Final Fantasy II Recap, Episode III: The Wild Rose Strikes Back!

It’s time for another installment of Let’s Play Final Fantasy II!

Emo Flash Gordon, Master of Toads, has taken over the Wild Rose Army in an unexpected plot twist, dispatching our heroic trio on a journey to recruit the Dragoons as allies — and, hopefully, rope in yet another “first time ever in Final Fantasy” mainstay!

We head to the Port of Paloom for a ship. There, a winsome pirate who is emphatically NOT cross-dressing accosts us.

Leila, Final Fantasy II

How does she know? Security at rebel HQ suuuuucks, that’s how.
 

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Final Fantasy II Recap, Episode II: We Suck

[Interlude]

Two things before we start.

1) I would just like to point out that when a character is KOed at battle’s end…

ffii-battle-flee

…their friends pick their pockets and run away!

2) The iPad world map only shows us one eensie bit at a time and doesn’t label the glowy dots. This bugged me. After a gazillion screenshots and an hour piecing them together in Photoshop, I give you… a Final Fantasy II world map which I have labeled! Use in good health.

 

Now, on with the playthrough…

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Final Fantasy II Recap, Episode I: Wow, a Plot!

[Introduction]


Final Fantasy II: With 100% more plot… and fabulous pink people!

So, it’s time for our February installment of “Let’s Play Final Fantasy.” Next up: Final Fantasy II! And our first question, as novices to this game, is the all important question:

Hey Amano! WHO’S THE FABULOUSLY PINK DUDE WITH THE HORNS?

Here he is in the FFII Dawn of Souls (GBA) remaster:

And here’s an alternate logo found on FFWikia.

Well, with the first tantalizing mystery of the game unveiled, let’s proceed to the playthrough!

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Final Fantasy II Playthrough: Introduction

Firion ffii trading arts Dissidia figure

Firion from Final Fantasy II as portrayed in Dissidia.

So, February is Final Fantasy II month for our year-long 2013 Final Fantasy Playthrough Marathon!

I am utterly ignorant of this game except that it stars Firion, the dude (?) with a dead bird turban on his head. I’ve been taken aback by the candy red sword he brandishes on the Amano cover art. I noticed he also rocks a Swiss Armor Weaponry outfit on his Dissidia Trading Arts Figure figure. (At left, bad official photo. See this better fan photo gallery for close-ups.)

This is the only time I’ve ever seen a fantasy game character portrayed with all his weapons not hidden in an invisible Bag of Holding. It reminds me of a family trip when I was aged four, told I could only bring whatever toys I could carry, and turned myself into a Shambling Mound of Stuffed Animals by roping them all together into a tyke-sized tent that I wore like an aegis. So I’m wondering how Amano Dude fights with all his weapons strapped on. Wouldn’t he trip over the trident?

Which brings me to the one other thing I’ve learned about this game from the comments on Lassarina’s pre-game post: that the leveling is insane, and that you have to become proficient in individual weapons by hitting yourself with them. Or something. (Or, rather, that your proficiency with anything from weapons to spells to stats increases the more you use each thing.)

Once again, I’ll be playing the iOS version of this game, which is a port of the remastered FFII seen in “Final Fantasy Origins” (PSX), “Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls” (GBA) and Final Fantasy II (PSP). I have no gamer pride and feel no need to subject myself to the original, harder version of this game.

I have no particular expectations other than the fact that it’s early Final Fantasy, so I’m looking forward to nostalgia (and the first bona-fide chocobo and Cid). I confess that I’m dreading the infamous game mechanics in this one. Which means I’m totally going to overdo it on grinding.

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