I think what sells The Emperor to me as an antagonist to me is this excerpt from the Mysidian Library when you use the key word "Palamecia". {The king of Palamecia was said to be a man of tremendous pride. Once, he decreed that he would give his daughter as a prize to any man who could penetrate his castle. Men who scaled cliffs, men who dug tunnels--all were humbled before the walls of the impenetrable castle. But finallly there came a man who succeeded where others had failed. Filling a great bag with hot air, he floated up, alighted on the castle roof, and entered the castle. Enraged at being outwitted, the king attempted to seize the man. But with an airy confidence, the man, together with the princess, escaped into the sky.} Rather than there being a causal link between the past king of Palamecia and The Emperor's motivations, I think this parable does an excellent job of highlighting The Emperor's mindset. He's an arrogant man who believes the world is his, but others prosper without his influence, finding ways to thrive and undermine him. And so he does what he does best; he destroys. He ruins. He demonstrates his vaunted superiority over other people by throwing them into the depths of despair, no matter how many lives he takes, even if it means doing a deal with Satan himself. All of that is a triviality to him, a trifle of his efforts, compared to demonstrating his dominion over the world. He is a force of nature, so determined in his goal that his split soul usurps both Satan *and* God, ruling over both life and death, reward and punishment. He's not a mere man. He doesn't even need a name to be feared and remembered. He is The Emperor.
Bro I clicked on the channel expecting you to be halfway through the series with several dozen videos on various franchises based on the quality of the FF1 & FFII Retrospectives, just to find out this is a fairly new channel? You're out here making quality videos like you've been here all along dude, respect 👊.
@@Captainflowers1011 For real. Gotta respect the hustle. Dude is putting in serious work on research, script writing and editing. I've watched the FFV retrospective and was so impressed I'm going back to watch the first 4.
@acidwizard6528 same. Stumbled onto the ff5 on and greatly enjoyed (all time favorite ff game anyway), ff4 and 1 down, 2 and 3 to go. This channel is quality
I love the idea of four bros going into battle and then beating each other up at the end while the last enemy watches just to harden themselves. I'd watch that anime
I have just found your channel over the last few days, and these Final Fantasy retrospectives are unbelievable. I always put Gametrailers Retrospectives as the best history for Final Fantasy, but these videos blow them away. I'm really looking forward to getting through these current videos and hopefully future Final Fantasy Retrospectives by yourself. Great content, and thank you for the obvious hours and hours of work you have put in to keep us entertained. New Patreon gained.
I've watched every final fantasy retrospective on RU-vid and I am blown away by your work. Both your first and second retrospectives are extremely engaging and informative. I hope you continue throughout the series despite not having 1 million subscribers. You deserve to have more exposure and I just pray that I'll get to see more retrospectives from you. Well done!
Man, I can't help but think about how solid that original story was. There was a lot of potential there that I wish they'd hung onto for a future installment.
Your retrospective videos are simply phenomenal. The level of detail, passion, research and understanding of each game, their particular mechanics and the philosophy behind each game's design is superb. This is top quality content.
::slow clap:: That was the best retrospective I've seen of this game. You're a gem. I look forward to seeing more of your content and definitely subscribed to the channel.
I’ve watched your FF1 & 2 vids a few times so far and thought they were both great. Can’t wait to get into 3 and I really hope you continue this series.
I loved the progression system of 2 when I finally played it as part of origins. My only gripe was the tedious nature of the dungeons. Currently playing the Pixel Remaster, it's definitely the most friendly version I've played but I think I prefer the OST arrangements of origins and the PSP version so far, especially the overworld and first boss theme. Removing the acoustic guitar part in the first and then burying the ethereal lead melody in the latter was a faux pas imho. Edit: I will give it credit for not throwing jazz horns at everything like the other pixel remasters I've played so far.
As a person who's been very adjacent to final fantasy (watching other people plaything the games or me playing a side game like tactics advanced/buying the games and never playing them) I've always wanted to get into the games the way i was drawn into rpgs like pokemon. These videos are some of the greates retrospectives ive seen ever. And they really make me to playe the games i have and more.
You're in for such an incredible treat. FFII is actually my least favorite, and FFI, while still shockingly enjoyable, is largely improved upon in subsequent entries. There's not really a dud in the first 10 or so games depending on who you ask.
