Welcome to snes RPGs that's not Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger :P

Didn't you get Xp on the ghost train?  Oh well.  Can't remember how far I got when I was at the end.  I'd have to dig up my GBA copy and see what level my save is.

Kinda off topic but I laughed when I realized it still applies to some companies in 2014 (ex : Bamco, bamco or bamco)

OT you do a good job of making me not want to play this game.

I never understand the logic in reviewing a classic game with present day standards. It was a different time when this game came out. A time when grinding didnt seem like such a terrible thing because your were playing a marvel of technological software.

Maybe it will make people realise how thick their nostalgia glasses have become.

I always liked 1 and 2, although I enjoyed the second one much more. I never fished either but they were pretty good to me at the time. I will agree that i got completely after not playing for less than a few days, objectives are not super clear.

I loved breathe Of Fire II tho it really seems to kick off once you get to Windia tho I do agree it starts of slow but after that point you have a whole cast of characters and it does seem more enjoyable :)

Is the original superior to the sequel in your opinion?

well i can only say i disagree with your review, i love this game and most of the series(Dragon Quarter i hate) and what you seem to hate is what i like, i love the battles in this game.

Tl;dr. The first is the worst in the series imo, but you should play the GBA iterations if you want a better experience. Experience and gold amount per enemy is increased on the GBA versions, where if there's any grinding required, then it's not very much. The SNES versions were plagued by excessive grinding.

*edit*

GBA versions won't make the first one better just reduce the grinding.  The second one on SNES is a great game with balancing issues because of the ridiculous amount of grinding, so the GBA game makes that one much more enjoyable.  The only problem left with it is the music which is filled with short 10 second loops over and over again.

Both Secret of Mana and Secret of Evermore are superior to those games.