The Final Fantasy II Retrospective

Рет қаралды 98,456

Күн бұрын

After the surprise success of the first Final Fantasy in 1987, Hironobu Sakaguchi and his team immediately set out to work on a sequel which would be completely disconnected from the original. But what informed the creative direction of Final Fantasy II? What games were making waves in Japan in 1988? And how much of Final Fantasy II's overall design was influenced by Akitoshi Kawazu?
In this installment of the Final Fantasy retrospective, we'll be exploring the development of Final Fantasy II, including its earliest design documents and story plans, how and why the narrative direction was changed, and the need to move development to Sacramento, California in the latter months. We'll also be discussing at length the game's obtuse progression system, fans' distaste for it, the reputation it has cultivated for the game, and how later versions have changed it for the better.
Twitter: / lorddrubie
Patreon: / andrewbluett
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
03:51 - Part I - Back From the Brink
08:03 - Part II - Everything Changes
15:38 - Part III - Final Fantasy II
17:44 - Presentation
20:27 - Structure Analysis
25:44 - Combat & Progression: Nurture Over Nature
42:34 - Difficulty Factors
51:45 - War, Death, Hope, & Betrayal
1:04:22 - Characters
1:16:27 - Climax
1:21:35 - Personal Thoughts
1:24:03 - Part IV - 33 Years of Refinement
1:38:46 - Part V - Reception & Legacy
1:45:25 - Epilogue & To Be Continued...
Sources:
1. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. Directed by Kevin Burns and Edith Becker. Prometheus Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd., 2004.
2. Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1, pg 80-84 Dark Horse, 2018.
3. Parkin, Simon. “The Never-ending Story.” Edge Magazine, Jan 2018.
4. biturl.top/y2Ezmm
5. Famitsu 46
6. biturl.top/je6rAz
7. biturl.top/aeIzAn
8. Keiser, Gregg (June 1988). "One Million Sold in One Day". Compute!. p. 7.
9. "Console Yourself." New Computer Express. No. 43 (2 September 1989). 31 August 1989. p. 8.
10. Famitsu 45
11. Famitsu 47
12. Famitsu 48
13. Famitsu 49
14. Famitsu 50
15. Famitsu 51
16. Fujii, Daiji (2005-06-10). "The Birth of "Final Fantasy": Square Corporation". 岡山大学経済学会雑誌 (Okayama Economic Review). Okayama University.
17. "総合TOP50" [Total Top 50]. ファミコン通信〜 '89全ソフトカタログ [Famicom Tsūshin: '89 All Software Catalog]. Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). 15 September 1989. p. 78.
18. biturl.top/QJfUvu
19. Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Manga)
20. Dragon Quest: Legend of the Hero Abel
21. Dragon Quest: The Legend of Dai (Anime)
22. biturl.top/eq6VVn
23. Dragon Quest III
24. Kohler, Chris. Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. Brady Games, 2005. Republished by Dover, 2016. p. 94.
25. Star Wars
26. The Empire Strikes Back
27. Return of the Jedi
28. biturl.top/eYrQja
29. Zelda 2
30. Super Mario Bros 2 (US)
31. Mielke, James. “A Day in the Life of Hironobu Sakaguchi.” Electronic Gaming Monthly, p. 29. September 2008.
32. biturl.top/mAjeeq
33. biturl.top/aYVJni
34. Gorges, Florent. Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography - Beyond the Fantasy. Translated by Studio Cutie. Dark Horse, 2018.
35. Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 1, pg 49 Dark Horse, 2018.
36. Silviu Lupaşcu. "In the Ninth Heaven - the Gnostic Background of the Romanian Folklore tradition of the “Heaven’s Custom Houses”". Danubius 1:309-325.
37. biturl.top/ueUrY3
38. biturl.top/AbmMny
39. Milton, John. Paradise Lost.
40. Terada, Kenji. Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyu. Kadokawa Shoten, April 1989.
41. biturl.top/nqeYju
42. biturl.top/jyIju2
43. Famitsu 42
44. Famitsu 67
45. Famitsu 73
46. "Final Fantasy III". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis (63): 172. October 1994.
47. biturl.top/jyM3eu
48. biturl.top/Ujmuai
49. Famitsu 39
50. “Software Impressions: Final Fantasy II” Famitsu 65, pg 21
51. "Best Scenario Award: Final Fantasy II", Famicom Tsūshin, no. All Soft Catalog '89, 1989
52. biturl.top/e67BFf
53. biturl.top/UnENBb
54. biturl.top/JNZ7Vj
55. biturl.top/2qqam2
56. biturl.top/zmAja2
57. “Titles of game software with worldwide shipments exceeding 1 million copies" (PDF). Square Enix. February 9, 2004. p. 27. biturl.top/rEZZRv
58. "FY2007 First-Half Period Results Briefing Session" (PDF). Square-Enix.com. November 19, 2007. biturl.top/YFF3ei
59. biturl.top/fq2y6n
60. biturl.top/YRRNzi
61. biturl.top/z6b6Vr
62. biturl.top/NFrQrq
63. biturl.top/7vQfai
64. biturl.top/y63EBj
65. biturl.top/EZNRru
66. biturl.top/IBBvAb
67. biturl.top/r67zQn
68. biturl.top/r6Fzaa
69. biturl.top/7VnyUf

Пікірлер: 279

@Captainflowers1011 Жыл бұрын

Bro I clicked on the channel expecting you to be halfway through the series with several dozen videos on various franchises based on the quality of the FF1 & FFII Retrospectives, just to find out this is a fairly new channel? You're out here making quality videos like you've been here all along dude, respect 👊.

