History YMMV / FinalFantasyII

* ScrappyWeapon: Bows are considered the worst weapon type for various reasons. The first is they are the game's only two-handed weapon, meaning that you can't equip shields, a piece of equipment that is valuable to raising agility due to increasing your evasion in a game where a character increases agility by dodging attacks. Second is that they are catered for characters who stay in the back row, a row which is a bad idea to put characters in as not taking as much damage prevents them from gaining a higher amount hit points, which means a low max HP and as such any attack that can hit the back row will shave off most if not all of a character's HP. And third if you're playing the original and ''Pixel Perfect'' versions, bows gives a massive penalty to magic compared to staves and knives, making them a poor fit for magic-focused characters who'd be the best fit to put in the back row to begin with!

* ScrappyWeapon: Bows are considered the worst weapon type for various reasons. The first is they are the game's only two-handed weapon, meaning that you can't equip shields, a piece of equipment that is valuable to raising agility due to increasing your evasion in a game where a character increases agility by dodging attacks. Second is that they are catered for characters who stay in the back row, a row which is a bad idea to put characters in as not taking as much damage prevents them from gaining a higher hit points, which means a low max HP and as such any attack that can hit the back row will shave off most if not all of a character's HP. And third if you're playing the original and ''Pixel Perfect'' versions, bows gives a massive penalty to magic compared to staves and knives, making them a poor fit for magic-focused characters who'd be the best fit to put in the back row to begin with!

* ScrappyWeapon: Bows are considered the worst weapon type for various reasons. The first is they are the game's only two-handed weapon, meaning that you can't equip shields, a piece of equipment that is valuable to raising agility due to increasing your evasion in a game where a character increases agility by dodging attacks. Second is that they are catered for characters who stay in the back row, a row which is a bad idea to put characters in as not taking as much damage prevents them from gaining hit points, which means low hit points and as such any attack that can hit the back row will shave off most if not all of a character's HP. And third if you're playing the original and ''Pixel Perfect'' versions, bows gives a massive penalty to magic compared to staves and knives, making them a poor fit for magic-focused characters who'd be the best fit to put in the back row to begin with!

* ScrappyWeapon: Bows are considered the worst weapon type for various reasons. The first is they are the game's only two-handed weapon, meaning that you can't equip shields, a piece of equipment that is valuable to raising agility due to increasing your evasion in a game where a character increases agility by dodging attacks. Second is that they are catered for characters who stay in the back row, a row which is a bad idea to put characters in as not taking as much damage prevents them from gaining hit points, which means when low hit points and as such any attack that can hit the back row will shave off most if not all of a character's HP. And third if you're playing the original and ''Pixel Perfect'' versions, bows gives a massive penalty to magic compared to staves and knives, making them a poor fit for magic-focused characters who'd be the best fit to put in the back row to begin with!

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The ''Pixel Perfect'' remaster has brought a strange variation of "They Changed It ''Back'', Now It Sucks!". The return of the divisive magic penalty system for weapons, shields and armor (not helped by the remaster [[GuideDangIt not informing players in-game of this]]) along with the removal of the Soul of Rebirth mode added in the ''Dawn of Souls'' remake and the Arcane Labyrinth BonusDungeon of the ''20th Anniversary'' remake has lead some to see the ''Pixel Perfect'' version as a downgrade.

** Whether heavy equipment hindering magic and stat atrophy were good or bad mechanics. Supporters believed they allowed for solidified combat roles amongst characters rather than the inevitable party full of {{Magic Knight}}s that the ''Dawn of Souls'' based versions did. Detractors believe that such penalties slowed down the game and added unnecessary difficulty, feeling the removal of both mechanics made the ''Dawn of Souls'' based versions more enjoyable.

* ScrappyWeapon: Bows are considered the worst weapon type for various reasons. The first is they are the game's only two-handed weapon, meaning that you can't equip shields, a piece of equipment that is valuable to raising agility. Second is that they are catered for characters who stay in the back row, a row which is a bad idea to put characters in as not taking as much damage prevents them from gaining hit points, which means when low hit points and as such any attack that can hit the back row will shave off most if not all of a character's HP. And third if you're playing the original and ''Pixel Perfect'' versions, bows gives a massive penalty to magic compared to staves and knives, making them a poor fit for magic-focused characters who'd be the best fit to put in the back row to begin with!

** Whether heavy equipment hindering magic and stat atrophy were good or bad mechanics. Supporters believed they allowed for solidified roles amongst characters in combat rather than the inevitable party full of {{Magic Knight}}s that the ''Dawn of Souls'' based versions did. Detractors believe that such penalties slowed down the game and added unnecessary difficulty, feeling the removal of this two mechanics made the ''Dawn of Souls'' based versions more enjoyable.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The ''Pixel Perfect'' remaster has brought a strange variation of "They Changed It ''Back'', Now It Sucks!". The return of the magic penalty system for weapons, shields and armor (not helped by the remaster [[GuideDangIt not informing players of this]]) along with the removal of the Soul of Rebirth mode added in the ''Dawn of Souls'' remake and the Arcane Labyrinth BonusDungeon of the ''20th Anniversary'' remake has lead some to see the ''Pixel Perfect'' version as a downgrade.

