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So i owned (own?) this one for the play station hand held. Your right its not bad, which also means "its not good either." Its neat.

I mostly agree, but leveling the spells can get too grindy at times. also a criticism for secret of mana, especially the remake that has an achievement for maxing all magic levels...

it might just be because of my prior experiences and some funny coincidences, but I played the port as my first ever exposure to the game and the series as a whole, and I had very few issues with it. -The dialogue didn't seem like a problem to me. Sure, characters do sometimes say obvious things and things that they probably wouldn't actually say out loud, but this is a very common thing in a lot of other similar games. It's very easy for me to just assume that some of these things would actually be thought instead of said. My only problem with the dialogue is that they do frequently repeat information that is obvious, like flashing back to snake's note about the game rules for the millionth time, but as the video points out, this happens in the original too. -I did not mind the inclusion of the flowchart at all. In fact, when I finished the game and went about recommending it to my friends, I didn't realize that the DS game lacked the flow chart. I could not imagine the game not having it, and I had to research the version differences a lot to figure this out. It is so nice to be able to jump around without having to start the whole game over, and I honestly don't know if I would have finished the game if I had played the DS version initially. However, I suspect this is for a few reasons. Firstly, I have played Danganronpa. Danganronpa has a feature that lets you essentially replay chapters of the game on the same save file in order to get missable content like free time events and whatnot, so when I saw the flowchart for the first time, I assumed it was just something minor like that. My prior experience with Danganronpa made me assume the flowchart was just a minor feature, which made the reveal that it was relevant all the more impactful. Let me explain exactly how I played the game, because It's a big part of why this worked so well for me. I saw every single bad ending before a single one of the good endings. After completing one timeline (4, 8, 6, Knife) I started over, making all different choices in order to fill out more of the flowchart (5, 7, 1, Axe). Then, I wanted to see what would happen if I took door 3, giving me the Sub ending. Before this point, I hadn't given much thought to the keys and locks, but now I knew I would have to figure out what they were for if I was going to figure out those pesky branches at the end. This was when I realized that all the timelines were connected, and that I would need to jump around to put all the pieces together. It took me a second to realize that unlocking the keys meant I had to replay the escape sections and actually see the new scenes. That's right, I got to see both versions of the Santa scene because I happened to stumble across the bad ending version first and only when I got investigative did I find the lore relevant one. Basically every single key scene after the first set of doors changes based on whether you have the previous keys or not, for example if you go door 7 there's a scene at the end of the escape room where Junpei tries to cheer Clover up, as she's obviously distraught over Snake being probably dead. If you went through door 5, Junpei isn't able to really get anywhere, but if you went through door 4 you have the option to give her the bookmark and there's a much longer conversation that explains important lore things. This reveal, that your path made a huge difference in the information you obtain, was the first majorly mind blowing thing in the game, and me gradually jumping around to see all of these expanded scenes was one of the most interesting parts of the whole game. What I'm trying to say is that, I believe the way I played the game just happened, by pure chance, to be the best possible way for me to experience it. I almost wish the game had some way of nudging the player to pick the bad routes first, because I think someone who happened upon the safe ending immediately and then went straight to the true ending would have a much different and worse experience with the game. Now, of course, the chances of this happening are pretty low, but they're not *that* low either. Luckily, the game was very clever and doesn't reveal the key and lock icons until after you reach an ending, but I still think it might be more likely for players to get the bad endings in the DS version. Without any explicit indication of the branching timelines until the proper in-game reveal at the end of the game, there's much less chance someone would try and cheat it and get the good endings first. -From what I can tell, yeah, the final puzzle is way worse in the port. This is the one major criticism I have of the port, as opposed to the other things which I don't agree with most of the criticism on. I haven't played the DS version of the game, but solving sodoku is infinitely more interesting than the complete non--puzzle present in the port. I genuinely have no idea what the puzzle in the port is supposed to be, it's just a bizarre arrangement of numbers and it's super obvious that the word at the bottom is supposed to be password. It was EXTREMELY anti climactic when I played it, because after fumbling around a few seconds trying to figure out what was going on, my very first guess was to put password there and won basically on accident. There was no interesting solving occuring, I just happened upon the solution, near instantly. This shit really sucked. Wow, this comment ended up being much longer than I thought it would. Similar to the making of this video, from the sounds of it. Speaking of, this video was really well made. For some slight critique, I think maybe you spent too long driving the point home on the first section, but if anything this strengthens your argument because it's kind of like doing exactly what the port did, so if you found the port as annoying as I thought this part of the video was, then I can see exactly what you mean. (I don't mean this to be rude in the slightest, I just thought that was an interesting observation.) I also really enjoyed how you included footage from other people's playthroughs, as it makes your arguments seem much more thought out. In general, this video feels like you have a really good understanding of why the game(s) made you feel the way you did, which is something not everyone can do.