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

Not the first channel I made. Helps to have over a decade of practice.

@Captainflowers1011 Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewBluett that explains the high quality! Greatly enjoying it so far man!

Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewBluett I’m curious to check them out, if you’re ok with sharing your other channels?

@acidwizard6528 Жыл бұрын

@@Captainflowers1011 For real. Gotta respect the hustle. Dude is putting in serious work on research, script writing and editing. I've watched the FFV retrospective and was so impressed I'm going back to watch the first 4.

@jaitheon1793 Жыл бұрын

@acidwizard6528 same. Stumbled onto the ff5 on and greatly enjoyed (all time favorite ff game anyway), ff4 and 1 down, 2 and 3 to go. This channel is quality

@NeXaSLvL Жыл бұрын

I do love how he went from not knowing what an RPG is, to cyphering his code because he was so adamant in his beliefs about how much damage Ultima should do, because of his personal cannon on the evolution of magic

@trenthoward6800 Жыл бұрын

Nasir was a weirdo like that for sure.

@reloadpsi 7 ай бұрын

I'm so ambivalent on it. On one hand I'm like "he went above his station big time" but on the other hand he was still a member of the team creating a piece of narrative art and doing his part!

@johnathaned 5 күн бұрын

I would love to see a source on this cyphering code stuff, seems more likely they just mis-programmed how the spell works

@whichcache2517 4 ай бұрын

I think what sells The Emperor to me as an antagonist to me is this excerpt from the Mysidian Library when you use the key word "Palamecia". {The king of Palamecia was said to be a man of tremendous pride. Once, he decreed that he would give his daughter as a prize to any man who could penetrate his castle. Men who scaled cliffs, men who dug tunnels--all were humbled before the walls of the impenetrable castle. But finallly there came a man who succeeded where others had failed. Filling a great bag with hot air, he floated up, alighted on the castle roof, and entered the castle. Enraged at being outwitted, the king attempted to seize the man. But with an airy confidence, the man, together with the princess, escaped into the sky.} Rather than there being a causal link between the past king of Palamecia and The Emperor's motivations, I think this parable does an excellent job of highlighting The Emperor's mindset. He's an arrogant man who believes the world is his, but others prosper without his influence, finding ways to thrive and undermine him. And so he does what he does best; he destroys. He ruins. He demonstrates his vaunted superiority over other people by throwing them into the depths of despair, no matter how many lives he takes, even if it means doing a deal with Satan himself. All of that is a triviality to him, a trifle of his efforts, compared to demonstrating his dominion over the world. He is a force of nature, so determined in his goal that his split soul usurps both Satan *and* God, ruling over both life and death, reward and punishment. He's not a mere man. He doesn't even need a name to be feared and remembered. He is The Emperor.

@VenomLion Жыл бұрын

That story about Sakaguchi wanting to fix the ultima spell only to find that Gebelli had cyphered it is absolutely wild to me as a modern game designer. I would absolutely lose my shit if one of my colleagues did that.

@mrh3894 7 ай бұрын

He should have just commented that block out and rewritten it

@ThaetusZain Жыл бұрын

I think the empty rooms were an attempt to be a bit more D&D. In old modules there were a lot of rooms in a dungeon left empty. The idea was that the DM was supposed to populate them, but more often than not the DM would just roll from the random encounter table and have whatever they rolled be in the room. Hence, empty rooms with a high chance of triggering random encounters. It would make more sense if entering the room would trigger the encounter before depositing them in the center of it though.

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

That's interesting. I had no idea about that but it certainly makes sense given Kawazu's love of D&D.

@TheYashakami Жыл бұрын

I love the idea of four bros going into battle and then beating each other up at the end while the last enemy watches just to harden themselves. I'd watch that anime

@Inogat Жыл бұрын

The way I understood Leon in the ending was definitely him going back for the Palamecian throne and Firion being like "we'll be ready for you" has a double meaning. "Either you sort yourself out, or we will." was basically Firion's subtext.

@MrJohntoyz 11 ай бұрын

Interesting take. Fun to think about.

@reloadpsi 7 ай бұрын

Ooff. Very nice.

