Bro I clicked on the channel expecting you to be halfway through the series with several dozen videos on various franchises based on the quality of the FF1 & FFII Retrospectives, just to find out this is a fairly new channel? You're out here making quality videos like you've been here all along dude, respect 👊.
@@Captainflowers1011 For real. Gotta respect the hustle. Dude is putting in serious work on research, script writing and editing. I've watched the FFV retrospective and was so impressed I'm going back to watch the first 4.
@acidwizard6528 same. Stumbled onto the ff5 on and greatly enjoyed (all time favorite ff game anyway), ff4 and 1 down, 2 and 3 to go. This channel is quality
I think what sells The Emperor to me as an antagonist to me is this excerpt from the Mysidian Library when you use the key word "Palamecia". {The king of Palamecia was said to be a man of tremendous pride. Once, he decreed that he would give his daughter as a prize to any man who could penetrate his castle. Men who scaled cliffs, men who dug tunnels--all were humbled before the walls of the impenetrable castle. But finallly there came a man who succeeded where others had failed. Filling a great bag with hot air, he floated up, alighted on the castle roof, and entered the castle. Enraged at being outwitted, the king attempted to seize the man. But with an airy confidence, the man, together with the princess, escaped into the sky.} Rather than there being a causal link between the past king of Palamecia and The Emperor's motivations, I think this parable does an excellent job of highlighting The Emperor's mindset. He's an arrogant man who believes the world is his, but others prosper without his influence, finding ways to thrive and undermine him. And so he does what he does best; he destroys. He ruins. He demonstrates his vaunted superiority over other people by throwing them into the depths of despair, no matter how many lives he takes, even if it means doing a deal with Satan himself. All of that is a triviality to him, a trifle of his efforts, compared to demonstrating his dominion over the world. He is a force of nature, so determined in his goal that his split soul usurps both Satan *and* God, ruling over both life and death, reward and punishment. He's not a mere man. He doesn't even need a name to be feared and remembered. He is The Emperor.
I do love how he went from not knowing what an RPG is, to cyphering his code because he was so adamant in his beliefs about how much damage Ultima should do, because of his personal cannon on the evolution of magic
I'm so ambivalent on it. On one hand I'm like "he went above his station big time" but on the other hand he was still a member of the team creating a piece of narrative art and doing his part!
@@reloadpsiIt’s the narrative part that has me siding against him. He knew this was an important part of the plot and deliberately sabotaged solely because of his own beliefs about how magic should work. He wasn’t considering the opinions of his superior, his team, or the players.
Hey so you mentioned how certain spells would level up faster than others. The same is true of weapon skills but this doesn’t depend on the skill itself but rather the level of said skill or spell. Monsters have a hidden “rank” or level. When you use a command for the first time in a fight you gain XP equal to something like… 4 + monster’s rank - skill level. And then diminishing returns beyond that. So if Firion uses his lvl 1 sword skill against goblins (rank 1) he gains 4 xp, then 3, 2, 1… The reason why your haste leveled up so fast is because you’d use a low level spell in a high level battle. They DID think about these things, but it seems the skill system needed a lot more fine-tuning.
The way I understood Leon in the ending was definitely him going back for the Palamecian throne and Firion being like "we'll be ready for you" has a double meaning. "Either you sort yourself out, or we will." was basically Firion's subtext.
That story about Sakaguchi wanting to fix the ultima spell only to find that Gebelli had cyphered it is absolutely wild to me as a modern game designer. I would absolutely lose my shit if one of my colleagues did that.
I have just found your channel over the last few days, and these Final Fantasy retrospectives are unbelievable. I always put Gametrailers Retrospectives as the best history for Final Fantasy, but these videos blow them away. I'm really looking forward to getting through these current videos and hopefully future Final Fantasy Retrospectives by yourself. Great content, and thank you for the obvious hours and hours of work you have put in to keep us entertained. New Patreon gained.
I think the empty rooms were an attempt to be a bit more D&D. In old modules there were a lot of rooms in a dungeon left empty. The idea was that the DM was supposed to populate them, but more often than not the DM would just roll from the random encounter table and have whatever they rolled be in the room. Hence, empty rooms with a high chance of triggering random encounters. It would make more sense if entering the room would trigger the encounter before depositing them in the center of it though.
That was my thought on playing the game at the point I gave up (second to last dungeon? I think Crystal Tower)... like, bro, I could deal with entering an empty room and having a high encounter rate if I move inside it... just stop dropping me in the CENTER of the room... that's NOT how doors work in any OTHER part of the game!
The Emperor was able to do all his takeover on earth because he has all this army at his disposal so I wonder how he manage to take over hell and heaven. But if the man is based on the goblin king, I'd like to think he was able to charm his way in with song. "You remind of the Moogle." "What Moogle?" "The Moogle with the power..."
I love the idea of four bros going into battle and then beating each other up at the end while the last enemy watches just to harden themselves. I'd watch that anime
I'm so glad you mentioned Megami Tensei. People always skip over it when talking about the classic, grandfather of console RPGs just because it never officially released in the West. I loved the first vid but I think I'm gonna stick around. You're really thorough. You also approach the game in a very fair way. You don't go in barking the same line about FFII being terrible like so many others do. I love your style. My one complaint is that the agonizing theme that plays during Combat and Progression just goes on way too long. It's stuck in my head.
I found this video around the same time I started FF2 (Pixel remasters,) and while I had to skip around to avoid spoilers (albeit not succeeding in the process) it really helped me appreciate the game I was playing. Final Fantasy 2 is probably my favourite of the NES era games, underloved by the people. Its cohesive yet simplistic plot would also be the ideal target for a FFVIIR style remake, but its status as the black sheep of the franchise leads me to believe it'd never happen. The retrospective making parallels between it and Empire Strikes Back was a brilliant choice; it always seems like the 2nd work of a franchise is always the most experimental, which tends to lead it into being the most popular or the most hated entry.
Dissidia may have had some questionable writing at points, but god damn did they do a great job showing off The Emperor. I don't know if the series will ever be able to top how ruthless he was. He goes so perfectly with the whole "War is Hell" angle that FF2 embraced.
I guess I had always thought of the promise of this progression system as being, "Just play how you want and your characters will develop appropriately." From that perspective it is a disaster when you have players doing all kinds of bizarre things like hitting themselves, avoiding healing during battle, casting useless spells over and over, etc. But if their goal was instead to create a kind of puzzle where players have to work out what behaviors the system will reward with experience points and then grind by doing those over and over, then I guess it's a success? I do find that it creates a near-constant state of ludo-narrative dissonance, however. In the first Final Fantasy, when I'm in combat, my mindset and goals are pretty close to what I imagine my characters' would be: we both want to defeat the monsters as quickly as possible, while taking the least damage possible and using up the least amount of resources that might become necessary to survive the rest of the dungeon. So the choice of, for example, whether to use a heal spell in battle is dictated by the same kinds of considerations my characters would have. In FF II, by contrast, when my characters take damage, I no longer see this as a purely bad thing; yes, it puts them closer to death, but I also kinda want them to end the battle at low health so I can gain experience points for my HP, and I want them to take physical damage because their defense stat will go up. I doubt my characters see any such silver lining to getting their arm chewed off by a goblin or what have you. Much less would they see the wisdom in bashing each other over the head etc. It's true that in real life, you do engage in otherwise pointless and repetitive activities (exercise and practice) to "level up" particular skills and abilities. But a sane person would do this in a safe environment, not in the middle of a life-or-death situation. I think maybe this ludo-narrative dissonance is why the benefits of having your dudes whack each other on the noggin is the first thing everybody points to when trying to explain why they didn't like FF II. It's not that this specific activity is necessarily a big part of the gameplay experience; rather, it's the silliest/most egregious example of the headspace the progression system puts you in throughout the game.
i really like your thorough research, in both of your retrospectives so far there has been a ton of info not present in other similar videos on youtube which makes them a joy to watch as a curious fan of the games, i hope for more final fantasy retrospectives in the future!
Your retrospectives are phenomenal. Definitely a notch higher than the rest for the depth of research and passion you put into them. This is exactly the kind of attention to detail I was looking for. Thank you.
