Final Fantasy 2

[Anonymous No.4310003]

So I finally got around to beating this and it was really good outside of the shit dungeon design. I liked how everyone could go from one role to the other. It felt like a natural evolution of FF1's static jobs. On the flip side, it was a little too easy, I didn't really grind and everyone but Leon ended up maxing at least two of their focused stats. Guy in particular turned into a monster with 9999 HP because for some reason he was every random encounter's punching bag.

But back to the dungeons, why the FUCK are there so many empty rooms? There was a dungeon with five doors side by side, only ONE actually went somewhere.

FF2 love/hate thread.

[Anonymous No.4310006]

>>4310003
Did you play Famicom, GBA, or PSP?

[Anonymous No.4310005]

The NES version (And maybe the remakes too?) makes it so Guy and Maria get targeted more than the other characters. I assume you had Guy as a melee fighter with Maria as a mage/archer.

[Anonymous No.4310015]

>>4310005
Yeah, Maria was a mage/archer. I figured it might have been something like that. The only time Guy wasn't being beat to death was when I had a fourth character in the party. It felt too programmatic to be a coincidence.

>>4310006
PSP. I started with FFIV on the PSP and I'm playing backwards. I know the PSP versions of I and II were made easier but I didn't think it was this bad. I may play another version of FFI.

[Anonymous No.4310019]

>>4310015
I think the GBA versions are a happy medium between the rather messy Famicom versions of I and II and the arguably over polished PSP versions

[Anonymous No.4310049]

>>4310003
You played the nerfed PSP version though, things are considerably easier since they removed maluses and basically nerfed the shit out of everything.
Not like the original game is that hard, but from the GBA version onwards the game works differently and is much more lenient on everything, the actual game forces you to specialize more so you can't just jump from one role to the other, you had to commit to one role and stick to it to maximize efficiency.
>But back to the dungeons, why the FUCK are there so many empty rooms?
It was pretty common back then.
The Lyllgamyn trilogy in Wizardry, and especially the first Wizardry, were much, much worse than FFII when it came to booby trapped empty rooms, FFII was actually pretty tame when it came to that.

Glad to see you liked it though.

[Anonymous No.4310587]

Sweet Christ this game is my jam. I don't even play the story, just start a new game and walk the world. Shit's zen.

Fireon as White Mage, since target-all spells count as white magic casts. Equip with staff 'cause Magic Cane is the balls.

Maria as the Fire Witch. Daggers for stabbity death and low magic penalty. Destruction and frogs surround her.

Guy as a weapons expert. Train that damage takin' mofo in the arts of gaining Strength and Berserked-out murder.

[Anonymous No.4310689]

>>4310003
>Guy in particular turned into a monster with 9999 HP because for some reason he was every random encounter's punching bag.
He has a 75% chance of being the target of all attacks. It's not just you.

>>4310049
>It was pretty common back then.
FF2's doors to nowhere are not seen in any other game ever. It's one thing to have a dead end behind a trap and quite another to fill your dungeons with 10 of the things per floor, all if which teleport you into the middle of a room with an incredibly high encounter rate.

[Anonymous No.4310702]

>>4310587
>Daggers for stabbity death and low magic penalty.
You'd be better off just leaving her unarmed, physically attacking will abuse your magic power anyway.

[Anonymous No.4310751]

>>4310587
I concur. This is my favorite FF because of how broken it is. Makes it feel more free. You can lvl up over and over and over in the same fight. It's wonderful.

Only FF I didn't have to push hard to finish without being bored.

[Anonymous No.4310772]

>>4310702
Leveling up daggers a little bit to make use of a main gauche would be worth any potential INT drops, I'd say.

[Anonymous No.4310801]

>>4310702
5% magic penalty is negligible next to Maria occasionaly Reeeing the fuck out on an Ogre's face.

[Anonymous No.4311559]

>>4310049
I can kind of understand it now that you mention Wizardry. It just stood out in particular since I'm playing backwards. It's like the influencer becomes the influencee.

>>4310587
>Maria as the Fire Witch
Why Fire? Flare works on everything and the convenience of just spamming and leveling up one spell is worth the potential lost of damage in managing multiple spells for the weakness bonus.

>>4310689
>FF2's doors to nowhere are not seen in any other game ever.
Not even FF1?