The dumbest thing about Final Fantasy II is that it's possible to get into an encounter where you just instantly get TPK'd without being able to do anything because it was an ambush, one of the enemies decided to widecast Break VI, and the entire party gets petrified. GG no re. "I don't think the developers were expecting you to level up every single spell in the game." Considering how Ultima actually works, I'm not sure about that. The dumb thing scales with the sum of the other spells of the character using it or something like that.

People are more open to the system when I call it the Skyrim of Final Fantasy

i played the port and stuck to adventure mode the whole time, because i didnt know that the novel mode had additional narration… i wish the game had made this clearer, because i feel like i missed out on a lot!!!! i still liked the game a lot but damn

Lmao the monkeys xD

Do you know what this "ruining the game by hurting yourself to min max your characters" remind me of? MY FIRST PLAYTHROUGH OF FINAL FANTASY 8! where I tried to force myself to minmax my characters with the junction system and triple triad and cards, and all that bullshit, and it was so BORING! Remember folks: At least in your first playthrough, min-maxing and "meta" strats are the enemy of fun

eternarus coming forward earlier for the true final fight against the dynamax version works exactly the same as the current reveal/fight, but with a fight you can actually connect with and also 1000x more satisfying

Lolwut, nothing in the explanations was hard to grasp at the start.

i feel like everybody who says 2 is bad didn't really finish the game

Not even watching your video. Final fantasy two is a bad game

What annoyed me is that they introduced Max Raid battles where you vs a boss with 4 people. We get Eternus as a Raid battle. We had 3 other rivals why was there no story raid battle with Us,Hop,Marnie and Bede working together!?

16:15 - You saying this reminds me of how so many people (myself included) feel about _Sonic Adventure DX_ compared to the Dreamcast original. The _DX_ version has so many downgrades, and introduces so many problems, that even fans that grew up with the original start to think, "Damn, is *this* the game that I grew attached to all this time?" Come to find out that no, it's not; it's a lot of minor changes that led to a radical shift in how the game is perceived-a death by a thousand cuts. However, because of the additions (e.g. sixty frames per second, higher poly models, more overall content, etc.), it's still considered to be the better version… and because the original version is locked to the Dreamcast, most people don't know about how the changes impact the experience, or don't care to know.

So real saying that you probably only remember refrain.

I enjoyed FF2 more than FF1 because of the customization. I remember making Maria a dual shield wielding "White Mage" that sat in the back row with crazy evasion that kept everyone alive VERY well. I didn't have to grind that much, just played the game.

My headcannon is that your sparring with your friends like in a Dojo or UFC practice So training with your comrades will help you prepare for the battle ahead I never used it but i feel its a good way to think about it Also my friend turned the emperor into a frog and it felt cathartic

we live in a capitalism system, we need work, care of our family etc if the poor version donsetn exist i never had playd this game.

Nice touch using a song from Clannad's OST

It was fairly apparent to me when I started the port for the first time that something felt off, and it was Junpei talking to himself way too much. While I feel switching to Japanese did seem to help it somewhat simply because it feels like the English VAs got some really odd direction overall (learning that during every "..." the English VAs made noises from watching your first video hurt my soul). You also realize that the nicknames of "Jumpy" and "Kany" were completely made up for the English version for some reason... The DS version is so much better though, and I'm one of those people who never really understood the obession with voice acting in general, espescially when great writing can be ruined by bad voice acting. While I overall think the flowcharts are a plus for the game and would make a lot of people quit before getting the true ending otherwise, I did get a little more feeling of accomplishment from going all the way through to get an ending back in day. It also just added to the sense of struggle that is the entire vibe of this game. I can understand why people are fixated on the changes of the end though, because of how powerful the original puzzle was. The first time I flipped that DS around and saw Akane as a little girl sobbing I felt the need to audible assure her that I was going to save her. The port final puzzle does nothing at all for me. *sigh* Now I'm pissed that 3DS broke about a year ago and that when I bought it that I gave my original 3DS to my niece like an idiot.

The dungeons are what make me extremely hesitant to defend this game at all lol I actually like the leveling mechanics a lot, I just think they did a lot better with the SaGa games

I beat the Pixel Remaster a few days ago without hitting myself and really like the levelling system. I was actually happy when my healer got hit by a big ol‘ crit from any enemy. And using magic in random battles actually made sense. I just started Final Fantasy III and already miss some of part 2‘s unique quirks.

