(RPG-ween) [Review] Final Fantasy VI · 7:35pm Oct 31st, 2017
It's about damn time.
To start off, I would like to say several things. First off, I would like to apologise for the two week break. I won't go into specifics and I probably never will, but I can say I'm feeling much better now. Thank you all for being patient and I'll get back to writing more stupid blogs for your enjoyment soon.
Second, I want to give a big thanks to my friend Kirito-Persona who picked up where I left off on RPG-ween and managed to complete it on his own blog. I cannot thank him enough for doing what he did and expecting nothing in return. He is seriously a cool guy and if you haven't already I would highly recommend you follow him. Seriously, there is no sweeter guy than him.
Finally, and here's the big one, nearly two years of waiting for this goddamn review. I am SO sorry about that, you guys, but a big part of my personality is my procrastination. I'm not afraid to admit that procrastination was a big part of many things I've done in the past, though thankfully not everything. I will never be able to get over this issue with me; it's just a part of who I am, but compared to the me of three years ago and the me of today, I'd say I've gotten much better with the whole "following up on his promises" thing. I'll make sure it happens a lot less in the future.
Okay, with all that out of the way, let's finally, FINALLY find out just why I revere Final Fantasy VI so very, very much. And as per usual, spoiler warning to those who haven't played the game yet.
Final Fantasy VI isn't my first game, nor is it really a game that has much sentimental value to me. I bought it on the Wii Shop years ago because I wanted to try it out, no big heart-wrenching story here. However, that's irrelevant; Final Fantasy VI has quickly grown to be my personal favorite game of all time. But why? What makes this super old game good? I mean, it's all about DEM GRAFIKS nowadays, right? Well take a little time for me to explain myself.
You begin your adventure with some backstory, telling you that machines and technology have replaced magic. The very fact the game states this shows that already this will be a very different Final Fantasy game than what you're used to. Gone are the elemental crystals of previous games and in comes something that was never really seen before; a fantasy world of technology, almost steampunk-like. And because I'm a HUGE fan of steampunk, this immediately caught my attention.
Basically the backstory explains how the Gestahlian Empire are dicks and want to rule the world with an iron fist using their "secret weapon". This weapon turns out to be a woman who is able to use magic of the old world and has been brainwashed to serve under the Gestahlian Empire. This woman is named Terra Branford, or Tina if you're playing the Japanese translated version, and she serves as what I consider the main character of the first half of the game.
I want to briefly explain why I say this. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game's developer, has directly stated that there is no definitive main character of Final Fantasy VI as he designed the game so that all, or at least most, characters could be considered the main character to whoever was playing. Since this is me playing, I consider Terra as the main character of the first half of the game seeing that so much focus is put on her and Celes, another magic user met later in the game, as the main character of the second half of the game seeing how the second part picks up where she left off. Now obviously you can have you're own interpretations of who the main character of the game is or even if there is one at all, but this is my playthrough and thus my ideas. I'm just bringing it up because of how flexible your imagination and this game are with assigning who to what role. Very clever.
After a STUNNING opening cinematic with beautiful music to boot, the game is quick to show us some combat. In a brilliant tutorial that lets you tutor yourself, the game shows you the four styles of battles you'll encounter on your journey: regular, back attack, pincer attack and side attack. You'll learn what these all mean in due time, but let's just cover regular attacks. Regular battles are very similar to previous Final Fantasy games: you have your HP, MP, skills, attacks, items and active battle timer which allows for pseudo-real-time combat. Though you won't see it until a little later, each character in the game has their own unique special skill that can change the tide of battles. Edgar has his machines, Sabin has his fighting styles and Terra and Celes can use magic, the list goes on. It's important to understand these skills as some enemies can only be hurt by certain weapons and skills.
