Final Fantasy VI is one of the most pivotal video games ever. Most attribute the rise in cinematic storytelling in videogames to this game's successor, Final Fantasy VII, but the level of balance THIS game achieved between story and video game design is nothing short, of contemporary genius.
Developed as the last hurrah of Final Fantasy's retro era, VI saw its development occur after FIVE previous entries. This meant that, at this point, Squaresoft was pretty much at a level of expertise that few other game studios had at the time. Enix was close with their Dragon Quest series, but in the overall scope of storytelling in video games, Square was peerless.
V may have taken a backseat towards gripping narrative, a downgrade from its predecessor, but that was done purposefully -- a lighthearted, well-designed adventure at its core, V was everything you could possibly expect about Final Fantasy at the time.
But. What of Final Fantasy VI?
Well, for the sake of not mincing words, I must say that Final Fantasy VI is one of the most important video games ever, and one of the greatest video games ever at the same time. My most favorite games, Mass Effect 2, The Witcher 3, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Assassin's Creed IV, Bioshock, Disco Elysium, God of War, KotOR, and yes, EVEN THE LAST OF US owe so much to this game.
Now that's a tall order, right? Well, lemme explain. Prior to FFVI, the gaming industry was typically made up of action-packed 2D platforming romps save for the occasional exploration-heavy Legend of Zelda game. Before VI, the closest thing people had to an AMAZING video game story was FFIV, and Dragon Quest V. And its needless to say that, comparatively, FFVI blows those two games, and literally every other video game before it out of the water. This is THE video game of the 2D graphics era in my opinion.
We owe that accolade to its story. FFVI sports the most gripping narrative in the series' entire catalogue, save for a few personal favorites of mine like FFXIV's various expansions, XVI, and maybe even VII on a good day. But I try to say this in the eyes of a critic, because ultimately, FFVI's story progression, character development, and worldbuilding is the best the entire industry would ever see, up until either TW3 or TLOU. Every single dramatic video game owes its story to this one -- because FFVI offers so, SO many innovations in storytelling at its time that following it, implementing an actually FANTASTIC story into a video game became SO much more common.
This game has been spoiled to hell and back. I will not be divulging details here, because its true -- you have to have a blind eye to truly be mindblown by certain moments of story this video game has. But just know -- these moments that do exist are the best story moments in video game history. And when these moments happen, they occur linearily and in a nice, tight package alongside LEGENDARY characters like Locke (who is now my all-time favorite FF character) that its so obvious that games like TW3 look up to its story design for inspiration.
As for the game itself, FFVI returns to FFIV's static job system, but this time with a little more innovation. It is by no means simplistic, but VI offers a lite-job system mainly through new magical pseudo-skill trees with the Esper system, alongside a relic system that gives hints towards the jobs of old. But mainly, each character has a clearly defined focus, whether it be tools, martial arts, bushido, or just plain magic -- you still get a lot to play with. Sure, thanks to the Esper system, you could make your whole party ultima-casting maniacs, but for what its worth FFVI's game system is about as solid as it could get. I think I honestly still prefer the MEGA-simplicity of FFIV's static job system, but overall the system here is NOT a failure. It complements the story immensely well and does nothing short of offer another satisfying retro FF experience.
But, all things truly must come to an end. If you played this game, you know that by now haha. By the time FFVI released, Squaresoft was through with creating the same game over, and over, and over again. They needed to take FF into a direction that transcended its silly, chibi-esque qualities of the 16 and 8-bit eras. While I appreciated FFVI's art design in-game, it became so increasingly obvious that the limitations of a 2-Dimensional space weighed on its story. No facial animations aside from a few rudimentary ones, impactful character acting and in-game design was a zone of improvement Square was desperately trying to improve with each new entry of this series, whether in some ways or others.
Ultimately, this drive to create an even more massive and sprawling video game adventure would culminate in the form of one of the most legendary video games of all time... Final Fantasy VII.
But, this game's imprint must not be forgotten. While its legacy seems to have been forgotten by Square nowadays, I can so clearly see the impact this game's storytelling had on literally the entire video game industry. Its absolutely legendary. And while it did not feel like I was gaining as FLOORING an experience as The Witcher 3's entire story while playing this game, I have so, so much respect for it nonetheless.
Final Fantasy VI is, arguably, the most important game when it comes to what I personally find in video games. Sprawling worlds, amazing and lovable characters, a gripping plot, and a tearjerking end that all ties together offering one of the best narrative experiences you could ask for in video gaming.
