Final Fantasy II | A Complete History and Retrospective

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Whereas the original Final Fantasy laid the groundwork for a future franchise to exist, Final Fantasy II helped to establish how that franchise would build out. For that reason, it's just as, if not more important than the original game and it's why we're very excited to run-through its Complete History!
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:52 Chapter One - The Setup
00:19:15 Chapter Two - The Development
00:44:28 Chapter Three - The Launch
00:54:35 Chapter Four - The Legacy
Twitch: / levelup_lauren
Patreon: / ffunion
Website: www.finalfantasyunion.com
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Discord: / discord

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

You can directly support the creation of these videos on Patreon. We offer development diaries and the ability to influence the direction of each part. Gain access here: www.patreon.com/ffunion

[@TheBandoBandito]

What happened to the results for the ff16 poll?

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

@@TheBandoBandito they are going to be releasing very soon! ~Darryl

[@zakirstocks9514]

​@@FinalFantasyUnionYou guys should try doing *The Complete History of Final Fantasy 3/III* soon!

[@HerofTyme]

It's selfish to ask, but I'd love to see this series continue for each game. Keep up the great work!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thanks for the comment! That's very much the plan and work has already started on The Complete History of Final Fantasy III! ~Darryl

[@MrAgilla]

That is very selfish

[@MrAgilla]

But I agree

[@Belkerlos]

Well, obviously it's going to continue. You just did this pseudo-positive comment for likes. @HerofTyme

[@mikeclark7026]

There’s no way they stop before VII if they do II. NONE. That’s I, IV, VI, VII and X (if they go past VII) are gonna be the major money makers. II and IIIwill almost assuredly by some distance be the worst performing till you get past XII, so if you aren’t skipping II, you are going to the huge ones.

[@destructor3152]

Cue an image of the party fighting each other while a confused goblin watches.

[@richardpage2082]

I can't financially support I'm afraid, but I absolutely loved this video (and all the vids) - you guys are amazing and everything you do is super high quality. Thank you so much!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Your kind words are more than support enough Richard. Thanks for watching the video! ~Darryl

[@user-a5Bw9de]

The leveling/progression system of FF2 was later incorporated into majority of SaGa series, becoming a staple for the Kawazu's games, but not limited to. Brave Fencer Musashi and Quest 64 immediately comes in mind, and I'm sure those are only few of the examples.

[@LordJordanXVII]

I adored this game. Loved the zesty and charming medieval sounding music. And the Queen, Min-Wu, and others! Just fantastic!

[@gorimbaud]

honestly, as someone who hasn't played much of the nes games, II was the one i was most interested in grabbing when the pixel remasters hit consoles. it took a swerve, but sometimes you gotta respect the boldness of a swerve, and it's the game that cemented what final fantasy is as a series. it didn't hurt that i'd been playing more saga games in the year prior, so i felt curious about where that lineage started. anyway it's a good game and it deserves a better reputation than it's grown over the years.

[@drumjod]

I got goosebumps at about 5:10 when you talked about how Squaresoft decided to focus on long term quality over quantity after seeing the success of the first Final Fantasy. Seems like history may be repeating itself as Square-Enix recently had so many low performing games and the new leader said they want to focus more on each major title. Let's just hope we're in for another golden or platinum age : )

[@stevenlester985]

Gonna push back on this. Square definitely hasn’t been embracing a philosophy that endorses quantity over quality. You might not like what they’ve been doing but the visuals and gameplay are typically at or near the highest caliber of the generation in which they’ve been released. That doesn’t mean they haven’t had other development headaches, but this is in no way parallel to what they were doing back then.

[@wodensthrone5215]

​@stevenlester985 Square Enix are the screaming shits right now, FF16 Flopped and so did FF7 Rebirth, Foam Stars also flopped, Forspoken flopped and the Valkyrie game they made flopped, Octopath Traveler 2 sold way less than the first one.

[@SethJV]

Still one of my favorite FF to this day. :) Love the characters, love the mature story, love the "leveling" system.

