Overall: 6/10:   Final Fantasy 2 is a very unique take on the franchise, and It's a game I'd say you should look into if your interested.

If your new to the series,  I'd avoid this entirely as it really lacks some of the finer elements that made Final Fantasy so good.   Something like Final Fantasy 7 or 6 would be better if your newer to the series.  

Final Fantasy 2 came out for the Japanese Family Computer in 1988,   and got an English translation the English translation got ported over to the Nintendo Entertainment System,  The Gameboy Advance got a port of this game which is called Final Fantasy 1 & 2 Dawn of Souls,  and lastly it got ported over to the PlayStation Portable.
Today I'm looking at the NES version of this game, both the good and the bad.

The Good:
Graphics: 7 out of 10.
The Graphics are a little bit better then Final Fantasy 1, there's more detail to the cities, a bigger map overall, more creatures, and overall more characters then the previous 4 from Final Fantasy 1.  What made Final Fantasy 1 so good is retained here,  each character takes turns battling with unique animations for each weapon you obtain.  

The Game play is actually very unique. It still takes the Turn Based Combat Formula that the Original Final Fantasy 1 had, but instead of Gaining EXP and Gaining Higher Levels; Your Character would grow stronger based on what Abilities You use: So for example if you use a lot of Magic, your Magic Points(MP) Will go up,  and if you use a certain weapon like a Sword or Axe, that character accuracy with that weapon will raise as well.

The Bad:
Replay Value: 5/10.
The Replay Value of the game suffers though because the game is very short,  there's a few dungeons and mostly repetitive fights.   Now I don't mind a repetitive amount of fights,  but it's meaningless here as there's no EXP system like I've stated before.   You'll just be squashing monsters thanks to the Ability Usage System.

The Sound: 5/10
I really like some Final Fantasy 2's soundtrack, it's more of the unique side of Final Fantasy games.  But at the same time,   I have to say it's the most depressing soundtrack out of all the Final Fantasy games.  Listen to the Open world theme or the Town Theme and you'll know what I mean.

I'll say it's better then the Original Final Fantasy 1 though because it has more musical variety, but Final Fantasy 1 had much more cheerful and compelling music in that regard.

The Story: 2/10
I've said it before in another thread but the Empire storyline is a weak point. When You play the game the Villains aren't really that threatening or do much actions to make you take them seriously.    As a matter of fact, I'll go out on a Limb and say Final Fantasy 6 did the whole "Empire" Plot much better.  Yes I get that Final Fantasy 2 is an older game, but they had a chance to redo the plot when they remade this game for the more advanced Handheld Systems.

Can vary:
The Difficulty: 5/10.
The Difficulty this game can vary vastly, it can either be really hard if you choose to be bold and just go straight forward with the story, or you could really easily power level through this game because of the Ability system.  That's not to say the game isn't difficult, I'm just saying the experience may change.

Although I disagree with your assessment of the game - I thought the story was excellent compared to the other FF on the NES, and the soundtrack was excellent - your review was decent. 

However you left out an important part of what made the game so difficult: you basically have to self-mutilate if you are to increase your abilities in any way. Unless the JP version (which is the one you are reviewing) allowed for greater gains through only regular fights, it would take an enormous amount to gain significant hit points or attack.