** Whether heavy equipment hindering magic and stat atrophy were good or bad mechanics. Supporters believed they allowed for solidified roles amongst characters in combat rather than the inevitable party full of {{Magic Knight}}s that the ''Dawn of Souls'' based versions did. Detractors believe that such penalties slowed down the game and added unnecessary difficulty, feeling the removal of this two mechanics made the ''Dawn of Souls'' versions more enjoyable.

** Whether heavy equipment hindering magic and stat atrophy were good or bad mechanics. Supporters believed it better solidified the roles characters are in combat rather than ending up with a party full of {{Magic Knight}}s. Detractors believe that such penalties slowed down the game and added unnecessary difficulty. The detractors were happy to find their complete removal in the ''Dawn of Souls'' version and later despair at the ''Pixel Perfect'' version for reimplementing heavy equipment's penality to magic, with the supporters annoyed that stat atrophy did not also return in the ''Pixel Perfect'' version.

** Whether heavy equipment hindering magic and stat atrophy were good or bad features. Supporters believed it better solidified the roles characters are in combat rather than ending up with a party full of {{Magic Knight}}s. Detractors believe that such penalties slowed down the game and added unnecessary difficulty. The detractors were happy to find their complete removal in the ''Dawn of Souls'' version and later despair at the ''Pixel Perfect'' version for reimplementing heavy equipment's penality to magic, with the supporters annoyed that stat atrophy did not also return in the ''Pixel Perfect'' version.

** Whether heavy equipment hindering magic and stat atrophy were good or bad features. Supporters believed it better solidified the roles characters are in combat rather than ending up with a party will of {{Magic Knight}}s. Detractors believe that such penalties slowed down the game and added unnecessary difficulty. The detractors were happy to find their complete removal in the ''Dawn of Souls'' version and later despair at the ''Pixel Perfect'' version for reimplementing heavy equipment's penality to magic, with the supporters annoyed that stat atrophy did not also return in the ''Pixel Perfect'' version.

* BrokenBase: The character progression system is what either makes or breaks the game for most people. For patient gamers who enjoy number-crunching, the fact that you have near-absolute freedom to build each and every party member however you want down to the individual points of each stat adds a lot of replayability and general creative freedom to approach the game however you like. For people who prefer a [[CharacterLevel standard level system]] or simply want to [[EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame plow through the story]], they'll probably [[{{Ragequit}} quit]] at around Kashuan Keep. The version ported to the ''25th Anniversary'' box set had to ramp down the difficulty because so few fans were willing to sit through it.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The ''Pixel Perfect'' remaster has brought a strange variation of "They Changed It ''Back'', Now It Sucks!". The return of the magic penalty system for weapons, shields and armor (not helped by the remaster [[GuideDangIt not informing players of this]]) along with the removal of the Soul of Rebirth mode added in the ''Dawn of Souls'' remake and the Arcane Labyrinth BonusDungeon of the ''20th Anniversary'' remake has some to see the ''Pixel Perfect'' version as a downgrade.

* ScrappyWeapon: Bows are considered the worst weapon type for various reasons. The first is they are the game's only two-handed weapon, meaning that you can't equip shields, a piece of equipment that is valuable to raising agility. Second is that they are catered for characters who stay in the back row, a row which is a bad idea to put characters in as not being hit prevents them from gaining hit points. And third if you're playing the original and ''Pixel Perfect'' versions, bows gives a massive penalty to magic compared to staves and knives, making them a poor fit for magic-focused characters who'd be the best fit to put in the back row to begin with!

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The Pixel Remaster version contains a number of changes, from quality-of-life to overhauls. Of particular note is that it is now ''much'' easier to track stat experience gain from battle to battle, so you know if your methods are working.

* BrokenBase:
** The character progression system is what either makes or breaks the game for most people. For patient gamers who enjoy number-crunching, the fact that you have near-absolute freedom to build each and every party member however you want down to the individual points of each stat adds a lot of replayability and general creative freedom to approach the game however you like. For people who prefer a [[CharacterLevel standard level system]] or simply want to [[EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame plow through the story]], they'll probably [[{{Ragequit}} quit]] at around Kashuan Keep. The version ported to the ''25th Anniversary'' box set had to ramp down the difficulty because so few fans were willing to sit through it.
** The need to [[LevelGrinding grind up]] certain spells can become a nuisance, especially with [[CantCatchUp the ever-changing fourth member of your party.]]

