i first played final fantasy 6 back on the PS1 when i was like, 6 or 7, something like that. could barely get past Mt Koltz when i was that young, if i got that far. like its younger brother FF7, this game has been with me for my whole life. and with the pixel remaster i have FINALLY finished it. what's really remarkable about FF6 by itself however, is just how ahead of its time it was. you compare this to a lot JRPGs today and it still blows them out of the fucking water. the expressive sprites, the fantastic music, the beautiful enemy and esper sprites, and the great characters. admittedly its characters are a little more simplistic than later games in the series, but when you have a cast of 16 characters i think what is produced is astounding. especially seeing as newer games with half the cast (octopath traveller lol) have even more barebones characters with worse writing. (side note, octopath traveller is the worst jrpg i have ever played.) i still kind of cant believe just how good FF6 really is. the entire world of balance is fantastic, it sprouts a huge and interesting world that feels interconnected and personal. i always loved the way Nikeah and South Figaro have a trading route between their ports, and I love that the towns on the outskirts of Vector have been colonised by the empire. there's a real understanding of the towns are neighbours to each other which only arguably FF4 had before it (and even then not to this degree). the flow of the story is great and its set pieces are brilliant. Sabin's route after the returner hideout is genuinely one of my favourite ever video game experiences, and i think the only thing wrong with it is that its not longer or got more to it lmao. it is a whole mini story by itself which is so impressive, and the phantom train is soooo gooood dude. phantom forest is a beautiful piece of music, and the very experience there is weird and fun and interesting, and totally unlike anything else i've ever seen in a game. the games comedic moments between sabin, cyan, and gau are whimsical and delightful. just think about when you recruit gau and have that whole shindig with him, a game like pokemon could NEVER even BEGIN to dream of that kind of stuff. and this game came out in freaking 1994 dude!!!!
i wont go on about the entire world of balance but, needless to say, it is unabashadely fantastic. (the opera scene in the pixel remaster is also amazing, people have noted they wished the whole game was done in hd2d but to be honest i'm glad it wasnt. we've only got two games right now in that style and i'm already sick of it! plus FF6's art direction is part of its charm; i dont think it necessarily needs changing)
on FF6's game design, i only realised for the first time THIS playthrough that the only way to get stat gains on a level up is to use specific espers on each characters. having come off the ass of FF8 with its weird stat gains i was a bit worried about this, but its simplicity does it favours here, and allows you to grind specific stats in a satisfying and noticable way. have the right espers on and levelling up twice makes you notably stronger. bueno nice or whatever!!!!
FF6 is of course, not a perfect game however! there are pacing issues around the world of ruin time. in particular i think it does start with the world of balance, the way strago and relm join your team and then immediately leave it is a tad disappointing. like most JRPGs the later party member additions never feel like they have the weight the starting lot do, and FF6 suffers from this. the lack of story content in the world of ruin definitely is noticable as well, the difficulty spike and the lack of story hits this game hard but thankfully if you like it enough to get to the world of ruin, you'll probably see it through anyway. unlocking the ultima spell makes the game totally trivial too; it is ludicrously powerful, cant be dodged/reflected, and hits all enemies lmao. busted. next time i play i will be smashing up that esper into a sword instead.
anyway, i love this game. i would probably write more but i have to go to work now. bye!
i wont go on about the entire world of balance but, needless to say, it is unabashadely fantastic. (the opera scene in the pixel remaster is also amazing, people have noted they wished the whole game was done in hd2d but to be honest i'm glad it wasnt. we've only got two games right now in that style and i'm already sick of it! plus FF6's art direction is part of its charm; i dont think it necessarily needs changing)
on FF6's game design, i only realised for the first time THIS playthrough that the only way to get stat gains on a level up is to use specific espers on each characters. having come off the ass of FF8 with its weird stat gains i was a bit worried about this, but its simplicity does it favours here, and allows you to grind specific stats in a satisfying and noticable way. have the right espers on and levelling up twice makes you notably stronger. bueno nice or whatever!!!!
FF6 is of course, not a perfect game however! there are pacing issues around the world of ruin time. in particular i think it does start with the world of balance, the way strago and relm join your team and then immediately leave it is a tad disappointing. like most JRPGs the later party member additions never feel like they have the weight the starting lot do, and FF6 suffers from this. the lack of story content in the world of ruin definitely is noticable as well, the difficulty spike and the lack of story hits this game hard but thankfully if you like it enough to get to the world of ruin, you'll probably see it through anyway. unlocking the ultima spell makes the game totally trivial too; it is ludicrously powerful, cant be dodged/reflected, and hits all enemies lmao. busted. next time i play i will be smashing up that esper into a sword instead.
anyway, i love this game. i would probably write more but i have to go to work now. bye!