Hate it?

[Hollycat]

Seriously what is with all the hate for ff2, it was the first one I played, and I personaly love the amount of customization the game allows and the "leveling" system.

What do you think?

[Sephex]

I didn't like it initially, but the adjustments made for the Game Boy Advance version made it playable for me. I had lots of fun blasting through that version, and I grew to appreciate how you build up your skills. I'd be hard pressed to play it again any time soon, but I don't dislike it.

[Gamblet]

I think that the game's story was pretty good (Emperor was badass) and the customization was nice, but leveling spells was just annoying. I have only played the PS1 version.

[Pike]

I LOVE this game. So very underrated. I had so much fun when I played it recently. The "leveling" had its flaws but overall I thought it was a neat way to play.

[Tigmafuzz]

I have no idea what hate you are referring to. I have never heard anyone say negative things about FF2. It's always, "yeah, pretty good," or something along those lines. Nobody hates it. They either like it or accept it. I demand you show me proof of someone hating FF2 right this instant!

[Hollycat]

Official I hate [Final Fantasy] (insert number) Thread. - Penny Arcade Forums (http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/151394/official-i-hate-final-fantasy-insert-number-thread)

[Pike]

I demand you show me proof of someone hating FF2 right this instant!

http://forums.eyesonff.com/final-fantasy-ii/137646-i-hate-game.html

You now have to fight Lonny Bob in a duel. Good luck, soldier.

[Bolivar]

I think the three titles that were originally unreleased in America are each underappreciated, but III and V are a little more loved because they have the beloved job system. FFII is definitely the black sheep of the franchise, in large part because of the unorthodox leveling and password system which the developers took into the SaGa series and never returned in FF. But we got Chocobos and a Dragoon surnamed Highwind!

I think FFII is epic. I'm guessing it was one of those early RPGs to have a large cast of side characters and many different plot threads. I like the guest characters, sabotaging the Dreadnaught, climbing Mysidia tower, or infiltrating Fynn. The music rocked and the character interactions were delightful. I'm probably gonna play the PlayStation version on my PSP now that the PSOne Classic of FF Origins is on the PlayStation Store.

[theundeadhero]

I don't think it's so bad. I like it a lot better than FFIII.

[Forsaken Lover]

The whole Intelligence/Spirit penalty thing for weapons in the original version is just stupid. I can understand it for armor but not weapons.

"We'll give you the option of duel wielding super powerful weapons!"

Oh and your magic sucks. KTHX."

Since I played Dawn of Souls I remembered wondering why anyone would choose not to load up a couple weapons for each character. Now I know.

Currently I'm making my way through Origins. I never finished DOS (stopped just aftr the Emperor was revived) so I'm hoping to finish teh game this time. I certainly don't hate it but I can see why anyone who played the Famicom version would.

[drotato]

I don't hate it. It was okay, just... Not one that I would play more than twice maybe.

[ReloadPsi]

Manipulating the stats deliberately was too much busywork and got really annoying, and leaving it up to chance... well, I don't like games that are entirely luck-based, which this game becomes if you don't deliberately put work in to grind.

The GBA release removed a fair bit of that, but as people have said, I wouldn't play it too many times.

[*Laurelindo*]

I don't understand why so many people dislike the Password system.
It really allows for much more interactivity between the NPC's in the game, if you hear about a critical plot item then you can simply learn the word and ask about it around the entire world.
In fact I think any game focused on exploration should have a system like this - makes sense, doesn't it?

And as for the leveling system - yeah, I agree that it becomes kind of inconvenient when you actually try to deliberately increase your stats, but it does work very well for the most part during the exploration parts of the game.
You are supposed to battle normally and let the leveling go by itself, because the game tends to improve your stats whenever you seem to need it.
One early advice I can give you is to skip the boat rides in the beginning of the game - walk between every town instead, this will give you a lot of opportunities to spam spells like Safe and Shell without ever needing to glitch-level them.
I even walk all the way to the Warship, great leveling along the way and you can simply keep a Cottage ready so you can restore yourself right before entering the Warship.