Well, played through all games and gave the PSOne version another shot... good god it's hard going back. After 6 hours I defeated the Dark Elf Astos, and I was right, the limiting factor isn't levels but enough money to get supplies. Maybe should have taken the easy mode, but still, if the Pixel Remaster took me 10 hours this version took me something like 25 hours to finish and that is without counting the retries when I died. Should have finished it as a kid, but since it was a PS2 we played on it doubled as a DVD-player.
So, recall how I mentioned that I class changed at level 30 and felt that it was very high compared to my original playthrough? Well, I played it at normal mode and guess what? Here the class change came at level 20. At level 30 I was on my way to the final confrontation with Chaos. I assume then that level 80 was a bit of overkill then in the Pixel Remaster. Thinking that a closer feeling would be playing the Pixel Remaster with 1/2x EXP. It was apparently doable for me, but I learned that easy mode actually works like Pixel Remaster with EXP 1x. Which is sad to learn that it means that as a kid I probably could have finished the game if I had played it on Easy instead of Normal, damn you prideful kid me!
It had it's moments though, I rage quitted first time at the March cave as I tried to get the final rooms after getting the magic key. Then I took two days of and did other things, but it was always in my mind so I continued and skipped it until I was a bit higher level. I tried to do Ice Cave before Mt. Gulug, but I got so beat up just going there I did the volcano first, got beat up there as well so then I went and did the Castle of Trails instead which gave me a healing staff, gauntlet and the ice sword. The healing staff and Gauntlet you actually could use as an item with heal1 and thunder2. Never knew that, that saved a ton of resources regarding healing and magic change how I played the game totally (wish for the auto-battle function of the Pixel Remaster since it was a lot of back and fourth to the item menu). Now the volcano was a breeze and I thought the Ice Caves would be the same. Boy was I wrong. Damn Dark Wizards pelted me with fire3, there was mindflayer looking guys who instakilled me by touching me, I think I did the run 3 times before going out with the levistone.
Final party kill was in the water temple, but after that only Magus got killed from time to time (had to shorten Imaginos so I got Magus instead). Still, a bit unnerving traveling through the Chaos Temple or the Flying Castle knowing that if you die here it's back to the beginning. I think they would have made it less frustrating instead like (I think) Dragon Quest and sending you back to the latest visited Priest or so (I know Golden Sun did this at least) with half your money. Now, money is always the limiting factor here, but if I have 3 levels and have to redo them and being faced with the bad luck of an instakill in the early areas before being able to get the protection ring. At least give me something since the game is so random. Doesn't matter what speed your characters have, it's total randomness who goes first every turn, or that the damage really is between the highest and lowest possible without any actual explanation why it is at different times. Fun rolling in a physical DnD game, not so much in a video game when I can't get off a heal on the black mage in time before the slow moving snail kills him. That's what you have preemptive attacks and ambush attacks for.
No, Pixel Remaster beats this out of the water, but it was fun experience it. Sadly no cinematic cutscene, just stills from the introduction movie over the credits, meaning I actually already seen everything that was special about this release. Still, the rumble from attacks and cutscenes were also rather intense and they didn't see to replicate it on the Pixel Remaster either, and definitely not on the GBA. I don't think I ever will do Final Fantasy II on the PSOne though, seems too boring with the grinding and such.
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