Furthermore, since magic can only be used by certain people up until about 1/3rd through the game, no towns will have a magic store. Items, weapons and armor, sure, but magic doesn't exist in this world. As such characters rely on using items known as magicite to learn new magic. This is one of the only grips I have with the game: the method for teaching magic to other characters is bullshit. You must equip a magicite to a character, which thankfully has its own slot, and grind battle after battle to give that character the magic the magicite has. This is easily the worst part of the game and can slow the gameplay to a crawl during the second half of the game, but magicite itself is all optional. Though with the powerful enemies coming up in the story, the game will make you WISH learning new magic was truly optional.
After killing pretty much every guard in the town of Narshe, and defeating a giant electric snail that teaches you the importance of the active battle timer, you and your posse of generic Gestahlian soldiers find what you've been searching for: an esper frozen in ice. Espers are ancient beings with the power to use magic, hence why the Gestahlian Empire wants to harness their power. However, the esper ain't having any of that shit and kills your posse but spares Terra for some reason.
It's here where the greatest hero character in Final Fantasy history ever is introduced, Locke Cole the thief treasure hunter. I'll just sum up the last but of the story's opening so you can experience the game for yourself. After some persuasion, he finds and saves Terra from the remaining Narshe guards and takes her to his friend Edgar Roni Figaro, king of Figaro castle out in the middle of the desert. It's now up to the three to put a stop to the Gestahlian Empire and save the world!
There is so much more to the story than that, and I wish I could go on and on about the story, but I want you to experience the game for yourself. I'll bring some scenes up from the story from time to time, but for now I implore you to see this game for yourself and what kind of twists and turns it will have.
Now that the story is out of the way, let's talk about the characters of this game.
Holy shit.
Never before seen in a Final Fantasy game, the game has fourteen playable characters, most of which are all super compelling. They're part of the reason I love this game so much. Almost each and every one has their own backstory and reasons for doing what they do. Cyan's family was killed and he goes with you to take revenge on the Gestahlian Empire, Edgar and Sabin are brothers who are on good terms but split apart because of their differing ideals, and Locke journeys the world to find a medicine to save his dying girlfriend. They're all good. Hell, even some of the smaller characters like Gau have interesting and equally sad backstories. Save for the extra characters you can find during the end of the game, I always felt like these were real people with real problems. Furthermore, each character has no set class; they can be whatever you want for your team. Obviously some characters are better suited for certain jobs and again each have their own unique skills and equipable items, but every character can learn magic and thus is just flexible enough for you to mold your team into whatever you want.
But let's not even kid ourselves here: we all know who I'm talking about when I say "characters". Absolutely the greatest character in this game and possibly the greatest villain in all of Final Fantasy is Kefka Palazzo.
This man is a lunatic and steals every single scene he's in, whether it'd be for a laugh or for compelling commentary of how just how insane some people can be. But just look at how this man dresses! How can you even take him seriously with that silly outfit on? He's originally thought to be just comic relief until his true intentions are revealed half-way through the game. I won't spoil what he does that makes him the villain for the remainder of the game, but I will say it's a huge revelation that hasn't truly been replicated to this day. People go on and on about who was the better villain, Kefka or Sephiroth, but Kefka will always hold a special place in my heart, no matter how sick and twisted he actually seriously is.
The actual comic relief villain in the game is everyone's favourite octopus, Ultros. He has literally no bearing on the story of game and only exists to give our heroes a headache, but that's not to say his appearances are unwelcome. He's a good distraction from the pain and death the story brings us and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a smile on my face every time he showed up.
I'll attempt to speak about the second part of the game without giving too much away. Basically every character has separated and it's up to the three mandatory second part characters, Celes, Edgar and Setzer, to find their friends and stop Kefka once and for all. But here's the main difference between this game and other RPGs: whereas this would usually be mandatory to find everyone and bring the gang back together, in Final Fantasy VI every other character is optional. You are able to head straight to Kefka's tower with just these three characters in tow and ignore everyone else. Of course this isn't recommended as the tower itself is one of the most brutally difficult dungeons in the game and nothing truly good comes of it with the ending credits, but it is 100% an option to you. That is fantastic game design, allowing you to make the moral choice or not.
