History VideoGame / FinalFantasyII

Bluntly speaking, the supporting cast is better fleshed-out than our main heroes. Nonetheless, the heroes have personalities, names and dynamics with each other, unlike in the first game where they were [[FeaturelessProtagonist blank slates]].

The plot isn't exactly ''Game of Thrones'': You play as LaResistance, and your goal is to stop TheEmpire from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]]. The Emperor, a proto-{{Music/Gackt}} who is equal parts pretty and psychotic, has a slight edge in that he's opened the gates of Hell to enlist an army of demons.

''is at an end.''

The plot isn't exactly ''Game of Thrones'': You play as LaResistance, and your goal is to stop TheEmpire from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]]. The Emperor, a proto-{{Music/Gackt}} who is as pretty as he is psychotic, has a slight edge in that he's opened the gates of Hell to enlist an army of demons.

->''"[[YouRebelScum Rebel curs!]]"''\\

The plot is extremely basic: You play as LaResistance, and your goal is to stop TheEmpire from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]].

Nonetheless, the heroes have personalities, names and relations with each other, unlike in the first game, where they were [[FeaturelessProtagonist blank slates]].

* EvolvingAttack: Spell animations become [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome longer and cooler-looking]] as they grow in level.

A major difference from the rest of the series is that the game uses a "learning by doing" experience system (more commonly known for its use in ''TheElderScrolls'', later used in the ''SaGa'' series), also known as StatGrinding. A character that cast magic a lot increased their magical abilities, a character that got hit a lot increased their hit points and defence, et cetera. The way the original StatGrinding system was designed, it basically meant that the most efficient way to level up your party's stats was to order them to ignore the monsters and smack each other around for a while because you were practicing ''more'' of your characters' stats that way.

'''If you're looking for the SNES game originally released as ''Final Fantasy II'', see ''FinalFantasyIV''.'''

The second entry in the [[RunningGag bone-shatteringly popular]] ''FinalFantasy'' series.

** In fact, all ''FinalFantasy'' games after the first one have a system of elemental absorb.

* {{Bishonen}}: Firion to some extent, but Emperor Mateus is the first {{Bishonen}} villain in the series, thus setting the trend for [[FinalFantasyVII many]] [[FinalFantasyIX more]] [[FinalFantasyX to come]].

* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Everyone Calls Him The Emperor]]: The Emperor, who is only ever referred to in the game (and in ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'') by his title. His actual name, Mateus Palamecia, only appears in the Japanese novelization of the game.

* EvilLaugh: Minor villain Borghen has one, though for some reason in the GameBoyAdvance and {{PlayStation Portable}} [[VideoGameRemake remakes]] it sounds like the gobbling of a male turkey (odd, considering what was pulled off with Kefka in ''FinalFantasyVI'' on older hardware).

** Official reasons for the original localization ("Dark Shadow Over Palakia") being canceled were given as ''FinalFantasyIV'' being released right around the corner, and NES development was drying up in the west. However, the likely real reason the game sat in Japan for so long is the fact that the game carries a ''heavy'' death theme and the endgame involves a trip to Hell, which would have been impossible to alter for or dodge by Nintendo's CensorshipBureau.

* {{Pirates}}: Leila and her crew. Granted, the fight against them is one of the easiest in the game, so they're probably not very good pirates, but at least they're nice enough to join up with you and let you use their ship after you beat them. (Leila herself seems to be the spiritual predecessor to another purple-haired female pirate captain, Faris of {{Final Fantasy V}}.)

* RetroactiveLegacy: Originally, Kain from ''[[FinalFantasyIV FFIV]]'' was named after Ricard as an in-joke/ShoutOut. The GBA remake of ''II'' continued the injoke by giving its resident dragoon the surname Highwind.

** Mr. Highwind is a particularly {{egregious}} example. He was called Edward in the translation of the prototype English version for the NES, Gareth in the PSX translation, and Ricard on the GBA and PSP versions, which is most likely supposed to be Richard, based off his name in Japan, but is over the letter limit. In ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'', his name on the Player Icons of him is Richard.

** [[spoiler: Which makes one wonder if he didn't [[ILetYouWin throw the fight on purpose]] as part of his XanatosGambit.]]

* XanatosGambit: Building off of the above, when they go to rescue [[spoiler:the real princess]], the Emperor turns out to have [[spoiler:faked an entire gladitorial match just to set a trap for them]]. And the original airship? Turns out it wasn't his only idea for an aerial super weapon, or even the most dangerous. His friggin' castle has a booby trap on its top floor that drops down several floors, apparently just so it's impossible for anyone to land on his roof and assassinate him with a sneak attack.

The plot is extremely basic: You play as LaResistance, and your goal is to stop TheEmpire from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]].

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: Weapon and Spell proficiencies max at Level 16. Unless you do a lot of level grinding for the PSP {{Bonus Dungeon}}s, odds are by the end of the game most of your skills will be no higher than level 10, ''if'' you spam them relentlessly the entire game.

* AllThereInTheManual: Although the game is story driven and has a complex plot for being made in 1988, character development is minimal, and most details about your party, their personalities, and the people they work for and fight against are derived from the novelization of the story that was published shortly after the game launched.

* DiskOneNuke: First thing in the game you can travel north to Fynn and fight Captains roaming the streets. Due to their high level you'll need to do a bit of grinding to beat them, but you can net Curse and Toad Tomes from them, as well as Flame Bows and Golden Armor, all high level spells/equipment. You can also win a fair bit of money.

''Is at an end.''

** [[FridgeLogic Then again]], Kefka was an FauxAffablyEvil LaughablyEvil [[CompleteMonster Complete]] MonsterClown while Borghen was just a DirtyCoward; does he really deserve a better laugh?

** Not only that, but [[spoiler:Minwu is tending to the King for quite some time before he dies; a White Wizard who knows almost every curative magic in the game.]] It never occurred to him to cast a high-level Cure on him, apparently.

* StaffChick: This game bucks the trend somewhat with Minwu, who is the only male in FF history to canonically be a White Mage.

* CrutchCharacter: Minwu. Although his stats are very high when you first obtain them, he leaves before he gets to become useful. When you play as him in Soul of Rebirth, he becomes normalized, since he is the main character.

* CelebrityResemblance: The Emperor (especially in his ''Dissidia'' appearance) bears a resemblance to David Bowie as Jareth in ''{{Labyrinth}}''.

* AnyoneCanDie: Hell, you start off the game dead. This doesn't seem to affect [[spoiler:the Emperor]] much, however.

* LoveableRogue: Leila; granted she tries to hold you up when you first meet her, but once she [[DefeatMeansFriendship joins the team]], she proves herself to be a trusted ally.
** Paul is this as well; while an admited thief, he claims to only steal from the Empire and helps you out a few times in your quest.

* DumbMuscle: Guy is one of the most pronounced examples in Final Fantasy history. He's so slow, he's ''barely'' capable of speech (except with animals because it's [[AllThereInTheManual All There In The]] [[NoExportForYou Japan-exclusive]] [[AllThereInTheManual Novelization]] that he's a WildChild.)

The plot is extremely basic: You play as LaResistance, and your goal is to stop TheEmpire from [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]] (Of course!). Nonetheless, the heroes have personalities, names and relations with each other, unlike in the first game, where they were [[FeaturelessProtagonist blank slates]].