Despite the things I have heard about this game from friends and other sources such as it being horrible or a "black sheep," I still tried to go in to here with an open mind. You can really tell that they went for a lot more here, but the execution truly was not the best. It flips the script from FFI and gives the player actual main characters with names, more of a story that is actually somewhat compelling and dark given the era of its original release, and a lot more customization for your party set up. The password system is cool in theory, but you definitely need a guide to know what to learn and/or ask. The game overall is average to me, despite these additions. I think the leveling system is fine, it's not the worst once you understand it and find ways to take advantage of it early game, so I really had no troubles progressing through the story and dungeons. The Blood Sword is CRAZY, though, made the final boss stupid easy. Magic is more useful than I, despite the necessary grind to level up these skills to level 16, which I only got a few to. Speaking of the dungeons, those SUCK. While I's are not too remarkable by any means, the confusing corridors with rooms that have dead ends with the already high encounter rate, the traversal through these dungeons felt monotonous to say the least. Invisible walls that are sometimes necessary to progress through said dungeon is a pretty interesting idea, too. Overall, the gameplay flow had me over it about halfway through and was eager to be done, so I wasted no time turning off encounters after being sure that I secured all new bestiary entries. I was not too big on this game's world map, either. The fourth party constantly rotating was not an idea I was too fond of because there really is no point in building characters and buying them equipment or leveling up spells. The "true" fourth party member does not join the game until way late- so what's really the point in investing in any others besides the initial three members? I like the characters and their designs, though, mostly Firion, Ricard, and Minwu, who were my personal favorites. The villain here, the Emperor is raw and his goals and what he did to accomplish his goals highlights the truly sinister theme they accomplished here. The OST is really good and a step up from I's, Pandemonium was definitely my favorite.

The opening scene is really neat, however, creating a sense of hopelessness for our party. They lost their friends and family around them, Maria loses her brother, and the first battle results in defeat. No doubt the theme of this game is sacrifice. You meet a lot of characters in your three person party that join you temporarily and die off, but most sacrifice themselves for the greater good so that the evil that our heroes are fighting are able to continue their path towards justice. I do wish the characters had a little bit of dialogue, some sort of reaction, at least after some of these deaths. It's truly amazing how dark this game actually is, after digesting the whole story and after that final boss against the Emperor, it's genuinely incredible the tone that is established here.

Overall, I want to like this game more a lot than I do, and I wouldn't even go as far to call it "horrible," but there are a lot of things I am not a fan of to even call it "good." Maybe in time I will give other versions of the game a try to see if that can change my view on this entry. It has a lot going for it, but falls short and can its systems can feel awkward and its easy to identify the issues it has. There still is a few aspects of this game I love and appreciate its existence for trying new things and what it brought to the table for future entries of the franchise.