Apologies for being pedantic here, but for the sake of completeness, I will criticize the interpretation of Famitsu's note on FF2 as presented at 1:40:06 . My first issue is a small one, which is that it's less Famitsu "declaring it a hit," and more observing that FF2 is "the most talked about game of the season" -- this difference is slightly meaningful insofar as it's a passive observation of fact rather than them taking the onus to officially label it as a hit. But that's well within the realm of just ambiguous word choice. My second and more serious issue is that they did not say "it could even surpass Dragon Quest." Rather, they said: "You can clearly feel the DEVELOPER'S INTENTION to surpass Dragon Quest." This is important insofar as it levies no judgment over whether they succeeded or possibly could succeed, but rather just emphasizes respect for the ambition regardless of the result. Overall minor points, but the only thing I know is Japanese so I might as well hone my ears waiting for a JP translation in a 2 hour video essay to nitpick it :P Overall very good video series and in the upper echelon of video essays I've seen due to not just the amount of research but the depth to that research as well.
Elina and Kain are Phillip's wife/son, Ricard's best friend who died fighting the empire. About the novel version: There are a few chapters on a Tumblr profile but sadly without updates for a long time :c I'm currently writing a remake of the game as a hobby, mixing some things from the novel version(and new content to the story) Main Story/Soul of Rebirth completed(Arcane Labyrinth is the next). Now I'm currently just adjusting/rewriting some stuff/details. Great video!
@@MrJohntoyz As I said, it's more of a hobby than something real. I've complete the main story/SoR at the time I made this original comment and wwhenever I can I try to write something, so I'm currently working on Leon's "DLC" and trying to buy Memory of Heroes so I can gather more stuff/details. And what can you tell about your game?
Well this isnt my main account I just forgot to change accounts on somebodys computer. Basically my idea was sort of exploring a Final Fantasy inspired world through its history. 4 different eras, traditional fantasy, steam/magic punk, modern fantasy, sci fi. Different hero in each, kinda like Live A Live but more open explorable world.
Fuck me, your only two games into your series. I found this to early. Oh well. Looking forward to when you get around to FF tactics. Your videos are pretty awesome so far. Ty for the effort.
Thank you for the kind words! Not sure yet if I'll do a Tactics video; it depends on how much traction this series gets and if there's enough of a demand for it.
On the one hand, I kind of like the idea that the 'ultra powerful ancient spell' turns out to be useless. It's kind of like that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where there's a demon called 'The Judge' that everyone is freaking out over because, according to the Codex (which is never wrong) 'no weapon forged by man' can hurt him. Then Buffy realizes that the Codex was right when it was written, but it was written 6000 years ago and weapons forged by man are a lot more potent these days. She one shots him with a grenade launcher. On the other hand, though, to put so much of the game's story behind it really is wasting the player's time. It could work, if Ultima had been a secondary plot point, or if the next part of the game involved the story commenting on it, and then having a storyline where they seek some master wizard who might be able to take Ultima and improve it with modern knowledge to be what they expected it to be, thereby gaining the best of both worlds.
Your FFVI video showed up in my recommended videos and I started watching that then you started talking about the previous games and I noted I didn't have context so I went to the 1st game retrospective. I have to say this is a really good retrospective with lots of context and also detailing who is behind the game and I look forward to catching up to get back to FFVI. Keep it up!!!
Man, I can't help but think about how solid that original story was. There was a lot of potential there that I wish they'd hung onto for a future installment.
This is a remarkably in-depth yet coherently articulated analysis! I've watched a number of FF2 reviews, and this is probably the first one that made me understand what it's really about and its context.
I loved the progression system of 2 when I finally played it as part of origins. My only gripe was the tedious nature of the dungeons. Currently playing the Pixel Remaster, it's definitely the most friendly version I've played but I think I prefer the OST arrangements of origins and the PSP version so far, especially the overworld and first boss theme. Removing the acoustic guitar part in the first and then burying the ethereal lead melody in the latter was a faux pas imho. Edit: I will give it credit for not throwing jazz horns at everything like the other pixel remasters I've played so far.
Another outstanding retrospective - i had no idea about the original planned FF2 plot - and i have watched other retrospectives on youtube. Now the real question FF3 when? :P
I didn't know about this original plot either. That's so bizarre to hear an alternate universe version of FF2. I am also surprised neither FF or Romancing Saga ever used that plot synopsis. It actually sounds so well thought out.
FFII might not be a good game, but good lord if it isn't ambitious and attempts to do a lot with very little. I can't help but respect that a lot, even if I never managed to finish it.
I got FF 2 with FF Origins back when it released on PS one. Preordered mine. I personally really enjoyed both 1 and 2. Same with the PSP, preordered 1 and 2, but I LOVED the remakes on the PSP. That pixel art was f*cking beautiful! I think too many people in America were let down because we got 2 after 7 and 8 maybe 9 (I don’t remember). But considering their age I really thought they were ahead of their time. Particularly 2, it had a lot of great ideas, conversation and leveling (like SaGa). It was great!
@@AndrewBluett that’s true about the ROMs. Some friends of mine had it but I’ve never been one to play games on PC. Thanks for jogging the memory on the release! Keep up the great videos and thanks for the reply!
I love FF2. I had the Dawn Of Souls version and I'm playing through it again. To me people that hate FF2 don't know how to play the game. I played this game as a kid and it was fine for me. Hard yes but manageable
I've watched every final fantasy retrospective on TH-cam and I am blown away by your work. Both your first and second retrospectives are extremely engaging and informative. I hope you continue throughout the series despite not having 1 million subscribers. You deserve to have more exposure and I just pray that I'll get to see more retrospectives from you. Well done!
I’ve watched your FF1 & 2 vids a few times so far and thought they were both great. Can’t wait to get into 3 and I really hope you continue this series.
::slow clap:: That was the best retrospective I've seen of this game. You're a gem. I look forward to seeing more of your content and definitely subscribed to the channel.
I honestly can't hear the ff2 battle music anymore without thinking of Hildebrand Additionally, the beavers in ffxiv are a reference to this game. And of course pandemonium being the end game raid in endwalker.
I'm pretty aure the whole reasoning behind dq changing to weekend release is based on some urban legends and are exaggerated although the aforementioned is certainly a factor. But yes, they love their dq in japan lol
wow if that original story idea for ff2 has gone ahead, that would have been a very in depth story for it's time, you wouldn't be seeing plot like for until at least the SNES era, shame that never came to be. the story the game ended up having was still pretty good for an NES title ( the best of all the FF NES titles in my opinion) but that would taken it to the next level.
TO comment on the lack of intricate plot / dialogue / character development etc., I'm pretty sure this was simply lack of space on famicom to incorporate as much as they (the developers) wanted. Once they went to Super fam, the released FF4, and the jump in space, and storytelling, was drastic to say the least. Just because they finally could.
these need more attention i love them and i am so happy i seen that one message on a ff7 music reaction if it was not for that i would have never found this series keep up the good work. just a question are you going to do all final fantasy's or just the first three?
Just the main series (1-16, including the MMOs) and contemporary sequels (X-2, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns). Depending on how much demand there is, I may do the odd detour here and there (After Years, Chrono Trigger, Tactics, Spirits Within, Compilation of FF7, etc.).
@@AndrewBluett It would be cool if you took a look at some of the spin offs Stranger of Paradise, definitely Tactics, Type 0, world of final fantasy, FF Dimensions Dissidia series is also worth taking a look at there is also final fantasy brave exvius (and its spinoff war of the visions) - the game reminds me so much of the classic I-VI FFs (it has a massive story - it is worth to see at least season 1 imo)
@@AndrewBluett I do really want an After Years retrospective. It was my first Final Fantasy and I know almost nothing about the real life story behind it. I wonder why they decided to make it, it seems like the first "sequel" set in the same universe as a previous entry, which is such a departure from the core philosophy of recurring themes in *different* worlds.
@@koboldbiopellet X-2 was the first direct sequel, released a few years before After Years. I'll talk about TAY in my FF4 video, I just don't know to what degree yet.
I for one love FF2. While not even close to being the best in the series, it still has far worse reputation than it deserves. And what baffles me to no end is how everyone keeps saying how this game is so easy to break, when FF8, one of the most popular entries in the franchise, is far worse in that regard.
I remember kinda enjoying this game the first time I played (only played a few hours) once I get used to how the leveling system worked. Back then I wasn't aware FF2 was that hated so I was actually surprised to find out people in the west hated it THAT much. While the game is indeed deeply flawed, I think most people just auto-pilot into dismissing it and rarely give it a more fair look.