I remember kinda enjoying this game the first time I played (only played a few hours) once I get used to how the leveling system worked. Back then I wasn't aware FF2 was that hated so I was actually surprised to find out people in the west hated it THAT much. While the game is indeed deeply flawed, I think most people just auto-pilot into dismissing it and rarely give it a more fair look.
FFII might not be a good game, but good lord if it isn't ambitious and attempts to do a lot with very little. I can't help but respect that a lot, even if I never managed to finish it.
I'm loving these videos as I'm going through the original 6. I was put off by word of mouth and this video has actually tipped me towards getting it when I'm finished with 5 and 6
If you think the Pixel Remaster makes grinding a cakewalk, check out the console ports, which adds an experience multiplayer. I'm coming up on the Coleseum, and two of my characters already have 9999 HP, and several spells are already at level 16.
I just finished the pixel remaster of it and i totaly enjoyed it. Your video is awesome, sad that u dont have more views, i hope this changes, u deserve more views.
Just joined your Patreon, and I highly encourage others to do the same. For this quality product, it's a great deal and a "no-brainer" for any level Final Fantasy fan!
Damn, that original story was sick, I hate that Square never did it on that time, hell, I dont even want to think how they would make it now... so I hope they never use it
As for the game itself, it is very difficult to ascribe any score or place for it, as there are so many differences between the versions. For me this installment is to be seen and studies as part of FF history, rather than to be enjoyed as a gaming experience. The one aspect that discouraged me from completing the version of this game that I have is the magic system and lack of any non-magic abilities/moves to be used. Makes gameplay very repetitive for me.
This is a very thorough analysis and I have great respect for your approach. So much research done for the video. It is amazing. Keep up the good work. I have subscribed and will be looking forward to new uploads from you.
I think this installment of the series is easily the most underrated and over hated. I loved the characters and tragic story. The leveling system was cool too. Guy speak beaver.
I think the keyword feature was to make thd game more like the computer role playing games thst these jrpgs took a lot of influence from. Like thr ulitma series
It wasn’t until recently that I found out FF2 had such a negative view in the community. After a bit of googling and asking on some forums. I still didn’t understand the hate. Now I understand at least the actual issues the game faced. Although from how this video describes it. Most of those issues are almost exclusively from the original Japanese release. Or at least that is their worst form. Later releases either seemed to mitigate them or outright get rid of them like the seesaw stat growth. Being a at least somewhat grindy game in nature is not anything surprising coming from the FF series. Especially as only the second game in the series. Pretty much every game in the series can lay claim to that fact to some extent or another. Whether from design or from player agency. (Ignoring FF16 since it’s so new and I haven’t even thought about playing it yet). So like was said in the video. I can’t really agree with the complaints. At least not to the extent some seem to complain about them. And considering I was having difficulty finding what those reasons were from a cursory google. I feel that shows that the issues people have with the game are more in their minds than truly existing. Again as badly as is pictured. Especially here in the west where we never had east access to the more broken version of the game.
That progression system on a modern rpg would kill the market. Way ahead of its time. Highly dissappointed it hasnt shown its face in the modern games.
It's basically Elder Scrolls, in a way. The only game I know that did something much more similarly is Brandish. I definitely remember letting wizards zap me up so I could build magic resistance.
I shield grinded ff2 and steamrolled it and did not have fun. I actively avoided ever doing that in a separate playthrough and didn't have fun. conclusion? ff2 isn't fun anyway so if you're going to play it you might as well do so in the way that requires the least effort and has the highest efficiency. obviously, this is all personal opinion.
Bro you deserve it im going to subscribe to you i loved this video my favorite final Fantasy games are as follows FFVII Ffix Ffx Ffx-2 Ffxv I hope ffxvi will also be awesome it looks very good but i first need a ps5 so yeah
@@TheLegendarySwordMaster Just curious, as I was a little surprised at some of the entries. Wasn't meant negatively, I was just curious if you ranked the games you'd played or if this was cut off at top 5. Thanks for replying. By the way, did you end up getting that ps5 and FF XVI? I still haven't played it myself, holding out for the PC release.
Hey so you mentioned how certain spells would level up faster than others. The same is true of weapon skills but this doesn’t depend on the skill itself but rather the level of said skill or spell. Monsters have a hidden “rank” or level. When you use a command for the first time in a fight you gain XP equal to something like… 4 + monster’s rank - skill level. And then diminishing returns beyond that. So if Firion uses his lvl 1 sword skill against goblins (rank 1) he gains 4 xp, then 3, 2, 1… The reason why your haste leveled up so fast is because you’d use a low level spell in a high level battle. They DID think about these things, but it seems the skill system needed a lot more fine-tuning.
