Final Fantasy VI
- Thread starter Dawnbreaker
- Start date
Nandemoyasan
Standing guard
- AKA
- Johnny
I do apologize for resurrecting a topic this way, but I just want something to do while I’m doing something else that’s quite tedious.
FF6 has all the scope, sweep, and epicness of the later entries, but with none of the bloat and excessiveness (both hardware/software-related and plot-related) which the series has seemed unwilling to retreat from, especially after FF8 came out.
I find it intriguing that I continue to hear/read things like “favorite FF”, “Greatest FF mainline series entry”, “Best game of all time” about 6, nearly 30 years after its rather modest initial sales run (it was no Street Fighter…wasn’t even as good a seller as FF5, iirc). That kind of speaks to how exactly it manages to hit that “sweet spot” of just being a really good goshdang JRPG, without being “too big for its britches,” as it were.
Consider; it has an intro that only lasts maybe 2 and 1/2 mins (1 1/2 if you skip the credits sequence). After that, you’re in control of the game, you’re playing. It also doesn’t force long, drawn-out tutorials down your gullet; it presumes that you’ve played a FF game before, or at least a Zelda game.
It also then goes on to keep that pacing going all the way from Narshe until Zozo; when it finally does force you to stop for an exposition break, it *feels* like a break, rather than feeling like a chore (I’m looking at you, Kalm Flashback).
It then rewards that break, with a lovely and technically novel (for 1994) sequence that I suppose we’ve all come to know about (being that the Dream Oath Opera is the one thing that’s said about FF6 in just about every retrospective vid on YouTube).
From there, it puts you into a traditional “visit new towns, collect info, storm the dungeon” gameplay loop that JRPGs are known for, which avoids feeling perfunctory sheerly on the strength of its aesthetic presentation, and the story buildup that came before it (The Empire). It then rewards that, by allowing you to fly the Airship and freely select your party (masterfullly requiring you to learn that you can do so, in order to continue, that is, Terra must be in the party).
It’s such a well crafted game. You almost can’t *not* love it.
FF6 has all the scope, sweep, and epicness of the later entries, but with none of the bloat and excessiveness (both hardware/software-related and plot-related) which the series has seemed unwilling to retreat from, especially after FF8 came out.
I find it intriguing that I continue to hear/read things like “favorite FF”, “Greatest FF mainline series entry”, “Best game of all time” about 6, nearly 30 years after its rather modest initial sales run (it was no Street Fighter…wasn’t even as good a seller as FF5, iirc). That kind of speaks to how exactly it manages to hit that “sweet spot” of just being a really good goshdang JRPG, without being “too big for its britches,” as it were.
Consider; it has an intro that only lasts maybe 2 and 1/2 mins (1 1/2 if you skip the credits sequence). After that, you’re in control of the game, you’re playing. It also doesn’t force long, drawn-out tutorials down your gullet; it presumes that you’ve played a FF game before, or at least a Zelda game.
It also then goes on to keep that pacing going all the way from Narshe until Zozo; when it finally does force you to stop for an exposition break, it *feels* like a break, rather than feeling like a chore (I’m looking at you, Kalm Flashback).
It then rewards that break, with a lovely and technically novel (for 1994) sequence that I suppose we’ve all come to know about (being that the Dream Oath Opera is the one thing that’s said about FF6 in just about every retrospective vid on YouTube).
From there, it puts you into a traditional “visit new towns, collect info, storm the dungeon” gameplay loop that JRPGs are known for, which avoids feeling perfunctory sheerly on the strength of its aesthetic presentation, and the story buildup that came before it (The Empire). It then rewards that, by allowing you to fly the Airship and freely select your party (masterfullly requiring you to learn that you can do so, in order to continue, that is, Terra must be in the party).
It’s such a well crafted game. You almost can’t *not* love it.
Rhoey
Follow your heart.
- AKA
- Nikki
I'll put it like this: FFVII was the first RPG I was ever exposed to, back in 1999. My first thought, being a platformer player (Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Rayman, Sonic, etc etc), I thought "wtf is this crap?". I had a friend who raved about it, and eventually got me interested. Not because of the game, but because I found Vincent's sort of Castlevania/dark steampunky design cool, and then she told me his backstory, and I was sold (I later also realized that I almost share a birthday with Vincent, which is super cool). And I played FFVII and loved it.
With FFVI, however, I happened to see her play the game just once, and I immediately fell in love. This was over 20 years ago. I knew I had to play it. So, I went out and bought the PSX version with my allowance. That allowance was actually for a class trip, and my dad made me choose between FFVI and the class trip...so I chose FFVI. I regret nothing.
Terra is one of my favorite protagonists. A magical girl who's also half-monster? Sign me up! And Sabin fought a train. He also gave up the throne for his freedom, to become a martial artist monk. I love him. The opera scene is the second scene in any game that made me cry (first one being Aerith's death). The poisoning of Doma was heartbreaking and horrifying. Especially with Kefka laughing about it and proclaiming that the horrified, painful screams of women and children is like music to his ears. That makes him so despicable, on par with Hojo. Not to mention that
If there's another FF I hope gets a remake, please, Square, remake FFVI.
So, umm...go play it.
With FFVI, however, I happened to see her play the game just once, and I immediately fell in love. This was over 20 years ago. I knew I had to play it. So, I went out and bought the PSX version with my allowance. That allowance was actually for a class trip, and my dad made me choose between FFVI and the class trip...so I chose FFVI. I regret nothing.
Terra is one of my favorite protagonists. A magical girl who's also half-monster? Sign me up! And Sabin fought a train. He also gave up the throne for his freedom, to become a martial artist monk. I love him. The opera scene is the second scene in any game that made me cry (first one being Aerith's death). The poisoning of Doma was heartbreaking and horrifying. Especially with Kefka laughing about it and proclaiming that the horrified, painful screams of women and children is like music to his ears. That makes him so despicable, on par with Hojo. Not to mention that
"he actually succeeded in bringing on the apocalypse."
If there's another FF I hope gets a remake, please, Square, remake FFVI.
So, umm...go play it.