I wish they actually made ultima useless in canon as you said rather then act like holy shit the spell is going to rock. Make a line about oh no the spell was corrupted in time and now it is completely useless or as you said it used to be the shit but now regular spells are stronger etc. To me FF2 is a true untapped gem despite its blarant flaws. Definitely the most unique rpg out there
Loved your video, too bad you didn't mention that while Kawazu almost completely left the Final Fantasy franchise (only becoming executive producer on some of the later entries), he still got a shot at improving and building upon the system he came up with in FF2 in his very own "Saga franchise" a little less known RPG series by Square Soft in which Romancing Saga 1, 2 and 3 actually uses the growth system of FF2 but vastly improved upon and better contextualized, Romancing Saga 2 in particular is a solid recommendation of mine as it is one of the better title of the SNES library and Square's catalogue ! So yeah, if you SOMEHOW still enjoyed FF2 in spite of its many flaws, it's a solid recommandation
You're in for such an incredible treat. FFII is actually my least favorite, and FFI, while still shockingly enjoyable, is largely improved upon in subsequent entries. There's not really a dud in the first 10 or so games depending on who you ask.
I just finished playing Final Fantasy 2 literally this last weekend for my channel (it’ll start uploading at the end of this week) and I don’t think I could agree with your opinions on the game more; I came out of the Dawn of Souls version of the game not knowing how to feel about it. One hand the scales tipped so hard for me at the final battle that I barely noticed taking any damage from The Emperor and at times the game dragged. On the other the story, while basic, was well done in my opinion and the music is stuff I’ll be listening to remixes to for a long time. Looking forward to your Video on Final Fantasy 3…hopefully I can beat it before your video comes out
man that intro song from the rebel army theme I wanna stand up like it's my anthem. Good job with the previous one, but now you're tackling my favorite final fantasy (so far). Much excitement!
i know thats probably not relevant to the point of the video because it seems to be exclusively dedicated to final fantasy, but i personally admire kawazu's earnest intent to think out of the box and experiment through things, as a long time final fantasy 2 defendant, and maybe a fan ackknowledging its shortcommings, its impossible to me to not point out that kawazu's progression system was kept being refined over the years in the SaGa series after the gameboy games, starting the the romancing SaGa series, creating a whole franchise that despite wasnt brought to the west probably out of fear of not being understood in the west until SaGa frontier 1, 2 and then romancing SaGa own remake minstrel song, it was still a success in japan since the beggining.
Just joined your Patreon, and I highly encourage others to do the same. For this quality product, it's a great deal and a "no-brainer" for any level Final Fantasy fan!
I have been playing through the Pixel Remasters in order, and while I feel this may be because of any changes they made for the Pixel Remaster, I found that while I did have to spend time doing some grinding, and yes, the auto-battle system made those grind sessions seem very brief, i honestly never found the need to "hit myself", or exploit in any way for stat levelling. Progression felt natural, and I was able to make three relatively fully rounded characters. I will admit, however, that the final boss was tough, but still enjoyable, though I did reach him with most spells only at level 10, and Ultima at a meager Level 8 (And yes, I stupidly sold my blood sword, but came in with Excalibur). Side note, those who play FF14 Endwalker might be as surprised as I was at the existence of Pandaemonium. It's fun to see nods to the game after all this time.
Star Wars inspired the story of Final Fantasy II in many ways. Hilda is likened to Leia Organa and Mon Mothma. Firion and Maria are likened to Luke Skywalker. Leila is likened to Han Solo. Minwu is likened to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Leon is likened to Darth Vader. Borghen is likened to Wilhuff Tarken. Scott is likened to Raymus Antilles. The King of Fynn is likened to Bail Organa. Gordon is likened to Admiral Gial Ackbar. The player is likened to Yoda. Guy is likened to Chewbacca.
What I did for the FF Origins/20th Anniversary version of FF2 was build up my HP/MP stats with the Swap spell, but all this really did was superficially buff my base stats. I'd still take a ton of damage against certain types of monsters. So the real fun lay in just being a masochist in certain areas of the game and have monsters pound/osmose you to increase your Defense/Spirit stats. The rest involved Status/Elemental Resistance and Attack power from weapons of choice. I remember my run of the whole game to be interesting, as very rarely did I run across monsters that could seriously pound me... but when I did, I'd stick around for a few fights and by the end of the game I was strong enough that even the toughest enemies barely did anything to me. Honestly it was pretty fun in my run. I have yet to do the post-game quests with the Guest characters though.
That all said... I would've liked to have seen the original story of Final Fantasy II play out... three Kings' sons vying for succession would make an interesting story by modern standards.
Best way to improve your Agi/dodge was equipping two shields and just killing things off with magic. Also taking off all your armor helped too. I remember leveling against Captains really early because my Evade was really high because my shield level was Sixteen really early and they couldn't hit me, just needed one shield and any weapon and I could level anything up against them
@@seawind930 Just imagine applying FFII's method of stat distribution to a game like Dark Souls (or Stranger of Paradise, Final Fantasy Origin)... hahah that would be insane.
I am... actually a fan of FFII as well! :) It's not my favorite, I get frustrated at it, but I do love it. It's nowhere near as disappointing to me as pretty much every game after 9.
Some years ago I went on a marathon of sorts in which I played all FF games from I to X in a single year. When I played FFII I enjoyed my time with it and I had no idea about anything that was being said about the game. It was fun, and I noticed the jump in story quality respective to the first game. That being said, after beating the game, I never played it again. I have fun memories of it, and that's it. Most people who criticize it do it for bandwagoning imo. I never felt I had to grind that much, and after playing all those FF games I can tell you I grinded in all except FFVIII. Edit: the one I really disliked was FFIII, by the way.
I'm not sure if this has been stated before, but something about Ricard's sacrifice is that it is indeed likely the end of the Dragoons. The woman and child in Deist aren't Ricard's wife and son, but Ricard's comrade's wife and son (I know this may have been a mistake from FFwiki, I'm going to fix it if it's true). While Elina and Kain (who are both nameless in all versions except the GBA and 20th Anni editions) were related to Ricard's friend who was another Dragoon, Kain mentioning he wants to be a dragoon is exclusive to the Dawn of Souls' ending, which isn't present in the original ending in versions based on the original release and versions featuring Dawn of Souls. The canonicity of the DoS is questionable, aside from some side entries acknowledging the Light Emperor only. So uh, g3nocide is likely 100% a go.
I have no idea how I actually managed to beat FF2 on my first playthrough. I never played the original just the dawn of souls version but I was only around 13 when it came out. Somehow I just winged it and did whatever only knowing the basic mechanics and not knowing any of the more in depth intricacies like wanting to wear lighter armor (I just wore whatever gave the most defense). I did wonder why I only saw a few evasion and agility level ups the entire game. I remember the final boss and the post game boss in the Soul of Rebirth being particularly brutal fights that took upwards of 20 minutes to win because I was doing so little damage. Soul of Rebirth in particular I had to save scum to get through the Jade Passage equivalent Raqia because I had no clue I should have prepared during the main game for it. Once I made it to the town I was mostly able to grind until I was strong enough to get the ultimate gear for each character with skips a lot of grinding and boosts multiple stats to 99. That all being said only having played a SaGa game until recently that being Romancing Saga 3. You can definitely the see the inspiration from FF2 and why people call it proto SaGa but I noticed that it seems like even just trudging through and winging it the games are still setup in a way you can struggle through it and finish the game, at least the GBA version of FF2. Despite how difficult it was I never came across a situation where I felt soft locked but being able to save everywhere in multiple slots definitely does help mitigate that and removes some of the extreme difficult of the gauntlet of Jade Passage and Pandemonium.
Final Fantasy II isn't the only thing that was more or less inspired by Star Wars original trilogy. I know a certain show that was also inspired by Star Wars. That show, (at least what I'm heard of it) kinda made me a sucker when it comes to the story of a rebel group against the overwhelming force of an oppressive evil empire that pretty much has the entire world in the palms of their had. Final Fantasy II is the first but definitely not the last entry where we have a story of a rebel vs an evil empire.
Wow, I’m now playing FF6, pixel remaster, meaning, it’s my first time playing 1,2,5 & 6. One was ok, I could see the potential it had, and why people loved it back then… but tbh i enjoyed FF2 the most, emperor is really someone to fear, garland was ok, and cloud of darkness was good, love her ost. Besides the leveling up system, I found ff2 really entertaining and the story was nice. From a D I think it went up to a C+.
First, props, I had always just thought of Famicom FF2 Ultima as bugged not an intentional design choice, as future ports changed it. However, that does get me thinking more in line that the spell working as intended achieves the whole "ancients aren't as advanced" angle even better than "here's 500 damage." The sheer effort put into making an effective Ultima caster makes that character entirely overpowered for anything the game throws at them using everything other than Ultima, you're essentially just trying to get a single spell to do higher numbers even though you have a wealth of options you pretty much mastered at that point. tl;dr An effective Ultima user isn't worth it even when the spell works based on all other skill levels.
