Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster

The biggest impediment to recommending these games to others is just the fact that, well… in many ways they are slight things. None of these games are terribly long if you know what you’re doing, nor are they tremendously difficult. The stories are not super compelling on their own. They are little games in a way, and they are definitely aged. But if you loved these games before, these remasters are perfect for what they’re trying to do. They’re charming. They feel like a sudden rush of nostalgia not because they’re exactly the games you remember, but the rare form of remaster that does add some stuff on top while still preserving all of the spirit and intent perfectly. And if you’ve never played these games but want to understand why people loved them so much, these are the perfect way to try them out.

While the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters aren’t perfect, they’re certainly the best and most convenient ways to play these classic games. The soundtracks are lovingly orchestrated and the pixel art is gorgeous, though the latter does lose some detail in the translation. Each game feels great to play, but I do wish extra content from previous releases or remakes had been included.

So what we're left with is a slightly uneven collection. The core material is still brilliant, made exponentially more so with the stellar soundtracks and built-in music player, but you'll be a bit disappointed if you were hoping for anything other than the core material.

The first three Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are a somewhat solid remastering effort that could have been so much better with a few tweaks. While the amazing rearranged soundtracks sound great and the balancing tweaks make the three games still feel great to play, the divisive overhauled visuals reminiscent of the 16-bit entries, technical issues like the lack of a V-Sync toggle and display settings not saving and lack of additional content found in prior remakes make these remasters a truly worthy purchase only for those who live and breathe Final Fantasy.

As it stands, if you’re a FF series completionist like myself, this is easily the version of FFII I’d recommend given what it offers and the fact that it doesn’t potentially overstay its welcome since it doesn’t have the extra dungeons found in other ports, but I can’t say I’ll be replaying Final Fantasy II either.

I come away from Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 3 looking forward to the remaining games more than I did before. I appreciate the new features like the enhanced bestiary, the auto-combat feature, making grinding friendlier, and I LOVE the new soundtracks. But I hope they manage to address issues like the screen tearing and especially the font before the last three games release.

Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster is a great way to experience one of the less talked about Final Fantasy games, even if it is one of the weaker titles in the franchise. Final Fantasy II seems to suffer from a bit of middle child syndrome. In some ways it does improve on its predecessor, but while it’s clearly the more advanced game, part of the original’s charm was in its simplicity. Final Fantasy II’s advancements seem to hint at how great the series will become instead of simply being great itself. Playing Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster for the review was a great time and it’s recommended as a must-play for any Final Fantasy fan, but part of that is based on getting a historical perspective on how Final Fantasy has evolved. The innovative approaches to the game mechanics have resulted in a experience that’s oftentimes a tedious grind despite everything else positive that can be said.

I enjoyed this game a lot. The problem with the game is that it's real easy to break the game. If you battle your own party a lot you can overdevelop stats with for example way to much health points. I've seen plays with a party that have hp of 3000+, this makes the game to easy and a drag to play. My party had one character around 2000hp and the rest way below that at the final boss. This gave me a great challenge. I finished the game after beating FF1 and I love it! It's way better than FF1 imo. The story is better. I like that the characters come and leave. It keeps your brain sharp, you have to adjust gameplay and not slumber your play with a the same group of hero's the whole game. The leveling system is way different and much more fun, you can mold your characters the way you like them to play, much more freedome. I have tried so much different ways to battle in this game than in any other FF game I have played so far (ok I have only played FF1, 2, 4 and 6 so maybe 3 and 5 will change that). I have used magic way more than just auto battle normal attacks like I have done with all the other versions. It feel less grindy and I do not hate the grind at all in RPG's. Ok the story is not as good as FF4 and 6 but it's way better than 1 but the gameplay is so much fun. One negative point are the dungeon's. They are to predictable. Just walk to the doors farthest away to progress and there are a lot of empty room, boring! All in all I think the pixel remaster version is a excelent game, had a good time with it. I rate it 8,5/10.

Compared to the first Final Fantasy, the second game takes a step forward, especially when it comes to the story and characters, which are much more present and developed. The progression system is also an interesting experiment, but I think it has one major flaw: the lack of classes. The fact that every character can essentially do everything makes the party feel less distinct and takes away some depth from the battles. If everyone can heal, use magic, or fight effectively, there is less need to think about how to build your party and approach each encounter. Compared to the first game, where choosing your classes had a direct impact on your strategy, the battles here often feel simpler and require less planning. The ending also left me somewhat disappointed. Some important events happen without much buildup or context, making the story feel like it's rushing to reach its conclusion. Overall, I found it more ambitious than the first Final Fantasy from a narrative standpoint, but less satisfying strategically. An interesting experiment in the evolution of the series, but one that doesn't always succeed.

A more character driven story than in FF1. The leveling system is interesting. Basically you can be a tank, mage, melee etc.. Everything at the same time for same character which is quite funny. Definetely not a bad game. The music yet again is great and graphics are nice too. The grind can sometimes be a bit tiring but rewarding in the end. I think it's still cozy. I would give this game a 7.5

Honestly, just a horrble game overall, even witht boosts the game is extremely unintresting, disengaging, and just lacks the ability to grab the player in any way fashionable. Somehow, this is a huge downgrade to its predecessor, Final Fantasy, which had amazing an job system unlike Final Fantasy II, it had engaging dunegons, a sense of exploration that was genuinely interesting, great cities that tied into the story in a better way than Final Fantasy II, it had a better final boss as well. Final Fantasy II has a decent story but the game is so boring that I couldn't even care about it. The party system is some of the worst ever as they treat the 4 spot as a never ending free spot that constantly gets swapped which causes an endless amount of grinding needed for a new character that joins just so they can catch up. I wouldn't play this game even if you paid me, I pray the other entries aren't like this.

Appreciate what it improved from FFI (a game that I love). Much better story, characters and ost. Everything else about the game is terrible though.