My first experience with this game was via emulation and translation patch back in the early 00s. I found the keyword system super confusing and gave up on it in favor of ff3, which id downloaded the same day. I tried again when ff origins came out on the ps, and gave up again. I’m finally giving it a fair shot via the pixel remake and I don’t hate it. I’ve been playing it nonstop the last 3 weeks and I’m really enjoying it. It’s not my favorite ff, but i feel it’s actually pretty good

I started playing FF way back 2004 and started from FF 4 and 6 from GBA. It was really good game. Honestly FF 1-2, devs was clearly experimenting. The FF2 system was good. I agree it looks bad on paper that we have to hit our allies to get that specific skill to level up but the main thing that made this very unique is the game system. It's hard at first because you have a small hp. but if you grinded that hp, you can start grinding other stats. which is not that bad. 16:42 more like it became too easy because they used the fast forward 17:57 wwwww that's got me good, when I learned that we can avoid 100% I did that without even looking for a guide. 20:15 critics are so entitled of themselves that they can say any sht they want.

I have this game on my DSI XL. Been long time fan and tried to turn many on to it. All the TH-camrs were hype over this game in the past cause they get free game to review. If they engage in a positive direction they get future games from developer. I don't listen anymore to the reviews they dispense. Fake as a R4 card on a bootleg console.

I really respect your takes on how things that are usually regarded as "better" like QOL changes are not actually always ... better. And, if you ask me, i rarely see stuff that's truly universally regarded as good/bad on media. I think that's why i like to watch videos of other perspectives on things i watch/play. I feel like, for me, thats all what media discussion is for: to learn and connect with others. I feel like i got why u didnt like the port at all. As for what i though, ive only played the PC version with a bunch of friends and i really liked it! I love voice acting since im very auditory and felt it was more accessible for everyone to follow. As for the writing, i don't think it impacted us negatively. I did notice everyone was really verbose but i either didn't care or though it added some sort of charm to it? Its kind of hard to describe that charm but maybe it could be that they seemed more considerate, careful, more vulnerable or even nicer when they overexplained or thought out loud. Which i kind of appreciated since i was playing with my friends. Now, i do understand they are in a tense situation to be all nice and careful but it didn't clash with me since i still felt the tenseness other means. I also felt it retroactively fit Uchikoshis writing since, after playing more of his games, his characters do tend to break into elongated sciency explanations a lot (which is also kind of a meme). I guess im trying to contrast what i would have felt if i played the DS version instead, but its kind of hard since i never actually did. Hope i got the general gist across though. Anyways, i just wanted to share a summarized version of what i felt to show that maybe that's what people who liked the game felt. Which is not meant to be a gotcha moment at all! All the contrary, i feel it goes to show how interesting mall of this can be to me. How one aspect one person finds detrimental might be positively felt by another for its same characteristics, which is why i feel like categorical labels like good/bad are rarely true in these cases. While i didnt got a similar experience playing the game as you, i still got to learn a lot about how it came across to you and even helped me verbalize why i liked it.

It has mechanics to leveling up similar to Morrowind I felt. In that how you have to use something to level up specs. It's way different but not bad by any means.

By the way the characters don't change there look when learning magic ext. is like most of the later games, even FFT don't really copy that, because the main characters do not change their look when changing a job, the only main games that do that are FFIII, FFV, and FFX2, with the dress spheres, yet people act like the original is so amazing, and influential, lmao, I think the original is bland, and overrated.

These are some great suggestions. The story really needed more subtlety and more often

Great video. I’m playing ff2 pixel remaster right now, for the first time, and I’m loving the level up system. I love ff games that I can break if I exploit the system. Love ff8 for that reason. Ff1 was boring as shit.

While you have a lot of very valid points and I agree on the ports shortcomings and I can find the value in art that asks patience and endurance from you (I admire the concept of Pathologic even if I would never play it myself) I am not a fan of putting the authors intention above everything else. I believe in the concept of Death of the Author, that the authors interpretation doesn't matter more than anyone else's and that art is created on side of the reader just as much as the writer. I don't think going against the author's intention really matters as long as someone is having fun and/or finding value in it. If they change sth from how it was originally intended by the author and it turns out bad or at least worse ofc it's fine to dislike it, but the problem here isn't going against the author's intentions, it's that the change that was made is bad/unenjoyable to you in itself. There are definitely adaptations that go against authors original ideas and end up better for it (there are also plenty that end up worse ofc) Just my opinion though, not meant as some kind of damning criticism, the implication just bothered me a bit and I wanted to comment on it ^^"