Haven't played Pixel Remaster, but sounds like the Auto Battle just repeats last action? GBA I know had cursor memory, select an action then just hold A to repeat. You may lack a defend option in it, but if you really want just equip characters with two shields and I feel like it's probably better since you'll get weapon stats. If you don't want them to get weapon stats, just swap the shields to a weapon you wouldn't normally use before finishing the battle, so it won't matter anyway.
As for the game itself, it is very difficult to ascribe any score or place for it, as there are so many differences between the versions. For me this installment is to be seen and studies as part of FF history, rather than to be enjoyed as a gaming experience. The one aspect that discouraged me from completing the version of this game that I have is the magic system and lack of any non-magic abilities/moves to be used. Makes gameplay very repetitive for me.
Another great FF retrospective! Admittedly, FFII is one of the few FFs I've never even tried, and it is honestly due to the notoriety surrounding it. I'm sure some day I will give it a go, despite the negativity - maybe with the pixel remaster. This video definitely helped spark that fire again!
Your retrospective videos are simply phenomenal. The level of detail, passion, research and understanding of each game, their particular mechanics and the philosophy behind each game's design is superb. This is top quality content.
Amazing video! I’ve watched basically every single one of these long form final fantasy series retrospectives on TH-cam and yours are up there as some of the best for sure!
Finished ff2 pixel remaster a few weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience though the ending dungeon was disappointing. All i ended up doing was one person cast haste another cast berserk and the last two attack. this was enough to get through the rest of the game.
If you think the Pixel Remaster makes grinding a cakewalk, check out the console ports, which adds an experience multiplayer. I'm coming up on the Coleseum, and two of my characters already have 9999 HP, and several spells are already at level 16.
Its funny how you mention a lot of plot points to star wars but you didnt make the comparison to how you see the people that died during the story at the end of ff2 and luke sees everyone again at the end of star wars.
I think the keyword feature was to make thd game more like the computer role playing games thst these jrpgs took a lot of influence from. Like thr ulitma series
Damn, that original story was sick, I hate that Square never did it on that time, hell, I dont even want to think how they would make it now... so I hope they never use it
Just finished today getting 100% achievements on FF2 Pixel, love this game and love your retrospectives. Just found this channel yesterday, cannot get enough of FF content. Thanks.
the one thing i love about FF2 is most deff the arcane sanctuary and deumion's backstory+the Destroy spell's lore. the fact its literally a canon place right in the mountains above poft really adds to FF2's world-lore, with such a world-destroying magic sealed away. the Destroy spell's deff one of my fave spells in the entire series without a doubt, its animation's very omnious and its a pretty amazing animation with a great shade of dark blue. the lore on its great as well with Deumion's tragic backstory. best part being it doesn't take much to do it all since its at the end of the game. I deff wish it'd return in the series somehow one day. the most interesting part about Destroy is while it can do 9999 damage, its actually secretly a gravity type spell when used more than once if the enemy survives. on the Emperor, who has around 15k hp, Destroy takes around 4-6ish casts to kill the emperor with, and the emperor has to not use magic, otherwise you game over, but its satisfying to beat him with just Destroy- I love the Emperor of Hell and Heaven, they make for a very great villain. I'm deff sad the Heaven half isn't as explored nor talked about much in media, same goes for Deumion and the Destroy spell especially. like they're incredibly interesting pieces of FF2's world-lore that're pretty much canon in universe despite being extra content. but it deff shows how powerful the Emperor really is since he surprisingly, could not truly die unless both his halves were killed at the same time. it really gave FF2 very intriguing lore due to this, meaning Firion and his allies couldve potentially been unable to defeat the Emperor of Hell I love FF2 even to this day, the game may not be great gameplaywise but the lore, especially with extra content in the psp version, is amazing. its music, the main theme especially, helped me get through tough times too. it really does show how Firion's earned his legacy as the series first weapons-master+canon Blood Sword user(2nd blood weapon user being Emperor Mateus due to his Blood Rod, hence the drain effect on his phys attacks in-game) Firion's one of my Fave chars from the series, esp his amano artwork with him holding his Blood Sword in front of his face. its one of the best poses for sure. FF2 may not be the best but its certainly not the worst, especially not with the psp version which improved a lot cept the dungeon design, the psp version and pixel remaster.. I think both are great but, honestly the one I always felt was the best version was the psp due to all the lore it gave from the extra content alone, expanding upon FF2's universe. pixel remaster's deff the current "best" as its the most easily available while the psp's just non-existent now as it got stupidly thanosed from most android stores(yet FF3 DS/PSP's still there) but you just can't beat the lore the extra content of FF2 psp gives, its just unmatched. but also the fact that status effects aren't 100% when you get hit in psp like they are in pixel remaster. that causes some nasty stunlocks when paralyzed or jus auto-insta death in FF2PR, which's deff a bit of a detriment for pixel remaster, compared to psp's chance of the status landing. weirdly the pixel remaster does have one advantage despite the glaring status effect 100% on hit flaw, and thats how they fixed running away to not be tied to your char's speed like it was in psp(which meant if 1 char's speed was too low you couldn't run from specific normal encounters) for the most complete version of FF2, psp's without a doubt deff the way to go due to all the extra content and lore described above, but its a shame that one's pretty much all but faded into obscurity cept for vids online. and Pixel remaster's deff the way to go if you want the normal experience, as its just the best for that if you can ignore the inherent 100% status effect on hit flaw which drags it down despite auto-saves being a thing. it deff reminds me of how FF4's DS+psp versions are kinda the best due to being the most complete content-wise but for diff reasons(system mechanics and 2d/3d mostly)
![ลองสั่งของจากแอพ temu ถูกจริงหรอ?? ( part : 1/2 ) [โกงไหมครับ ep.89 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RTcZSQTiDZw/mqdefault.jpg)
Bro I clicked on the channel expecting you to be halfway through the series with several dozen videos on various franchises based on the quality of the FF1 & FFII Retrospectives, just to find out this is a fairly new channel? You're out here making quality videos like you've been here all along dude, respect 👊.
Not the first channel I made. Helps to have over a decade of practice.
@@AndrewBluett that explains the high quality! Greatly enjoying it so far man!
@@AndrewBluett I’m curious to check them out, if you’re ok with sharing your other channels?
@@Captainflowers1011 For real. Gotta respect the hustle. Dude is putting in serious work on research, script writing and editing. I've watched the FFV retrospective and was so impressed I'm going back to watch the first 4.
@acidwizard6528 same. Stumbled onto the ff5 on and greatly enjoyed (all time favorite ff game anyway), ff4 and 1 down, 2 and 3 to go. This channel is quality
I think what sells The Emperor to me as an antagonist to me is this excerpt from the Mysidian Library when you use the key word "Palamecia".
{The king of Palamecia was said to be a man of tremendous pride. Once, he decreed that he would give his daughter as a prize to any man who could penetrate his castle. Men who scaled cliffs, men who dug tunnels--all were humbled before the walls of the impenetrable castle. But finallly there came a man who succeeded where others had failed. Filling a great bag with hot air, he floated up, alighted on the castle roof, and entered the castle. Enraged at being outwitted, the king attempted to seize the man. But with an airy confidence, the man, together with the princess, escaped into the sky.}
Rather than there being a causal link between the past king of Palamecia and The Emperor's motivations, I think this parable does an excellent job of highlighting The Emperor's mindset. He's an arrogant man who believes the world is his, but others prosper without his influence, finding ways to thrive and undermine him. And so he does what he does best; he destroys. He ruins. He demonstrates his vaunted superiority over other people by throwing them into the depths of despair, no matter how many lives he takes, even if it means doing a deal with Satan himself. All of that is a triviality to him, a trifle of his efforts, compared to demonstrating his dominion over the world. He is a force of nature, so determined in his goal that his split soul usurps both Satan *and* God, ruling over both life and death, reward and punishment. He's not a mere man. He doesn't even need a name to be feared and remembered. He is The Emperor.
I do love how he went from not knowing what an RPG is, to cyphering his code because he was so adamant in his beliefs about how much damage Ultima should do, because of his personal cannon on the evolution of magic
Nasir was a weirdo like that for sure.
I'm so ambivalent on it. On one hand I'm like "he went above his station big time" but on the other hand he was still a member of the team creating a piece of narrative art and doing his part!