@empiar5481 Жыл бұрын

Hey so you mentioned how certain spells would level up faster than others. The same is true of weapon skills but this doesn’t depend on the skill itself but rather the level of said skill or spell. Monsters have a hidden “rank” or level. When you use a command for the first time in a fight you gain XP equal to something like… 4 + monster’s rank - skill level. And then diminishing returns beyond that. So if Firion uses his lvl 1 sword skill against goblins (rank 1) he gains 4 xp, then 3, 2, 1… The reason why your haste leveled up so fast is because you’d use a low level spell in a high level battle. They DID think about these things, but it seems the skill system needed a lot more fine-tuning.

@TarvouldsQuest Жыл бұрын

Dude I can SMELL the effort all over this. Well done, earned a sub.

@KirbyIsCute Жыл бұрын

The Emperor was able to do all his takeover on earth because he has all this army at his disposal so I wonder how he manage to take over hell and heaven. But if the man is based on the goblin king, I'd like to think he was able to charm his way in with song. "You remind of the Moogle." "What Moogle?" "The Moogle with the power..."

@kennethconnally4356 Жыл бұрын

I guess I had always thought of the promise of this progression system as being, "Just play how you want and your characters will develop appropriately." From that perspective it is a disaster when you have players doing all kinds of bizarre things like hitting themselves, avoiding healing during battle, casting useless spells over and over, etc. But if their goal was instead to create a kind of puzzle where players have to work out what behaviors the system will reward with experience points and then grind by doing those over and over, then I guess it's a success? I do find that it creates a near-constant state of ludo-narrative dissonance, however. In the first Final Fantasy, when I'm in combat, my mindset and goals are pretty close to what I imagine my characters' would be: we both want to defeat the monsters as quickly as possible, while taking the least damage possible and using up the least amount of resources that might become necessary to survive the rest of the dungeon. So the choice of, for example, whether to use a heal spell in battle is dictated by the same kinds of considerations my characters would have. In FF II, by contrast, when my characters take damage, I no longer see this as a purely bad thing; yes, it puts them closer to death, but I also kinda want them to end the battle at low health so I can gain experience points for my HP, and I want them to take physical damage because their defense stat will go up. I doubt my characters see any such silver lining to getting their arm chewed off by a goblin or what have you. Much less would they see the wisdom in bashing each other over the head etc. It's true that in real life, you do engage in otherwise pointless and repetitive activities (exercise and practice) to "level up" particular skills and abilities. But a sane person would do this in a safe environment, not in the middle of a life-or-death situation. I think maybe this ludo-narrative dissonance is why the benefits of having your dudes whack each other on the noggin is the first thing everybody points to when trying to explain why they didn't like FF II. It's not that this specific activity is necessarily a big part of the gameplay experience; rather, it's the silliest/most egregious example of the headspace the progression system puts you in throughout the game.

@B33FY2011 Жыл бұрын

I have just found your channel over the last few days, and these Final Fantasy retrospectives are unbelievable. I always put Gametrailers Retrospectives as the best history for Final Fantasy, but these videos blow them away. I'm really looking forward to getting through these current videos and hopefully future Final Fantasy Retrospectives by yourself. Great content, and thank you for the obvious hours and hours of work you have put in to keep us entertained. New Patreon gained.

@TheFatestPat Жыл бұрын

Dissidia may have had some questionable writing at points, but god damn did they do a great job showing off The Emperor. I don't know if the series will ever be able to top how ruthless he was. He goes so perfectly with the whole "War is Hell" angle that FF2 embraced.

@reloadpsi 7 ай бұрын

I would like to see a remake of this game where we see his actions rather than be told of them. All these 1:1 remasters don't do it any favours.

@icyblue878 Жыл бұрын

Absolutely incredible retrospective. I love early FF and learned so much from the content. Praise the algorithm for showing me this.

@flametitan100 Жыл бұрын

I found this video around the same time I started FF2 (Pixel remasters,) and while I had to skip around to avoid spoilers (albeit not succeeding in the process) it really helped me appreciate the game I was playing. Final Fantasy 2 is probably my favourite of the NES era games, underloved by the people. Its cohesive yet simplistic plot would also be the ideal target for a FFVIIR style remake, but its status as the black sheep of the franchise leads me to believe it'd never happen. The retrospective making parallels between it and Empire Strikes Back was a brilliant choice; it always seems like the 2nd work of a franchise is always the most experimental, which tends to lead it into being the most popular or the most hated entry.

@arvidfrom4211 Жыл бұрын

Fantastic work, The type of high quality content that is sorely lacking on youtube at the moment. Very excited for further projects!

@MuteMusicalMorgan Жыл бұрын

Man, I can't help but think about how solid that original story was. There was a lot of potential there that I wish they'd hung onto for a future installment.

@TheNuts1225 Жыл бұрын

The optimal strategy for this game is not grinding, it's curse. Most bosses can be cursed and I think it halves their attack and defense. It completely circumvents grinding in this game because by the time it stops being useful, you're probably gonna have the berserk and haste spells.