[@Cloudrim]

Always a pleasure to see some FFII appreciation. It's aa shame they never really tried out the original story treatment in the later games - closest they've ever come is Tactics, XII and XVI. Crazy ambitious for a Famicom title. Never played SaGa so not sure if Kawazu and team ever incorporated some of that stuff there, but fascinating stuff. Great video regardless, looking forward to more:)

[@SilverHairedFreak25]

Kawazu and his team DEFINITELY learned from this experience and slimmed down the leveling system for when he directed the SaGa series. No matter how wildly different the game is in the series, stat-based character growth via character action forms the backbone of the gameplay.

[@oblivioustouch9012]

This was such a great retrospective that combines all known and unknown aspect of Final fantasy 2. Thank you.

[@bassontreble]

I recently played all three NES-era games and found I liked II better than I or III. (I played the PSX ports for I+II and the Pixel Remaster for III.) While it's not without its flaws I found the story and progression systems pretty interesting? Not everything in it was successful, but if I had to pick one of the three to play again, it would be II. I know most people seemed to not like it, but I'm happy to see the deep dive here about it.

[@paolocostaimori]

I personally liked I and III better than II, but in case you don't know the SaGa franchise, you're probably gonna like it. Many elements are similar to II

[@DonCactuar]

Another masterpiece of video doc. Some highlights for me, the effort put on contextualizing the moment with what DQ/Zelda were doing with its sequels and also the part of the published stories which included different scripts. Had no idea they existed. Furthermore, as I quite enjoyed the prior "The Story of Square" videos, I am happy that 'topic' can now be mixed in between these FF videos. Keep up the good work, kupo! :D

[@LiminalMan777]

You guys did an absolutely amazing job in this video, I hope you can continue this fine work.

[@kentmcgowan4237]

Final Fantasy 2 is one of the most underrated games in the franchise. Out of the NES releases, it is the only one that presented a decent story, it has some of the best music of the 8 bit era, and while its mechanics weren't great, at least it tried to do something different from what had been done before.

[@HadesElderSage]

This is my favorite game to replay through a roleplaying sense. My pixel remaster run was playing as each character was one hero from the Warcraft 3 story. It is such a fun and unique system for leveling and I hope someday we see it remade and the world and unique leveling system explored further.

[@ty_sylicus]

I really enjoyed this game on PS1 as a teen and am looking forward to experiencing it again in the Pixel Remaster Collection. 🎉

[@ty_sylicus]

Another amazingly packed-full video here! Just wonderful!

[@jjd4034]

"And they only succeeded with Final Fantasy by doing the exact opposite of what was expected." This sums up why instalments of FF continue to be relevant and growing in new directions, always.

[@bobjoemac1]

Despite my least played final fantasies. I'm always so curious about 2 and 3 because of their bizarre history.

[@wiseguise5960]

I love the content you guys put out and can tell how much you love this franchise as a whole! You do some serious diving into the history of these games, and there's so much I didn't know about published works like those books. Absolutely fantastic job!

[@paulhiggins6433]

This is crazy. I just started another playthrough of this (the pixel remaster version) a couple of days ago and now this drops. Lol

[@TsukiAnimeGirl]

These videos are so eye-opening. It's so cool to understand why some japanese franchises follow the trend of keeping some aspects but changing all the rest with each title. Also having an idea of what Square Enix was before becoming the giant of today is really cool. It gives some idea of what small game studios should be careful with.

[@jessicascott2260]

These videos are my favorite of yours. Very well researched and I am learning so much. Looking forward to future videos!

[@BP-dn9nv]

FF2 is one of the most deserving games of a remake in the franchise. It has a lot of good ideas, the set up for a great story, and characters that have been proven interesting in spin offs.

[@jaykknight2248]

If *any* of the games deserved a "remake" update it was this entry. It could seriously benefit from it's stat building system to be polished up and streamlined a little bit, and then its story and characters could really shine, and possibly even dive into the material from the novelisation.

[@jace743]

Absolute masterpiece, as always! Thank you for this video! I learned a ton.

[@chrisstrope6221]

Great work! I really enjoyed this since I started with 7 and really havnt played the earlier ones this was great and this era of game development is some of the most Interesting

[@Tftapodcast]

Great work from one of the best FF channels on KZbin!

[@LunarWingCloud]

I loved the first video in this series! Excited to see it continue!!