I would love to see a source on this cyphering code stuff, seems more likely they just mis-programmed how the spell works
@@reloadpsiIt’s the narrative part that has me siding against him. He knew this was an important part of the plot and deliberately sabotaged solely because of his own beliefs about how magic should work. He wasn’t considering the opinions of his superior, his team, or the players.
@@reloadpsioh no, he was wrong. As the video itself said, if he wasn’t outright needed, he’d have been fired entirely
Hey so you mentioned how certain spells would level up faster than others. The same is true of weapon skills but this doesn’t depend on the skill itself but rather the level of said skill or spell.
Monsters have a hidden “rank” or level. When you use a command for the first time in a fight you gain XP equal to something like…
4 + monster’s rank - skill level. And then diminishing returns beyond that.
So if Firion uses his lvl 1 sword skill against goblins (rank 1) he gains 4 xp, then 3, 2, 1…
The reason why your haste leveled up so fast is because you’d use a low level spell in a high level battle. They DID think about these things, but it seems the skill system needed a lot more fine-tuning.
The way I understood Leon in the ending was definitely him going back for the Palamecian throne and Firion being like "we'll be ready for you" has a double meaning.
"Either you sort yourself out, or we will." was basically Firion's subtext.
Interesting take. Fun to think about.
Ooff. Very nice.
That story about Sakaguchi wanting to fix the ultima spell only to find that Gebelli had cyphered it is absolutely wild to me as a modern game designer. I would absolutely lose my shit if one of my colleagues did that.
He should have just commented that block out and rewritten it
Dude I can SMELL the effort all over this. Well done, earned a sub.
I have just found your channel over the last few days, and these Final Fantasy retrospectives are unbelievable.
I always put Gametrailers Retrospectives as the best history for Final Fantasy, but these videos blow them away.
I'm really looking forward to getting through these current videos and hopefully future Final Fantasy Retrospectives by yourself. Great content, and thank you for the obvious hours and hours of work you have put in to keep us entertained.
New Patreon gained.
I think the empty rooms were an attempt to be a bit more D&D. In old modules there were a lot of rooms in a dungeon left empty. The idea was that the DM was supposed to populate them, but more often than not the DM would just roll from the random encounter table and have whatever they rolled be in the room. Hence, empty rooms with a high chance of triggering random encounters. It would make more sense if entering the room would trigger the encounter before depositing them in the center of it though.
That's interesting. I had no idea about that but it certainly makes sense given Kawazu's love of D&D.
That was my thought on playing the game at the point I gave up (second to last dungeon? I think Crystal Tower)... like, bro, I could deal with entering an empty room and having a high encounter rate if I move inside it... just stop dropping me in the CENTER of the room... that's NOT how doors work in any OTHER part of the game!
The Emperor was able to do all his takeover on earth because he has all this army at his disposal so I wonder how he manage to take over hell and heaven.
But if the man is based on the goblin king, I'd like to think he was able to charm his way in with song.
"You remind of the Moogle."
"What Moogle?"
"The Moogle with the power..."
Absolutely incredible retrospective. I love early FF and learned so much from the content. Praise the algorithm for showing me this.
I love the idea of four bros going into battle and then beating each other up at the end while the last enemy watches just to harden themselves. I'd watch that anime
I'm so glad you mentioned Megami Tensei. People always skip over it when talking about the classic, grandfather of console RPGs just because it never officially released in the West. I loved the first vid but I think I'm gonna stick around. You're really thorough. You also approach the game in a very fair way. You don't go in barking the same line about FFII being terrible like so many others do. I love your style.
My one complaint is that the agonizing theme that plays during Combat and Progression just goes on way too long. It's stuck in my head.
I found this video around the same time I started FF2 (Pixel remasters,) and while I had to skip around to avoid spoilers (albeit not succeeding in the process) it really helped me appreciate the game I was playing. Final Fantasy 2 is probably my favourite of the NES era games, underloved by the people. Its cohesive yet simplistic plot would also be the ideal target for a FFVIIR style remake, but its status as the black sheep of the franchise leads me to believe it'd never happen.
The retrospective making parallels between it and Empire Strikes Back was a brilliant choice; it always seems like the 2nd work of a franchise is always the most experimental, which tends to lead it into being the most popular or the most hated entry.
Dissidia may have had some questionable writing at points, but god damn did they do a great job showing off The Emperor. I don't know if the series will ever be able to top how ruthless he was. He goes so perfectly with the whole "War is Hell" angle that FF2 embraced.
I would like to see a remake of this game where we see his actions rather than be told of them. All these 1:1 remasters don't do it any favours.
Very insightful on Leon's character. Your explanation of his motives matches what has been said in official supplementary material.
I guess I had always thought of the promise of this progression system as being, "Just play how you want and your characters will develop appropriately." From that perspective it is a disaster when you have players doing all kinds of bizarre things like hitting themselves, avoiding healing during battle, casting useless spells over and over, etc. But if their goal was instead to create a kind of puzzle where players have to work out what behaviors the system will reward with experience points and then grind by doing those over and over, then I guess it's a success?
I do find that it creates a near-constant state of ludo-narrative dissonance, however. In the first Final Fantasy, when I'm in combat, my mindset and goals are pretty close to what I imagine my characters' would be: we both want to defeat the monsters as quickly as possible, while taking the least damage possible and using up the least amount of resources that might become necessary to survive the rest of the dungeon. So the choice of, for example, whether to use a heal spell in battle is dictated by the same kinds of considerations my characters would have. In FF II, by contrast, when my characters take damage, I no longer see this as a purely bad thing; yes, it puts them closer to death, but I also kinda want them to end the battle at low health so I can gain experience points for my HP, and I want them to take physical damage because their defense stat will go up. I doubt my characters see any such silver lining to getting their arm chewed off by a goblin or what have you. Much less would they see the wisdom in bashing each other over the head etc. It's true that in real life, you do engage in otherwise pointless and repetitive activities (exercise and practice) to "level up" particular skills and abilities. But a sane person would do this in a safe environment, not in the middle of a life-or-death situation. I think maybe this ludo-narrative dissonance is why the benefits of having your dudes whack each other on the noggin is the first thing everybody points to when trying to explain why they didn't like FF II. It's not that this specific activity is necessarily a big part of the gameplay experience; rather, it's the silliest/most egregious example of the headspace the progression system puts you in throughout the game.
Fantastic work, The type of high quality content that is sorely lacking on youtube at the moment. Very excited for further projects!
i really like your thorough research, in both of your retrospectives so far there has been a ton of info not present in other similar videos on youtube which makes them a joy to watch as a curious fan of the games, i hope for more final fantasy retrospectives in the future!
I can never understand why Nasir Gebelli had to nerf Ultima like that. The only thing I have to ask is simply... why? Why would he do that?
Yeah and also a douche move what he did to prevent it from being changed
@@connorcoker5112 It was a douche move. I have to wonder if that waws the impetus for him leaving Square after FF3.
@@MegamanNG maybe
He didn't leave Square after FF3. He worked on Secret of Mana as main programmer and retired afterward, I believe on FF royalties.
@@AndrewBluett That was pretty much true. He is still on good speaking terms with Sakaguchi.
Your retrospectives are phenomenal. Definitely a notch higher than the rest for the depth of research and passion you put into them. This is exactly the kind of attention to detail I was looking for. Thank you.
Apologies for being pedantic here, but for the sake of completeness, I will criticize the interpretation of Famitsu's note on FF2 as presented at 1:40:06 . My first issue is a small one, which is that it's less Famitsu "declaring it a hit," and more observing that FF2 is "the most talked about game of the season" -- this difference is slightly meaningful insofar as it's a passive observation of fact rather than them taking the onus to officially label it as a hit. But that's well within the realm of just ambiguous word choice. My second and more serious issue is that they did not say "it could even surpass Dragon Quest." Rather, they said: "You can clearly feel the DEVELOPER'S INTENTION to surpass Dragon Quest." This is important insofar as it levies no judgment over whether they succeeded or possibly could succeed, but rather just emphasizes respect for the ambition regardless of the result.
Overall minor points, but the only thing I know is Japanese so I might as well hone my ears waiting for a JP translation in a 2 hour video essay to nitpick it :P Overall very good video series and in the upper echelon of video essays I've seen due to not just the amount of research but the depth to that research as well.
Elina and Kain are Phillip's wife/son, Ricard's best friend who died fighting the empire.