Alright, I've talked long enough about gameplay, story and characters, what about the music. Well if anyone here actually has ears they would know that the OST for Final Fantasy VI is stellar. Though admittedly the music can sound a little chipped and blocky at times due to the limitations of the SNES, each track is still great, though clearly some are better than others. The town themes reflect each location perfectly, whether they'd be somber and dark or cheerful and bright. The over world themes, Terra's theme and Searching for Friends, represents each half of the game, with Terra's theme signifying the mysticism of the world you're playing in while Searching for Friends signifying your desperate search for your lost companions. They're both great themes, even if sometimes they can get a little repetitive if you're not careful.
But absolutely the best part about the game are the battle themes. The regular enemy theme is good but nothing spectacular, but it's the boss themes that truly shine. You'll be hearing Decisive Battle a lot through the game due to the ludicrous amount of bosses, but the theme is catchy and so iconic you'll forgive it. Battle to the Death plays twice for an enemy that doesn't really amount to anything superb (it's the ultimate being or whatever) but as the final boss theme for the first half of the game it is certainly sounds powerful and downright awesome. And how can we forget the incredible four tier final boss theme in the form of Dancing Mad? I've already gushed about this song tons so I'll spare you, but it seriously is an amazing theme. Listen to it if you haven't already.
I've been gushing about the game a lot, but is there anything besides the optional magicite I dislike? Well, yeah, actually. As great as this game is, it falls to the dreaded grinding curse as all other Final Fantasy games do. True magicite does this as well, but I'm talking about actual grinding. You see characters only gain experience if they're in the current party. You are only allowed to have 4 party members. Combine that with the fact there are fourteen of them and you have a recipe for long, long hours of getting every character up to the levels you need to progress through the game. And I'd be lying if I said every character is great to play as. It's true that most characters have great backstories and personalities, but even them only some can be properly used without grinding, grinding and even more grinding, and some characters you can't even fully control like the berserkers. Thankfully of the 14 characters you can obtain only 12 are allowed into Kefka's tower as three parties are needed to progress, so not every character has to be levelled up and you can easily leave the two characters you despise playing as behind, but it's still a hassle getting those 12 other characters up to a suitable level to face Kefka at the end of the game.
It's a problem that could have easily been fixed by having several parties out on the field at once. Or something like that, I just thought of that off the top of my head.
But these are just small shortcomings to the game. The story, though sometimes mistranslated and even silly at times, is beautiful and thought-provoking when it wants to be. The side quests and backstories of almost every character is fleshed out and even relatable at times, and don't even get me started on the dark themes the narrative brings up. I won't say what those themes are, but they're things that have never truly been replicated before.
I love this game. I love the music, I love the characters, I love the gameplay and the story, and I even love the graphics for as blocky as they can be sometimes. If you ever have the chance to play this game and if you love RPGs and can forgive its minuscule shortcomings, I highly suggest picking it up and playing it. It is seriously a great game.
Try to act surprised for this. Final Fantasy VI earns...
10/10
Thank you all for reading this, and seriously thank you for waiting for me to finally make this. I'm sorry I had to cut RPG-ween short, and I can't promise this will never happen again, but I can at least try to make next year's RPG-ween something special. Until next time, this is SuperKamek signing off.
Oh, and starting Nov. 2nd I'll be posting more regularly, especially since the official Pokemon twitter announced that more Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon news will be releasing on that day. I'll be sure to make a review of the news for sure!
Congratulations on finally getting this out. Seems a good game, I'll try it if I ever get a chance.
Oh joy, commentary on my second favorite FF of all time.
Not a single thing in here that I can disagree with, but I do of course have a few things to chip in. For starters...
Mah boi, I am all for Kefka the main act, but I do like to give special credit to Emperor Palamecia. He destroyed several towns and cities nearly effortlessly through his army, and when he was finally challenged outright, he died... and it was just fine and dandy for him as he became more powerful than ever because he TOOK OVER HELL(heck, in the later versions it was ONE HALF of him taking over hell while the other took over heaven/Aruboth) just because he was that darn tenacious, came back for another round, and caused even more damage before he got slain for good. His exploits and character lacked Kefka's pizzazz, but damn if his accomplishments go underrated as a whole among villains. Just spreading some love for the villain of THE grindfest that was FFII.
