Editing Final Fantasy II (section)

==Development==
During the development of the first installment in the series, [[Square (video game company)|Square]]'s management decided to manufacture 400,000 copies of the game to make a sequel possible,<ref name="developmentFF">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.develop-online.net/news/28960/Sakaguchi-discusses-the-development-of-Final-Fantasy |title=Sakaguchi discusses the development of Final Fantasy |author=Fear, Ed |date=December 13, 2007 |magazine=Develop |publisher=Intent Media |access-date=October 16, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922005246/http://www.develop-online.net/news/28960/Sakaguchi-discusses-the-development-of-Final-Fantasy|archive-date=September 22, 2013}}</ref> then the original Famicom (NES) version successfully shipped 520,000 copies in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gamez.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0912/17/news104.html|title=もっとも売れたのはどれ？ 歴代「Ff」シリーズの出荷本数をまとめてみました|access-date=December 15, 2018|archive-date=December 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214164315/http://gamez.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0912/17/news104.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As there were no concrete ideas for ''Final Fantasy II'' from the start, it was eventually taken in a new direction and included none of the previous game's characters or locations.<ref name="FFII" /><ref name="developmentFF" /> [[Hironobu Sakaguchi]], who had previously served as the main [[video game design|planner]] for ''Final Fantasy'', assumed the role of [[Video game producer|director]] to accommodate for the larger development team.<ref name="famitsusakaguchi">{{cite magazine|title=Interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi |url=http://playstationjapan.tripod.com/Sakaguchi.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717103402/http://playstationjapan.tripod.com/Sakaguchi.html |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |date=June 5, 1998 |magazine=[[Famitsu|Shūkan Famitsu]] |publisher=[[ASCII (company)|ASCII]] |access-date=February 6, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Using the experience gained from the first installment, which focused more on fitting story ideas into their new gameplay system and game world, the developers fully crafted the story of ''Final Fantasy II'' first. The gameplay was then built around the narrative.<ref name="UltimateHistory">{{cite book | title = [[Ultimate History of Video Games]] | first = Steven | last = Kent | authorlink=Steven L. Kent | pages = 541–542 | chapter = The Mainstream and All Its Perils | publisher = [[Three Rivers Press]] | isbn = 0-7615-3643-4 | year = 2001}}</ref> The experience system was designed to be a more realistic advancement system than that of the first game. Several members of the original staff from the first game reprised their jobs for ''Final Fantasy II''. Sakaguchi again created the plot for the title, with the actual scenario written by [[Kenji Terada]].<ref name="famitsusakaguchi" /><ref>{{cite video game |title=Final Fantasy II |developer=[[Square (video game company)|Square]] |publisher=Square Co., Ltd. |platform=[[Nintendo Entertainment System|Family Computer]] |date=December 17, 1988 |scene=staff credits}}</ref> [[Nobuo Uematsu]] composed the music, as he had for the first game, while [[Yoshitaka Amano]] was again the concept artist.<ref name="FFII"/> As with the original, ''Final Fantasy II'' was programmed by [[Nasir Gebelli]].<ref>{{cite web | author = Lau, John | publisher=University of Hawaii | title = The Secret of Nasir | url = http://www2.hawaii.edu/~johnlau/nasir.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070716125605/http://www2.hawaii.edu/~johnlau/nasir.html | archive-date = July 16, 2007 | date = January 22, 2005 | access-date = July 14, 2008}}</ref> Midway through the development of the game, Gebelli was forced to return to [[Sacramento, California]] from Japan due to an expired work visa. The rest of the development staff followed him to Sacramento with necessary materials and equipment and finished production of the game there.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mielke |first=James |author2=Hironobu Sakaguchi  |title=A Day In The Life Of Hironobu Sakaguchi |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly|EGM]] |issue=232 |quote=[...] So for ''Final Fantasy II'' and ''III'', our staff actually brought all the equipment, everything that was necessary to finish those games, to Sacramento, because (Gebelli) couldn't come back to Japan. [...] We finished ''Final Fantasy II'' and ''III'' in Sacramento, California. [''Laughs''] |author2-link=Hironobu Sakaguchi}}</ref> The game was released one day before the one-year anniversary of the first game's release.<ref name="FFII">{{cite web | title=Final Fantasy Retrospective: Part II | url=http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/zz0eu7/gt-retrospectives-final-fantasy-retrospective--part-ii | date= July 23, 2007 | publisher=[[GameTrailers]] | access-date=August 30, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704042042/http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/zz0eu7/gt-retrospectives-final-fantasy-retrospective--part-ii | archive-date=July 4, 2015}}</ref>

In April 1989, the game was novelized by its original scenario writer Kenji Terada under the title ''Final Fantasy II: Muma no Meikyū'' (lit. "The Labyrinth of Nightmares"). It was published in Japan exclusively by [[Kadokawa Shoten]].<ref>{{cite web|title=ファイナルファンタジー2 夢魔の迷宮 |url=http://books.yahoo.co.jp/book_detail/AAD37156/ |work=Yahoo! Japan: Books |access-date=January 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725221106/http://books.yahoo.co.jp/book_detail/AAD37156/ |archive-date=July 25, 2011}}</ref>