When making a video game franchise (especially one that ends up becoming a long-runner), it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get exactly right, everything that is going to be essential or expected when it comes to what is called a series staple. While the first game had magic, it was very limited as to what characters could learn which spells, and there was a very small amount of magic points for each level of spell that could be learned. But in this game, the series begins to take steps to modify the magic system to be more familiar to the magic system it is today. While in this game, the characters still have to buy spells; now it is possible for ANY character to learn ANY spell they want to (though it's only possible for each character to learn up to 16 spells, meaning you still have to pick and choose which spells to learn). And in this game, magic points are no longer limited to a single digits limit. Now, it's possible to level up magic points well into the 600's before the game is over! But while the magic point system and magic spell customization gets shaped into what it is for the "Final Fantasy" franchise today, there was still some kinks to work out regarding the leveling system. For some odd reason, in this game, instead of featuring fixed levels for the characters; characters now gain more hit points, defense, stamina, and speed gradually the more they fight enemies. And in order to GET more magic points, characters have to cast more spells. And for some odd reason, instead of making Inn prices fixed for each town; Inn prices are now directly tied to how many hit points and magic points have to be restored for each character (which is why it's usually a good idea to CURE characters BEFORE using an Inn, so they'll only charge for restoring the magic points. In terms of story-telling, this game is a major step up from the first game. For starters, all of the characters (some who sadly don't make it to the end of the game) now have canon names, and the characters have to fight against an evil Emperor with magic powers, to keep him from devastating the world! The graphics, music, and sound are now all better than ever thanks to the Pixel Remaster version available on the Nintendo Switch, and the controls are still as great as they have always been. In terms of time spent playing the game, it's significantly longer than the first one. I spent up to almost 50 hours playing this game (though that was also partially due to the fact that I was unintentionally trying to sequence break without really meaning to). But if you want to play the game where story-telling began to get truly epic for the "Final Fantasy" video game franchise, this is definitely the version of the game that you should play! Enough said, true believers!
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