I do love how he went from not knowing what an RPG is, to cyphering his code because he was so adamant in his beliefs about how much damage Ultima should do, because of his personal cannon on the evolution of magic
I'm so ambivalent on it. On one hand I'm like "he went above his station big time" but on the other hand he was still a member of the team creating a piece of narrative art and doing his part!
@@reloadpsiIt’s the narrative part that has me siding against him. He knew this was an important part of the plot and deliberately sabotaged solely because of his own beliefs about how magic should work. He wasn’t considering the opinions of his superior, his team, or the players.
I'm so glad you mentioned Megami Tensei. People always skip over it when talking about the classic, grandfather of console RPGs just because it never officially released in the West. I loved the first vid but I think I'm gonna stick around. You're really thorough. You also approach the game in a very fair way. You don't go in barking the same line about FFII being terrible like so many others do. I love your style. My one complaint is that the agonizing theme that plays during Combat and Progression just goes on way too long. It's stuck in my head.
The Emperor was able to do all his takeover on earth because he has all this army at his disposal so I wonder how he manage to take over hell and heaven. But if the man is based on the goblin king, I'd like to think he was able to charm his way in with song. "You remind of the Moogle." "What Moogle?" "The Moogle with the power..."
Fuck me, your only two games into your series. I found this to early. Oh well. Looking forward to when you get around to FF tactics. Your videos are pretty awesome so far. Ty for the effort.
Thank you for the kind words! Not sure yet if I'll do a Tactics video; it depends on how much traction this series gets and if there's enough of a demand for it.
That story about Sakaguchi wanting to fix the ultima spell only to find that Gebelli had cyphered it is absolutely wild to me as a modern game designer. I would absolutely lose my shit if one of my colleagues did that.
I think the empty rooms were an attempt to be a bit more D&D. In old modules there were a lot of rooms in a dungeon left empty. The idea was that the DM was supposed to populate them, but more often than not the DM would just roll from the random encounter table and have whatever they rolled be in the room. Hence, empty rooms with a high chance of triggering random encounters. It would make more sense if entering the room would trigger the encounter before depositing them in the center of it though.
That was my thought on playing the game at the point I gave up (second to last dungeon? I think Crystal Tower)... like, bro, I could deal with entering an empty room and having a high encounter rate if I move inside it... just stop dropping me in the CENTER of the room... that's NOT how doors work in any OTHER part of the game!
I found this video around the same time I started FF2 (Pixel remasters,) and while I had to skip around to avoid spoilers (albeit not succeeding in the process) it really helped me appreciate the game I was playing. Final Fantasy 2 is probably my favourite of the NES era games, underloved by the people. Its cohesive yet simplistic plot would also be the ideal target for a FFVIIR style remake, but its status as the black sheep of the franchise leads me to believe it'd never happen. The retrospective making parallels between it and Empire Strikes Back was a brilliant choice; it always seems like the 2nd work of a franchise is always the most experimental, which tends to lead it into being the most popular or the most hated entry.
Dissidia may have had some questionable writing at points, but god damn did they do a great job showing off The Emperor. I don't know if the series will ever be able to top how ruthless he was. He goes so perfectly with the whole "War is Hell" angle that FF2 embraced.
The way I understood Leon in the ending was definitely him going back for the Palamecian throne and Firion being like "we'll be ready for you" has a double meaning. "Either you sort yourself out, or we will." was basically Firion's subtext.