About the novel version: There are a few chapters on a Tumblr profile but sadly without updates for a long time :c
I'm currently writing a remake of the game as a hobby, mixing some things from the novel version(and new content to the story) Main Story/Soul of Rebirth completed(Arcane Labyrinth is the next). Now I'm currently just adjusting/rewriting some stuff/details.
Great video!
Oooooh, fan remakes are always fun to see. How is it coming? I'm working on my own ff fangame and interested in hearing your ideas.
@@MrJohntoyz As I said, it's more of a hobby than something real. I've complete the main story/SoR at the time I made this original comment and wwhenever I can I try to write something, so I'm currently working on Leon's "DLC" and trying to buy Memory of Heroes so I can gather more stuff/details.
And what can you tell about your game?
Well this isnt my main account I just forgot to change accounts on somebodys computer. Basically my idea was sort of exploring a Final Fantasy inspired world through its history. 4 different eras, traditional fantasy, steam/magic punk, modern fantasy, sci fi. Different hero in each, kinda like Live A Live but more open explorable world.
@@MrJohntoyz That's neat! I would love to see a high-tech Final Fantasy game. Exploring the space, planets, etc.
Fuck me, your only two games into your series. I found this to early. Oh well. Looking forward to when you get around to FF tactics. Your videos are pretty awesome so far. Ty for the effort.
Thank you for the kind words! Not sure yet if I'll do a Tactics video; it depends on how much traction this series gets and if there's enough of a demand for it.
On the one hand, I kind of like the idea that the 'ultra powerful ancient spell' turns out to be useless. It's kind of like that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where there's a demon called 'The Judge' that everyone is freaking out over because, according to the Codex (which is never wrong) 'no weapon forged by man' can hurt him. Then Buffy realizes that the Codex was right when it was written, but it was written 6000 years ago and weapons forged by man are a lot more potent these days. She one shots him with a grenade launcher. On the other hand, though, to put so much of the game's story behind it really is wasting the player's time. It could work, if Ultima had been a secondary plot point, or if the next part of the game involved the story commenting on it, and then having a storyline where they seek some master wizard who might be able to take Ultima and improve it with modern knowledge to be what they expected it to be, thereby gaining the best of both worlds.
Your FFVI video showed up in my recommended videos and I started watching that then you started talking about the previous games and I noted I didn't have context so I went to the 1st game retrospective. I have to say this is a really good retrospective with lots of context and also detailing who is behind the game and I look forward to catching up to get back to FFVI. Keep it up!!!
Man, I can't help but think about how solid that original story was. There was a lot of potential there that I wish they'd hung onto for a future installment.
Dude being born and raised in Sacramento I had no idea the city had such an awesome tie to FF!
This is a remarkably in-depth yet coherently articulated analysis! I've watched a number of FF2 reviews, and this is probably the first one that made me understand what it's really about and its context.
I've just finished the FF1 video and I'm straight on to this one! These are amazing!
Great work and it's nice to see someone giving Final Fantasy II some love. Keep it up and can't wait to see more.
perfect retrospective. great length. great narration. i hope your videos gets the views they deserves.
I loved the progression system of 2 when I finally played it as part of origins. My only gripe was the tedious nature of the dungeons. Currently playing the Pixel Remaster, it's definitely the most friendly version I've played but I think I prefer the OST arrangements of origins and the PSP version so far, especially the overworld and first boss theme. Removing the acoustic guitar part in the first and then burying the ethereal lead melody in the latter was a faux pas imho. Edit: I will give it credit for not throwing jazz horns at everything like the other pixel remasters I've played so far.
I’m glad the author of this presentation used the fan translation by Chaos Rush and not the one by NeoDemiforce.
Wow the quality of these videos are outstanding! Awesome stuff
Another outstanding retrospective - i had no idea about the original planned FF2 plot - and i have watched other retrospectives on youtube. Now the real question FF3 when? :P
I'm aiming for October/November for FF3
@@AndrewBluett great
I didn't know about this original plot either. That's so bizarre to hear an alternate universe version of FF2. I am also surprised neither FF or Romancing Saga ever used that plot synopsis. It actually sounds so well thought out.
FFII might not be a good game, but good lord if it isn't ambitious and attempts to do a lot with very little. I can't help but respect that a lot, even if I never managed to finish it.
I adore FFII, easily my favorite of the NES titles. Excited to see your thoughts!
I got FF 2 with FF Origins back when it released on PS one. Preordered mine. I personally really enjoyed both 1 and 2. Same with the PSP, preordered 1 and 2, but I LOVED the remakes on the PSP. That pixel art was f*cking beautiful! I think too many people in America were let down because we got 2 after 7 and 8 maybe 9 (I don’t remember). But considering their age I really thought they were ahead of their time. Particularly 2, it had a lot of great ideas, conversation and leveling (like SaGa). It was great!
We didn't get FF2 officially until after we already got FF10, but there were fan translations knocking about on the internet since the late 90s or so.
@@AndrewBluett that’s true about the ROMs. Some friends of mine had it but I’ve never been one to play games on PC. Thanks for jogging the memory on the release! Keep up the great videos and thanks for the reply!
I love FF2. I had the Dawn Of Souls version and I'm playing through it again. To me people that hate FF2 don't know how to play the game. I played this game as a kid and it was fine for me. Hard yes but manageable
The PSP version has the playable characters look as they were meant to look, if not for hardware limitations or nostalgic influence.
I've watched every final fantasy retrospective on TH-cam and I am blown away by your work. Both your first and second retrospectives are extremely engaging and informative. I hope you continue throughout the series despite not having 1 million subscribers. You deserve to have more exposure and I just pray that I'll get to see more retrospectives from you. Well done!
I’ve watched your FF1 & 2 vids a few times so far and thought they were both great. Can’t wait to get into 3 and I really hope you continue this series.
Keep it up! Excellent analysis. Comprehensive. I have similar feelings about the game.
i am so pumped for this series, these first two parts have been really fun to watch and i've learned a lot
Wait wait wait you only got 800 subs? What the fuck this is probably the best Final Fantasy retrospective I’ve seen on TH-cam!
very amazing video glad you liked the game and thanks for all the behind the scene information!
::slow clap:: That was the best retrospective I've seen of this game. You're a gem. I look forward to seeing more of your content and definitely subscribed to the channel.
Please tell me you are doing every FF
1-16, including X-2, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns are all part of the plan.
@@AndrewBluett That makes some so happy!! Thank you!
I honestly can't hear the ff2 battle music anymore without thinking of Hildebrand
Additionally, the beavers in ffxiv are a reference to this game.
And of course pandemonium being the end game raid in endwalker.
I'm pretty aure the whole reasoning behind dq changing to weekend release is based on some urban legends and are exaggerated although the aforementioned is certainly a factor. But yes, they love their dq in japan lol
The urban legend is that the Japanese government made them release them on weekends. Enix changed it without government intervention.
Dude, you sir get a like and sub. There is a LOT of work done to make this video happen, not to mention your other retrospective. Great work buddy.
wow if that original story idea for ff2 has gone ahead, that would have been a very in depth story for it's time, you wouldn't be seeing plot like for until at least the SNES era, shame that never came to be. the story the game ended up having was still pretty good for an NES title ( the best of all the FF NES titles in my opinion) but that would taken it to the next level.
TO comment on the lack of intricate plot / dialogue / character development etc., I'm pretty sure this was simply lack of space on famicom to incorporate as much as they (the developers) wanted. Once they went to Super fam, the released FF4, and the jump in space, and storytelling, was drastic to say the least. Just because they finally could.
There were so many Star Wars references in this game I am truly surprised Cid didn't have a Chocobo copilot named ChocoBacca
these need more attention i love them and i am so happy i seen that one message on a ff7 music reaction if it was not for that i would have never found this series keep up the good work. just a question are you going to do all final fantasy's or just the first three?
Just the main series (1-16, including the MMOs) and contemporary sequels (X-2, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns). Depending on how much demand there is, I may do the odd detour here and there (After Years, Chrono Trigger, Tactics, Spirits Within, Compilation of FF7, etc.).
@@AndrewBluett It would be cool if you took a look at some of the spin offs
Stranger of Paradise, definitely Tactics, Type 0, world of final fantasy, FF Dimensions
Dissidia series is also worth taking a look at
there is also final fantasy brave exvius (and its spinoff war of the visions) - the game reminds me so much of the classic I-VI FFs (it has a massive story - it is worth to see at least season 1 imo)
@@AndrewBluett I do really want an After Years retrospective. It was my first Final Fantasy and I know almost nothing about the real life story behind it. I wonder why they decided to make it, it seems like the first "sequel" set in the same universe as a previous entry, which is such a departure from the core philosophy of recurring themes in *different* worlds.
