Kiwi Farms

We're not fully starting yet-consider this a bit of a prologue. A prelude. If you don't care about history/mechanics, feel free to scroll down to where the pictures start.

Final Fantasy 2 is not a bad game. In fact, it's really pretty good. But, it takes so many departures from its predecessor, and from the usual JRPG mechanics in general, that it feels completely alien. Basically, it's too polished to be bad, too strange to be meh, and too infuriating to be good-yes, I can be petty. The game did move units, but has the dishonorable mark of being the least purchased of all Final Fantasy games (at least, of the first 10, and we're talking main games here, no spin offs).

So, if the game did sell-and it sold fairly well, and received rave reviews, why didn't it come to America? To put it simply, time is a bitch. A translation was underway and a beta version did exist at one point, however, that point was also the release of the SNES. Square ultimately axed the effort to translate FF2, instead focusing efforts on releasing FF4 to the international market (though, as you may know, 4 was renamed to 2 to avoid confusion, since we'd be asking where the two in between went). A fan translation did exist prior to Origins, the version I'm using, but the fan translation is unrelated to the prototype mentioned above.

Reviews were initially favorable, but eventually cooled as time went on. The choice to get rid of levels was praised as innovative, but even the most forgiving of reviewers had to admit it resulted in a sloppy mess due to poor execution. The slope can be seen in the three reviews given to FF2 from the same magazine (Famitsu)-a 35/40 for the initial Famicon release, a milder 30/40 for the Wonderswan release, and then a 27/40 for the Origins release. I remember reading one review of the PSP re-release that noted that while FF2 was a wonderful bonus add-on with FF1 in the Origins and Dawn of Souls releases, when it's on its own, it just doesn't hold up.

So what's the bad parts? Basically, the mechanics are a janky mess that hurts to look at. Every character has stats, per usual, but increasing these stats requires you to use them. For some, this is easy-level Strength by whacking things, level Intelligence by casting Black Magic, and so on. This extends, however, to HP and MP, meaning you have to deliberately get your ass beat to increase your HP (though, if you die, there's no stat gains for you). Weapon skills and magic can also be leveled up this way, resulting in more accurate attacks (and more hits) and stronger magic. The big Achilles Heel, however, is that leveling certain stats can decrease others (Strength lowers Intelligence, Intelligence lowers Endurance, and Spirit lowers Strength. So, your big fighter can't use black magic well, your black mage will get demolished by status effects, and your white mage won't hit as hard).

All of that, however, can be forgiven...because the story is really fucking good. Major character deaths started here, and the game isn't afraid to start throwing them at you as soon as you press start. Hell, the game kicks off by killing all your heroes and then resurrecting them, and your first major objective has you meeting with a dying prince who then dies more or less in your arms. It gets pretty damn heavy pretty damn fast, and no one on either side is safe from the Reaper man.

Many of the series staples got started here: Cid makes his first appearance as a former knight that builds an airship, Chocobos can be found in a certain place on the map, and many of our enemies-minions and bosses alike-have evolved past the 2nd edition of the Monster Manual, resulting in us getting some very unique foes.

We close today's history lesson with the opening cinematic of FF2's Origins release, in glorious FMV. Enjoy, and I'll see you soon, Kiwis.