Even if there is nostalgia value, I cannot really defend FFII much. I think it is one of the weakest installments of the series.

The combat is pretty similar to FFI, but it has a different leveling system. You essentially level your stats by either using them or RNG after battles. You have basically have random stats increasing at random chances. Maybe this was innovative at the time, but it really felt annoying. I also thought that for some reason the encounter rate was far more frequent and annoying... I felt like I was getting random encounters every 2 steps in dungeons. Maybe it wasn't more than FFI, but the dungeons were at least far larger and more annoying.

On the good side, the pixel art (similar to FFI) makes the game pretty bearable, and I think it aged relatively well. But this doesn't mean it could make up for the flaws. Additionally, although it has a more complete story than FFI, neither has a particularly compelling story at all... you are not playing these games for the story.

Honestly, if you are going through the FF games in order, definitely give this a go. If you are looking for a fun stimulating game, this is not the game.

This game was not great when it first came out on the famicom, and while this remaster does a lot to help it in terms of gameplay, it is not enough for me to recommend as an actually good game. Its not terrible, but if you only want to play the good Final Fantasy games, maybe steer clear from this one.

ePIk
No Brad ward