** While the unorthodox level system has been refined by remakes, to this day this is the ''Final Fantasy'' game known for being the one where you level up by having your party members attack themselves. Unfortunately for the game, this is a perfectly viable strategy too -- weapon skill and spell level increase the more the character attacks with the weapon or casts the spell, and shield skill levels up by defending against attack. And since your party members are much more durable than most enemies, especially in the early hours of the game, the most efficient way to level grind is to drag out battles by having your party members hit themselves.

** Most enemies whose physical attacks [[LifeDrain absorb HP]]. Not only does it obviously heal them to attack you, but damage from enemies' physical absorption attacks is calculated the same way as the damage your own party members deal wielding a Blood Sword: [[PercentDamageAttack It deals as many sixteenths of the target's]] ''[[PercentDamageAttack max]]'' [[PercentDamageAttack HP as there were hits that landed]]. So, such an enemy scoring even four hits with their physical attack will slam the target for one quarter of their max HP in damage, and that hit count is on the low end for a lot of enemies with this ability. Factor in that you can encounter up to around four such enemies at once, often with other lackeys to worry about on the side, and the danger level starts to snowball ''fast''. Many such enemies ''are'' undead, however, which, while sadly immunizing them against doses of their own medicine, ''does'' mean spells like [[KillItWithFire Fire]], [[ReviveKillsZombie Cure, and Life]] ''are'' effective ways of cutting them down to size.

** Cockatrices make their ''glorious'' return from the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI''. They still inflict stone, which is still an effective instant-kill. They do this on contact. And come in flocks of up to six. Your party size is only four.

** The Hill Gigas in the Deist Cavern hits as hard as the Captain, if not harder, and has tons of HP compared to other enemies in the dungeon, and can appear in groups of two. If you can't run or inflict Curse on them, they will crush your entire party.
** Death Riders in Pandaemonium have absurdly strong physical attacks which drain their victim's HP. Death Riders can break the damage limit and critically injure their victims in just one hit no matter what kind of armor they wear. Fortunately Death Riders are not without weakness. A properly leveled Fire magic or physical attacks will make fighting them easier.
** Mythril Golems (also in Pandaemonium) have absurdly strong physical attacks and defense, along with high HP, which means they can easily kill off your party members one by one if the battle goes too long. A decently-leveled Thunder or non-elemental attacking spell (Holy, Flare, Ultima) is '''strongly''' recommended if you want to take them out in any reasonable number of turns. Alternatively, a [[LifeDrain Blood]] [[PercentDamageAttack Sword]] on a character with a decent Sword proficiency rank will work just the same wonders it does against bosses.

** Cockatrices make their ''glorious'' return from the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI''. They still inflict stone, which is still an effective instant-kill. They do this on contact. And come in packs of 6. Your party size is only 4.

** Mythril Golems (also in Pandaemonium) have absurdly strong physical attacks and defense, along with high HP, which means they can easily kill off your party members one by one if the battle goes too long. Fortunately, a properly levelled Bolt/Thunder magic will make fighting them easier.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Between the AnyoneCanDie story, the NES hardware limitations, the quirky game design and the [[NintendoHard unreasonably cruel difficulty]], the overall feel is of wandering through a dying world. {{NPC}}s continually insult your party and tell you that you're all useless teenagers (though they warm up quickly), and some, counting the numbers, have pointed out that over half of the world's population is killed over the course of the game. While the heroes save what's left of the world, Leon still believes that he and his four friends can't go back to the way they were before, although Firion holds out hope that Leon will return. The crushing despair of this game may have been why ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' went very twee and fairy-tale-ish.
-->'''Duothimir''': ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyKU3Z6AlRo FF2 in a nutshell]]: Everyone dies, the heroes are left with crippling depression and PTSD, the end.''

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Despite explicitly being called a man in his introduction, Minwu is often mistaken for female. It may have something to do with [[{{Bishounen}} his looks]], wearing a top that [[BareYourMidriff exposes his navel]] and a long white skirt, and being [[TheOneGuy the only male]] WhiteMage in the franchise..

** The character progression system is what either makes or breaks the game for most people. For patient gamers who enjoy number-crunching, the fact that you can create character classes out of thin air and micromanage any stat adds replayability to the game. For people who prefer a [[CharacterLevel standard level system]] or simply want to [[EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame plow through the story]], they'll probably [[{{Ragequit}} quit]] at around Kashuan Keep. The version ported to the ''25th Anniversary'' box set had to ramp down the difficulty because so few fans were willing to sit through it.

** In the original NES version, the Ultima spell is useless. This is a bug, but when it was discovered the lead programmer ''refused'' to fix it, saying that he liked the idea of subverting OlderIsBetter by having legendary ancient magic actually turn out to be terrible because it has been obsolete for centuries.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNVsB5bPw9U Rebel Army theme]] is a soundalike of [[https://youtu.be/248ggPoK158?t=17 "Throne Room"]] from ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars: A New Hope]]''.