@HappyRatKaiser 9 күн бұрын

HIll Gigas's hate this one simple trick! Heck, the game even gives you the Ancient Sword in the same room you'll likely fight your very first Hill Gigas. FF2 really is a Kawazu game through and through; he gives you the tools to succeed! ... *mutters* ...he just doesn't tell you what they are...

@LordExor Жыл бұрын

Very insightful on Leon's character. Your explanation of his motives matches what has been said in official supplementary material.

@luijelliee5034 Жыл бұрын

i really like your thorough research, in both of your retrospectives so far there has been a ton of info not present in other similar videos on youtube which makes them a joy to watch as a curious fan of the games, i hope for more final fantasy retrospectives in the future!

@backupschmliff1156 11 ай бұрын

I'm so glad you mentioned Megami Tensei. People always skip over it when talking about the classic, grandfather of console RPGs just because it never officially released in the West. I loved the first vid but I think I'm gonna stick around. You're really thorough. You also approach the game in a very fair way. You don't go in barking the same line about FFII being terrible like so many others do. I love your style. My one complaint is that the agonizing theme that plays during Combat and Progression just goes on way too long. It's stuck in my head.

@SonofDale Жыл бұрын

Your retrospectives are phenomenal. Definitely a notch higher than the rest for the depth of research and passion you put into them. This is exactly the kind of attention to detail I was looking for. Thank you.

@sirbeardcat Жыл бұрын

i am so pumped for this series, these first two parts have been really fun to watch and i've learned a lot

@JosephGrajedabloodsouls Жыл бұрын

Amazing video! I’ve watched basically every single one of these long form final fantasy series retrospectives on KZfaq and yours are up there as some of the best for sure!

@Iamverybald Жыл бұрын

Your retrospective videos are simply phenomenal. The level of detail, passion, research and understanding of each game, their particular mechanics and the philosophy behind each game's design is superb. This is top quality content.

@scottchunko3230 Жыл бұрын

I've watched every final fantasy retrospective on KZfaq and I am blown away by your work. Both your first and second retrospectives are extremely engaging and informative. I hope you continue throughout the series despite not having 1 million subscribers. You deserve to have more exposure and I just pray that I'll get to see more retrospectives from you. Well done!

@LuxAndTuxLive 7 ай бұрын

Wow this came out amazing. Great work, been binging your videos since the podcast

@damienfenech9935 Жыл бұрын

Dude, you sir get a like and sub. There is a LOT of work done to make this video happen, not to mention your other retrospective. Great work buddy.

@Inogat Жыл бұрын

man that intro song from the rebel army theme I wanna stand up like it's my anthem. Good job with the previous one, but now you're tackling my favorite final fantasy (so far). Much excitement!

@Adorni Жыл бұрын

Maybe the real Ultima is the friends we hit in the face.

@jezbount6165 Жыл бұрын

Great work and it's nice to see someone giving Final Fantasy II some love. Keep it up and can't wait to see more.

@Spazzz661 Жыл бұрын

Wow the quality of these videos are outstanding! Awesome stuff

@Inogat Жыл бұрын

very amazing video glad you liked the game and thanks for all the behind the scene information!

@kalelpablo4259 8 ай бұрын

Dude, you're awesome. Such a brilliant video! Please keep going, hugs from Brazil!

@dtcharo Жыл бұрын

::slow clap:: That was the best retrospective I've seen of this game. You're a gem. I look forward to seeing more of your content and definitely subscribed to the channel.

@davidhill8565 11 ай бұрын

I’m glad the author of this presentation used the fan translation by Chaos Rush and not the one by NeoDemiforce.

@msshyskye1 7 ай бұрын

Your FFVI video showed up in my recommended videos and I started watching that then you started talking about the previous games and I noted I didn't have context so I went to the 1st game retrospective. I have to say this is a really good retrospective with lots of context and also detailing who is behind the game and I look forward to catching up to get back to FFVI. Keep it up!!!

@JediBusouSonic Жыл бұрын

As a long time FF fan whos played basically all the games. Your retrospective from a fresh perspective is really nice.

@nocturnalnights27 Жыл бұрын

This is a fantastic retrospective, great work 👏

@astercast Жыл бұрын

I will be watching every single episode in this series and liking them all. I subbed too. Thanks so much.

@MegamanNG Жыл бұрын

I can never understand why Nasir Gebelli had to nerf Ultima like that. The only thing I have to ask is simply... why? Why would he do that?

@connorcoker5112 Жыл бұрын

Yeah and also a douche move what he did to prevent it from being changed

@MegamanNG Жыл бұрын

@@connorcoker5112 It was a douche move. I have to wonder if that waws the impetus for him leaving Square after FF3.