@@koboldbiopellet X-2 was the first direct sequel, released a few years before After Years. I'll talk about TAY in my FF4 video, I just don't know to what degree yet.
@@AndrewBluett Oh, ok! I didn't know it was so "recent." Also, when was Crisis Core released?
I for one love FF2. While not even close to being the best in the series, it still has far worse reputation than it deserves. And what baffles me to no end is how everyone keeps saying how this game is so easy to break, when FF8, one of the most popular entries in the franchise, is far worse in that regard.
Keep up the good work! Really enjoyed this one 👍
I remember kinda enjoying this game the first time I played (only played a few hours) once I get used to how the leveling system worked. Back then I wasn't aware FF2 was that hated so I was actually surprised to find out people in the west hated it THAT much.
While the game is indeed deeply flawed, I think most people just auto-pilot into dismissing it and rarely give it a more fair look.
I can't wait till you get to x and 12 i really liked these two so far will watch your third one tomorrow at work
I wish they actually made ultima useless in canon as you said rather then act like holy shit the spell is going to rock.
Make a line about oh no the spell was corrupted in time and now it is completely useless or as you said it used to be the shit but now regular spells are stronger etc.
To me FF2 is a true untapped gem despite its blarant flaws. Definitely the most unique rpg out there
Loved your video, too bad you didn't mention that while Kawazu almost completely left the Final Fantasy franchise (only becoming executive producer on some of the later entries), he still got a shot at improving and building upon the system he came up with in FF2 in his very own "Saga franchise" a little less known RPG series by Square Soft in which Romancing Saga 1, 2 and 3 actually uses the growth system of FF2 but vastly improved upon and better contextualized, Romancing Saga 2 in particular is a solid recommendation of mine as it is one of the better title of the SNES library and Square's catalogue !
So yeah, if you SOMEHOW still enjoyed FF2 in spite of its many flaws, it's a solid recommandation
As a long time FF fan whos played basically all the games. Your retrospective from a fresh perspective is really nice.
As I'm now going through the Pixel Remaster, this is my current favorite series. I'm only two in, and I'm very much looking forward to the next four.
You're in for such an incredible treat. FFII is actually my least favorite, and FFI, while still shockingly enjoyable, is largely improved upon in subsequent entries. There's not really a dud in the first 10 or so games depending on who you ask.
These are so good! ❤
I just finished playing Final Fantasy 2 literally this last weekend for my channel (it’ll start uploading at the end of this week) and I don’t think I could agree with your opinions on the game more; I came out of the Dawn of Souls version of the game not knowing how to feel about it. One hand the scales tipped so hard for me at the final battle that I barely noticed taking any damage from The Emperor and at times the game dragged. On the other the story, while basic, was well done in my opinion and the music is stuff I’ll be listening to remixes to for a long time.
Looking forward to your Video on Final Fantasy 3…hopefully I can beat it before your video comes out
man that intro song from the rebel army theme I wanna stand up like it's my anthem.
Good job with the previous one, but now you're tackling my favorite final fantasy (so far).
Much excitement!
i know thats probably not relevant to the point of the video because it seems to be exclusively dedicated to final fantasy, but i personally admire kawazu's earnest intent to think out of the box and experiment through things, as a long time final fantasy 2 defendant, and maybe a fan ackknowledging its shortcommings, its impossible to me to not point out that kawazu's progression system was kept being refined over the years in the SaGa series after the gameboy games, starting the the romancing SaGa series, creating a whole franchise that despite wasnt brought to the west probably out of fear of not being understood in the west until SaGa frontier 1, 2 and then romancing SaGa own remake minstrel song, it was still a success in japan since the beggining.
Just joined your Patreon, and I highly encourage others to do the same. For this quality product, it's a great deal and a "no-brainer" for any level Final Fantasy fan!
Thanks!
I have been playing through the Pixel Remasters in order, and while I feel this may be because of any changes they made for the Pixel Remaster, I found that while I did have to spend time doing some grinding, and yes, the auto-battle system made those grind sessions seem very brief, i honestly never found the need to "hit myself", or exploit in any way for stat levelling. Progression felt natural, and I was able to make three relatively fully rounded characters. I will admit, however, that the final boss was tough, but still enjoyable, though I did reach him with most spells only at level 10, and Ultima at a meager Level 8 (And yes, I stupidly sold my blood sword, but came in with Excalibur). Side note, those who play FF14 Endwalker might be as surprised as I was at the existence of Pandaemonium. It's fun to see nods to the game after all this time.
Star Wars inspired the story of Final Fantasy II in many ways. Hilda is likened to Leia Organa and Mon Mothma. Firion and Maria are likened to Luke Skywalker. Leila is likened to Han Solo. Minwu is likened to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Leon is likened to Darth Vader. Borghen is likened to Wilhuff Tarken. Scott is likened to Raymus Antilles. The King of Fynn is likened to Bail Organa. Gordon is likened to Admiral Gial Ackbar. The player is likened to Yoda. Guy is likened to Chewbacca.
Maybe the real Ultima is the friends we hit in the face.
Dude, you're awesome. Such a brilliant video! Please keep going, hugs from Brazil!
What I did for the FF Origins/20th Anniversary version of FF2 was build up my HP/MP stats with the Swap spell, but all this really did was superficially buff my base stats. I'd still take a ton of damage against certain types of monsters. So the real fun lay in just being a masochist in certain areas of the game and have monsters pound/osmose you to increase your Defense/Spirit stats. The rest involved Status/Elemental Resistance and Attack power from weapons of choice.
I remember my run of the whole game to be interesting, as very rarely did I run across monsters that could seriously pound me... but when I did, I'd stick around for a few fights and by the end of the game I was strong enough that even the toughest enemies barely did anything to me.
Honestly it was pretty fun in my run. I have yet to do the post-game quests with the Guest characters though.
That all said... I would've liked to have seen the original story of Final Fantasy II play out... three Kings' sons vying for succession would make an interesting story by modern standards.
Best way to improve your Agi/dodge was equipping two shields and just killing things off with magic. Also taking off all your armor helped too. I remember leveling against Captains really early because my Evade was really high because my shield level was Sixteen really early and they couldn't hit me, just needed one shield and any weapon and I could level anything up against them
@@seawind930 Just imagine applying FFII's method of stat distribution to a game like Dark Souls (or Stranger of Paradise, Final Fantasy Origin)... hahah that would be insane.
Wow this came out amazing. Great work, been binging your videos since the podcast
There is a Cid in FF1...
...If one of your characters has that name.
I am... actually a fan of FFII as well! :) It's not my favorite, I get frustrated at it, but I do love it. It's nowhere near as disappointing to me as pretty much every game after 9.
Some years ago I went on a marathon of sorts in which I played all FF games from I to X in a single year. When I played FFII I enjoyed my time with it and I had no idea about anything that was being said about the game. It was fun, and I noticed the jump in story quality respective to the first game.
That being said, after beating the game, I never played it again. I have fun memories of it, and that's it. Most people who criticize it do it for bandwagoning imo. I never felt I had to grind that much, and after playing all those FF games I can tell you I grinded in all except FFVIII.
Edit: the one I really disliked was FFIII, by the way.
I'm not sure if this has been stated before, but something about Ricard's sacrifice is that it is indeed likely the end of the Dragoons. The woman and child in Deist aren't Ricard's wife and son, but Ricard's comrade's wife and son (I know this may have been a mistake from FFwiki, I'm going to fix it if it's true). While Elina and Kain (who are both nameless in all versions except the GBA and 20th Anni editions) were related to Ricard's friend who was another Dragoon, Kain mentioning he wants to be a dragoon is exclusive to the Dawn of Souls' ending, which isn't present in the original ending in versions based on the original release and versions featuring Dawn of Souls. The canonicity of the DoS is questionable, aside from some side entries acknowledging the Light Emperor only. So uh, g3nocide is likely 100% a go.
I have no idea how I actually managed to beat FF2 on my first playthrough. I never played the original just the dawn of souls version but I was only around 13 when it came out. Somehow I just winged it and did whatever only knowing the basic mechanics and not knowing any of the more in depth intricacies like wanting to wear lighter armor (I just wore whatever gave the most defense). I did wonder why I only saw a few evasion and agility level ups the entire game. I remember the final boss and the post game boss in the Soul of Rebirth being particularly brutal fights that took upwards of 20 minutes to win because I was doing so little damage. Soul of Rebirth in particular I had to save scum to get through the Jade Passage equivalent Raqia because I had no clue I should have prepared during the main game for it. Once I made it to the town I was mostly able to grind until I was strong enough to get the ultimate gear for each character with skips a lot of grinding and boosts multiple stats to 99.
