Chapter 1 - "Final Fantasy 2/2"
There are two versions of this ROM hack. Version A is the original hack, using FF4 enemies to represent FF2 foes, while Version B adds enhanced enemy graphics from FF2 to better represent the game.
For now, I'm gonna start with Version A, but I'll post a poll on whether you want me to do the LP in Version A or Version B. Won't make any difference otherwise.
And here's the title screen! Basically the same as FF4's besides the logo. Always was kinda weird that FF2US used a different title screen than FF4, but I guess swords are cooler than crystals in the US, so what can you do.
This hack uses entirely FF4 music, as far as I know. I've only played a little bit so far, but it seems there's no custom tracks here. For instance, "The Long Road Ahead" (i.e. the music that plays when Cecil first talks to the Mysidian Elder after washing up near Mysidia) plays for this screen.
I won't be linking the music to this one mostly due to sheer laziness. If the music choice seems interesting in particular for a scene, I'll point it out, but otherwise just assume an appropriate FF4 song plays for each scene.
Tomato, the professional translator behind the famed
Legends of Localization site and creator of a few other fan translations (including a little ol' game called
Mother 3) did the translation work for this one, using mostly the GBA scripts of 2 and 4. Since a lot of the dialogue is going to be similar to the GBA version of FF2, I'm gotta cut most of it and focus on stuff that's new, interesting, or otherwise summarizes the scene.
The intro of FF2 begins with soldiers chasing down our four protagonists. In the original, the game literally opens to a fight, while later releases add this short cutscene first to add a bit of context.
The custom spritework for the characters isn't half-bad, honestly. Maria kinda reminds me of The After Years Porom's sprite, while the others are alright.
This is an event battle, so everyone just auto-attacks. No command input like in the various official versions of FF2.
Otherwise, the battle goes as it always does, with your team getting annihilated.
The next scene is Princess Hilda and the White Mage Minwu reviving the fallen Firion before worrying about the ongoing war. They leave Firion right before he wakes up.
Firion wakes up, Maria and Guy are there to meet him in what looks like Mysidia (FF4 Mysidia, not FF2 Mysidia, because that's not going to get confusing), though Leon is missing.
We want to join the Rebels because our homes are destroyed and our families are dead, Hilda says no because we're punk kids, and now we have to prove ourselves by visiting Fynn.
The password system from the original exists here...sort of.
In that instead of picking from a list of words when prompted by certain NPCs, you're simply given a "Use Password?" prompt to execute instead. It makes the whole password system kinda pointless, but then again it was kinda pointless to begin with, so...
Lenora is a reference to Leonora, a character "added" in FF4's sequel The After Years. I say "added" because she was technically in FF4, as the unnamed little girl Palom bragged to in Troia during that game's ending. The FF Wiki decided that was enough to list Leonora as a Returning Character because why not.
Anyway, it seems I will never be able to escape The After Years's grasp. Ah well, at least Leonora was one of the better characters from that game. If this were the Eblan Four I'd have already quit playing and we wouldn't have this LP. So carrying on!
This is FF4's engine, so we still have five character slots and our rows are still 3/2 or 2/3.
Firion has Incant, which from what I understand is similar to Edge's Ninjutsu, while Maria has access to White, Black, and Summon magic. "Gatli" is the Needle attack from the Swordrat/Gatling Rat enemy. Her other spells are the standard Cure/Fire/Blizzard/Thunder.
Guy has no spells, because they make his brain hurt.
First off, this is FF4's engine, so no individual stat gains. We're using levels, which is a shame but whatever. Otherwise, each character also has a bio. Spoilers, we join the rebel army.
Firion is a Swordmage, which is why he has Ninjutsu, but also it allows him to equip Rods and Staves, which is nice. I liked Dissidia's idea of having Firion represented as a master of weapons myself, but when you're putting characters with free reign to develop weapon and magic skills however they want into a game engine where each character has strict skills and magic lists, you're gonna have to make compromises somewhere.
Guy's all about power. He's the only one of the three who can equip axes. He's also got the least to work with, only getting the Focus attack of Charge (i.e. the "wait a turn to do more damage the next turn" attack that's rarely that useful).
Maria is the mage of the group, which is ironic since in all other versions she's usually the best frontline fighter due to her high starting agility in a game where Agility affects Evasion, arguably the most important stat in FF2.
At least my favorite NPC returns to berate us some more.
This goes into detail but I posted the summary here. Go to Hilda to advance the plot, grind
stats levels, and search for loot.
You know, your usual Final Fantasy thing.
The Hovercraft replaces the Canoe for this game, because FF4 has a Hovercraft sprite but not a Canoe sprite. It'll make life easier though so I'm not complaining.
While the top room resembles FF4 Mysidia's Hall of
Prayers Wishing, the rest of Altair's base resembles Fabul. Maps are heavily reused in this hack, from what I can tell.
The two entrances don't actually have shops, though, but are the towers of Fabul. At least they net us some loot, though.
I'm guessing this is a throwing weapon, as nobody can equip it, it doesn't have a weapon symbol, and Firion has a Throw command.
