RPG Diary

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI was one of the first RPGs that I ever played as a child and I have very fond memories of it. I've actually been a little afraid to replay this one because I was worried that I may not like it as much I remember. So does it still hold up 20+ years later?

Title	Final Fantasy VI (US Final Fantasy III )
Year	1994
System	SNES
Developer	Square
Publisher	Square

Final Fantasy VI's most distinctive feature is its large cast of characters. Up to 14 characters can join the party, and unlike previous games, they all join permanently. This may seem excessive with a party size of only 4, but the game leverages the large number of characters by splitting the cast into simultaneous stories and multi-party dungeons. The downside to such a large cast is that several of the party members feel a bit like throw-ins as they have much less plot relevance.

The plot in this game is fantastic. For the first time, the series moves away from the high fantasy setting and the 4 elemental crystals trope into a kind of steampunk setting with a more depressing atmosphere. One of the main antagonists, Kefka, is possibly my favorite character in the entire series. Compared to previous antagonists, he is quirky and filled with character (although this is partially due to liberties in the translation). In particular, I really like how his character changes throughout the game from a goofy comic relief to a more serious threat that eventually destroys the world.

The plot twist halfway through totally caught me off guard during my first play through. Unfortunately, the main plotline abruptly just kind of ends there in the World of Ruin as the game becomes a non-linear scavenger hunt for the rest of your party members. Thematically, this is a very interesting concept, but I just did not enjoy it as much as the World of Balance.

Despite all my praise about the plot, the game does have some gameplay balance issues. Physical attacks are generally useless the entire game, so most of the party should be in the back row at all times, which feels weird. Each character has a unique battle ability and these are not well-balanced — some characters have very strong abilities while other characters have nearly useless abilities. However, by the endgame abilities no longer matter because magic is overwhelmingly more powerful than anything else. This kind of reduces party choices to just "Who has the highest Mag.Pwr?".

Finally, the game can be a little tedious for min-maxing or completionists. I realize that's a self-inflicted pain by choosing to play the game that way, but that's how I typically play these games. Min-maxing stat gains (typically Mag.Pwr given how OP it is) requries constantly juggling a small number of Espers between party members. Grinding rages on the Veldt is extremely boring and subject to the whims of the RNG. Finally, some of the best equipment in the game is only available at the colosseum, where you are forced to watch the AI fail miserably at battling with your party. Between re-rolling encounters at the Veldt and losing bets at the colosseum, I spent a lot of time reloading saves in the second half of the game which is not fun. I eventually gave up on completing the rage list since most of them are useless anyway.

After all those critiques, it may seem like I did not enjoy this game. However, this game has one of the most memorable plots in any game I've ever played, and I still enjoyed it greatly on replay. I highly recommend this game, although you probably shouldn't try to min-max or 100% complete it like I did.

After completing a game, I add it to my overall enjoyment ranking which orders the games I've completed from those I most enjoyed to those I least enjoyed. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as Final Fantasy V, so I'll drop it in at #2. (Finally, something gets added somewhere other than #1!)