History VideoGame / FinalFantasyII

* NintendoHard: The original Famicom version and [=PS1=] port's Normal Mode are quite brutal, which adds in the bleakness of the game. The [=PS1=] port's easy mode and the later remakes have eased up the difficulty of the main game. ''Soul of Rebirth'' is arguably even ''harder'', especially when going in blind.

''Final Fantasy II'' is the second entry in the [[RunningGag bone-shatteringly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, released on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] in 1988. The game would initially [[NoExportForYou fail to reach western shores]], though this was an error eventually rectified in the 2000s.

It initially got [[VideoGameRemake remade]] on the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan, and later the UsefulNotes/PlayStation as part of the CompilationRerelease ''Final Fantasy Origins'', which added some FMV cutscenes. The aforementioned ''Dawn of Souls'' is another dual release for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance; it came with an {{expansion|pack}} designed [[BrutalBonusLevel with veterans in mind]]. A hi-def remake came out for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable and UsefulNotes/{{iOS|Games}}; it rolled out the Arcane Labyrinth, a set of {{bonus dungeon}}s that will appeal only to the hardcore. It also added in a new "Guard" command so you can defend yourself for half damage. In 2021, this game was remastered as a part of the ''Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster'' series, which was released on PC via Steam and mobile devices. 2023 saw the ''Pixel Remaster'' version brought over to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4.

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

* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Frioniel was changed to Firion in the English translation for name-space restrictions; Leonhart to Leon for the same reason. Guy was named Gus in the PSX translation, but then renamed to Guy for the GBA. Same goes for Minwu (renamed "Mindu" in the PSX version).
** Mr. Highwind is a particularly JustForFun/{{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. The latter is the most faithful to his original Japanese name, Richard, but the strict six-letter limit for party member names required it be trimmed down to a variation of the name, instead. In ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', his name on the Player Icons of him is translated faithfully as "Richard", in all the name's seven-letter glory.
** Thunder and Blizzard in the original were changed to Lit-x and Ice-x respectively, where 'x' is the spell's level. In the Origins version, a certain White Magic was named 'Life'. In the European version of the GBA port, this became Raise.

** In all version, talking to Princess Hilda with different GuestStarPartyMember will make her says different things. Having Minwu in the party will make Hilda says that she trusts Minwu to guide Firion and friends complete their missions, having Josef in the party will make her says that she is pleased to have Josef assisting the rebels in finding the Goddess Bell, while having Gordon in the party before obtaining Sunfire will make her chew out Gordon for suddenly disappearing and blame him for [[spoiler:Josef's death]] in Snow Cavern.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler: Played with and subverted. You confront and kill the Emperor in a [[AnticlimaxBoss disappointingly underwhelming]] boss fight. Everyone begins to celebrate, when the Emperor's [[TheDragon Dark Knight]] [[DragonTheirFeet reappears]] to [[DragonAscendant take the reins of the empire]]. Our heroes go to Castle Palamecia to confront him, but as soon as they do, [[BackFromTheDead guess who's back...]]]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: ...than the first game, ''big time.'' The first game features a group of four young adventurers who already know how to fight from the beginning and will grow stronger with proper experience. Meanwhile, this game features a group of war orphan who force themselves to wield battle gear and fight for their freedom. Also, a full third of this game's playable cast wind up dead by the end of the game, joined by the countless [=NPCs=] populating the towns and cities the Emperor wipes clean off the map by the end. That the game ''opens'' with a HopelessBossFight is very apt in setting the tone.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ...than the first game, ''big time.'' A full third of the game's playable cast wind up dead by the end of the game, joined by the countless [=NPCs=] populating the towns and cities the Emperor wipes clean off the map by the end. That the game ''opens'' with a HopelessBossFight is very apt in setting the tone.

** Kashuan has Prince Scott who got severely wounded by imperial soldiers and was forced to hide in the secret room of Fynn's bar, and eventually succumbs to his wound after talking to Firion's party. There is also Prince Gordon who teams up with Firion's party on several occasions, and despite his flaws, he is proven to be [[CulturedBadass pretty knowledgeable about Ultima, something Hilda doesn't know]].

