Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy II^[a] is a 1988 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Family Computer as the second installment of the Final Fantasy series. Like other Final Fantasy sequels, the game is set in its own world, and does not follow its predecessor's story. The game's story follows Firion, Maria, and Guy, three youths who join the resistance against the empire of Palamecia after their parents were killed during an invasion. Final Fantasy II introduced many elements that would later become staples of the Final Fantasy franchise, including chocobos and the recurring character Cid. It also eliminated the traditional experience point leveling system of the previous and later games in the series, instead introducing an activity-based progression system where the characters' statistics increase according to how they are used or acquired; the progression system later became a staple of the SaGa series of role-playing games.

Upon its release, Final Fantasy II received highly positive reviews in Japan; retrospective reviews have noted the game as having a stronger story than Final Fantasy, but have described it as among the most divisive entries in the series due to its progression system. Although it was intended to have a North American release in 1990 as Final Fantasy II: Dark Shadow Over Palaki, Square ultimately decided to release Final Fantasy IV^[b] instead. Final Fantasy II has received enhanced remakes on numerous consoles, including the WonderSwan Color, the PlayStation, the Game Boy Advance, and the PlayStation Portable, as well as mobile devices and personal computers; it was re-released in 2021 as part of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series. The game has sold over 1.4 million copies worldwide.

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