I guess I had always thought of the promise of this progression system as being, "Just play how you want and your characters will develop appropriately." From that perspective it is a disaster when you have players doing all kinds of bizarre things like hitting themselves, avoiding healing during battle, casting useless spells over and over, etc. But if their goal was instead to create a kind of puzzle where players have to work out what behaviors the system will reward with experience points and then grind by doing those over and over, then I guess it's a success? I do find that it creates a near-constant state of ludo-narrative dissonance, however. In the first Final Fantasy, when I'm in combat, my mindset and goals are pretty close to what I imagine my characters' would be: we both want to defeat the monsters as quickly as possible, while taking the least damage possible and using up the least amount of resources that might become necessary to survive the rest of the dungeon. So the choice of, for example, whether to use a heal spell in battle is dictated by the same kinds of considerations my characters would have. In FF II, by contrast, when my characters take damage, I no longer see this as a purely bad thing; yes, it puts them closer to death, but I also kinda want them to end the battle at low health so I can gain experience points for my HP, and I want them to take physical damage because their defense stat will go up. I doubt my characters see any such silver lining to getting their arm chewed off by a goblin or what have you. Much less would they see the wisdom in bashing each other over the head etc. It's true that in real life, you do engage in otherwise pointless and repetitive activities (exercise and practice) to "level up" particular skills and abilities. But a sane person would do this in a safe environment, not in the middle of a life-or-death situation. I think maybe this ludo-narrative dissonance is why the benefits of having your dudes whack each other on the noggin is the first thing everybody points to when trying to explain why they didn't like FF II. It's not that this specific activity is necessarily a big part of the gameplay experience; rather, it's the silliest/most egregious example of the headspace the progression system puts you in throughout the game.
Apologies for being pedantic here, but for the sake of completeness, I will criticize the interpretation of Famitsu's note on FF2 as presented at 1:40:06 . My first issue is a small one, which is that it's less Famitsu "declaring it a hit," and more observing that FF2 is "the most talked about game of the season" -- this difference is slightly meaningful insofar as it's a passive observation of fact rather than them taking the onus to officially label it as a hit. But that's well within the realm of just ambiguous word choice. My second and more serious issue is that they did not say "it could even surpass Dragon Quest." Rather, they said: "You can clearly feel the DEVELOPER'S INTENTION to surpass Dragon Quest." This is important insofar as it levies no judgment over whether they succeeded or possibly could succeed, but rather just emphasizes respect for the ambition regardless of the result. Overall minor points, but the only thing I know is Japanese so I might as well hone my ears waiting for a JP translation in a 2 hour video essay to nitpick it :P Overall very good video series and in the upper echelon of video essays I've seen due to not just the amount of research but the depth to that research as well.
On the one hand, I kind of like the idea that the 'ultra powerful ancient spell' turns out to be useless. It's kind of like that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where there's a demon called 'The Judge' that everyone is freaking out over because, according to the Codex (which is never wrong) 'no weapon forged by man' can hurt him. Then Buffy realizes that the Codex was right when it was written, but it was written 6000 years ago and weapons forged by man are a lot more potent these days. She one shots him with a grenade launcher. On the other hand, though, to put so much of the game's story behind it really is wasting the player's time. It could work, if Ultima had been a secondary plot point, or if the next part of the game involved the story commenting on it, and then having a storyline where they seek some master wizard who might be able to take Ultima and improve it with modern knowledge to be what they expected it to be, thereby gaining the best of both worlds.
i really like your thorough research, in both of your retrospectives so far there has been a ton of info not present in other similar videos on youtube which makes them a joy to watch as a curious fan of the games, i hope for more final fantasy retrospectives in the future!
Your retrospectives are phenomenal. Definitely a notch higher than the rest for the depth of research and passion you put into them. This is exactly the kind of attention to detail I was looking for. Thank you.
Another outstanding retrospective - i had no idea about the original planned FF2 plot - and i have watched other retrospectives on youtube. Now the real question FF3 when? :P
I didn't know about this original plot either. That's so bizarre to hear an alternate universe version of FF2. I am also surprised neither FF or Romancing Saga ever used that plot synopsis. It actually sounds so well thought out.
wow if that original story idea for ff2 has gone ahead, that would have been a very in depth story for it's time, you wouldn't be seeing plot like for until at least the SNES era, shame that never came to be. the story the game ended up having was still pretty good for an NES title ( the best of all the FF NES titles in my opinion) but that would taken it to the next level.
Yeah 2's issues with difficulty, encounters and the leveling system are indeed overblown. I don't even consider it to be the worst game in the series. (That would be the FF13 saga) However, what makes the game still a black sheep in my eyes is the dark plot, which IMO tries to go so dark that it instead becomes utterly ridiculous. Mateus' living boss form could've been explained as being more of a tactical mind than a fighter but then the game expects you to not only believe that he took over Hell upon dieing but that he did it while being split in half, with his other half also taking over Heaven despite being just as evil as his other half therefore not making sense that he'd be there at all. Falling upward this hard is just bad storytelling.
