also known as Final Fantasy II - 20th Anniversary Edition
PSP
🇬🇧🇯🇵
Reviewed in 2007
82
✪ Reviewed on September 11, 2023
76
Skill-use progression, narrative keywords and the Soul of Rebirth dungeon: FF2 remains the saga's quirkiest entry, and this port elevates it without smoothing out the prickliness. Precious stuff for series historians.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player12+
Description
Anniversary edition of the second Final Fantasy, unique in the series for its skill-usage-based progression and keyword narrative system. Published by Square Enix, released in Japan and Asia in June 2007. Story of rebels against the Empire, bonus Soul of Rebirth dungeon, revamped graphics and music. Available in Japanese and Asian editions.
Final Fantasy II review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Imperial iconography carries the whole visual effort: black and gold banners, closed-visor helmets, bristling airships and angular fortresses set a state machine against rebels dressed in plain cloth. The named portraits, remade for the occasion, at last individualise heroes the original left anonymous.
Still signed by Nobuo Uematsu, the music unfurls more dramatic themes, from the martial "Rebel Army" to melancholy melodies. Each track underlines the rebellion and the weight of destiny with a growing emotion. This sonic richness, a pioneer of the narrative JRPG, has lost none of its evocative power.
Dialogue becomes an inventory: characters memorise keywords that must later be produced before the right people, so that understanding the story amounts to collecting vocabulary. That mechanic gives unusual weight to Leon's betrayal, whose name circulates long before he is found again.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Growing your heroes according to their actions, exploring an open world and untangling a plot of rebellion weaves a singular adventure where every fight raises a skill. Dungeons, keywords and secrets chain goals and rewards together. The unusual growth system lends itself to farming, yet the polished remake and the pioneering story keep a tenacious grip.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Following a rebellion against the Empire unfolds a JRPG unique for its progression based on skill use rather than levels. Exploring the world, optimising your characters and combing the bonus content demands long hours. That singularity, revived by the anniversary edition, offers a lifespan RPG fans savour.
Final Fantasy II, the portable remake of the series' second entry, known for its atypical use-based progression system, enriched with new content and distributed in a limited PSP run. It appeals to those completing the saga's origins in their most accomplished console versions. Its desirability rests on this measured physical distribution and the entry's singularity rather than mass presence.
Is Final Fantasy II still worth playing in 2026?
Final Fantasy II - 20th Anniversary Edition is the PSP port of the second FF, with its use-based skill progression, narrative keywords and bonus Soul of Rebirth dungeon extending the story. FF2 remains the saga's most atypical entry, and this port elevates it without smoothing its harshness. Probably the best available version today. A unique experience worth the patience it asks.
