A direct evolution of the first game, presents a much richer world and story, although the gameplay mechanics are kinda ass.
Ok, so, this game really deepens the way stories can be told through Final Fantasy, it still is a simple story about the good guys defeating the evil empire, but it's still much better than the first game, I didn't even need a guide to play it, I peeked at it sometimes, but it was my fault for not paying attention to a thing or two. The story isn't linear but it gives you directions, and when it doesn't, you can ask around, this game has a really charming system that lets you learn certain keywords and talk to NPCs, it was neatly implemented and cool.
It was cool to see some characters and elements that will become a staple in the franchise for the first time in this game, like: Cid (god rest his soul), and Chocobos.
The OST was amazing, so epic and full of life it really makes you feel like an adventurer of old. Even if the gameplay was experimentally bad, the soundtrack made the experience worth it, my highlights for this game were: Revival, all the Battle Themes, Pandaemonium and Chocobo Theme.
As for the gameplay, this game is mechanically inferior to the first game, like, they wanted the game to have classes but not have them at the same time, it's weird, you could give an axe or a lance to any character but only one or two have like an "affinity" with axes and lances, for instance, Firion has an affinity for swords but the game never tells you that, when you go shopping and buy an axe, the games makes it seem that you could equip it and just use it seamlessly.
There's also the leveling up mechanic, any weapon or more importantly, spell, can be leveled up if you use it in combat, which in itself is okay, but in this game it's such a fucking chore to level up, because for example, the spell Esuna is a spell that removes status effects, when you learn a spell through a scroll it starts level 1 (spells can go up to level 16) and level 1 spells ar more likely than not to miss the target, and if it misses you just don't level them up, in the end I just used the buff spells, this system was just terribly implemented.
I also think Amano's artwork was much better represented in the sprites than last game, at least in the Pixel Remaster which is the version I've been playing the classic games.
Overall, a solid entry in the series and a clear improvement over the first game, which leaves me genuinely excited to move on to FFIII.
