First Impression Review: Save file is two hours and forty minutes in and I've only completed the first dungeon. That said, I've played the NES and GBA versions. Final Fantasy 2! If you're here and willing to spend 10bux on this, you either already know what you're getting into, or you're in for a rude awakening.

Final Fantasy II was originally a NES game, and I'm still surprised they managed to cram as much plot as they did onto the NES cart. The plot wasn't that in-depth, mind, but they still had the story on there. The story, by the bi, is basically Star Wars. Yes, Star Wars. All of it. Somehow the creators predicted even the sequel movies back in the early nineties when this game originally released on consoles. I don't know how they did it, but somehow they did it.

You play as a group of four war orphans when The Empire overruns a castle somewhere on... this single continent that somehow wraps around the entire world. Bad stuff happens and the kids try to run away, but The Black Horsemen have horses and aren't taking prisoners or letting children escape. Somehow everyone miraculously survives the game, but when you play through the first battle, it's demonstrating that one character is in the back row. The fight is over in a single turn in this version of the game. In previous versions, it took two turns because enemies couldn't target the back row until everyone in the front row had been defeated. In this version, as with most FF games using this combat style, characters in the back row merely take half damage from physical attacks.

This... is problematic. Most people are going to try to play the game traditionally, using their full party to the best of its ability. As kind as the game is to let those who've played it before know it's changing the rules, there's a bit of a problem with its take on the experience system. For those not in the know, FF2 uses a sort of proto-skyrim skill system. Attacking with swords raises your sword skill, strength, and accuracy. Using magic raises your MP and the stat that governs how effective you are at magic. Raise your levels with swords to attack more than once per turn. It's pretty neat stuff.

The problem is, to raise your Evasion levels (which is necessary in order to dodge attacks from enemies that get more than one attack), you need to be targeted by a lot of attacks. Like, an obscene number of attacks. An amount of potential incoming damage that you should not expect to find yourself facing if you try to end random battles quickly. Playing the game normally, everything should be fine through the first dungeon. The boss at the end, as well as the monster lurking in the treasure chest just beyond him, will be a challenge, but it's not impossible. It's the point where you start facing enemies with multiple attacks that you're going to get in trouble. I've yet to get that far myself as of this writing, since I'm only a few hours in and spent the last forty minutes of that 2:40 on my save file just going toe to toe with the enemy soldiers just hanging around Castle Town.

They still drop the Toad tome. I don't remember the Captain fleeing mid-battle on the NES version, but you can get the best spell in the game right after training in the first dungeon. The Toad spell is amazing in this game and it's part of why I love FF2 so much in spite of all its flaws. You can turn most enemies into a toad. You can turn boss units into toads. You can turn The Emperor into a toad! ...in the NES and GBA versions, anyway. I haven't tested that in this version.

Now, for all the love I give this game, it has its flaws, and those flaws are hard to miss. The encounter rate borders on suikoden IV-V levels of ridiculous, and it's only made worse by the designers placing a bunch of dummy rooms in each dungeon that contain nothing but an increased encounter rate and probably an ambush. And, just in case that wasn't frustrating enough, most of the chests you're going to find contain nothing significant. By the time you reach The Tower, or The Dragon Cave, you're likely to have run out of things to buy that aren't consumables, but you'll still find chests with negligible amounts of money in them. But, you've got to know what's inside, no?

At least you don't have to worry about the diminishing inventory space that made the NES game an exercise in travelling light for your expedition. This isn't the only Quality of Life improvement present in this version of the game, by the bi. You don't have to worry about your spell stats dropping when you use an attack, so feel free to let your magic-wielder attack every once in a while. Or often! Give your black mage some white magic! Spice things up a little bit! Heck, maybe even do what I do and just leave two of your starting characters dead and run the game solo with a little bit of everything! This game spoils you for overpowered character building options, but if you don't know what you're doing, it can be downright cruel.

If you're a beginner, spend some time in the starting room and get to know how your stats work. I assure you, you'll want to have your Evasion skill leveled up, not because it makes you nearly invincible, but because you'll be facing enemies that have life-drain on each attack that drains for a flat percentage of your health and heals themselves for every bit of damage they do to you, and other enemies just have insta-petrify if they can land a single hit.

My only real complaint so far is that they took out all the skeletons that used to be in the place where you rescue the townsfolk of Salamand. I get why they did it; it was some morbid imagery. But I miss the little stuff like that.

Oh, and I guess they probably fixed the bug that lets you turn the final boss into a toad. I'll complain about that too, unless I get that far and am still able to turn him into a toad. Then I'll take it back. Also, what the heck is up with Firion? I just noticed Firion is good at make-up. Is Firion trans? Is that why we can't switch Maria into the lead spot for the lamia seduction scene in any of the non-NES versions of this game? I mean, it's weird, you don't have to be trans to get seduced by a lamia, but most people who get seduced by lamias are either trans or furry, and Firion isn't the one who talks to beavers....

