Board 8 > Rate the VG Story Day 156: Final Fantasy II

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Todays game is Final Fantasy II. How would you rate the story on a scale from 1-10?

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Previous Results:
Planescape: Torment - 9.83 (12 votes)
Higurashi When They Cry - 9.69 (8 votes)
Omori - 9.67 (6 votes)
Outer Wilds - 9.61 (22 votes)
Silent Hill 2 - 9.5 (20 votes)
Deus Ex - 9.35 (11 votes)
Nier Automata - 9.25 (31 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - 9.2 (34 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC - 9.15 (19 votes)
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - 9.1 (14 votes)
The House in Fata Morgana - 9.1 (10 votes)
Yakuza 0 - 9.03 (13 votes)
Red Dead Redemption 2 - 9 (8 votes)
Mother 3 - 8.98 (14 votes)
Steins;Gate - 8.94 (9 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - 8.91 (30 votes)
Umineko When They Cry - 8.88 (13 votes)
Grim Fandango - 8.88 (13 votes)
Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward - 8.88 (20 votes)
Return of the Obra Dinn - 8.85 (10 votes)
Silent Hill 4: The Room - 8.83 (6 votes)
Suikoden II - 8.8 (11 votes)
Persona 3 - 8.76 (22 votes)
Xenogears - 8.73 (24 votes)
Tales of Berseria - 8.69 (14 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 8.67 (31 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics - 8.67 (27 votes)
Metal Gear Solid - 8.67 (27 votes)
Dragon Quest V - 8.64 (14 votes)
Pyre - 8.64 (7 votes)
Bastion - 8.63 (12 votes)
Persona 4 - 8.59 (31 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - 8.56 (27 votes)
Disco Elysium - 8.56 (16 votes)
Undertale - 8.45 (42 votes)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - 8.45 (16 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - 8.42 (12 votes)
What Remains of Edith Finch - 8.41 (19 votes)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 8.4 (5 votes)
Chrono Trigger - 8.39 (40 votes)
Mass Effect 2 - 8.38 (28 votes)
South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8.38 (17 votes)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 8.37 (15 votes)
Final Fantasy X - 8.31 (56 votes)
Final Fantasy VII - 8.28 (37 votes)
Dragon Quest XI - 8.27 (16 votes)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 8.21 (19 votes)
Snatcher - 8.2 (5 votes)
Final Fantasy VI - 8.19 (43 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 8.17 (42 votes)
The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8.17 (21 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - 8.16 (16 votes)
The Last of Us - 8.13 (35 votes)
Horizon: Zero Dawn - 8.06 (18 votes)
Silent Hill - 8.04 (14 votes)
The Wolf Among Us - 8.04 (14 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles - 7.94 (27 votes)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - 7.94 (17 votes)
Hades - 7.91 (21 votes)
Spec Ops: The Line - 7.9 (17 votes)
Bloodborne - 7.88 (20 votes)
Life is Strange - 7.85 (31 votes)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 7.75 (6 votes)
The Sexy Brutale - 7.7 (5 votes)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - 7.69 (31 votes)
Bioshock - 7.64 (23 votes)
Doki Doki Literature Club - 7.64 (27 votes)
Celeste - 7.56 (26 votes)
Skies of Arcadia - 7.54 (14 votes)
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - 7.5 (30 votes)
The Last Story - 7.47 (6 votes)
Mortal Kombat (2011) - 7.46 (13 votes)
Tales of Symphonia - 7.42 (30 votes)
Mass Effect - 7.35 (28 votes)
Earthbound - 7.33 (19 votes)
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 7.3 (22 votes)
Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - 7.27 (20 votes)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 7.26 (29 votes)
Tales of the Abyss - 7.25 (29 votes)
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - 7.25 (12 votes)
Red Dead Redemption - 7.23 (11 votes)
Resident Evil 4 - 7.19 (25 votes)
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - 7.17 (25 votes)
Mass Effect 3 - 7.16 (21 votes)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - 7.11 (23 votes)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - 7.1 (30 votes)
To the Moon - 7.07 (7 votes)
Super Paper Mario - 7.04 (23 votes)
Assassins Creed II - 7.04 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy VIII - 7.01 (31 votes)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 7 (5 votes)
Hollow Knight - 6.98 (21 votes)
INSIDE - 6.93 (15 votes)
Gone Home - 6.91 (17 votes)
Bioshock Infinite - 6.87 (19 votes)
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood - 6.83 (6 votes)
The World Ends With You - 6.79 (24 votes)
Death Stranding - 6.73 (13 votes)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All - 6.69 (33 votes)
Firewatch - 6.65 (10 votes)
Dark Souls - 6.62 (20 votes)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc - 6.61 (29 votes)
Chrono Cross - 6.53 (18 votes)
Valkyria Chronicles - 6.5 (16 votes)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - 6.5 (13 votes)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 6.45 (10 votes)
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 6.38 (12 votes)
Final Fantasy V - 6.37 (26 votes)
Grand Theft Auto V - 6.36 (11 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 6.34 (35 votes)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 6.15 (15 votes)
DOOM (2016) - 6.15 (13 votes)
Tales of Vesperia - 6.13 (24 votes)
Shadow of the Colossus - 5.94 (27 votes)
Assassins Creed III - 5.94 (8 votes)
Sonic Adventure 2 - 5.89 (26 votes)
Star Fox 64 - 5.8 (25 votes)
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception - 5.8 (24 votes)
Final Fantasy IV - 5.76 (32 votes)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - 5.72 (9 votes)
Tales of Xillia - 5.71 (12 votes)
Metroid Prime - 5.67 (24 votes)
Dishonored - 5.67 (9 votes)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - 5.63 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 5.62 (13 votes)
Kingdom Hearts - 5.51 (31 votes)
The Wonderful 101 - 5.5 (4 votes)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - 5.43 (14 votes)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box - 5.3 (10 votes)
Grand Theft Auto IV - 5.27 (13 votes)
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune - 5.26 (28 votes)
Far Cry 3 - 5.21 (8 votes)
Fable - 5 (12 votes)
Phantasy Star II - 5 (5 votes)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - 4.93 (24 votes)
Mega Man X4 - 4.89 (13 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 4.85 (13 votes)
Final Fantasy XIII - 4.79 (29 votes)
Final Fantasy X-2 - 4.79 (19 votes)
Final Fantasy XV - 4.79 (19 votes)
Fallout 3 - 4.76 (17 votes)
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty - 4.72 (9 votes)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 4.64 (40 votes)
Fallout 4 - 4.43 (15 votes)
Final Fantasy - 4.23 (20 votes)
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls - 3.94 (9 votes)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - 3.89 (9 votes)
Resident Evil 6 - 3.74 (17 votes)
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - 3.69 (13 votes)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope - 3.43 (15 votes)
Starcraft II (overall) - 3.4 (5 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3.31 (16 votes)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy - 3.29 (12 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates (overall) - 3.29 (12 votes)
Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void - 2.83 (6 votes)
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) - 2.66 (16 votes)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm - 2.57 (7 votes)
Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation - 2.4 (10 votes)
Tales of Zestiria - 2.38 (8 votes)