** It is possible to raise Esuna and Basuna proficiency level quickly by using them on your party and enemies alike in midst of battles even when no one suffers any ailment status, as this game counts every usage of magic, including the "missed" ones. Low proficiency of Esuna magic can only heal Poison anad Darkness, while decent proficiency of Esuna magic can heal Amnesia and Curse, and higher proficiency of Esuna magic can heal more severe ailment status such as Toad and Stone. Likewise with Basuna which cures temporary status ailment, on high proficiency it can heal Paralysis and even Confusion.

** It is possible to raise Esuna proficiency level quickly by using it on your party and enemies alike in midst of battles even when no one suffers any ailment status, as this game counts every usage of magic, including the "missed" ones. Decent proficiency of Esuna magic can heal Amnesia and Curse, while high proficiency of Esuna magic can heal more severe ailment status such as Toad or Stone.

* SequenceBreaking: The dungeons can only be visited in the order the game lets you due to such locations being inaccessible until you acquire the next {{MacGuffin}} or a new mode of transportation. The ''towns'' however, can be visited in any order you like because right as you start the game you're free to wander the world as you wish. {{Beef Gate}}s will hamper your efforts, but if you want you can head to Mysidia the second you leave Altair and, with enough level grinding to earn the cash, purchase some of the best spells and equipment in the game there.

* AllForNothing: A large chunk of the game revolves around getting the spell, Ultima. You go through four whole dungeons just to get to Ultima's resting place, Mysidian Tower, which itself is the fifth and longest dungeon in this arc, containing DemonicSpiders, hazards you must walk through, and four bosses. And when you finally reach the end, in order to get Ultima, [[spoiler:Minwu sacrifices himself to break the seal.]] Turns out, Ultima is pretty weak (unlike in other games).

** Ultima, despite being touted as the ultimate destructive magic, is actually extremely weak, even if you level it up. Ultima would live up to its name in future titles.

** Kashuan has Prince Scott who got severely wounded by imperial soldiers and was forced to hide in the secret room of Fynn's bar, and eventually succumbs to his wound after talkung to Firion's party. There is also Prince Gordon who teams up with Firion's party on several occasions, and despite his flaws, he is proven to be [[CulturedBadass pretty knowledgeable about Ultima, something Hilda doesn't know]].

''Final Fantasy II'' adopted a [[StatGrinding 'learn by doing']] growth system that has since come to be more commonly associated with ''VideoGame/{{SaGa|RPG}}''—since both were developed by Akitoshi Kawazu (the brains behind Square's more open-ended [[EasternRPG JRPGs]])—and ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Casting magic increases your {{Mana}} pool and magical power, getting hit a lot increases your HitPoints and Defense, et cetera. Characters must also train in weapons: Josef starts out as a BareFistedMonk, but if you switch him to a [[BladeOnAStick lance]], you'll notice he isn't hitting as hard or as frequently. However, after using it in a few battles, he'll gain proficiency and return to his level of comfort.

''Final Fantasy II'' is second entry in the [[RunningGag bone-shatteringly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, released on the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]] in 1988. The game would initially [[NoExportForYou fail to reach western shores]], though this was an error eventually rectified in the 2000s.

** This game has a unique feature where a party member is allowed to carry two additional items with them other than their equipped battle gears. The original purpose of this feature is possibly to allow some party members to change weapons in midst of battles. Take note that GBA remake ''Dawn of Souls'' has "Soul of Rebirth" mode which stars four dead characters who become playable in a different realm, with three of them had been a GuestStarPartyMember who joined Firion's party in different quests. When a certain guest character is scripted to die, they will carry their gears and items with them to "Soul of Rebirth". If the player has already know beforehand about which guest character is about to die in the main storyline, it is possible to use said characters as a "transporter" to store rare items and weapons from the main game. For example, the player can [[spoiler:win four Masamune blades from the snowfield minigame in the main storyline after leveling up Toad magic to Lv 16 while Ricard was still in the party, then equip two Masamune to Ricard and have him carry the other two, so the player can give the other two blades to Scott later in "Soul of Rebirth"]].

* BraggingRightsReward: The Revive and Destroy tomes can only be gotten by completing the entire Arcane Labyrinth sequence (and defeating BonusBoss Deumion, in case of the latter), which can't be done until you've done everything except beating the game's final boss. You can only pick one of the two tomes, and each one is an AwesomeButImpractical spell.