FF2 was probably a *decent* game on where it did get out but it has a lot of flaws on its code which made most of the gameplay bad 1 Certain Status being 100% to be inflicted if it hits (making character with petrification, confusion and other status that makes the character unable to act stay that for a L O N G time) 2 The weird levelling of the game which even though it was a good idea makes casual saves usually suffer a lot on the last part of the game 3 The 4º party member usually being underleveled allways while also changing a lot making that when you have the final one you only have them alive for items and some extra pity damage more than expecting them to do anything 4 the fake doors who the fuck decided that it was gonna be a good idea???? But outside its massive flaws have a couple things that (at least on my opinion) do really well The plot being the main one where even if it was inspired by star wars it fells unique enough and have a lot of npc that are interesting, and the emperor its a really good antagonist And the bosses which except the final one (cause most old ff final bosses are HP walls compared to most other bosses) are quite fun to do Unless you use the secret blood sword which makes the entire final dungeon a joke The game its bad on my opinion (and welp the worst ff) but its not a game that does everything wrong you can play it and even if its not great grinding at the start of the game kinda makes everything else easier

Early in the video but want to still say something I think. I never played the original game, have wanted to but not enough to go through the effort of buying it or finding a rom to emulate, so I've only experienced the port and I never really felt anything off about the games dialogue? But I did play novel mode because it's just how a visual novel works, never considered that most of the dialogue was supposed to be said out loud? It just felt like voicing thoughts to me. Some things did feel off because of how the tone definitely made it feel like being actually voiced, but for something like the scene in junpeis apartment, I'd want to be speaking out loud if feeling annoyed to be able to let off some steam, I dunno.

My experience with FF2 was soured by the level system. I enjoyed the keyword system and at first I liked the level system. I liked that i could one shot thigs and that the game fed me. I didn't grind my health because i healed as much as I could and that led me to have glass cannons. When i was no longer able to one shot things, I would die fairly easily, and then I would one shot myself trying to grind. It was very frustrating. If i had known more, I would have made better decisions earlier on. It was frustrating that the game let me level myself into a corner.

To summarize... The Story is kinda a perfect Mess

VLR is my fav game of all time, and I own VLR and ZTD, but Ive never played 999 bc I’ve watched nicob’s playthrough like four times. I was deciding whether to buy the remaster, or to buy a 3ds and the original game. After watching this video, I will just buy a 3ds :)

when you lvl up all weapon classes ultima becomes super strong

FINAL FANTASY 2 MORE LIKE FINAL FANTASY POO!!!!!!!!!! GREAT VIDEO 🍃

Wow, grinding on purpose for no reason makes you miserable AND wastes your time?! My first playthrough took 80 hours to beat since everyone was telling me to just grind out HP. I beat the Emperor with all my members except Leon having over 1.8 million Gil, 5000 HP, 999 MP, and a maxed out stat for each character's needs (99 Spirit for White Mage Firion, 99 Intelligence for Red Mage Maria, 99 Strength for Gus of course). It wasn't that miserable at first, but it started to drag on much later into my playthrough. I started a new game to see how well I could do without grinding, and it's great so far! Just cleared out Semitt Falls and I haven't killed more enemies than I needed to.

I finally finished playing it this past summer after buying it day 1 on Switch. Fantastic story. I honestly teared up at the ending.

I wonder if this guy has seen Fudj's video of his own rewrite of Sw/Sh and what he thinks of it

The fact ppl keep bringing up the self harm or grinding legit dont know wtf they are doing in this game. Ive beaten pretty much every ver and its BY FAR the easiest game in the series you need basically 0 grinding. The only thing you need to be mineful of is using magic more than you would even if you dont need to use it.

I always thought that the story of Final Fantasy 2 was the best of the NES trilogy. Having some unique character is a big improvement. I prefer playing Final Fantasy 2, with the graphic they have than playing the newest Final Fantasy (FFXIII, FFXV and FFXVI) with their new battle system that are more automatic, less place to improvise. FF2 has great difficulty, just don,t try to grind your stats, which make this game not as good.

i'm guessing most of the info about the darkest day on bulbapedia comes from random npcs if it wasn't in the main story. not sure though, i'm not about to boot up the game and find out.

My first multi season anime and i still love it

This game was perfectly fine. You don’t need to attack your own party, you just can. Play it without trying to exploit the leveling system and just naturally progress and you’ll find it a much better experience

Im so glad i found out about the writing changes before i played the port and got the DS version instead. Im just baffled why adventure mode even exists, and even more so why novel mode still includes the new dialogue.

Give him a break, he just learned that he's going to disappear, not die, and no one will remember him. I personally like Yuji as our POV throughout the series and he's just a teen and teens do teen things, mostly stupid things.

Would be curious to see you tackle the dlc stories snd scarlet&violet plot both for msin story and Post game(tho honestly i think it's more a level scaling issue thsn story issues fundementally)