Final Fantasy II Final Fantasy II is the second installment in the " Final Fantasy " series . It is notable for being one of the first story - intensive RPGs released for a console systems , and for being the first game in the series to feature many elements that would later become staples of the " Final Fantasy " franchise , including chocobos and a character by the name of Cid . " Final Fantasy II " is also unique for eliminating the traditional experience - based advancement system , instead favoring a system wherein the playable characters ' statistics increase according either to how much they are required , or how much they are used . In other words , a character who frequently casts magic spells would have their proficiency at casting increase faster than a character who specializes in physical attacks . This is called the skill - based advancement system , which would later return in " Final Fantasy XI " . Although abandoned by subsequent installments in the series , a similar system was adopted by the " SaGa " series , also produced by Square . As a side - note , " Final Fantasy II " was actually designed by Akitoshi Kawazu , who later designed the " SaGa " series , rather than Hironobu Sakaguchi , the series ' s creator . Because of the series ' s popularity in America during the ' 90s , " Final Fantasy II " was one of the first games to undergo fan translation , in this case by NeoDemiforce . " Final Fantasy II " was originally scored by Nobuo Uematsu , and it was Uematsu ' s seventeenth work of video game music . The game ' s music was arranged by Tsuyoshi Sekito for the WonderSwan Color , PlayStation , Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable remakes . Gameplay . " Final Fantasy II " is unique in the " Final Fantasy " series for not utilizing experience - based level s . Instead of earning experience points at the end of every battle , each character participating in battle develops depending on what actions the character takes during the battle . For example , characters who frequently use a particular type of weapon ( sword , bow , axe , etc . ) will become more adept at wielding a weapon of that type , as well as increasing their physical strength . Similarly , characters who frequently cast a particular magic spell will learn to cast more powerful versions of that spell , as well as increasing their magical power . HP and MP , will similarly increase depending on need : a character who ends a battle with only a small amount of health remaining may earn an increase in their maximum amount of hit points , and a character who expends the majority of their magic points during a single battle may increase their maximum amount of magic points . A handful of bugs related to this advancement system were still present in the game ' s released version , the most notable of which was the ability to cancel a previously issued command and still gain the stat - increasing benefits of having performed the action . This was possible because the game ' s turn - based battle system gave the player the opportunity to input commands for all four members of the battle party at once . At any point in time before the command for the final character in the lineup was issued , the player could hit a button and return to the previous character to reissue a command . Since many statistics , such as weapon and magic spell proficiency , were based on how many times a particular command was used in battle , a little patience meant it was possible to quickly advance in proficiencies in the space of a single battle round . A similar problem manifested in the way hit point increases were granted , which allowed characters to attack members of their own party to increase their maximum hit points . These problems were faithfully replicated in both the WonderSwan Color and the PS ports . The GBA remake eliminated the command cancel bug , though the hit point increase trick remained . Various other changes were made to the GBA Version , including regular maximum hit point increases outside of those gained as outlined above , to decrease game difficulty . Battle parties can consist of up to four characters at a time . Three of these characters are present throughout the entire game , but the fourth position rotates amongst a variety of characters . " Final Fantasy II " was the first game in the series to allow a friendly character to be placed in the " back row " during battles . Characters placed in the back row are immune to most physical attacks , but can be harmed with bows and magical attacks . In a similar way , enemies can be arranged in up to four rows of two creatures each ( for a maximum of eight hostile opponents on screen at any one time ) . Only the two rows closest to the player ' s party could be damaged with physical attacks . By eliminating the two closest rows the player can then physically damage the other rows of enemies . Throughout the course of the game , when in conversation with Non - player character s ( NPCs ) , the player has the ability to " learn " special words or phrases , which can later be repeated to other NPCs to gain more information or unlock new actions . Similarly , there exist a handful of special items that can be shown to NPCs during conversation , which have the same effect . Synopsis . Characters . " Final Fantasy II " was the first game in the series to have an actual main cast of characters with names and histories . The first three characters can never be changed , whilst the fourth character is always changing . Story . The story begins when Emperor Mateus of Palamecia summons forth monsters from Hell in his