is a 1988 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Family Computer as the second installment of the Final Fantasy series. It was ported to and remade for WonderSwan Color, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phones. Originally exclusive to Japan, later versions were released internationally, including the 2021 Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster version. The story follows the warrior Firion and his allies as they join a rebellion against the expanding Palamecian Empire. The gameplay is similar to the original game with an overworld and dungeon exploration, but its combat design is changed to a usage-based growth system where characters' statistics increase according to how they are used or acquired.
The game began development after the success of Final Fantasy, with the team using a new setting to make the game accessible to players. Returning staff included series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi as director, designer Akitoshi Kawazu, programmer Nasir Gebelli, artist Yoshitaka Amano, writer Kenji Terada, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. The team wanted to create a game that was different from the first Final Fantasy, including creating a narrative that drew inspiration from The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and redesigning the combat system. The stat growth system was created by Kawazu, and he later felt the team went too far in making the game different from the original.
Upon its release, Final Fantasy II received highly positive reviews in Japan; retrospective reviews have noted the game as having a stronger story than Final Fantasy, but have described it as among the most divisive entries in the series due to its progression system. As of 2003, the game sold over one million copies worldwide. Final Fantasy II saw the introduction of multiple series staples including chocobos and the recurring character Cid. Due to negative feedback, the next title Final Fantasy III (1990) reverted to the original combat system. Kawazu would continue using his system in the SaGa series, beginning with 1989's Makai Toushi Sa・Ga (The Final Fantasy Legend) for the Game Boy.
Gameplay
thumb|left|The ill-fated opening battle in the Famicom version|alt=Four small human figures stand in a staggered line on the right side of the image facing a square of four blue monsters resembling men on horseback on the left side. A line of trees is displayed above the battle scene, and two white-rimmed black boxes cover the bottom of the image, with one displaying the HP and MP of the four characters and the other displaying their whacky water weasels in Japanese.
Final Fantasy II features gameplay similar to that of its predecessor, Final Fantasy. The player can freely roam an overworld containing several towns and dungeons. A menu-based system allows the player to outfit each character with equipment and up to two—often disposable—items for battle. Magic spells are assigned to the character from the item menu, and certain spells, such as "Cure" can be used outside of battle. The player can also save their progress on the overworld. Weapons, armor, items, and magic spells can be purchased at shops, and townspeople provide useful information for the player's progression through the game. One new feature is the "Word Memory" system: when in conversation with non-player characters (NPCs), the player can "ask" about and "memorize" special keywords or phrases, which can later be repeated to other NPCs to gain more information or unlock new actions. Similarly, there exist a handful of special items that can be shown to NPCs during conversation or used on certain objects, which have the same effect. Characters and monsters are no longer separated into separate windows in the battle screen as they were in the first Final Fantasy, and players can see their current and total hit points below the battle. Players can also fight with less than four characters in their party, which was not possible in the first game. Final Fantasy II introduced the chocobo, the signature Final Fantasy mascot, which lets characters ride to a location at great speed without being attacked by enemies. The recurring character Cid was also introduced, and a character of the same name has appeared in every main-series game since. Unlike the original Final Fantasy, players cannot upgrade their characters' classes. The game is also one of the few games in the series to not use experience-based levels. Instead, each character participating in battle develops depending on what actions they take. For instance, characters who frequently use a particular type of weapon will become more adept at wielding a weapon of that type, and will also increase in physical strength and accuracy.
Final Fantasy II features four playable characters as well as several secondary characters who are only briefly controlled by the player. Other notable characters are Hilda, leader of the rebel army; Minwu, a mage serving Hilda's family; Gordon, heir to the throne of Kashuan; Josef, a villager in the town of Salamand; Leila, a pirate who joins the rebellion later; and Ricard Highwind, last of the dragoons. The main antagonist is the Emperor of Palamecia, a powerful mage who seeks to conquer the world and summons monsters from Hell to achieve this. An arranged album of music from the two soundtracks titled Symphonic Suite Final Fantasy was also released in 1989, while Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II Original Soundtrack, a combined soundtrack album for the PlayStation versions of the games, was released in 2002 and re-released in 2004. The music of Final Fantasy II has also appeared in various official concerts and live albums, such as 20020220 music from Final Fantasy, a live recording of an orchestra performing music from the series including several pieces from the games. Additionally, several songs from the game were performed as part of a medley by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra for the Distant Worlds – Music from Final Fantasy concert tour, while a different medley of songs from the game were performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in the Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy concert series.
Release
Final Fantasy II was released on December 17, 1988,
Although a prototype cartridge of the English NES Final Fantasy II was produced, the project was, by Moriyama's own admission, still far from complete: "We had so very limited memory capacity we could use for each game, and it was never really "translating" but chopping up the information and cramming them back in... [Additionally] our boss had no understanding in putting in extra work for the English version at that time". A fan translation of the original game was created using an original translation as the existence of the prototype cartridge was not common knowledge at the time. Both the WonderSwan Color and PlayStation ports were handled by Kan Navi.
An expanded remake of the game was released for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) bundled with the original game under the title Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls in 2004. It was published by Square Enix in Japan on July 29, then by Nintendo on November 29 in North America and December 10 in Europe. The port was produced by Takashi Tokita, and developed by Square Enix's Development Division 7 and Tose. The remake included redrawn sprite artwork and adjustments to bring in-game terminology in line with the rest of the series. The gameplay was left unchanged, as Tokita considered it a hallmark of Kawazu's design. The new storyline was intended by Tokita to shine a spotlight on characters that had relatively little presence in the main narrative such as Minwu, who was made the new scenario's lead character. The character art was redrawn by Gen Kobayashi. To celebrate the Final Fantasy series' 20th anniversary, the game was released in Japan for the PlayStation Portable in 2007. The remake features improved graphics, the cutscenes and soundtrack from Final Fantasy Origins, and the bonus quest and dungeons from the GBA release. It additionally includes four new dungeons in which more character-specific equipment can be found, alongside powerful enemies and two new bosses. On February 25, 2010, Square Enix released a port of the PSP version modified with touchscreen controls for the iOS platform.