Playing the new pixel remasters on ps5. I have avoided this game forever. I was an 80s kid that rented ff1 one weekend and mostly playing ninja gaiden and mario was completely baffled and turned off by its game play. Played about 10 min and turned it off. Later that night i gave it another go. Before i knew it the sun was rising and i was hooked forever.
I'm pretty aure the whole reasoning behind dq changing to weekend release is based on some urban legends and are exaggerated although the aforementioned is certainly a factor. But yes, they love their dq in japan lol
I for one love FF2. While not even close to being the best in the series, it still has far worse reputation than it deserves. And what baffles me to no end is how everyone keeps saying how this game is so easy to break, when FF8, one of the most popular entries in the franchise, is far worse in that regard.
I am... actually a fan of FFII as well! :) It's not my favorite, I get frustrated at it, but I do love it. It's nowhere near as disappointing to me as pretty much every game after 9.
TO comment on the lack of intricate plot / dialogue / character development etc., I'm pretty sure this was simply lack of space on famicom to incorporate as much as they (the developers) wanted. Once they went to Super fam, the released FF4, and the jump in space, and storytelling, was drastic to say the least. Just because they finally could.
I love FF2. I had the Dawn Of Souls version and I'm playing through it again. To me people that hate FF2 don't know how to play the game. I played this game as a kid and it was fine for me. Hard yes but manageable
I wish they actually made ultima useless in canon as you said rather then act like holy shit the spell is going to rock. Make a line about oh no the spell was corrupted in time and now it is completely useless or as you said it used to be the shit but now regular spells are stronger etc. To me FF2 is a true untapped gem despite its blarant flaws. Definitely the most unique rpg out there
Loved your video, too bad you didn't mention that while Kawazu almost completely left the Final Fantasy franchise (only becoming executive producer on some of the later entries), he still got a shot at improving and building upon the system he came up with in FF2 in his very own "Saga franchise" a little less known RPG series by Square Soft in which Romancing Saga 1, 2 and 3 actually uses the growth system of FF2 but vastly improved upon and better contextualized, Romancing Saga 2 in particular is a solid recommendation of mine as it is one of the better title of the SNES library and Square's catalogue ! So yeah, if you SOMEHOW still enjoyed FF2 in spite of its many flaws, it's a solid recommandation
I honestly can't hear the ff2 battle music anymore without thinking of Hildebrand Additionally, the beavers in ffxiv are a reference to this game. And of course pandemonium being the end game raid in endwalker.
these need more attention i love them and i am so happy i seen that one message on a ff7 music reaction if it was not for that i would have never found this series keep up the good work. just a question are you going to do all final fantasy's or just the first three?
Just the main series (1-16, including the MMOs) and contemporary sequels (X-2, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns). Depending on how much demand there is, I may do the odd detour here and there (After Years, Chrono Trigger, Tactics, Spirits Within, Compilation of FF7, etc.).
@@AndrewBluett It would be cool if you took a look at some of the spin offs Stranger of Paradise, definitely Tactics, Type 0, world of final fantasy, FF Dimensions Dissidia series is also worth taking a look at there is also final fantasy brave exvius (and its spinoff war of the visions) - the game reminds me so much of the classic I-VI FFs (it has a massive story - it is worth to see at least season 1 imo)
@@AndrewBluett I do really want an After Years retrospective. It was my first Final Fantasy and I know almost nothing about the real life story behind it. I wonder why they decided to make it, it seems like the first "sequel" set in the same universe as a previous entry, which is such a departure from the core philosophy of recurring themes in *different* worlds.
@@koboldbiopellet X-2 was the first direct sequel, released a few years before After Years. I'll talk about TAY in my FF4 video, I just don't know to what degree yet.
Elina and Kain are Phillip's wife/son, Ricard's best friend who died fighting the empire. About the novel version: There are a few chapters on a Tumblr profile but sadly without updates for a long time :c I'm currently writing a remake of the game as a hobby, mixing some things from the novel version(and new content to the story) Main Story/Soul of Rebirth completed(Arcane Labyrinth is the next). Now I'm currently just adjusting/rewriting some stuff/details. Great video!
@@MrJohntoyz As I said, it's more of a hobby than something real. I've complete the main story/SoR at the time I made this original comment and wwhenever I can I try to write something, so I'm currently working on Leon's "DLC" and trying to buy Memory of Heroes so I can gather more stuff/details. And what can you tell about your game?