[@eckitronix]

I've been enjoying your works for a long time and even your Twitch streams but I gotta say just seeing a notification made my day yet again which I desperately need lately, things are difficult for me in my personal life more than ever but I always enjoy these. Thanks yet again! - Danielle

[@blueguitarthings4722]

Love these long-form videos!

[@LucasSantana-ws8po]

Final fantasy reinvents itself since the second game, changing a lot from game to game, even if it doesnt look like, and people are complaining about the franchise still reinventing itself all the time 🥰🥰

[@Daniel_Rodrigues_89]

Exactly, man. People sometimes get blinded by nostalgia and can't see that CHANGE is the only constant in the franchise since day 1. And FF2 is the perfect example of that.

[@NobodySpeciaLuLz]

I hope you guys continue the great work.

[@Dan-fb9xq]

This video series is amazing, and some of your best work 🎉 A true documentary imo

[@Gregoroth_Durai]

Finally made public! Amazing work as always. Very much enjoyed. Especially getting to see it early via patreon haha.

[@user-fn7rm9ix2s]

Woo! A long form video from FFU? Best surprise

[@littledkov]

I love this!! Make more every single game!!

[@thunter992]

Wow oh wow. Fantastic work guys 🥹

[@Ireallylikeeggs]

Nasir is such a fascinating person, even knowing as little as i do

[@iamaninsomniac]

I love these documentaries. Hopefully the rest of the series (or at least the 8-16 bit era) are covered as well. Keep up the great work!

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Awesome documentary!!

[@Drifter2025]

This is the next game I am getting for my PSP

[@finalfantasyfreakk]

Best FF channel ever!!

[@NuevaBestia]

THANK YOU FOR THIS 😊😊

[@Ninjacat25]

Thank you for yet another wonderful documentary.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

You're most welcome, glad you enjoyed! ~Darryl

[@SweetyMiki]

I've been making an attempt to replay all the Pixel Remasters. I am currently playing FFII, I have to say that this game is pretty fun with the current releases. Sure, the gameplay is hit or miss, but it's a pretty fun game with tons of rng grinding and farming that I enjoyed from the JRPGs. I've also taken the time to even pull out my Ultimanias and even go research in the English and Japanese internet for lots of info about its development and its evolution for the SaGa series. Something about this game's, well a lot of older games, development just has this mysterious feeling that makes me want to learn about what they did to make all this possible. Also funny Tabata said that, considering his mainline entry (FFXV) has kind of been a mixed entry itself amongst fans. That's what we call karma. :v

[@eliotwildermann]

Excellent video union team I'm loving all of this information keep it coming

[@Rain-sr9pp]

Awesome video!

[@REVOLVERE]

Worth the wait.

[@zakirstocks9514]

The History of the Sequel *Final Fantasy* game: *Final Fantasy 2/II!* Splendid!

[@Morgil27]

With both this and your previous video, I appreciate you talking about other games, most notably Dragon Quest, and how their developments have a direct influence on the creation of these games. I've seen way too many other "history of final fantasy" videos (and not just on youtube, but Netflix and the former G4, too) that just act like Final Fantasy sprung up on its own or was the origin of the jrpg, which is just straight-up not true. Final Fantasy would not exist if Dragon Quest didn't first pave the path, and I greatly appreciate that you are the one documentary that actually acknowledges that.

[@americansoccerunited]

This video made me want to go and play this one. It's one I had not previously played due to the bad rep. I have the Pixel Remaster and so far I'm loving it! The different progression system was great to figure out and honestly is really good. I wish more FF games utilized something similar again.

[@WPFreeinternet]

Follow Kawazu's work. He made the SaGa series after it.

[@crassweller11]

Honestly I'd love to play that original FF2. They should definitely return to that concept.