First Impression Review: Save file is two hours and forty minutes in and I've only completed the first dungeon. That said, I've played the NES and GBA versions. Final Fantasy 2! If you're here and willing to spend 10bux on this, you either already know what you're getting into, or you're in for a rude awakening. Final Fantasy II was originally a NES game, and I'm still surprised they managed to cram as much plot as they did onto the NES cart. The plot wasn't that in-depth, mind, but they still had the story on there. The story, by the bi, is basically Star Wars. Yes, Star Wars. All of it. Somehow the creators predicted even the sequel movies back in the early nineties when this game originally released on consoles. I don't know how they did it, but somehow they did it. You play as a group of four war orphans when The Empire overruns a castle somewhere on... this single continent that somehow wraps around the entire world. Bad stuff happens and the kids try to run away, but The Black Horsemen have horses and aren't taking prisoners or letting children escape. Somehow everyone miraculously survives the game, but when you play through the first battle, it's demonstrating that one character is in the back row. The fight is over in a single turn in this version of the game. In previous versions, it took two turns because enemies couldn't target the back row until everyone in the front row had been defeated. In this version, as with most FF games using this combat style, characters in the back row merely take half damage from physical attacks. This... is problematic. Most people are going to try to play the game traditionally, using their full party to the best of its ability. As kind as the game is to let those who've played it before know it's changing the rules, there's a bit of a problem with its take on the experience system. For those not in the know, FF2 uses a sort of proto-skyrim skill system. Attacking with swords raises your sword skill, strength, and accuracy. Using magic raises your MP and the stat that governs how effective you are at magic. Raise your levels with swords to attack more than once per turn. It's pretty neat stuff. The problem is, to raise your Evasion levels (which is necessary in order to dodge attacks from enemies that get more than one attack), you need to be targeted by a [i]lot[/i] of attacks. Like, an obscene number of attacks. An amount of potential incoming damage that you should not expect to find yourself facing if you try to end random battles quickly. Playing the game normally, everything should be fine through the first dungeon. The boss at the end, as well as the monster lurking in the treasure chest just beyond him, will be a challenge, but it's not impossible. It's the point where you start facing enemies with multiple attacks that you're going to get in trouble. I've yet to get that far myself as of this writing, since I'm only a few hours in and spent the last forty minutes of that 2:40 on my save file just going toe to toe with the enemy soldiers just hanging around Castle Town. [spoiler]They still drop the Toad tome. I don't remember the Captain fleeing mid-battle on the NES version, but you can get the best spell in the game right after training in the first dungeon. The Toad spell is amazing in this game and it's part of why I love FF2 so much in spite of all its flaws. You can turn most enemies into a toad. You can turn boss units into toads. You can turn The Emperor into a toad! ...in the NES and GBA versions, anyway. I haven't tested that in this version.[/spoiler] Now, for all the love I give this game, it has its flaws, and those flaws are hard to miss. The encounter rate borders on suikoden IV-V levels of ridiculous, and it's only made worse by the designers placing a bunch of dummy rooms in each dungeon that contain nothing but an increased encounter rate and probably an ambush. And, just in case that wasn't frustrating enough, most of the chests you're going to find contain nothing significant. By the time you reach The Tower, or The Dragon Cave, you're likely to have run out of things to buy that aren't consumables, but you'll still find chests with negligible amounts of money in them. But, you've got to know what's inside, no? At least you don't have to worry about the diminishing inventory space that made the NES game an exercise in travelling light for your expedition. This isn't the only Quality of Life improvement present in this version of the game, by the bi. You don't have to worry about your spell stats dropping when you use an attack, so feel free to let your magic-wielder attack every once in a while. Or often! Give your black mage some white magic! Spice things up a little bit! [spoiler]Heck, maybe even do what I do and just leave two of your starting characters dead and run the game solo with a little bit of everything![/spoiler] This game spoils you for overpowered character building options, but if you don't know what you're doing, it can be downright cruel. If you're a beginner, spend some time in the starting room and get to know how your stats work. I assure you, you'll want to have your Evasion skill leveled up, not because it makes you nearly invincible, but because you'll be facing enemies that have life-drain on each attack that drains for a flat percentage of your health and heals themselves for every bit of damage they do to you, and other enemies just have insta-petrify if they can land a single hit. My only real complaint so far is that they took out all the skeletons that used to be in the place where you rescue [spoiler]the townsfolk of Salamand[/spoiler]. I get why they did it; it was some morbid imagery. But I miss the little stuff like that. Oh, and I guess they probably fixed the bug that lets you turn the final boss into a toad. I'll complain about that too, unless I get that far and am still able to turn him into a toad. Then I'll take it back. [spoiler]Also, what the heck is up with Firion? I just noticed Firion is good at make-up. Is Firion trans? Is that why we can't switch Maria into the lead spot for the lamia seduction scene in any of the non-NES versions of this game? I mean, it's weird, you don't have to be trans to get seduced by a lamia, but most people who get seduced by lamias are either trans or furry, and Firion isn't the one who talks to beavers....[/spoiler]