Well this isnt my main account I just forgot to change accounts on somebodys computer. Basically my idea was sort of exploring a Final Fantasy inspired world through its history. 4 different eras, traditional fantasy, steam/magic punk, modern fantasy, sci fi. Different hero in each, kinda like Live A Live but more open explorable world.
I'd actually love to see this game get a remake someday. It's certainly no masterpiece but I think there's enough good ideas present that it could become something truly special with another go. Its reputation as one of the weaker games might hurt its chances sadly.
Star Wars inspired the story of Final Fantasy II in many ways. Hilda is likened to Leia Organa and Mon Mothma. Firion and Maria are likened to Luke Skywalker. Leila is likened to Han Solo. Minwu is likened to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Leon is likened to Darth Vader. Borghen is likened to Wilhuff Tarken. Scott is likened to Raymus Antilles. The King of Fynn is likened to Bail Organa. Gordon is likened to Admiral Gial Ackbar. The player is likened to Yoda. Guy is likened to Chewbacca.
i know thats probably not relevant to the point of the video because it seems to be exclusively dedicated to final fantasy, but i personally admire kawazu's earnest intent to think out of the box and experiment through things, as a long time final fantasy 2 defendant, and maybe a fan ackknowledging its shortcommings, its impossible to me to not point out that kawazu's progression system was kept being refined over the years in the SaGa series after the gameboy games, starting the the romancing SaGa series, creating a whole franchise that despite wasnt brought to the west probably out of fear of not being understood in the west until SaGa frontier 1, 2 and then romancing SaGa own remake minstrel song, it was still a success in japan since the beggining.
I got FF 2 with FF Origins back when it released on PS one. Preordered mine. I personally really enjoyed both 1 and 2. Same with the PSP, preordered 1 and 2, but I LOVED the remakes on the PSP. That pixel art was f*cking beautiful! I think too many people in America were let down because we got 2 after 7 and 8 maybe 9 (I don’t remember). But considering their age I really thought they were ahead of their time. Particularly 2, it had a lot of great ideas, conversation and leveling (like SaGa). It was great!
@@AndrewBluett that’s true about the ROMs. Some friends of mine had it but I’ve never been one to play games on PC. Thanks for jogging the memory on the release! Keep up the great videos and thanks for the reply!
Final Fantasy II isn't the only thing that was more or less inspired by Star Wars original trilogy. I know a certain show that was also inspired by Star Wars. That show, (at least what I'm heard of it) kinda made me a sucker when it comes to the story of a rebel group against the overwhelming force of an oppressive evil empire that pretty much has the entire world in the palms of their had. Final Fantasy II is the first but definitely not the last entry where we have a story of a rebel vs an evil empire.
Wow, I’m now playing FF6, pixel remaster, meaning, it’s my first time playing 1,2,5 & 6. One was ok, I could see the potential it had, and why people loved it back then… but tbh i enjoyed FF2 the most, emperor is really someone to fear, garland was ok, and cloud of darkness was good, love her ost. Besides the leveling up system, I found ff2 really entertaining and the story was nice. From a D I think it went up to a C+.
Some years ago I went on a marathon of sorts in which I played all FF games from I to X in a single year. When I played FFII I enjoyed my time with it and I had no idea about anything that was being said about the game. It was fun, and I noticed the jump in story quality respective to the first game. That being said, after beating the game, I never played it again. I have fun memories of it, and that's it. Most people who criticize it do it for bandwagoning imo. I never felt I had to grind that much, and after playing all those FF games I can tell you I grinded in all except FFVIII. Edit: the one I really disliked was FFIII, by the way.
I have been playing through the Pixel Remasters in order, and while I feel this may be because of any changes they made for the Pixel Remaster, I found that while I did have to spend time doing some grinding, and yes, the auto-battle system made those grind sessions seem very brief, i honestly never found the need to "hit myself", or exploit in any way for stat levelling. Progression felt natural, and I was able to make three relatively fully rounded characters. I will admit, however, that the final boss was tough, but still enjoyable, though I did reach him with most spells only at level 10, and Ultima at a meager Level 8 (And yes, I stupidly sold my blood sword, but came in with Excalibur). Side note, those who play FF14 Endwalker might be as surprised as I was at the existence of Pandaemonium. It's fun to see nods to the game after all this time.