@connorcoker5112 Жыл бұрын

@@MegamanNG maybe

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

He didn't leave Square after FF3. He worked on Secret of Mana as main programmer and retired afterward, I believe on FF royalties.

@MegamanNG Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewBluett That was pretty much true. He is still on good speaking terms with Sakaguchi.

@xagatal Жыл бұрын

These are so good! ❤

@appelslice Жыл бұрын

Keep up the good work! Really enjoyed this one 👍

@Michaeluj Жыл бұрын

This is a remarkably in-depth yet coherently articulated analysis! I've watched a number of FF2 reviews, and this is probably the first one that made me understand what it's really about and its context.

@Pedro.Sanchez Жыл бұрын

Wait wait wait you only got 800 subs? What the fuck this is probably the best Final Fantasy retrospective I’ve seen on KZfaq!

@RibamarGamer Жыл бұрын

Incredible video.

@chrisc6857 Жыл бұрын

On the one hand, I kind of like the idea that the 'ultra powerful ancient spell' turns out to be useless. It's kind of like that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where there's a demon called 'The Judge' that everyone is freaking out over because, according to the Codex (which is never wrong) 'no weapon forged by man' can hurt him. Then Buffy realizes that the Codex was right when it was written, but it was written 6000 years ago and weapons forged by man are a lot more potent these days. She one shots him with a grenade launcher. On the other hand, though, to put so much of the game's story behind it really is wasting the player's time. It could work, if Ultima had been a secondary plot point, or if the next part of the game involved the story commenting on it, and then having a storyline where they seek some master wizard who might be able to take Ultima and improve it with modern knowledge to be what they expected it to be, thereby gaining the best of both worlds.

@Arcadio_Castellanoz Жыл бұрын

Keep it up! Excellent analysis. Comprehensive. I have similar feelings about the game.

@MimebladeGMail Жыл бұрын

What I did for the FF Origins/20th Anniversary version of FF2 was build up my HP/MP stats with the Swap spell, but all this really did was superficially buff my base stats. I'd still take a ton of damage against certain types of monsters. So the real fun lay in just being a masochist in certain areas of the game and have monsters pound/osmose you to increase your Defense/Spirit stats. The rest involved Status/Elemental Resistance and Attack power from weapons of choice. I remember my run of the whole game to be interesting, as very rarely did I run across monsters that could seriously pound me... but when I did, I'd stick around for a few fights and by the end of the game I was strong enough that even the toughest enemies barely did anything to me. Honestly it was pretty fun in my run. I have yet to do the post-game quests with the Guest characters though.

@MimebladeGMail Жыл бұрын

That all said... I would've liked to have seen the original story of Final Fantasy II play out... three Kings' sons vying for succession would make an interesting story by modern standards.

@seawind930 Жыл бұрын

Best way to improve your Agi/dodge was equipping two shields and just killing things off with magic. Also taking off all your armor helped too. I remember leveling against Captains really early because my Evade was really high because my shield level was Sixteen really early and they couldn't hit me, just needed one shield and any weapon and I could level anything up against them

@MimebladeGMail Жыл бұрын

@@seawind930 Just imagine applying FFII's method of stat distribution to a game like Dark Souls (or Stranger of Paradise, Final Fantasy Origin)... hahah that would be insane.

@Syastsk Жыл бұрын

Apologies for being pedantic here, but for the sake of completeness, I will criticize the interpretation of Famitsu's note on FF2 as presented at 1:40:06 . My first issue is a small one, which is that it's less Famitsu "declaring it a hit," and more observing that FF2 is "the most talked about game of the season" -- this difference is slightly meaningful insofar as it's a passive observation of fact rather than them taking the onus to officially label it as a hit. But that's well within the realm of just ambiguous word choice. My second and more serious issue is that they did not say "it could even surpass Dragon Quest." Rather, they said: "You can clearly feel the DEVELOPER'S INTENTION to surpass Dragon Quest." This is important insofar as it levies no judgment over whether they succeeded or possibly could succeed, but rather just emphasizes respect for the ambition regardless of the result. Overall minor points, but the only thing I know is Japanese so I might as well hone my ears waiting for a JP translation in a 2 hour video essay to nitpick it :P Overall very good video series and in the upper echelon of video essays I've seen due to not just the amount of research but the depth to that research as well.

@mysticfeal Жыл бұрын

Elina and Kain are Phillip's wife/son, Ricard's best friend who died fighting the empire. About the novel version: There are a few chapters on a Tumblr profile but sadly without updates for a long time :c I'm currently writing a remake of the game as a hobby, mixing some things from the novel version(and new content to the story) Main Story/Soul of Rebirth completed(Arcane Labyrinth is the next). Now I'm currently just adjusting/rewriting some stuff/details. Great video!

@MrJohntoyz 11 ай бұрын

Oooooh, fan remakes are always fun to see. How is it coming? I'm working on my own ff fangame and interested in hearing your ideas.

