Final Fantasy II is the black sheep of the early FF games—in a good way. Instead of grinding levels, your characters grow stronger based on what you actually do in battle. Swing swords a lot? Your attack goes up. Get hit constantly? More HP for you. It’s weird at first, but kinda satisfying once it clicks.

The story’s darker than the first game, too. You’re not just random heroes—you’re rebels fighting an empire that murdered your families. The dialogue’s simple (it’s an NES game, after all), but there’s actual character moments, which was rare back then. Just don’t expect voice acting or cutscenes.

Oh, and the keyword system for NPC dialogue? Super janky by modern standards, but it’s oddly charming once you figure out which words actually progress the story. You’ll be mashing “Wild Rose” and “Mythril” into conversations like some kind of fantasy detective.

It’s rough around the edges, but there’s something special about seeing the series experiment like this before settling into its classic formula.