Okay, so Final Fantasy II - The Non-Cheeseball Edition is basically the SNES version of FFIV, but someone went through and stripped out all the cringey 90s localization. No more "spoony bards" or awkward dialogue—just a tighter, more serious take on the story.

You still get Cecil’s redemption arc, the moon, and all that classic JRPG goodness, but the script actually feels like adults wrote it. The difficulty’s been tweaked too—no more grinding for hours just to survive the next dungeon. Battles are snappier, and the weird leveling quirks from the original are smoothed out.

If you’ve played FFIV before, it’s like revisiting an old friend who finally got their act together. If you haven’t? This is the version to start with. The pixel art and soundtrack still hold up, and the pacing doesn’t drag like some older RPGs. Just don’t expect Kain to make good life choices—some things never change.