Recordkeeping: Final Fantasy II Complete
This entry in the Final Fantasy series is beloved by many but strongly hated by others. Regarded as an oddity that broke the rules of the series upon release, time has somewhat mitigated the outraged reaction. While it tried a number of new systems and ideas (some ambitious failures, some that took off and became mainstays of the series, and a few that showed promise but were never used again) ultimately it remained true to itself and the classic feel of the series.
Just like every other Final Fantasy.
ANYWAY, Final Fantasy 2 is one of my favorites for really weird reasons, namely it was the harbinger of a few things that stuck around and got iterated upon -- but not in Final Fantasy! This was kind of the first prototype SaGa game. With magic, weapons and stats all having numbers that only go up through constant use in battle, rather than passively according to a leveling chart, this is the Odd Duck of Final Fantasy.
It also gave rise to the meme of "three orphans punching each other to raise their stats". Don't worry, you don't need to do that here. Numbers go up reasonable fast and your HP stat seems to always passively increase as long as you show up, which is a nice change for the Pixel Remaster version. Another worthwhile change is dual-wielding. Previously it was a lot less useful than it is here, you can really carve up the monster population with two swords and some ambition to swing 'em.
Between those improvements and the boost to music power you get when an all-star staff remixes already classic tunes, Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster is probably the best version of the game available. It's certainly the best legally-available-on-PC version out there. It's still a Final Fantasy: Melodramatic plot, lotsa monsters, high adventure, great music. It's just always been one of the weirder games in the series, and FFIIPR does nothing to change that.
I'm cool with that. I liked it anyway. I am no longer interested in comments on Livejournal. Please comment on Dreamwidth. Comments here will not be replied to and are unlikely to be read.
Just like every other Final Fantasy.
ANYWAY, Final Fantasy 2 is one of my favorites for really weird reasons, namely it was the harbinger of a few things that stuck around and got iterated upon -- but not in Final Fantasy! This was kind of the first prototype SaGa game. With magic, weapons and stats all having numbers that only go up through constant use in battle, rather than passively according to a leveling chart, this is the Odd Duck of Final Fantasy.
It also gave rise to the meme of "three orphans punching each other to raise their stats". Don't worry, you don't need to do that here. Numbers go up reasonable fast and your HP stat seems to always passively increase as long as you show up, which is a nice change for the Pixel Remaster version. Another worthwhile change is dual-wielding. Previously it was a lot less useful than it is here, you can really carve up the monster population with two swords and some ambition to swing 'em.
Between those improvements and the boost to music power you get when an all-star staff remixes already classic tunes, Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster is probably the best version of the game available. It's certainly the best legally-available-on-PC version out there. It's still a Final Fantasy: Melodramatic plot, lotsa monsters, high adventure, great music. It's just always been one of the weirder games in the series, and FFIIPR does nothing to change that.
I'm cool with that. I liked it anyway. I am no longer interested in comments on Livejournal. Please comment on Dreamwidth. Comments here will not be replied to and are unlikely to be read.