quest to dominate the world . Firion , Maria , Guy , and Leon are orphaned when the Empire attacks Fynn and they are cut down by imperial soldiers as they flee . Firion , Maria , and Guy are rescued by forces belonging to the Wild Rose Rebellion led by Princess Hilda and taken to Altair to be revived , but Leon has gone missing . Though they ask to join the rebellion , Hilda refuses due to their youth and inexperience . Despite this , Firion , Guy , and Maria return to Fynn and find Prince Scott on his deathbed . He tells the party of Count Borghen ' s betrayal and asks them to encourage his brother Gordon , who is afraid to join the rebels . Scott asks them not to tell Hilda his feelings for her and gives them a ring to take back just before he dies . Returning Scott ' s ring convinces Hilda that Firion ' s group is strong enough to join the fight . She sends the group to Salamand in search of Mythril . Josef , a member of the rebellion was sent to search for it , but Hilda hasn ' t heard anything from him since . Hilda ' s right - hand man , Minwu , also joins the party for this mission . The party finds Josef , but he is unwilling to give any information , as the Palamecian empire have kidnapped his daughter Nelly , and Borghen has threatened to kill her if Josef helps the resistance . He tells them to go to the Semitt Falls and free her , along with the townspeople who have been enslaved in the mines . They do so and also rescue Paul , a thief in the rebellion ' s employ . After defeating one of the imperial Sergeants , the party take the Mythril and make their way back to Altair . After the weaponsmith Tobul crafts Mythril equipment for the resistance , the party is dispatched to Bafsk . The Palamecian Empire have enslaved the residents and made them build a powerful airship known as the Dreadnought . It was built under the watchful eye of an imperial known as the Dark Knight , but he was replaced by Borghen after the loss of the Mythril . This gives the resistance the perfect opportunity to destroy the Dreadnought before it is finished . However , just before the party reaches the massive airship from the Bafsk Sewers , the Dark Knight , who actually has not left Bafsk after all , takes control of the airship and lifts off . The Dreadnought attacks the cities of Poft , Paloom , Gatrea and Altair , but miraculously the secret base at Altair is unharmed . Minwu leaves the party to care for the ailing King . After talking to Cid , owner of the world ' s other airship , Hilda and the party decide to obtain Sunfire from Kashuan Keep . To enter , they need either the Goddess ' s Bell or the voice of a Kashuan . Josef helps the party reach the Snow Cave with a snowcraft , and the party retrieves the bell located within . On the way out , Borghen attacks the party , and although he is defeated , he sends a boulder after them . Josef holds back the boulder to allow the party to escape and is crushed . With heavy hearts but renewed determination to avenge Josef , the party heads for the abandoned kingdom of Kashuan to retrieve the Sunfire . They enter the keep and find Gordon , who came on his own but was unable to make it past the monsters inside . He joins the party and helps them to locate Egil ' s Torch , the only vessel they can use to carry the Sunfire . The party defeats a Red Soul for the torch and retrieve the Sunfire . As they leave , they witness Cid ' s airship being captured by the Dreadnought , which then parks to replenish fuel supplies in the far south . The party heads there , frees Cid ( and Hilda , who was on board Cid ' s airship ) , and throws the Sunfire into the Dreadnought ' s engine as directed by Cid . They meet the Dark Knight in the engine room and Maria recognizes his voice , but they have no time and escape just before the airship is destroyed . The party returns triumphantly to Altair , only to learn the King is about to die . With his last breaths , he plans a three - pronged attack on the empire in an attempt to take back Fynn . In his plan , Minwu heads to Mysidia to retrieve Ultima , the ultimate magic tome , Gordon takes command of the rebel army to attack Fynn directly , and Firion ' s party heads to the island nation of Deist to enlist the aid of the Dragoons . Hilda has started behaving strangely and retires to her chambers . The party accepts passage from Leila , who reveals that she is a pirate captain and tries to mug the party . When they defeat her and her crew , she is impressed and joins them . They reach Deist , but find that the Dragoons have fallen in battle and only a single Wyvern remains alive . The beast is dying , poisoned by the Empire . It gives the party the last Wyvern Egg , which the party drops in the healing spring at the bottom of Deist Cavern in order to incubate it and hasten its growth process . The party returns to Altair empty - handed and Firion learns that the Hilda they rescued is a Lamia Queen in disguise . They soon learn the real Hilda is being held as a prize in the tournament at the Palamecian Coliseum . The party , with Gordon in tow , make haste to reach Hilda , defeating a Behemoth at the Coliseum to earn Hilda as a prize . However , The Emperor , who is overseeing the match personally , dispatches the party and has them thrown in the dungeons . They are saved by Paul , who unlocks their cell . Hilda and Gordon escape on their own while the rest of the party draws the guards ' attention . The rebel army plans an attack on Fynn and encamps outside the town . Firion , Maria , Guy and Leila lead the attack and defeat the imperial castellan , Gottos , earning the rebels an important