@mysticfeal 11 ай бұрын

@@MrJohntoyz As I said, it's more of a hobby than something real. I've complete the main story/SoR at the time I made this original comment and wwhenever I can I try to write something, so I'm currently working on Leon's "DLC" and trying to buy Memory of Heroes so I can gather more stuff/details. And what can you tell about your game?

@MrJohntoyz 11 ай бұрын

Well this isnt my main account I just forgot to change accounts on somebodys computer. Basically my idea was sort of exploring a Final Fantasy inspired world through its history. 4 different eras, traditional fantasy, steam/magic punk, modern fantasy, sci fi. Different hero in each, kinda like Live A Live but more open explorable world.

@mysticfeal 11 ай бұрын

@@MrJohntoyz That's neat! I would love to see a high-tech Final Fantasy game. Exploring the space, planets, etc.

@solariswly Жыл бұрын

This video really helped me understand the game more and finally beat it

@andrewlavigne44 Жыл бұрын

Just found this channel and have really enjoyed the first two FF retrospectives. Looking forward to your take on V-onward.

@ruinerdown1614 Жыл бұрын

Amazing work

@ronsil5582 Жыл бұрын

I've just finished the FF1 video and I'm straight on to this one! These are amazing!

@luki1234567890123 Жыл бұрын

Another outstanding retrospective - i had no idea about the original planned FF2 plot - and i have watched other retrospectives on youtube. Now the real question FF3 when? :P

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

I'm aiming for October/November for FF3

@luki1234567890123 Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewBluett great

@HighPriestFuneral Жыл бұрын

I didn't know about this original plot either. That's so bizarre to hear an alternate universe version of FF2. I am also surprised neither FF or Romancing Saga ever used that plot synopsis. It actually sounds so well thought out.

@armortekel 4 ай бұрын

Great video, not many people want to give this game a fair shot and I'm glad you did. I respect it when gaming youtubers actually try to engage with the games they cover and get some sort of value out of it.

@TheSkullKlownTSK Жыл бұрын

I love FF2. I had the Dawn Of Souls version and I'm playing through it again. To me people that hate FF2 don't know how to play the game. I played this game as a kid and it was fine for me. Hard yes but manageable

@shawnwarner8204 11 ай бұрын

Dude being born and raised in Sacramento I had no idea the city had such an awesome tie to FF!

@CatVisionTM Жыл бұрын

I’ve watched your FF1 & 2 vids a few times so far and thought they were both great. Can’t wait to get into 3 and I really hope you continue this series.

@NotaNinja Жыл бұрын

Fuck me, your only two games into your series. I found this to early. Oh well. Looking forward to when you get around to FF tactics. Your videos are pretty awesome so far. Ty for the effort.

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the kind words! Not sure yet if I'll do a Tactics video; it depends on how much traction this series gets and if there's enough of a demand for it.

@thefool9330 Жыл бұрын

Loving it man

@JinwooYoon1217 Жыл бұрын

New sub! You're under 1k now but that's not gonna last for long, I'm sure. Good stuff, thanks for the hard work!

@chaosn4197 10 ай бұрын

I really enjoy your review style

@Amuro1X Жыл бұрын

Excellent video series. I found the FF2 vid first since I'm currently playing FF2 Pixel Remaster on PS4, but quickly went and watched the from the first video and will immediately move on to 3 next. I hope you make it through the whole series. My experience with FF2 is I played it first on GBA and then the PSP release. I fall into the crowd that regularly complains about the leveling system, but every time I play the game, I can't help but think I enjoy it more than I remember, lol

@ShadeOfDead 7 ай бұрын

Keep doing this. I love every one.

@Dante-Dev-FullStack 3 ай бұрын

Sou do Brasil e só posso falar algo para você: PERFEIÇÃO. Tu é excelente, que canal maravilhoso, meus parabéns.

@makaveliandcheese Жыл бұрын

I can't wait till you get to x and 12 i really liked these two so far will watch your third one tomorrow at work

@archagenteverlasting1239 Жыл бұрын

I adore FFII, easily my favorite of the NES titles. Excited to see your thoughts!

@witchivy5905 Ай бұрын

This series review is amazing. As a lifelong fan of final fantasy yet only played a select few. These reviews are everything! ❤

@catsquad 11 ай бұрын

I'm loving these videos as I'm going through the original 6. I was put off by word of mouth and this video has actually tipped me towards getting it when I'm finished with 5 and 6