[@alexpage4355]

A slight nitpick but something that stands out given the quality of the rest of the video. 1:01:35 "Square committed to remaking not just the original final fantasy but it's two, 8-bit predecessors." Assuming you're referring to FF2&3 those would be "successors," not predecessors, as they came later. FF1 is the predecessor to _those_ games, not the other way around. Like I said, I'm only pointing that out because it's a bit of awkwardness that sticks out in what is otherwise an incredibly well-made and highly researched piece. Please, don't take this as a knock against the overall quality! Looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

[@charlie_nax]

love the alternate art on the adventure books, sadly i couldnt find the artist in by searching the books but if i had to do a wild guess id say the one that mirrors the amano cover art but with the red warrior of light looks a lot like yutaka izubuchi style at the time

[@mario_maniac9368]

Like usual you guys put out an amazing video. I don't like ff2 I think it's battle system ruins it, but I do see how it set up staples for the ff series and for the time it had a decent story

[@UliZombie04]

I love FF2 to death I don't care what the critic says ♥️🌹 I wanted to ask if you have the kingdom hearts union when are you guys going to do a Dragon Quest Union channel to complete the trifecta of square enix franchises?

[@TheDJMeyer85]

Whaaa no little sword intro with that oh so satisfying little “shwing”?

[@dumdumchord]

What's the soothing song playing in the background around 53:58? I know it was used in other parts of the video too

[@SkyLizardGirl]

History of FF 3 NES please!

[@SageJMP]

Ironically ff2 was the only mainline FF game I hadn't beaten till the pixel remaster version. My first experience with it was the ps1 version, and I absolutely hated the progression system in it. I didn't like that I had to spend battles whacking on myself to make sure some characters didn't fall too far behind in defences. The pixel remaster version fixed a lot of the progression issues and I was finally able to go back and beat it. I never had a psp, so I don't know anything about that version.

[@alexjones50]

if they'd gone with the original story plan for this game that would have been groundbreaking, a story that was way ahead of it's time. it's probable the famicon couldn't handle such a complex plot though.

[@mateus6501]

I love Final Fantasy 2

[@stevemanart]

As I said last time, I see FFII as the first real Final Fantasy. FF1 is a D&D fangame through the lens of Japanese game developers, and that's great but it is not a unique identity. FFII, however, is a very unique identity. The game *feels* grindy due to the mechanics encouraging it, but its actually well paced enough that if you choose a niche for each of your three main characters (Firion as a white mage/lancer, Maria as a black mage who only ever uses fire and insta-kills*, Gus as a swordsman) and don't run from many battles you will have a challenging game but the only grind you need to do is waste turns levelling esuna. *The only time Thunder is ever necessary you have Layla in the party, and both fights where Blizzard is necessary you should have enough Arctic Winds or Blizzard tomes to use as items instead)

[@IndianaRoy]

What's the movie mention at 34:37?

[@Rafusdibarbarius]

Can you tell me where is the art of the characters featured at 33:27 from? It is gorgeous

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Of course, they were drawn by Toshitaka Matsuda as part of a collaboration with the Final Fantasy TCG! ~Darryl

[@Rafusdibarbarius]

@@FinalFantasyUnion thank you! Your videos are some of the best content this platform has to offer! Keep up the good work!

[@Adam-Darkblood]

As a fan who believes 2 is better than 1 or 3, I love hearing the history of the game and how Japan originally appreciated the game at release. The game is absolutely mistreated by the fandom when the story is far and above better than 1. I know nostalgia in the fandom, East and West, make 1 the favorite, but 2 is a far better story featuring serious stakes and actually named deep characters. I just hope one day 2 can be respected for the groundwork it laid for the rest of the franchise

[@glengreer9614]

Warms my heart to see @JohnOethGuitar getting some well deserved love. Happy two of my favorite channels working together!

[@barrymaaslow3480]

"....much more budget...." Good shit. Lolz

[@foodmetaphors]

great timing on this video, i've started the game twice before, once the fan translation of the famicom release and once the iOS version both times many years ago, but it was only recently that I finally went through my copy of Dawn of Souls that I finally beat it on Oct 22. I actually had a blast playing it, and I prefer it to any of the other first four games, and it's very close with V (nothing can touch VI as its my all time favorite of any game)

[@riski_putra6725]

I glad Square still here. If not i cant even enjoy 3 million hp turtle boss that beed 3days to defeat it.

[@ArcadeTheatre]

I've always liked Final Fantasy II's progression system. What I do not like is its level design.

[@redcloud16]

Your pronunciation of Japanese names leaves something to be desired, but the sheer amount of work you put into this is mind-boggling and breath-taking. Keep up the good work.