* DegradedBoss: Quite literally ''every'' mandatory boss who isn't a named story character. Even Gottos, the imperial commander at Fynn Castle, inexplicably ends up with clones of himself overrunning later dungeons.

* HopelessBossFight: The Black Knights at the beginning. It is possible to win if you use cheat devices, though. While the Famicom version allows you to continue as if you had lost (albeit with whatever items and money you got from the battle), the remakes send you straight back to the title screen.

* MetalSlime: Iron Giants. They appear only rarely on one specific floor of the final dungeon, and they have a habit of running away as their [=HP=] starts to run low. If you do manage to bring one down, though, there's a good chance you'll be rewarded with additional copies of the game's otherwise-unique [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus]] or [[InfinityMinusOneSword Minus One Gear]] for your trouble.

It initially got [[VideoGameRemake remade]] on the UsefulNotes/WonderSwan, and later the UsefulNotes/PlayStation as part of the CompilationRerelease ''Final Fantasy Origins'', which added some FMV cutscenes. The aforementioned ''Dawn of Souls'' is another dual release for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance; it came with an {{expansion|pack}} designed [[BrutalBonusLevel with veterans in mind]]. A hi-def remake came out for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable and UsefulNotes/{{iOS|Games}}; it rolled out the Arcane Labyrinth, a set of {{bonus dungeon}}s that will appeal only to the hardcore. It also added in a new "Guard" command so you can defend yourself for half damage. In 2021, this game was remastered as a part of the ''Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster'' series, which was released on PC via Steam and mobile devices. 2023 will see the ''Pixel Remaster'' version brought to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4.

* BonusBoss: A sort of primitive example, crossed with MetalSlime and BossInMookClothing, in the form of the Iron Giants in the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. Like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the first game]]'s [=WarMECH=] enemy, Iron Giants are rare, but powerful, encounters who only show up in one specific room. Remakes add more modern examples in the forms of Phrekyos and [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Deumion]].

* SpiritualSequel: As noted in the intro text, this game is something of a Spiritual ''Prequel'' to the ''VideoGame/{{SaGa|RPG}}'' series. The gameplay is the same, they share the same "go anywhere" philosophy usually utilized in [=WRPGs=], and EverybodysDeadDave tends to be a driving force in both games' themes, especially in the ''Romancing'' sequels.

** Not to be outdone, Guy wears a chestplate that [[BareYourMidriff bares his midriff]] and what can only be described as [[UnderwearOfPower bikini briefs]] in his artwork. Most versions of the game have him wearing modest green clothing, but in the PSP version, his battle sprite is faithful to his artwork.

* AscendedGlitch: The Ultima spell in the original version was bugged and wouldn't power up as it's supposed to. This left it doing a measly 500 damage. Director Hironobu Sakaguchi wanted it fixed, but a programmer insists on leaving the bug in, justifying it as Ultima being an outdated spell overshadowed by newer and improved ones, mirroring real life. Sakaguchi then tried to fix the problem himself, but the programmer [[EnforcedTrope ciphered the code's source]]. As such the bug remained. Fortunately Sakaguchi looks back at it more fondly these days.

* WorthlessTreasureTwist: A [[http://www.siliconera.com/2014/10/20/final-fantasys-first-ultima-spell-useless/ story regarding Ultima]] suggests one programmer [[AscendedGlitch chose not to fix the bug]] that made it nearly useless in the original Famicon version (and even ''prevented others'' from fixing it) because he thought it was funny that an ancient technique would logically be unimpressive compared to spells developed later on.

** Originally, Kain from ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV FFIV]]'' shared the same surname Ricard as a CallBack. The GBA remake of ''II'' brings things full-circle by giving its playable dragoon the surname Highwind, and the little boy who survived the poisoning of Deist the name Kain.

This game is where many ''FF'' staples began: Dragoons, the [[LastDiscMagic ultimate magic spell]] Ultima, the recurring character named Cid and his affinity for [[GlobalAirship Airships]],[[note]]This was {{retcon}}ned in the re-release of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', where he is mentioned as the creator of that game's airship and is involved in the game's lore.[[/note]] and too many [[MascotMook iconic creatures]] to count: Chocobos, Behemoths, Bombs, and more. Characters can also be shifted between the front and back row for the first time, as well as target any combatant with any action, or choose whether to hit one or all targets of a given affiliation with any spell.