victory . However , Minwu and the Ultima Tome are nowhere to be found so Hilda instructs the party to look for Minwu and retrieve the Tome from the Mysidian Tower . After obtaining the Crystal Rod from the trials on the Tropical Island , the party heads for the Tower , only to be swallowed by the Leviathan . Shipwrecked and separated from Leila , the party works its way from Leviathan ' s innards to the mouth , where , with the help of Ricard Highwind the Dragoon , they are able to retake the ship by defeating a Roundworm . They head for the Tower with Ricard , best the Fire Gigas , Ice Gigas and the Thunder Gigas and find Minwu at the Chamber of the Seal . He has been waiting for Firion ' s group to arrive ; once they are there , he uses his life force to break the seal . The party takes Ultima and returns to Fynn , but they discover that the towns of Altair , Gatrea , Paloom and Poft have been utterly destroyed by a mysterious force known as the Cyclone . It threatens to tear the world asunder if the party cannot figure out how to stop it . Hilda tells them that a pendant can be used to call wyverns in the chamber at the top of the castle , and Paul gives them the item . The pendant calls the young wyvern that was hatched at Deist , and they fly it into the Cyclone . They infiltrate the fortress inside the storm and manage to defeat the Emperor . A victory celebration is held at Fynn , but it is soon interrupted by the news that the Dark Knight is Maria ' s long - lost brother Leon , and he has crowned himself Emperor . Cid , dying after the attack on Paloom , gives the party his Airship , and they fly to Palamecia . Leon refuses Maria ' s pleas and prepares to battle , but the Emperor returns from Hell , now more powerful than ever , and reclaims his throne . Ricard sacrifices himself in battle against the Emperor so that the others can escape on the Wyvern . After Ricard ' s death , the Dark Emperor raises Castle Pandaemonium , the fortress of the Lord of Hell , to start a new empire . Leon agrees to join the party at Firion ' s behest and they set out to prepare for the final battle . After returning to Deist to earn the Excalibur , the treasured sword of the Dragoons , the party fights its way through the Jade Passage , entering Pandaemonium from underneath as all other forms of approach are impossible . Inside the castle , the party fights its way through several of The Emperor ' s most powerful minions , including an undead Borghen , en route to The Emperor ' s throne at the top of the castle . A fierce battle ensues as the Emperor attempts to destroy the last hope of the resistance . Despite his powerful spells and his ability to call down meteors , Firion and the others defeat him for good . They return to Castle Fynn where Hilda , Gordon , Nelly , Leila and Paul all wait to congratulate the party on the victory . In the battle ' s aftermath life begins anew for everyone . However , Leon takes his leave of them , feeling that too much has happened between them for him to stay . Maria protests , but Firion says that they will be waiting when Leon is ready to return . With the war ' s end , the monsters called from Hell vanish without a trace and the world returns to peace , eventually to forget the bitter memories save for the efforts of the young heroes who saved them all . Soul of Rebirth . In the GBA and PSP versions , a new story , titled " Soul of Rebirth " , tells the tales of the four party members who died defending Firion and his party in an attempt to see The Emperor defeated . Minwu wakes up to find himself in a mysterious cave and tries to figure out where he is . He soon finds Scott , the prince of Kashuan , who had died earlier on in the game . After defeating a few soldiers , the two find Josef , who is confronted by a hideous zombie - version of Borghen . The three of them defeat Borghen , and start searching for answers about where they are . They find Ricard , who is fighting the Roundworm , and aid him in battle . He then joins Minwu ' s party . The party finds their way out of the passage , where they learn that they are , in fact , in the afterlife . The town of Machanon was built as a safe house for all the souls trapped in this unknown dimension . Here , they find Cid , Tobul and other rebels , who helped build the place , and who encourage the party to explore the other two mysterious portals that appeared in Machanon not long ago . After adjusting themselves to the difficult battles of the afterlife , Minwu and the party enter one of the portals , and find themselves in the Chamber of the Seal , Minwu ' s resting place . Again , Minwu must break the seal ; however , this time , he is powerful enough to break the seal without sustaining any fatal injuries . The party enters the chamber and attempts to claim Ultima , but are met with the guardian of the spell in the afterlife : the Ultima Weapon . After a fierce duel , the party is able to defeat the monster , and claim Ultima as their own . This leaves one final portal , which leads to the Unknown Palace . Like Pandaemonium before it , the Palace is guarded by fierce creatures , and contains some of the most powerful equipment in the game . Specifically , Minwu ' s party finds four exclusive pieces of equipment : the Stardust Rod ( for Minwu ) , the Wild Rose ( for Scott ) , the Bracer s ( for Josef ) , and the Wyvern Lance ( for Ricard ) . After all the battles , the party meets the Light Emperor , who asks for forgiveness for his dark side ' s actions . The Light Emperor tells them he split into two entities when he was originally defeated , and that Firion and the