[@maestro9615]

51:00

[@Lamasis2]

The original FFII sounded pretty interesting. Wish they one with that story.

[@TheModelGamer]

I have to admit, I like the FF series, but I can see why this game is always lower on lists. I just beat it for my first time recently, and it was a slog to get through. I don't know why, but I think the whole leveling system for everything makes it hard to play.

[@ineptznonz]

36:11 Asumu Tezuki? cmon man

[@driftwoods2229]

Anyone a Patreon supporter? What extra content do you get being one?

[@edgarlima9285]

*Echo* Is anybody here?????? FIRST!! 🤘🏽 You guys are amazing!

[@Phantasiafan87]

Tokyo Institute of Technology…. hehehe

[@mazriphiroth]

36:53 It's pronounced Kin-ni-ku-man, this is at least the second time you've mentioned this in a video and called it kinookuman xD

[@jaylucien669]

I love your videos and I appreciate that you want to credit the musicians of each track. But man, the way you're doing it is abrasive and distracting. It's also up there for way too long. There's got to be a better way. 🙂

[@davids2977]

Don’t care how much flack FFII gets from people. It is an amazing game. It’s progression system is basically the foundation for FFXI’s skill up growth and that stuff was amazing.

[@whilstdumping]

hoobala hoobala hoobala hoobala hoobala hoobala hoobala

[@clearspira]

Leon just kind of vanishing for 95% of the game and then the writers clearly expecting us to care that he's evil when we have real no reason to is just terrible writing and leaves the biggest revelation of the game feeling empty. And the thing is, this plot point isn't all that different from something like Squall and Seifer, and yet that relationship is far more fondly remembered. Why? Because from the moment we see them fighting in the awesome opening scene of FF8 the two characters are linked. You may not like Seifer, but the game never forgets him, never stops trying to flesh him out. Leon is basically a stranger who has cliche and ill-defined motivations even for the time.

[@deadzedwalking1346]

Someone is too emotionally invested into a rather meh game lol@@cerealguy9979

[@clearspira]

@@cerealguy9979 I don't hate the game. I wouldn't have written two paragraphs if I hated the game. I'm explaining why it failed its potential. Less rudeness, please.

[@2mcgee12]

​@@cerealguy9979Ligma

[@cerealguy9979]

​​​@@deadzedwalking1346it isn't even my favorite game but go on since you seem to know more about myself..

[@cerealguy9979]

​​@@2mcgee12no? Definitely not yours.

[@mikeclark7026]

It ALWAYS comes back to Legend of Zelda. ALWAYS. For everything.

[@Anakunus]

It is phenomenal how much background information this video provides of Final Fantasy II. So, you have once again a great work on research. However, I noticed already in the Final Fantasy's history video that you call Nobuo Uematsu Noburu Uematsu, and you do the same in this video. Please stop doing that. His first name is Nobuo, not Noburu.

[@aroccoification]

I used to think this game was the worst in the series then 15 and 16 came out and boy did they prove me wrong. Ff2 is at least an open world turn based rpg. Idk why theyre insistant on making action spin offs and giving them numbered titles

[@Ragucci25]

While I enjoyed my time with FFII on iOS in 2011 and the PR this year, FFII is the worst game in the series. One of them has to be it, it's fine, you know.

[@usvidragonslayer3091]

I play FF2 one the GBA and its my least favorite of the Final Fantasy games. The story is ok but the questionable level up system gets me to beat the game at least once.

[@neko-lord]

The part about the other games was way too long

[@clearspira]

As for the game itself...I feel as if its reputation of being the worst of the original six games is justly deserved. It's just so tedious. If you feel like levelling your party properly - as in, not using the self harm exploit - then you are in for a twenty hour grind. The character designs are also flat and unmemorable compared to those iconic designs for FF1 that feature the White Mage in her patterned robe or the Black Mage that would later be immortalised as Vivi. Its just an all-round bad sequel and if FF3 hadn't course corrected this series would have been in serious trouble.

[@Massiveillusion14]

Those game books kinda suck, tbh. Besides now having a piece of Mid trivia in my back pocket, the stories just seem bad.