History YMMV / DragonQuestII

* ValuesDissonance: In the Japanese version, choosing to decline a puff-puff results in the girl accusing you of being a homosexual, which is very awkward to read in TheNewTwenties due to how widespread and common [=LGBT=] trends have become.

%%* ObviousBeta: Yuji Horii once admitted in an interview that nothing after the Sea Cave was play-tested; there simply wasn't enough time.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Hargon is built up to be the BigBad of the game... but it's revealed at the end he was merely TheDragon and that Malroth was TheManBehindTheMan. At the time, this was pretty uncommon to see - however, its abruptness and lack of foreshadowing (By today's standards) make it seem much more like an AssPull or GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere. (One of the thrusts of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2'', a good thirty years later, is to help rectify this perception.)

* DarthWiki/WhatAnIdiot:
** Hargon, the High Priest, is trying to destroy the world and buying time to summon the God of Destruction Malroth. Hargon's castle, the Hall of Hargon, is atop the Rendarak plateau, surrounded by mountains on all sides. There is only one way in and that's by using a specific item, the False Idol, as a key. That item is being held by Hargon's minions.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For him to order his minions to ''destroy the only key that grants access to the plateau''. It is impossible to get there any other way!\\
'''Instead''': The item is found and it's guardians defeated. The Cave of Rendarak is opened and the heroes make their way to the final area of the game.
** Hargon is trying to summon Malroth in order to destroy the world. It's implied that it is only a matter of time before he succeeds.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That Hargon would maintain the status quo. Nobody is currently gunning for him so time is on his side.\\
'''Instead:''' Hargon has his minions attack Moonbrooke, one of the superpowers of the continent, for no adequately explained reason and allow a soldier to escape! This soldier makes it to Midenhall, alerting the King and Prince, which kicks off the whole game.\\
'''Or:''' If Moonbrooke is just that important that it needs to be destroyed, stage simultaneous attacks of Cannock and Midenhall since they are the other two superpowers on the continent.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the NES version at least, you see a lone soldier escaping Moonbrooke which seems to have been built in the middle of a poisonous swamp. Now who in the would would think that [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail building a castle in a swamp would be a good idea]]?

** The NES version had the cursed equipment glitch, used mainly for the Sword of Destruction/Ruin. If you equip a cursed item (such as the cursed Sword of Ruin) and get it removed via House of Healing/Worship, you keep its attack power without the drawback of constantly missing turns until you reenter your Equip screen or you level up. If you go to the Equip screen or you level up, the numbers reset to their proper values.
** In Midenhall, you can fight a Mace Master/Wrecktor in a jail cell. Upon winning the battle, you will always receive a Staff of Thunder/Lightning Staff which you can sell. If you save and reset the game, the Wrecktor will respawn and will still drop the Lightning Staff. Constantly fighting, selling the Staff, saving the game and refighting the Wrecktor is a good way to farm gold.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The [=GBC=] remake expands the Prince of Cannock's equipment pool and slightly buffs his stats to make him less fragile and generally more formidable as a MagicKnight.

** It is possible to get a 2nd Water Flying Cloth. The sequence is supposed to be: get Dew's Yarn, get Magic Loom, go to Don Mahone and give the items, save, reload save, and then collect the Cloth. However if you give the items to Mahone and then immediately go back to the Dragon's Horn and Zahan without saving, the Yarn and Loom will respawn, then you can save and reload the game. Mahone will give you the first Cloth and then accept the items for the second. It is important that you leave a couple of empty spots in the Princess of Moonbrooke's inventory- the Cloth is intended for her and if her inventory is full, then Mahone will not give you the Cloth.

** In Wellgarth/Burrowell, you can fight an Evil Clown/a Whackolyte in a jail cell. Upon winning the battle, you will always receive a Staff of Thunder/Lightning Staff which you can sell. If you save and reset the game, the Whackolyte will respawn and will still drop the Lightning Staff. Constantly fighting, selling the Staff, saving the game and refighting the Evil Clown is a good way to farm gold.

** The NES version had the cursed equipment glitch, used mainly for the Sword of Destruction/Ruin. If you equip a cursed item (such as the cursed Sword of Ruin) and get it removed via House of Healing/Prayer, you keep its attack power without the drawback of constantly missing turns until you reenter your Equip screen or you level up. If you go to the Equip screen or you level up, the numbers reset to their proper values.

* SequelDifficultySpike: Hoo boy. While this game is already harder than the first, neither area of [=DQI=] is as tough -and arguably unfair- as the Road to Rhone.

** The NES version had the cursed equipment glitch, used mainly for the Sword of Destruction/Ruin. If you equip a cursed item (such as the cursed Sword of Ruin) and get it removed via House of Healing, you keep its attack power without the drawback of constantly missing turns until you reenter your Equip screen or you level up. If you go to the Equip screen or you level up, the numbers reset to their proper values.

