Final Fantasy II: Anniversary Edition (PSP)
- Publisher:
- Square Enix
- Developer:
- Square Enix
- Release Date:
- 08.02.2008
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action Adventure
- Reality Factor:
- Fantasy
- Extra:
- Other World
- Age:
- Ancient Times
We play Final Fantasy II: Anniversary Edition...
There was once a time when great mystery surrounded Final Fantasy II. Its English release was abandoned quite abruptly, despite the translation allegedly reaching an advanced beta stage, largely due to the upcoming launch of the SNES, and the apparent age of the NES. After Final Fantasy VII took the world by storm, an English version of Final Fantasy II was finally released as part of Final Fantasy Origins for the PlayStation, then again as part of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls for the Game Boy Advance.
The thing about Final Fantasy II is that when the mystery was revealed and everyone played it, they realized that it’s not actually very good. It’s the black sheep of the Final Fantasy series – like Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is to the Zelda series. Final Fantasy II tried to do something different; something that sounds pretty cool on paper, but didn’t quite work in practice.
And yet here we are, just 3 years since the last Final Fantasy II re-release, running through the motions yet again. Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition is just the same as the Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition; an update of the previously release PlayStation and Game Boy Advance remakes with redone sprites, and a few minor extras. Don’t forget the main difference – the PSP versions of the game are packaged and sold separately, despite the fact they were previously released together.
The story is a much more of a central part of the experience when compared with the first Final Fantasy. The introduction of the game takes place in the middle of an invasion, where your party joins up with the forces of the Wild Rose Rebellion, who are fighting the forces of the Empire of Palamecia. The emperor wishes to seize control of the world using monsters and demons, and it’s up to your group to stop him. It’s a reasonably straightforward plot, but is very much reflective of the technology available at the time of first release.
Generally, Final Fantasy II plays much the same way as its predecessor – venture the world from town to town, dungeon to dungeon, fighting random battles in your stead in order to level up your party. There is a distinct difference in the way your characters grow and develop, however. In most Final Fantasy games, characters develop based on their experience points, but in Final Fantasy II, characters develop based on how they are used. Using a particular type of weapon will make you more prolific with that type and increase your accuracy, but will do so at the cost of intelligence points used for spellcasting. Hit points and mana points increase based on need – if you take a lot of damage, your health will go up, and using a lot of magic will increase your mana.
It sounds good, but it’s either easily exploitable or potentially infuriating based on how you play. If you play well and get through early battles relatively untouched, you’ll find later in the game that your forces will be wiped out in one hit, as their health will never have expanded due to their lack of damage. Conversely, you can beat your own soldiers or flee battle when you have a single health point left, and max out your health early in the game, all but removing the game’s challenge. The game is also pretty short by today’s standards, which may disappoint those looking for a long term travel companion.
Despite the Anniversary Edition being a cleaned up port of the Origins/Dawn of Souls game, it does contain some new features. These include polished up graphics, the score and FMVs from the Origins version, the bonus dungeons from the Dawn of Souls game, and two new dungeons exclusive to this version. These dungeons are called the Arcane Labyrinth and Arcane Sanctuary, and within their walls lay character specific items and weapons, new monsters and a new boss.
Like the equivalent edition for the first game, Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition can only really be recommended to serious collectors or obsessive fans. It would have been quite a bit nicer had the game received the full remake treatment like Final Fantasy III did on the Nintendo DS. The same game has been available in collections before – this version is obviously the definitive version at this point, but the previous releases are of a similar quality, include the original Final Fantasy and can be found for a much lower price.
Top game moment: When you discover that attacking your own teammates helps to increase their health later down the track. It’s cheap, but it helps.
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 |
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| Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine |
Watch out for yellow snow |
The thing about Final Fantasy II is that when the mystery was revealed and everyone played it, they realized that it’s not actually very good. It’s the black sheep of the Final Fantasy series – like Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is to the Zelda series. Final Fantasy II tried to do something different; something that sounds pretty cool on paper, but didn’t quite work in practice.
And yet here we are, just 3 years since the last Final Fantasy II re-release, running through the motions yet again. Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition is just the same as the Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition; an update of the previously release PlayStation and Game Boy Advance remakes with redone sprites, and a few minor extras. Don’t forget the main difference – the PSP versions of the game are packaged and sold separately, despite the fact they were previously released together.
The story is a much more of a central part of the experience when compared with the first Final Fantasy. The introduction of the game takes place in the middle of an invasion, where your party joins up with the forces of the Wild Rose Rebellion, who are fighting the forces of the Empire of Palamecia. The emperor wishes to seize control of the world using monsters and demons, and it’s up to your group to stop him. It’s a reasonably straightforward plot, but is very much reflective of the technology available at the time of first release.
 |
 |
|
| This rug really ties the room together |
He’s one heck of a locksmith |
Generally, Final Fantasy II plays much the same way as its predecessor – venture the world from town to town, dungeon to dungeon, fighting random battles in your stead in order to level up your party. There is a distinct difference in the way your characters grow and develop, however. In most Final Fantasy games, characters develop based on their experience points, but in Final Fantasy II, characters develop based on how they are used. Using a particular type of weapon will make you more prolific with that type and increase your accuracy, but will do so at the cost of intelligence points used for spellcasting. Hit points and mana points increase based on need – if you take a lot of damage, your health will go up, and using a lot of magic will increase your mana.
It sounds good, but it’s either easily exploitable or potentially infuriating based on how you play. If you play well and get through early battles relatively untouched, you’ll find later in the game that your forces will be wiped out in one hit, as their health will never have expanded due to their lack of damage. Conversely, you can beat your own soldiers or flee battle when you have a single health point left, and max out your health early in the game, all but removing the game’s challenge. The game is also pretty short by today’s standards, which may disappoint those looking for a long term travel companion.
Despite the Anniversary Edition being a cleaned up port of the Origins/Dawn of Souls game, it does contain some new features. These include polished up graphics, the score and FMVs from the Origins version, the bonus dungeons from the Dawn of Souls game, and two new dungeons exclusive to this version. These dungeons are called the Arcane Labyrinth and Arcane Sanctuary, and within their walls lay character specific items and weapons, new monsters and a new boss.
 |
 |
|
| RPG towns are always so underpopulated |
This was the general fan reaction to Final Fantasy II’s level up system |
Like the equivalent edition for the first game, Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition can only really be recommended to serious collectors or obsessive fans. It would have been quite a bit nicer had the game received the full remake treatment like Final Fantasy III did on the Nintendo DS. The same game has been available in collections before – this version is obviously the definitive version at this point, but the previous releases are of a similar quality, include the original Final Fantasy and can be found for a much lower price.
Top game moment: When you discover that attacking your own teammates helps to increase their health later down the track. It’s cheap, but it helps.