@MLmaster135 Жыл бұрын

the one thing i love about FF2 is most deff the arcane sanctuary and deumion's backstory+the Destroy spell's lore. the fact its literally a canon place right in the mountains above poft really adds to FF2's world-lore, with such a world-destroying magic sealed away. the Destroy spell's deff one of my fave spells in the entire series without a doubt, its animation's very omnious and its a pretty amazing animation with a great shade of dark blue. the lore on its great as well with Deumion's tragic backstory. best part being it doesn't take much to do it all since its at the end of the game. I deff wish it'd return in the series somehow one day. the most interesting part about Destroy is while it can do 9999 damage, its actually secretly a gravity type spell when used more than once if the enemy survives. on the Emperor, who has around 15k hp, Destroy takes around 4-6ish casts to kill the emperor with, and the emperor has to not use magic, otherwise you game over, but its satisfying to beat him with just Destroy- I love the Emperor of Hell and Heaven, they make for a very great villain. I'm deff sad the Heaven half isn't as explored nor talked about much in media, same goes for Deumion and the Destroy spell especially. like they're incredibly interesting pieces of FF2's world-lore that're pretty much canon in universe despite being extra content. but it deff shows how powerful the Emperor really is since he surprisingly, could not truly die unless both his halves were killed at the same time. it really gave FF2 very intriguing lore due to this, meaning Firion and his allies couldve potentially been unable to defeat the Emperor of Hell I love FF2 even to this day, the game may not be great gameplaywise but the lore, especially with extra content in the psp version, is amazing. its music, the main theme especially, helped me get through tough times too. it really does show how Firion's earned his legacy as the series first weapons-master+canon Blood Sword user(2nd blood weapon user being Emperor Mateus due to his Blood Rod, hence the drain effect on his phys attacks in-game) Firion's one of my Fave chars from the series, esp his amano artwork with him holding his Blood Sword in front of his face. its one of the best poses for sure. FF2 may not be the best but its certainly not the worst, especially not with the psp version which improved a lot cept the dungeon design, the psp version and pixel remaster.. I think both are great but, honestly the one I always felt was the best version was the psp due to all the lore it gave from the extra content alone, expanding upon FF2's universe. pixel remaster's deff the current "best" as its the most easily available while the psp's just non-existent now as it got stupidly thanosed from most android stores(yet FF3 DS/PSP's still there) but you just can't beat the lore the extra content of FF2 psp gives, its just unmatched. but also the fact that status effects aren't 100% when you get hit in psp like they are in pixel remaster. that causes some nasty stunlocks when paralyzed or jus auto-insta death in FF2PR, which's deff a bit of a detriment for pixel remaster, compared to psp's chance of the status landing. weirdly the pixel remaster does have one advantage despite the glaring status effect 100% on hit flaw, and thats how they fixed running away to not be tied to your char's speed like it was in psp(which meant if 1 char's speed was too low you couldn't run from specific normal encounters) for the most complete version of FF2, psp's without a doubt deff the way to go due to all the extra content and lore described above, but its a shame that one's pretty much all but faded into obscurity cept for vids online. and Pixel remaster's deff the way to go if you want the normal experience, as its just the best for that if you can ignore the inherent 100% status effect on hit flaw which drags it down despite auto-saves being a thing. it deff reminds me of how FF4's DS+psp versions are kinda the best due to being the most complete content-wise but for diff reasons(system mechanics and 2d/3d mostly)

@trustytrest Жыл бұрын

I appreciate your thoughts and also MLMaster is such a great pun too.

@reloadpsi 7 ай бұрын

This needs a remake. They could flesh out so much of what the game was forced to tell rather than show.

@amiandivh 7 ай бұрын

As a person who's been very adjacent to final fantasy (watching other people plaything the games or me playing a side game like tactics advanced/buying the games and never playing them) I've always wanted to get into the games the way i was drawn into rpgs like pokemon. These videos are some of the greates retrospectives ive seen ever. And they really make me to playe the games i have and more.

@Chamassa1210 Жыл бұрын

How does this only have 1600 views... Up you go hopefully

@jeffgreene1055 Жыл бұрын

One of the best in the series imo. Great job on the video.

@itre8509 Жыл бұрын

I like your voice. The elocution is spot on.

@enjikari3162 Жыл бұрын

Another great FF retrospective! Admittedly, FFII is one of the few FFs I've never even tried, and it is honestly due to the notoriety surrounding it. I'm sure some day I will give it a go, despite the negativity - maybe with the pixel remaster. This video definitely helped spark that fire again!

@JuliusCaesar103 10 ай бұрын

Haven't played any of the old FF games and yet this was riveting from start to finish. Subbed

@leonlashway Жыл бұрын

Just finished today getting 100% achievements on FF2 Pixel, love this game and love your retrospectives. Just found this channel yesterday, cannot get enough of FF content. Thanks.

@iamtendo Жыл бұрын

perfect retrospective. great length. great narration. i hope your videos gets the views they deserves.

@alexh2790 Жыл бұрын

I loved the progression system of 2 when I finally played it as part of origins. My only gripe was the tedious nature of the dungeons. Currently playing the Pixel Remaster, it's definitely the most friendly version I've played but I think I prefer the OST arrangements of origins and the PSP version so far, especially the overworld and first boss theme. Removing the acoustic guitar part in the first and then burying the ethereal lead melody in the latter was a faux pas imho. Edit: I will give it credit for not throwing jazz horns at everything like the other pixel remasters I've played so far.

