if i had played this myself i never wouldve finished it. i just cant hang with final fantasy's design sensibilities, it's like zelda, zero beef, it's just something i've never been able to wrap my head around.

but i didnt play it myself, and so im able to say, wow, i really loved this. in particular, there are some tremendous quiet moments that still to this day feel fresh and innovative. terra's arc is really sweet, that opera sequence is famous for a reason, and while i get the hesitance about the game's story structure being split along the back half, it's such a gutsy move i can't help but appreciate it, and all the small interconnected beats the game gets out of it. i know this will sound like total boss baby tweet shit but i think weirdly the back half of this game had more of what i wanted out of the evangelion rebuilds than the rebuilds themselves lmfao. what can i say rei and terra are cut from the same cloth.

uematsu's mastery over the sufami's sound hardware is fundamental to this game's lasting appeal imo. having recently played dragon quest 4 and actively disliking the music (and only the music), for how dull and static the arrangements and instrumentation felt, ff6's ost feels brimming with humanity and warmth.

what makes this game the truest and most genuine homage to 90s fantasy ovas and pc98 eroge, beyond even how much it nails the art, costuming, music and archetypes of the era, is that it is not only willing, but ecstatic to indulge in the things that make its inspirations offputting to modern art-as-sandblasted-product sensibilities (without ever being cruel). it's one of many aspects that make this title so effusively likeable and it is exactly why its been relegated to the 18-only corners of digital games storefronts and why you'll likely only hear about it from word of mouth. such is life in a culture so tightly wound in its relationship to things like sex! the game is absolutely lovely. couldnt believe how much was packed into this little thing. it just feels so rich and so complete.

but yeah basically the beast is my joker. doing a chippai salute rn