The game's narrative follows the protagonist as they search for their father, who left them one of the seventy-seven magical MAGI stones, going on to explore the worlds connected by the Pillar of Sky.
During gameplay, players explore and fight in turn-based battles, with character attributes randomly increased upon victory.
The DS remake uses a system of ability and statistical increases based on battle actions, and incorporates a multiplayer boss arena.
Final Fantasy Legend II was largely well-received worldwide during its original release, with many calling it better than the first SaGa, and it sold 850,000 units by 2002.
Final Fantasy Legend II, known in Japan as SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu, is a role-playing video game.
Set in a science fiction-based world, players take on the role of a four-person party with both humans and monsters able to be recruited.
[5][6] The game uses a turn-based battle system, where party members take turns using abilities such as attacks, spells, and items.
[8] In a search for their missing father, the player-created protagonist seeks out the 77 MAGI stones formed when the statue of the goddess Isis was smashed.
[3] The staff included planner Hiromichi Tanaka, who Kawazu attributed with pushing forward production and polishing the final game.
[9] Kawazu had to wait for Tanaka to finish his work on Final Fantasy III, among other staff members who joined the project.
[15][16] At the time, Uematsu was busy working on music for Final Fantasy IV, so Ito was brought in to create half the tracks.
[11] Square rebranded the game under the Final Fantasy moniker in English territories, capitalizing on the recognized brand to grow its regional presence.
While Kawazu had earlier plans to bring the originals onto newer hardware, the series' 30th anniversary provided a good opportunity to fulfil his wish.
[28] While the titles were rebranded as part of the SaGa series, they kept the Final Fantasy branding in their subtitle to avoid confusion for original players.
[30] Kawazu said that he and his team had been planning a remake of the game ever since they remade the first SaGa for the WonderSwan Color in 2002, and went ahead with the project now that they felt "the time was right".
[34] The date coincided with the 20th anniversary of the SaGa series,[4] and the remake was made available as part of a limited-edition Nintendo DSi bundle.
[3] Kawazu attributed the lack of localization to uncertainty within Square Enix as to whether the West would accept such an unconventional title.
[36] The remake also changes level-up bonuses from a random system to a defined growth table for each character type.
[36] Other new additions are the ability to chain more than one encounter for a boost in experience and items, and the new "Thread of Fate" mechanic which allows for combining two or more party members' attacks.
[44] During its first two weeks on sale, the DS remake entered the top ten best-selling games, and sold 124,000 units.
[52] Following the release of Final Fantasy Legend II, Nintendo asked Square to produce a new SaGa game for their in-development Super Famicom.
[3][15][53] Due to continued demand for a new entry on the Game Boy, Square's newly-established Osaka studio produced Final Fantasy Legend III in parallel, releasing it in Japan in 1991 and in North America in 1993.