Another Final Fantasy finished
Nov. 25th, 2003 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyFinal Fantasy II was more recognisably an FF game than it's predecessor. There were initial names for the characters, there was a plot, chocobos (OK, I only saw one) and a bloke called Cid who owned an airship. However, it still is a million miles away from the latest versions and not just because of the graphics.
The combat/magic system is a nice idea but doesn't work in practise. The stats advances are given when you use the stats in question, the more you use them, the more they go up. This means you get the problem where the weaker characters become weaker still. Additionally it's incredibly easy to hack - you're best off beating up on your own characters if you want advances. Plus, if you heal mid-fight the system assumes you haven't been hit and... <sigh> well, I'm sure you're getting the idea.
Additionally, the game starts off too difficult (and you're always penniless when you need magic/weapons) and gets too easy (I ended the game a millionaire and the biggest bad went down in two rounds without hacking the system). Plus random encounter monsters come from too wide a range - you might wipe the floor with them or alternatively get completely slaughtered.
And the plot, whilst having a few nice twists (OK - one, really), is lacking detail all over the place. The Dark Knight stuff starts off really well - but they never provide the explanation I was waiting for. This made the overall story deeply disappointing (although I was impressed that they left the end untwee).
Good points ? The chocobo and Cid were both nicely done. Some of the sub-story stuff worked and FFII had mostly solved the "miles into a dungeon with no way out" problem. Plus the starting point is a really nice touch and I enjoyed having a central "core" to my line-up (you always have three of the four characters and the other one is always pre-determined) because it removed the usual FF dilemma of who to have in the party.
Overall ? Probably only suitable for FF addicts. It's worth seeing once, but not one to write home about.
The combat/magic system is a nice idea but doesn't work in practise. The stats advances are given when you use the stats in question, the more you use them, the more they go up. This means you get the problem where the weaker characters become weaker still. Additionally it's incredibly easy to hack - you're best off beating up on your own characters if you want advances. Plus, if you heal mid-fight the system assumes you haven't been hit and... <sigh> well, I'm sure you're getting the idea.
Additionally, the game starts off too difficult (and you're always penniless when you need magic/weapons) and gets too easy (I ended the game a millionaire and the biggest bad went down in two rounds without hacking the system). Plus random encounter monsters come from too wide a range - you might wipe the floor with them or alternatively get completely slaughtered.
And the plot, whilst having a few nice twists (OK - one, really), is lacking detail all over the place. The Dark Knight stuff starts off really well - but they never provide the explanation I was waiting for. This made the overall story deeply disappointing (although I was impressed that they left the end untwee).
Good points ? The chocobo and Cid were both nicely done. Some of the sub-story stuff worked and FFII had mostly solved the "miles into a dungeon with no way out" problem. Plus the starting point is a really nice touch and I enjoyed having a central "core" to my line-up (you always have three of the four characters and the other one is always pre-determined) because it removed the usual FF dilemma of who to have in the party.
Overall ? Probably only suitable for FF addicts. It's worth seeing once, but not one to write home about.