That all being said only having played a SaGa game until recently that being Romancing Saga 3. You can definitely the see the inspiration from FF2 and why people call it proto SaGa but I noticed that it seems like even just trudging through and winging it the games are still setup in a way you can struggle through it and finish the game, at least the GBA version of FF2. Despite how difficult it was I never came across a situation where I felt soft locked but being able to save everywhere in multiple slots definitely does help mitigate that and removes some of the extreme difficult of the gauntlet of Jade Passage and Pandemonium.
Final Fantasy II isn't the only thing that was more or less inspired by Star Wars original trilogy. I know a certain show that was also inspired by Star Wars. That show, (at least what I'm heard of it) kinda made me a sucker when it comes to the story of a rebel group against the overwhelming force of an oppressive evil empire that pretty much has the entire world in the palms of their had.
Final Fantasy II is the first but definitely not the last entry where we have a story of a rebel vs an evil empire.
Wow, I’m now playing FF6, pixel remaster, meaning, it’s my first time playing 1,2,5 & 6. One was ok, I could see the potential it had, and why people loved it back then… but tbh i enjoyed FF2 the most, emperor is really someone to fear, garland was ok, and cloud of darkness was good, love her ost.
Besides the leveling up system, I found ff2 really entertaining and the story was nice. From a D I think it went up to a C+.
First, props, I had always just thought of Famicom FF2 Ultima as bugged not an intentional design choice, as future ports changed it. However, that does get me thinking more in line that the spell working as intended achieves the whole "ancients aren't as advanced" angle even better than "here's 500 damage." The sheer effort put into making an effective Ultima caster makes that character entirely overpowered for anything the game throws at them using everything other than Ultima, you're essentially just trying to get a single spell to do higher numbers even though you have a wealth of options you pretty much mastered at that point.
tl;dr An effective Ultima user isn't worth it even when the spell works based on all other skill levels.
Haven't played Pixel Remaster, but sounds like the Auto Battle just repeats last action? GBA I know had cursor memory, select an action then just hold A to repeat. You may lack a defend option in it, but if you really want just equip characters with two shields and I feel like it's probably better since you'll get weapon stats. If you don't want them to get weapon stats, just swap the shields to a weapon you wouldn't normally use before finishing the battle, so it won't matter anyway.
As for the game itself, it is very difficult to ascribe any score or place for it, as there are so many differences between the versions. For me this installment is to be seen and studies as part of FF history, rather than to be enjoyed as a gaming experience. The one aspect that discouraged me from completing the version of this game that I have is the magic system and lack of any non-magic abilities/moves to be used. Makes gameplay very repetitive for me.
Another great FF retrospective!
Admittedly, FFII is one of the few FFs I've never even tried, and it is honestly due to the notoriety surrounding it. I'm sure some day I will give it a go, despite the negativity - maybe with the pixel remaster. This video definitely helped spark that fire again!
The Ultima coding would be far less jarring and ridiculous if there was any in-game explanation as to why it's so weak. But yet...there wasn't.
Your retrospective videos are simply phenomenal. The level of detail, passion, research and understanding of each game, their particular mechanics and the philosophy behind each game's design is superb. This is top quality content.
Amazing video! I’ve watched basically every single one of these long form final fantasy series retrospectives on TH-cam and yours are up there as some of the best for sure!
Finished ff2 pixel remaster a few weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience though the ending dungeon was disappointing. All i ended up doing was one person cast haste another cast berserk and the last two attack. this was enough to get through the rest of the game.
If you think the Pixel Remaster makes grinding a cakewalk, check out the console ports, which adds an experience multiplayer. I'm coming up on the Coleseum, and two of my characters already have 9999 HP, and several spells are already at level 16.
I still think FFII is the most underrated game in the franchise. I love the story, villain and soundtrack which is all in my top 3s.
Its funny how you mention a lot of plot points to star wars but you didnt make the comparison to how you see the people that died during the story at the end of ff2 and luke sees everyone again at the end of star wars.
I think the keyword feature was to make thd game more like the computer role playing games thst these jrpgs took a lot of influence from. Like thr ulitma series
Hot take, FF2 might be the black sheep of the numbered series, but it'll always be better than FFXV in my books.
Came for FF2... Starts out talking about Star Wars... yeah
There's a reason for that.
@Andrew Bluett I know and I got it. Was still jarring. Still an awesome vid.
Damn, that original story was sick, I hate that Square never did it on that time, hell, I dont even want to think how they would make it now... so I hope they never use it
Just finished today getting 100% achievements on FF2 Pixel, love this game and love your retrospectives. Just found this channel yesterday, cannot get enough of FF content. Thanks.
Amazing work
the one thing i love about FF2 is most deff the arcane sanctuary and deumion's backstory+the Destroy spell's lore.
the fact its literally a canon place right in the mountains above poft really adds to FF2's world-lore, with such a world-destroying magic sealed away.
the Destroy spell's deff one of my fave spells in the entire series without a doubt, its animation's very omnious and its a pretty amazing animation with a great shade of dark blue. the lore on its great as well with Deumion's tragic backstory. best part being it doesn't take much to do it all since its at the end of the game.
I deff wish it'd return in the series somehow one day.
the most interesting part about Destroy is while it can do 9999 damage, its actually secretly a gravity type spell when used more than once if the enemy survives.
on the Emperor, who has around 15k hp, Destroy takes around 4-6ish casts to kill the emperor with, and the emperor has to not use magic, otherwise you game over, but its satisfying to beat him with just Destroy-
I love the Emperor of Hell and Heaven, they make for a very great villain. I'm deff sad the Heaven half isn't as explored nor talked about much in media, same goes for Deumion and the Destroy spell especially.
like they're incredibly interesting pieces of FF2's world-lore that're pretty much canon in universe despite being extra content.
but it deff shows how powerful the Emperor really is since he surprisingly, could not truly die unless both his halves were killed at the same time. it really gave FF2 very intriguing lore due to this, meaning Firion and his allies couldve potentially been unable to defeat the Emperor of Hell
I love FF2 even to this day, the game may not be great gameplaywise but the lore, especially with extra content in the psp version, is amazing. its music, the main theme especially, helped me get through tough times too.
it really does show how Firion's earned his legacy as the series first weapons-master+canon Blood Sword user(2nd blood weapon user being Emperor Mateus due to his Blood Rod, hence the drain effect on his phys attacks in-game)
Firion's one of my Fave chars from the series, esp his amano artwork with him holding his Blood Sword in front of his face. its one of the best poses for sure. FF2 may not be the best but its certainly not the worst, especially not with the psp version which improved a lot cept the dungeon design,
the psp version and pixel remaster.. I think both are great but, honestly the one I always felt was the best version was the psp due to all the lore it gave from the extra content alone, expanding upon FF2's universe. pixel remaster's deff the current "best" as its the most easily available while the psp's just non-existent now as it got stupidly thanosed from most android stores(yet FF3 DS/PSP's still there) but you just can't beat the lore the extra content of FF2 psp gives, its just unmatched.
but also the fact that status effects aren't 100% when you get hit in psp like they are in pixel remaster.
that causes some nasty stunlocks when paralyzed or jus auto-insta death in FF2PR, which's deff a bit of a detriment for pixel remaster, compared to psp's chance of the status landing.
weirdly the pixel remaster does have one advantage despite the glaring status effect 100% on hit flaw, and thats how they fixed running away to not be tied to your char's speed like it was in psp(which meant if 1 char's speed was too low you couldn't run from specific normal encounters)
for the most complete version of FF2, psp's without a doubt deff the way to go due to all the extra content and lore described above, but its a shame that one's pretty much all but faded into obscurity cept for vids online.
and Pixel remaster's deff the way to go if you want the normal experience, as its just the best for that if you can ignore the inherent 100% status effect on hit flaw which drags it down despite auto-saves being a thing.
it deff reminds me of how FF4's DS+psp versions are kinda the best due to being the most complete content-wise but for diff reasons(system mechanics and 2d/3d mostly)
I appreciate your thoughts and also MLMaster is such a great pun too.
This needs a remake. They could flesh out so much of what the game was forced to tell rather than show.