Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls

Written by Adam Woolcott  on January 24, 2005

Review: Dawn of a newЕwell, I guess old era

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If Final Fantasy I is the Grandfather of the Final Fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy II is the first born child, with the traits that have gone into every FF game since. FF2 introduced many concepts that have carried over Ц the first Chocobo sighting, a Cid character as a vital aspect of the story (FFI mentions Cid as the maker of the airship you use late in the game, but you do not actually meet anyone with the name), and most importantly, a storyline with characterization and a more epic theme. Don't go in expecting a twisting story like the more modern FF games (or even like Final Fantasy IV's story), but there is a story with a decent narrative and actual speaking party members. The game puts you in the shoes of Firion, Maria, and Guy (if I recall right he was called Gus in the FF Origins version, they changed it around likely because of stupid translation issues), who along with Maria's brother Leon are ambushed by knights of the Palamecian Empire, which seek to rule the world by brute force, one town/kingdom at a time. After their savage beating to begin the game (you cannot win the first fight, way too weak), Leon goes missing, and the remaining main characters go out looking for him, as well as ways to destroy Palamecia and end the tyrannical dreams of the Emperor.

In relative terms, FFII's storyline is very dark, even for a Final Fantasy game that has had numerous turns to the darker side of the fence. There's no less than 5 characters who up and die on you, some playable, some not. Not really bit part characters either, but some vital participants of the adventure. Each has their own reasons for dying, giving up their lives for the sake of the rebellion against Palamecia. And after you beat FFII (not a Herculean task, since it can be done in 15-20 hours if not less), a Soul of Rebirth game opens up. It's not required, but it follows the tale of 4 deceased characters in the afterlife. It's a fairly worthy addition but is hollow in comparison to the much-revamped main game.

When FFII finally was released here as part of Final Fantasy Origins, many took the game to task for its awful leveling system. Unlike every other FF game except for FFX, FFII did not have experience points, but instead had a system where your stats leveled up based upon your actions. Use a sword a lot and your sword skill increased. Same with bows, axes, etc. Purchased magic increased in power & effectiveness as you used it, and your characters vital levels like HP, MP, strength, endurance, etc. functioned the same. The problem was, these levels were nearly impossible to level early on, and you had to resort to beating up your party members in order to level. It was extremely annoying and one reason why FFII gets little attention. Thankfully, the GBA version of Final Fantasy II is extremely well balanced. It may not seem like it at first, but you can gradually progress through the game without too much trouble, as your characters will level up pretty evenly throughout. It still is based on many things Ц use little MP and that will increase very little, don't get attacked much and your HP will never increase, etc. I had a point where some characters had 2x the HP of others simply because they were targeted more in attacks. This refined experience system finally has made Final Fantasy II enjoyable, instead of a chore. Otherwise, the battle system is exactly the same as the first Final Fantasy, so you can hop right in without learning anything new.

FFII is a bit longer than the original game, about 20 hours the first time through if you're new to the game. Now of course this is all relative since you have to fight constantly (the random battle rate is again very high), but it'll take a few days to beat the game. It also contains the save-anywhere system, which makes it a bit easier to progress through, but again, this is understandable since of the portable nature of this package. Like FFI, FFII isn't terribly difficult, though much of FFII's difficulty came from the awkward leveling system. Though still old, the real Сorigins' of Final Fantasy are first brought to light with this game, making it a really good game to play for those new to the franchise (or those who think they skipped the first 6 games and started at Final Fantasy VII).

Both games share similar graphics, and they're effectively the same quality as the PSone collection. They're not as high-quality as some of the later SNES games (like FFVI), but Dawn of Souls contains clean 16-bit sprites and plenty of color in the worlds. The fighting is really primitive since there's no actual contact when you attack non-magically, you just whack at stuff and the impact is felt across the screen at the enemies. Not really a surprise considering the age and technology, but it likely could have been done. Unfortunately the FMV from the PSone game could not make the cut, but it was replaced by nicely done 16-bit era cutscenes that tell the story in the same way.

The soundtrack also is taken from FF Origins. That means you get some nice remixed music from the old games, including great battle themes from both I and II, and a stellar FFII overworld theme that sounds like it came from a Castlevania game. Of course, there's not a whole lot of different themes for either game, but that too is not a surprise given the age of these games and Square's interest in not so much wholly remaking these games but instead updating them. Obviously there's no voice acting, but the various sound effects when casting spells and the like rounds out sound effects pretty well.