* InferredHolocaust: All the towns on the continent of Alefgard from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' are gone except Tantegel Castle and Brecconary (which have merged into one location). Of course, [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail this is because the designers wouldn't or couldn't add all those locations]] and it's possible you're meant to imagine that the towns still exist but you can't access them (like how in early console {{Role Playing Game}}s the player is [[OverworldNotToScale usually expected to imagine that the game world is much more populated than it appears]]), but assuming that all of Alefgard (the places occupied by humans, anyway) has been wiped out except for one town which was forced to move behind castle walls is definitely a valid interpretation.

** It is possible to encounter the Gold Batboon as soon as you exit the Cave of Rhone/Rendarak on your way to the shrine to save, meaning you have to do the hardest area in the game ''all over again''. Pray that you didn't use all your MP in the cave for healing and pray that the RNG allows Stopspell/Fizzle to hit.
** Just about anything in the second half of the Cave of Rendarak qualifies. Dragons have a breath attack that has the potential of critically wounding or killing two thirds of your party if you don't level grind. Flames usually come in a group of four and can cause a TotalPartyWipe if they all use a breath attack that deals about 35-40 damage. There's a reason why Cave of Rendarak is ThatOneLevel and why the game's generally considered NintendoHard.

** Just about anything in the second half of the Cave to Rhone qualifies. Dragons have a breath attack that has the potential of critically wounding or killing two thirds of your party if you don't level grind. Flames usually come in a group of four and can cause a TotalPartyWipe if they all use a breath attack that deals about 35-40 damage. There's a reason why Cave of Rhone is ThatOneLevel and why the game's generally considered NintendoHard.

** Bazuzu and Zarlox can potentially also spam Healall/Fullheal if you're incredibly unlucky. Atlas is the only one of the five final bosses who doesn't have Healall/Fullheal, and Hargon is the only one of the five that you can silence with Stopspell/Fizzle (you can put Bazuzu to sleep).

** The final area of the game contains enemies called Gold Batboons (Bat Demons in the GBC version) who could potentially wipe out your party in one turn with their Sacrifice spell. Sacrifice, when used on you, results in a total party kill 100% of the time. The only other enemy in the whole series that can use this ability is the Rockbomb, but at least the Rockbomb waits until you've sufficiently provoked it before casting the spell. Gold Batboons can choose to do it on their very first turn if they're so inclined.
** It is possible to encounter the Gold Batboon as soon as you exit the Cave of Rhone on your way to the shrine to save, meaning you have to do the hardest area in the game ''all over again''. Pray that you didn't use all your MP in the cave for healing and pray that the RNG allows Stopspell/Fizzle to hit.

* FanNickname: The area that allows you to reach Rhone has no in-game name. NES fans tend to call it the Cave of/to Rhone while remake fans will call it the Road to Rhone.

** The NES version had the cursed equipment glitch, used mainly for the Sword of Destruction. If you equip a cursed item (such as the cursed Sword of Destruction) and get it removed via House of Healing, you keep its attack power without the drawback of constantly missing turns until you reenter your Equip screen or you level up. If you go to the Equip screen or you level up, the numbers reset to their proper values.
** In Wellgarth, you can fight an Evil Clown in a jail cell. Upon winning the battle, you will always receive a Staff of Thunder which you can sell. If you save and reset the game, the Evil Clown will respawn and will still drop the Staff of Thunder. Constantly fighting, selling the Staff, saving the game and refighting the Evil Clown is a good way to farm gold.

** Moyomoto, a name for the Prince of Midenhall that, thanks to a {{Good Bad Bug|s}} in the famicom version, causes him to begin the game at level 48 (out of [[LevelCap 50]]) with three of the {{Plot Coupon}}s already in hand and no equipment, allowing him to tear through the early and mid game with his bare hands. Fan art depicting him as a [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro-like]] OneManArmy runs abound.

** Pazuzu is even worse, being a {{Palette Swap}}ped KingMook version of a [[InstakillMook Gold]] [[DemonicSpiders Bat]][[TotalPartyKill Boon]] with jacked-up to stats and ''FULLHEAL''. Every turn spent against it is a chance for the RNG to decide to TotalPartyKill you no questions asked, and every cast of FULLHEAL is an extension to the already difficult battle. [[ThisIsGonnaSuck I hope you like dying!]]
* ThatOneLevel: The road to the Rhone Plateau is full of pitfalls, tough monsters that will decimate your party if you come in at a low level, and a section at the end where it will loop if you go the wrong way. This stands out among of a handful of reasons this game has a reputation of NintendoHard.