party defeated the dark half in Pandaemonium . He also explains they are actually in Arubboth , the passage to Heaven , and that they can finally rest in peace . The four are led to believe his words ; however , the subconscious souls of their still - living friends and family appear and tell them they must not be fooled by the Light Emperor , because in reality , he is just as evil as the Dark Emperor . The party recover their lost will to fight and defeat the Light Emperor . After his defeat , the four heroes return ( at least in spirit ) to Castle Fynn , where they witness the events that played out at the end of the regular game . These events are told from their perspective this time , and the player is given an explanation as to why Firion saw the ghosts of the four dead heroes at the regular game ' s conclusion . The story ends with Minwu , Scott , Josef and Ricard finally fading away , presumably going to Heaven for real this time . . . Music . " Final Fantasy II " was originally scored by Nobuo Uematsu , and was his seventeenth work of video game music . The game ' s music was arranged by Tsuyoshi Sekito for the WonderSwan Color , PlayStation and Game Boy Advance remakes , who also composed the two new boss battle themes for these releases . There were also a batch of music themes made for the Famicom Version that were unreleased for reasons unknown . Some of the music is not original to the game , but is taken from Tchaikovsky ' s " Swan Lake " ballet . " Final Fantasy II " had three unused themes composed by Nobuo Uematsu : an Airship Theme , removed due to being too " happy " for this rather dark game ; a dungeon theme , removed from the game and later used for " Final Fantasy VI " ; and a " shop theme " , ultimately removed for being too similar to the shop theme from the original " Final Fantasy " . Development . Unlike in the first " Final Fantasy " , the player can ' t create their own characters in " Final Fantasy II " and there is no job system . There were two reasons for this : the first being that " Final Fantasy II " was intended to be a more story - driven game than the first " Final Fantasy " and would need specific characters to fulfill roles within the story . The second reason was the idea that the system would be more about nurture than nature : the player doesn ' t choose a character in the beginning , but they can make them grow in a certain way eventually becoming anything the player set them up to be . This way the character - building process would continue throughout the entire game . When making the system the developers didn ' t anticipate it would lead to a system where players could easily exploit it . The ability to hit party members was included so players could hit sleeping characters to wake them up , but instead people used it to grind levels . " Final Fantasy II " was originally released for the Nintendo Family Computer in Japan in 1988 . There was some initial talk that either Nintendo of America or Square Soft ( Square ' s North American subsidiary ) might localize the title for American audiences as had been done with its predecessor in 1990 . Such a project was announced and an early prototype cartridge was produced in 1991 as " Final Fantasy : Dark Shadow Over Palakia " , but the game was ultimately canceled in favor of the more recent " Final Fantasy IV " . The game was never released outside of Asia in its original form . Enhanced remakes of the game were later issued for the Bandai WonderSwan Color ( WSC ) , the PlayStation ( as part of the " Final Fantasy Origins " collection ) , the Game Boy Advance ( as part of the " " collection ) , and the PlayStation Portable . " Final Fantasy II " was , for the first time , released in Europe and other regions when it became part of the " Origins " compilation . Unreleased English version . Following the successful release of the original " Final Fantasy " by Nintendo in 1990 , Square Soft , Square ' s North American subsidiary , began work on an English language localization of " Final Fantasy II " . Assigned to the project was Kaoru Moriyama , whose later work included script translations for " Final Fantasy IV " and " Secret of Mana " . Although a beta version was produced , and the game was advertised in several Square Soft trade publications , the age of the original Japanese game and the arrival of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , the NES ' s successor console , led Square Soft to cancel work on the " Final Fantasy II " localization in favor of the recently released " Final Fantasy IV " ( which , to avoid confusing North American gamers , was retitled " Final Fantasy II " to reflect the jump in releases ) . Although a prototype cartridge of the NES " Final Fantasy II " was produced ( with the subtitle " Dark Shadow Over Palakia " ) , Moriyama admitted the project was still far from being complete . He is quoted as saying : " We had so very limited memory capacity we could use for each game , and it was never really " translating " but chopping up the information and cramming them back in . . . [ Additionally ] our boss had no understanding in putting in extra work for the English version at that time . " The English script for the prototype version is clunky and erroneous , but it was only the preliminary version and it was cut down in length to fit the text area . The project was cancelled before the script was refined . Even at the prototype stage , changes had been made from the original version due to the religious imagery policies Nintendo had at the time : the used in a dungeon design was replaced with a triangle and the cross