For what this game did for me, and by proxy millions of others, the score must be clear by now. Final Fantasy VI is one of the greatest video games ever made.
100/100
Developed as the last hurrah of Final Fantasy's retro era, VI saw its development occur after FIVE previous entries. This meant that, at this point, Squaresoft was pretty much at a level of expertise that few other game studios had at the time. Enix was close with their Dragon Quest series, but in the overall scope of storytelling in video games, Square was peerless.
V may have taken a backseat towards gripping narrative, a downgrade from its predecessor, but that was done purposefully -- a lighthearted, well-designed adventure at its core, V was everything you could possibly expect about Final Fantasy at the time.
But. What of Final Fantasy VI?
Well, for the sake of not mincing words, I must say that Final Fantasy VI is one of the most important video games ever, and one of the greatest video games ever at the same time. My most favorite games, Mass Effect 2, The Witcher 3, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Assassin's Creed IV, Bioshock, Disco Elysium, God of War, KotOR, and yes, EVEN THE LAST OF US owe so much to this game.
Now that's a tall order, right? Well, lemme explain. Prior to FFVI, the gaming industry was typically made up of action-packed 2D platforming romps save for the occasional exploration-heavy Legend of Zelda game. Before VI, the closest thing people had to an AMAZING video game story was FFIV, and Dragon Quest V. And its needless to say that, comparatively, FFVI blows those two games, and literally every other video game before it out of the water. This is THE video game of the 2D graphics era in my opinion.
We owe that accolade to its story. FFVI sports the most gripping narrative in the series' entire catalogue, save for a few personal favorites of mine like FFXIV's various expansions, XVI, and maybe even VII on a good day. But I try to say this in the eyes of a critic, because ultimately, FFVI's story progression, character development, and worldbuilding is the best the entire industry would ever see, up until either TW3 or TLOU. Every single dramatic video game owes its story to this one -- because FFVI offers so, SO many innovations in storytelling at its time that following it, implementing an actually FANTASTIC story into a video game became SO much more common.
This game has been spoiled to hell and back. I will not be divulging details here, because its true -- you have to have a blind eye to truly be mindblown by certain moments of story this video game has. But just know -- these moments that do exist are the best story moments in video game history. And when these moments happen, they occur linearily and in a nice, tight package alongside LEGENDARY characters like Locke (who is now my all-time favorite FF character) that its so obvious that games like TW3 look up to its story design for inspiration.
As for the game itself, FFVI returns to FFIV's static job system, but this time with a little more innovation. It is by no means simplistic, but VI offers a lite-job system mainly through new magical pseudo-skill trees with the Esper system, alongside a relic system that gives hints towards the jobs of old. But mainly, each character has a clearly defined focus, whether it be tools, martial arts, bushido, or just plain magic -- you still get a lot to play with. Sure, thanks to the Esper system, you could make your whole party ultima-casting maniacs, but for what its worth FFVI's game system is about as solid as it could get. I think I honestly still prefer the MEGA-simplicity of FFIV's static job system, but overall the system here is NOT a failure. It complements the story immensely well and does nothing short of offer another satisfying retro FF experience.
But, all things truly must come to an end. If you played this game, you know that by now haha. By the time FFVI released, Squaresoft was through with creating the same game over, and over, and over again. They needed to take FF into a direction that transcended its silly, chibi-esque qualities of the 16 and 8-bit eras. While I appreciated FFVI's art design in-game, it became so increasingly obvious that the limitations of a 2-Dimensional space weighed on its story. No facial animations aside from a few rudimentary ones, impactful character acting and in-game design was a zone of improvement Square was desperately trying to improve with each new entry of this series, whether in some ways or others.
Ultimately, this drive to create an even more massive and sprawling video game adventure would culminate in the form of one of the most legendary video games of all time... Final Fantasy VII.
But, this game's imprint must not be forgotten. While its legacy seems to have been forgotten by Square nowadays, I can so clearly see the impact this game's storytelling had on literally the entire video game industry. Its absolutely legendary. And while it did not feel like I was gaining as FLOORING an experience as The Witcher 3's entire story while playing this game, I have so, so much respect for it nonetheless.
Final Fantasy VI is, arguably, the most important game when it comes to what I personally find in video games. Sprawling worlds, amazing and lovable characters, a gripping plot, and a tearjerking end that all ties together offering one of the best narrative experiences you could ask for in video gaming.
For what this game did for me, and by proxy millions of others, the score must be clear by now. Final Fantasy VI is one of the greatest video games ever made.
100/100