Yang's Wife Sheila, i.e. the best NPC in FF4, resided in this room in the original to brag about bashing monsters with frying pans before encouraging you to domestically abuse her husband. Here, this is where Hilda sleeps.
The right tower has two hyper kids and an exhausted mother for no particular reason. I'm not complaining, I find it charming myself.
The former King of Fynn is wounded and incapacitated, which is why Hilda is running the show.
Once you leave the home base of Altair, you're out in the city, which just happens to be Mysidia (again, FF4 Mysidia, not FF2 Mysidia).
Paul the thief is represented by a purple-haired Edge.
While Gordon is straight-up Edward. Which, to be fair, is such a perfect fit and all...
Yeah, I can't even say anything here. The game itself does a good enough job of that.
The not-Serpent Trench gives free healing now.
Tobul still exists, and he'll still be relevant later on once we actually join the rebel army.
All three of our party members can equip bows. Guy can also equip swords and axes. Firion can equip swords, rods, and staves. Maria is just rods and staves.
I give Maria a Rod because Rods are very potent weapons in the early game when used as an item.
The gear is pretty simple. The men can wear the heavy stuff, while only Maria can wear the Iron Bangle.
Items are pretty simple as well. At least revival is a lot simpler in this game.
The inn is Baron Inn, but otherwise, yeah, that's pretty much everything of note in Altair.
From what I understand, the overworld is still a giant interconnected land mass like in the original, so if you feel compelled to travel to areas with enemies that will annihilate you, that's an option!
That said, I don't know how well I can sequence break in this hack, and it'll be better served until later anyway, as you'll see.
Nothing but standard FF4 foes in these starting areas, including Goblins and Swordrats.
Firion gets a bit of flexibility, though for the start he doesn't really have good options besides to Fight.
Maria, of course, has a large variety of magic to use, or at least will have a large variety once she gains levels. You still gotta find Summon magic I assume, but White and Black give spells on level up.
Guy is dead-simple. Fight, Fight But Harder, and Item. Also, Rod easily outdamages the men.
Chocobo Forests exist, but right now they only hold White and Fat Chocobos so you can't sequence break as easily (and so you don't screw yourself by riding to a high-level area and dismount with no hope of making it back alive).
Maria only learns one spell this whole update, which is Libra at L2.
If you remember, there's a completely forgettable town between Altair and Fynn.
Gatrea is just as forgettable here as in the original. The only new item sold are those Kozduka Knives that Firion can throw, and the NPCs don't really have anything interesting to say besides "Go talk to the one not-guard NPC in Fynn".
At least there's good loot here! I actually give Firion the other Rod because he does more damage using it as an item than with his regular attacks. The other gear is also good upgrades for Maria.
Namingway still exists and will still change your names. I'm open to name changes, so let me know what you think! I'll remind you at the end of the update.
An uneventful trek and a few levels later, we reach Fynn.
We're not entering the castle, though.
Fynn is basically Baron.
Except since Mysidia (FF4) had Baron's Inn, Baron has Mysidia (FF4)'s Inn.
Ah, the noble
Y-Burn...
This is the Bartender we need to tell the password to in order to progress the plot. Before we do, there's some stuff to explore.
A lot of this is just standard FF4 fare, but there's a couple hack-specific comments as well.
You can run in towns and dungeons with B, which, hell yeah. You can also swap turns with X, which is always handy.
It seems the hidden item locations in the original maps are still around for FFC2's maps. Glad I've spent so much time on FF4 and Free Enterprise in particular!
Tomato was kind enough to put a counter for how many treasures you've found, so that's a nice addition.
There's nothing else to do here so let's gain a bar and progress the plot.
Scott is Gordon's brother and proposed to Hilda, blah blah blah, he's going to die after this conversation and Borghan the twit betrayed Fynn, nothing too exciting.
We do get a dead man's ring at least.
On the way back, Firion learns his first Incant, Smoke Bomb. Gotta say, having someone with a guaranteed escape will be nice.
Oh yeah Scott said Gordon's not complete garbage which, uh, sorry Scott but you're clearly wrong.
The king's upset that his future son-in-law died and that Borghan betrayed them, but he can't do anything about it because he's stuck in bed.
Hilda's impressed that we did that stupid stunt and lets us get mythril for her.
Even better, Minwu joins and gives us a free Hovercraft!
Lenora's on the case!
Much like the original games, Minwu has much higher stats and starts with a large variety of White Magic. Since this is FF4, this means he has Slow and other spells that aren't Slow and thus not as good as Slow.
He can only use Staves and light armor, though oddly he can also use Shields. Works for me!
Thanks for the support, my favorite NPC.
Apparently this is a clue to some little side thing that may or may not be doable according to Tomato's notes. We'll see how things go.
Next time, we take the Hovercraft and start our adventure proper and see just what the hell's going on here.
But before we go, time for a couple of decisions!
First off, should we use Version A (FF4 sprites) or Version B (hacked-in FF2 sprites)?
Vote here and I'll go with the winner!
Second, any suggestions on what to rename Firion, Maria, Guy, and Minwu? Or should we just stick to defaults? I'm fine however, if one choice runs away I might go with it, but if there's several contenders I may run a poll for each character that sticks out.
I'll probably update soonish so make your choices as soon as possible!