@MrZrbrownie Жыл бұрын

As I'm now going through the Pixel Remaster, this is my current favorite series. I'm only two in, and I'm very much looking forward to the next four.

@sosorryofficial5277 Жыл бұрын

You're in for such an incredible treat. FFII is actually my least favorite, and FFI, while still shockingly enjoyable, is largely improved upon in subsequent entries. There's not really a dud in the first 10 or so games depending on who you ask.

@muscovyducks 8 ай бұрын

Nice, maybe I'll give this one another try

@BurnoutsAndBourbon Жыл бұрын

Please tell me you are doing every FF

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

1-16, including X-2, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns are all part of the plan.

@BurnoutsAndBourbon Жыл бұрын

@@AndrewBluett That makes some so happy!! Thank you!

@torusorus7803 Жыл бұрын

commenting to increase your odds with the algorithm, godspeed

@charlie_nax Жыл бұрын

i know thats probably not relevant to the point of the video because it seems to be exclusively dedicated to final fantasy, but i personally admire kawazu's earnest intent to think out of the box and experiment through things, as a long time final fantasy 2 defendant, and maybe a fan ackknowledging its shortcommings, its impossible to me to not point out that kawazu's progression system was kept being refined over the years in the SaGa series after the gameboy games, starting the the romancing SaGa series, creating a whole franchise that despite wasnt brought to the west probably out of fear of not being understood in the west until SaGa frontier 1, 2 and then romancing SaGa own remake minstrel song, it was still a success in japan since the beggining.

@Kawabongahlive Жыл бұрын

Some years ago I went on a marathon of sorts in which I played all FF games from I to X in a single year. When I played FFII I enjoyed my time with it and I had no idea about anything that was being said about the game. It was fun, and I noticed the jump in story quality respective to the first game. That being said, after beating the game, I never played it again. I have fun memories of it, and that's it. Most people who criticize it do it for bandwagoning imo. I never felt I had to grind that much, and after playing all those FF games I can tell you I grinded in all except FFVIII. Edit: the one I really disliked was FFIII, by the way.

@OriginalRyan 6 ай бұрын

I've watched a lot of Faxanadu videos similar & have been left mostly unimpressed. I'd love a video of that. You deserve much more.

@kalandarkclaw8892 Жыл бұрын

I honestly can't hear the ff2 battle music anymore without thinking of Hildebrand Additionally, the beavers in ffxiv are a reference to this game. And of course pandemonium being the end game raid in endwalker.

@BurnoutsAndBourbon Жыл бұрын

Subbed!

@redmagejack Жыл бұрын

I just finished playing Final Fantasy 2 literally this last weekend for my channel (it’ll start uploading at the end of this week) and I don’t think I could agree with your opinions on the game more; I came out of the Dawn of Souls version of the game not knowing how to feel about it. One hand the scales tipped so hard for me at the final battle that I barely noticed taking any damage from The Emperor and at times the game dragged. On the other the story, while basic, was well done in my opinion and the music is stuff I’ll be listening to remixes to for a long time. Looking forward to your Video on Final Fantasy 3…hopefully I can beat it before your video comes out

@lucamibel Жыл бұрын

Amazon vid as always!!!

@Zarathustra-rj4yz Жыл бұрын

I'm pretty aure the whole reasoning behind dq changing to weekend release is based on some urban legends and are exaggerated although the aforementioned is certainly a factor. But yes, they love their dq in japan lol

@AndrewBluett Жыл бұрын

The urban legend is that the Japanese government made them release them on weekends. Enix changed it without government intervention.

@rufus_the_cat Жыл бұрын

IT’s interesting when you consider octopath with its job system

@FrMZTsarmiral 2 ай бұрын

I remember kinda enjoying this game the first time I played (only played a few hours) once I get used to how the leveling system worked. Back then I wasn't aware FF2 was that hated so I was actually surprised to find out people in the west hated it THAT much. While the game is indeed deeply flawed, I think most people just auto-pilot into dismissing it and rarely give it a more fair look.

@KBXband 5 ай бұрын

There were so many Star Wars references in this game I am truly surprised Cid didn't have a Chocobo copilot named ChocoBacca

@canibalsuicune Жыл бұрын

Loved your video, too bad you didn't mention that while Kawazu almost completely left the Final Fantasy franchise (only becoming executive producer on some of the later entries), he still got a shot at improving and building upon the system he came up with in FF2 in his very own "Saga franchise" a little less known RPG series by Square Soft in which Romancing Saga 1, 2 and 3 actually uses the growth system of FF2 but vastly improved upon and better contextualized, Romancing Saga 2 in particular is a solid recommendation of mine as it is one of the better title of the SNES library and Square's catalogue ! So yeah, if you SOMEHOW still enjoyed FF2 in spite of its many flaws, it's a solid recommandation