It is the Spring of 1994 and in Japan, a new RPG has hit the shelves—Final Fantasy VI. A few months later in Autumn, the US would get a new game as well. This game was—Final Fantasy III? Another victim of the SNES number debacle, but it was indeed the third U.S. Release. I first played this during the rise of the SNES emulators and I always got stymied at the same point. Every time I got onto the Floating Continent I wouldn’t be strong enough to survive. All three previous attempts to beat the game ended at this same point. I own an in-box copy of Final Fantasy III. Yet, for our needs, we would be booting up the Advance version of this game.
The ancient War of the Magi… When its flames at last receded, only the charred husk of a world remained. Even the power of magic was lost… In the thousand years that followed, iron, gunpowder, and steam engines took the place of magic, and life slowly returned to the barren land… Yet there now stands one who would reawaken the magic of ages past, and use its dread power as a means by which to conquer all the world… Could anyone truly be foolish enough to repeat that mistake?
Final Fantasy VI is often counted as the favorite of the franchise for a lot of people. I’m not surprised. Final Fantasy VI is the ultimate culmination of everything that came before it. We have a massive cast of characters representing many iconic classes of old as well as a few new ones. We have access to a whopping 14 playable characters—technically 17, but no spoilers. Each character has what I will refer to as a Skill. A personal ability unique to them that feel a lot like classes from older games. Many of these can be developed through side-quests or other means. With this many characters, it is shocking to know that customization is still a factor!
For customization, we have many options. Accessories make a return in the form of Relics. Relics are unique items you can equip that provide impressive bonuses. These come in the form of things like using a Jump attack, or Dualcasting. With two slots available, there are loads of combinations. Two of the characters—Terra and Celes—are the only ones to learn magic on their own. Not long into the game, all the other characters gain access to Magicite. Magicite teaches spells, provides level-up bonuses, and even allows summoning. Magicite is where customization can get wild. A huge plus is that it doesn’t need to get wild. Even unoptimized, the game is still playable.
Expectations
I played this one the most recently, so my expectations are a little different. I expected a spike in difficulty during the climax of the first half of the game. I also anticipated a lot of grinding considering I needed a full fighting force in top shape. Spoiler alert: I was right on both fronts.
Objectives
Final Fantasy VI is split into two parts. The first half is somewhat linear. In the second half, we are left to our own devices. Almost an entire world’s worth of side quests to complete. Each character has a side-quest that leads to them rejoining. Some even have a second quest for their ultimate power. Add to that the eight dragons present in the world. As they are defeated an ominous voice declares their seals have been broken. This results in gaining a powerful piece of magicite that can teach some useful spells. The only being somewhat close to being a superboss in the original game is Deathgaze. A random encounter in the skies that is meant to be taken in parts rather than all at once. It guards the iconic Bahamut magicite and is one of the few superbosses I’ve fought so far in this run of games.
The Advance version introduces two more superbosses and two new dungeons. One of these superbosses—Kaiser Dragon—was dummied out of the original release. When the aforementioned dragons are all defeated, the Dragon’s Den is unlocked. Inside, each of the dragons is itching for a rematch, harder than before. Once defeated you get to fight their boss—Kaiser Dragon. Once Kaiser Dragon has met its end, the final superboss appears. Omega Weapon, the single most difficult creature in Final Fantasy VI. Victory over it provides nothing more than bragging rights. The second new dungeon is the Soul Shrine. A gauntlet against every enemy and boss in the game. That makes it a great place to get duplicates of some more unique items. This is only ruined by its availability being limited to post-game. So, like most of these kinds of things, we will be skipping it.
Review
Final Fantasy VI is phenomenal in a multitude of ways. The number of options for how your final party can come together adds replayability. The individual characters are unique and their stories are interesting. You grow to care about almost everyone in your party. Some of my favorite moments are when you have to simultaneously use multiple parties. Something I would have loved more of. But Final Fantasy VI’s biggest asset is ambition. They did try to go all out with this game, but it also seems that ambition is its biggest flaw.
Similar to previous installments, we start the game with all these unique characters. And like before, that individuality slips as the game progresses. The mid-game leaves us focused on the affairs of the world around us. We get a resurgence in the second half of the game as the individual side-quests come along. The problem is that you can skip out on a lot of them and still be fine. Not to mention three characters—Mog, Gogo, and Umaro—have little development. They could be completely removed from the game and nothing would be affected.
The biggest flaw for Final Fantasy VI has to be in its ending. You have this amazingly built-up story, with a dramatic final battle. The curtains close and we have an escape scene with details about the characters. We see their fates for the most part after the battle. It all ends up feeling anti-climactic. We saved the world, but we don’t get to see what that means. We don’t get a single glimpse of the world springing new life. Up to now, every game has ended with us knowing the party was safe, and the world is flourishing. The world of Final Fantasy VI has gone through a lot, and it would have been nice to get more information about it.
Final Thoughts
I love Final Fantasy V, it is 100% my favorite in the series. But with that said, Final Fantasy VI is a phenomenal game. It looks amazing. The story is bigger than everything before this. The soundtrack does not disappoint. Overall, it holds up well even to modern games. Of all the games worthy of a replay, this is one of them. I would happily play it again and who knows, maybe I’ll do some post-game content.
Final (Fantasy) Score: Twenty-Eight Espers out of Thirty-One