Needs more votes:
Torment: Tides of Numenera
The Conduit 2

You can still rate previous days games if you missed them, just write <game name><rating>. If you want to change your rating you can just specify that you are changing your rating. Nominations for future days are also welcome, nominate as many games as you like and I will get to all of them.

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Nominate Ghost of Tsushima

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2/10

I kinda like this game but the plot is a good example of not trying being better than trying sometimes.

Final Fantasy 1 with its plot you can summarize in a few sentences I would call a better plot.

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Haven't played this one but I'll nominate Final Fantasy IX
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2

A buddy of mine swears that FF2 has a solid story (he played the iPhone version), but I only played about an hour of the FF Origins version, so I can't fairly rate this one.

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final fantasy 2/10

i didnt actually play it

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Compare this to FFIV and you see how good FFIV actually was for the time

It actually does have some memorable guest characters, but they end up being more memorable than the actual characters, which is not good

4/10

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Pretty good for an 8bit game. I think the conflict with the whole Empire is actually told in a decent way; you feel the repercussions of your actions (or failed actions) on numerous occasions. Characters actually die here unlike FFIV. A lot of things here are litmus test for what would go on in later FF games.

Some stuff like Leon's plot is a little wonky, and the actual main three basically function as completely silent protagonists.

6/10, I think it deserves a point higher than FF1

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colliding posted...

Compare this to FFIV and you see how good FFIV actually was for the time

hey man 1988 to 1991 was a huge amount of time in old video game years

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6

I think what they did with the story was fine, cutting it a little slack for age, it was just the game design that was horrific. Leon's redemption, the Emperor's descent to demonhood, and Joseph's death are all memorable enough to sort of stick with me years after having played it.

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colliding posted...

Compare this to FFIV and you see how good FFIV actually was for the time

You think?
Even as shitty as FFII story is, it's better than FFIV

2/10

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2/10

There is absolutely nothing here I feel is worth noting. FFI's story is obviously not good at all but the gag that you rescue the princess ASAP and the "what" of the final boss are kind of neat. This one is just sparse and dull cliche about people who barely talk and that you don't care about. Avoids the lowest score for not being a significant active detriment to its game, which would be hard for a game this old to manage.

Final Fantasy II doesn't even really cut it for a late 80's game. Original version of Snatcher (which at least has the same core story as the Sega CD one minus part 3) was a 1988 game. I hear some people still like Ultima IV and V (haven't played)? 1985 and 1988. Ys 1 and 2 is no masterpiece but definitely better than this; the Turbo CD version was from 1989 (based on games from 1987 and 1988 but the Turbo CD's improved pacing and presentation helps a lot). Phantasy Star II from 1989 that we just rated is bad but better than this. Maniac Mansion, which isn't exactly a riveting story but at least has some fun dialogue and multiple paths and endings? 1987. I assume other western adventure games of the era might do something worth noting but I haven't played any besides Shadowgate. Mother 1 doesn't have quite as much of Earthbound's level of weirdness but it's still got a lot of charm with probably a more-coherent main plot and delivers well enough when it counts; it's from 1989. Never played the Famicom Detective Club games but I assume at least one of them does SOMETHING right if some people still care decades later; 1988 and 1989. Sweet Home and it's atmosphere and proto-Resident Evil notes? 1989. Portopia has...Uh. Well not a whole lot in general but there's the one thing at the end; it's from 1983 with the Famicom version from 1985.

tl;dr For games that were actually trying, Final Fantasy II's story wasn't even good for its era.

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3/10. It was alright for an NES game probably, but most of us here wouldn't have played it in the NES days. Probably more developed than Phantasy Star 2's story, but more generic.

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I'll honestly give it a 5.5, taking into account the time period, a whole "kill them all" plot was unheard of. Towns get obliterated. Political occupation makes other towns *not* a safe zone. Hell itself factors into the plot, and the Emperor basically enacts a hostile takeover. Finishing him off for good only gives you a chance to rebuild, but so much is lost at the end that... argh, it's just satisfying, and it's one of the big bullet points I'll put in 6's court, too: the world is fucked, but now it can finally have an opportunity to heal.

It's a shame the gameplay is hot garbage, though, and that its story is told somewhat inelegantly.

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Up.

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