince of Kashuan.