[Anonymous No.4311612]

FF II or "What if Final Fantasy actually took seriously its characters". My favourite entry of the whole installment. I must say i only played the GBA remake, which looks fantastic and solved some of the original issues.

The plot in II wasn't any different from the rest, Every Final Fantasy consist in facing an evil power behind an evil empire. But the tone of the game wasn't as juvenile as the average FF. Characters weren't overpowered warriors/kings with some deep trauma, but resistance soldiers than seek to free their land. For a good chunk of the game, you don't feel like the menace are dragons or wizards, but armed forces and human inventions. People sacrificing their lives won't resurrect in the next chapter. The way the plot is developed, through missions rather than plot twist takes you closer with the events envolved in the plot.

I think it was too mature for its time. And given the direction future protagonists will lead in the franchise, maybe a rarity or exception.

[Anonymous No.4311616]

>>4310689
>FF2's doors to nowhere are not seen in any other game ever.

Oh ho ho, made me chortle. Anyway go play (or replay) FF4 and tell us that again.

[Anonymous No.4311641]

>>4311612
Yeah. I was really surprised at how somber game's tone was, even from the main theme alone. The Emperor just did not fucking let up and it felt like it.

There were a couple subplots that felt like obvious filler (Ultima and Leviathan in particular), but the game really did surprise me with how relatively complex the plot was.

[Anonymous No.4311657]

>>4311612
>i only played the GBA remake, which looks fantastic and solved some of the original issues.
How about you actually fucking play the original before making comparisons like that?

[Anonymous No.4311812]

The remakes lets you double wield weapons, which is definitely not how the game is intended to be played.

[Anonymous No.4311814]

>>4311812
dual wielding is shit even when it works

[Anonymous No.4311818]

>>4311814
I assume the later remakes are so nerfed the backsides to it are less of a problem than otherwise.

[Anonymous No.4311824]

>>4311612
>I think it was too mature for its time.

Did you play FF15? That game goes down the misery hole halfway through and it does not relent. FF6 and 13-2 also get pretty bleak as well.

[Anonymous No.4311842]

>>4311812
You can dual wield in the original, but you'll do poor damage with the off-hand weapon so it's better to equip a shield or two-hand a weapon.

[Anonymous No.4311849]

>>4311824
>Did you play FF15?
Nope, and i fear i won't be able to play it until the day is considered retro. I don't keep up with the times.
>FF6
Well, if you say so. I didn't get that impression, however i concede it has its moments

[Anonymous No.4313652]

>>4310003
I'd rather replay the early Kawazu games that came after.

[Anonymous No.4313854]

I'm glad more people are no longer following for the "hurr II worst FF" meme

[Anonymous No.4313868]

>>4313854
It's at the very least the least good retro (i.e. before X) FF.

[Anonymous No.4313941]

>>4310003
>On the flip side, it was a little too easy
>>4310015
>I know the PSP versions of I and II were made easier

Hence why it was too easy. The GBA and PSP ports take away stat decreases and ramp up the rates at which stats increase and proficiencies go up in level.

I would recommend playing the PS1 version next time. While I'd normally recommend playing the original Famicom version, the game does indeed have too many bugs, just like FF1. I don't agree with the PS1 version removing some of the stat penalties from weapons, but it's still a fair balance between the original game and a bug patch.

>shit dungeon design
It's really mostly in the same spirit as FF1, except that entering a room warps you to a completely different map, whereas FF1 had a unique transitional effect with indoor rooms.

Warp / Banish comes in handy here. It moves you back a number of floors, respective to the spell's level. So if you keep it at level 1, you can cast it to warp right out of trap rooms.

[Anonymous No.4313952]

>>4311842
>You can dual wield in the original

Although the option to dual-wield exists, it doesn't actually work in the Famicom version. Damage from your off-hand doesn't get applied to enemies. But I think holding a second weapon nonetheless doubles your weapon experience rate.

[Anonymous No.4314289]

>>4313854
I mostly avoided it because it just felt intimidating, the same way the SaGa series does. Walk to the wrong part of the map and you're dead, equip the wrong stuff and you're nerfing yourself.

Turns out that it's a lot simpler than I thought. Outside of the magic penalty stuff anyway. They really should have showed that in your stats. I had to check the wiki for the penalty figures.

[Anonymous No.4315156]

>>4311559
>Fire Witch
>Why Fire?
It's a King Crimson reference.
And as I said, I never progress the story, so Flare is right out.