that replaces a character ' s face on the pause screen at death was replaced with a gravestone . In 2003 , when the game was finally released to English - speaking audiences as part of " Final Fantasy Origins " , it was released with a brand new translation produced under the supervision of Akira Kashiwagi . NeoDemiforce ' s fan translation , similarly , made use of an original translation , as the existence of the prototype cartridge was not common knowledge at the time . Releases . Wonderswan Color . The first remake of " Final Fantasy II " was released on May 3 , 2001 . The most notable change to the game was the graphical updating , which included more detailed sprites , a total revamping of battlefield and dungeon backgrounds , better sounds and higher resolution overall . PlayStation . North America ' s ( and the rest of the world ' s ) first access to " Final Fantasy II " was through the " Final Fantasy Origins " collection , which also included the original " Final Fantasy " . The graphics and gameplay remained nearly identical to that of the Wonderswan , though resolution increased by a marginal amount . Due to the PlayStation ' s higher processing power , several new features were added , such as a full motion video scene , much better sounds , a Bestiary , art gallery by Yoshitaka Amano , and an item collection gallery . The game also features Easy and Normal modes of play . Game Boy Advance . " Final Fantasy II " was once again paired with " Final Fantasy " for the Game Boy Advance , under the compilation " " . In this edition , several tweaks to the stat leveling system were made , including the removal of the " action - cancel " cheat , which allowed players to gain statistics for moves that were canceled at will , and the removal of stat decreases . As in " Final Fantasy " , the player was afforded three save files , and the game was able to be saved in any location barring battles . Also , Yoshitaka Amano ' s character portraits are used whenever a major character is speaking in a dialogue box . The " Dawn of Souls " version of " Final Fantasy II " introduced the new Soul of Rebirth dungeon , which is available after the Final Boss ' s defeat . The dungeon consists of multiple areas and a town , and the playable characters include those that died during the main storyline ' s events . An extra save file is needed for this bonus dungeon . PlayStation Portable . " Final Fantasy II " was also ported to the PlayStation Portable as part of the " Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary " compilation . Its music is the same as in " Final Fantasy Origins " . The graphics have been updated to higher resolution . Its script is the same as the Game Boy Advance port aside from the dungeons exclusive to this version , but the FMV and Art Galleries from " Final Fantasy Origins " have returned , and the Arcane Labyrinth dungeons have been introduced , a new series of three dungeons , that after being completed , lead to the Arcane Sanctuary , where the party may challenge new bosses . Also , this version introduced a Defend command to the battle menu , whereas before party members would occasionally block with a shield if one was equipped . iOS / Android . Square Enix has released both " Final Fantasy " and " Final Fantasy II " for iOS . Both games have graphics similar to the Anniversary Edition and their special dungeons . With a single purchase , both the English and Japanese language versions of the games are made available ( through the phone ' s system language ) . The gameplay of the original " Final Fantasy " remains the same of the PSP port while " Final Fantasy II " adds new elements to the gameplay . However , the Window Color option has been removed , and the Art Gallery can no longer be featured on any smartphone versions . These versions were confirmed on iOS soon before they were released on February 25 , 2010 . " Final Fantasy II " for iOS , v1 . 1 . 1 , is available from the Apple App Store , is $ 7 . 99 USD , 7 , 99 € or £ 5 , 99 and 154 MB . In their current form , as of the March 10th , 2011 update , the games have original feel graphics updated for the iPhone screens , touch enabled menus , and overlay screen controls for the d - pad . Saving can be performed at any time , and the game automatically does a quick - save if the app is interrupted ( by a phone call , for instance ) . They are currently not multitasking aware for iOS4 , nor do they have custom controls or graphics for the iPad to make them easier to play on the bigger screen . In December 2015 , the app for iOS & Android received the first update in nearly 3 years which included bug fixes , improved support for newer devices , and updated controls . On February 4 , 2016 , a version of the game was released within " Final Fantasy Portal App " to celebrate the portal ' s first anniversary ( since the Japanese launch ) . It is a free download from the release date until February 14 . Novelizations . " Final Fantasy II " , along with " Final Fantasy III " , " Final Fantasy IV " , " " , " Final Fantasy XI " , " " and " " , is one of the several " Final Fantasy " installments to be novelized . The game ' s novel is titled " Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū " . It was only published in Japan . It was written by Kenji Terada and was published exclusively by Kadokawa Shoten rather than Squaresoft . As part of its Final Fantasy 25th anniversary celebration , Square Enix released a novelization of the first three " Final Fantasy " games . The novelization titled " Novel Final Fantasy I , II , III Memory of Heroes " was released Fall 2012 .