One of the few things about the game I'm a tad left wanting more of was the involvement of Siegfried and other side characters. Ultros' role is marvelous, but having the "Master Thief" make his debut in a certain locomotive, and try to launch a 4-hit attack string only to have it be laughably weak(or even completely useless if you happen to have Shadow's parry and counter work on the first attack) and very low HP and stats despite the cool shady look his battle sprite has, left me... puzzled yet smiling while perplexed, especially after reading his battle dialogue if he launches it successfully. I loved how random yet genuine the encounter was as it still complimented the world as a whole. The story and characters are great, but there's plenty of NPCs with memorable charm or silliness to them to remind you than there's more going on than whatever you're up to; Such as 99% of everyone in Zozo yanking your chain as being par for the course, even the one boss who speaks very politely.
Heh... Searching for Friends sticks with you till the end, but that's after you earn it while hearing You-know-what, which perfectly sets the tone shift of the second act as an overworld theme. Talk about getting a slap to the face with that one... But that's what makes the music in the game worthy of praise. Even when used repeatedly, it finds a way to leave an impact at the right time. Some of Uematsu's best work to say the least, and it shows as many incredible fan works and official performances of it still get made... One thing I will say, FFVI has my favorite variant of the victory theme; Love that Disco feel.
Technical exploit: The characters you meet along the way will have levels varying with Terra's when found, and later Celes' when found one last time(as far as I could tell unless this varied by port). The more you leveled up early, the more they get as there's no particular set cap for them. Not much, but it's a thing... I do agree that Magicite is done in a way that makes the end-game more of a chore than it ought to be though. It's slow in and of itself often, but it may also have to do with something equally useful yet optional attached to most of them, and that's the stat upgrades they offer... once, each, per level till 99... If you're someone with numerical OCD, this will be keeping you very busy and likely frustrated to say the least trying to monitor all sorts of growths(HP and MP at least only needs minimal levels for one to max both for all applicable party members)for whoever you're working on, especially if you're wanting to keep certain numbers even or odd in the long run. Here's another tip: don't bother exchanging Odin for Raiden in the newer versions of the game as only the former and one other boost Speed, while the extremely useful Quick spell can be taught by another as well, leaving Raiden only good as a superior Zantetzuken summon and little else. Also, don't bother trying to max out anyone(except HP and MP) in normal gameplay, the stats cap at 255 each which is only possible with codes, so you're gonna have to make the levels count at your own terms.
Likewise... This is what makes Umaro and Gogo so nice in the end. The Berserker and the Mime, who cannot equip Magicite nor gain AP, but smart party and skill setups can make up for a lack in magic variety, or maybe you just like to have fun gambling with a Yeti. Gogo, by the way, in a no Magicite run, when placed in a party with lv99 Terra and Celes, would be able to use what they BOTH fully learned naturally in combination when given Magic as a command. He will know as many spells as those in his party do(if he's alone, he'll definitely lack all spells). That, and base stats at least allow for solid performance from start to finish... But you'd have to be extra careful to get that far.
Sorry that I'm late, but work and I was to tired too focus on reading.
But what can I still say about my first and one of my favourite RPGs? I played it on at least three different emulators, the Wii VC and even the IOS port. There aren't many games I restarted as often. Sadly I never actually finished it. I got very far in some of my playthroughs (most of World of Ruin). But the grinding and/or emulators dying always kinda prevented it. But yeah I still love this game down to its bits and pixels. I'd even say that the pixel sprites hold up to this day. Though I wouldn't be against a (proper) remake. I actually even hoped Terra would make it into Smash as FF representive.
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It really is, I highly recommend it. Though if you want a more refined experience, play the PS1 port or the GBA port.