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!)

Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy V is a game I've already completed multiple times, on multiple platforms. How does it hold up on replay?

Title	Final Fantasy V
Year	1992
System	SNES
Developer	Square
Publisher	Square

The defining feature of this game is its job system. In addition to standard character levels, characters also gain experience towards the current job they have equipped, unlocking new abilities. Characters can equip abilities they have learned from other jobs which allows for some interesting combinations. I really enjoy this feature because leveling the jobs feels a lot less tedious than typical character leveling. I never explicitly grinded, but there were many times that I did a few extra battles because I was close to another job level. I also liked that there were no extra party members to rotate through and keep leveled.

Personally, I like the story of this game, although it can be a little campy at times. I think it's the best version of the original Final Fantasy trope about fire, water, wind, and earth crystals. Sure, Exdeath is a little cartoony, but he's a good antagonist. Gilgamesh is goofy but in an endearing way. Both of these characters also have awesome themes, and Battl on the Big Bridge in particular is one of my favorite themes from any video game.

This is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, so it's hard for me to find complaints. I suppose the soundtrack as a whole is less memorable than other games in the series, but it still has some really good songs.

Obviously, I enjoyed this game. I think it's frequently overlooked and deserves more attention!

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. This is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, so it's going right to the top!

Final Fantasy IV

Final Fantasy IV is a very popular game, but I've never completed it. I started to play it once a long time ago, but for some reason I abandoned it before getting very far. Now that I'm playing through the entire series, it's time for me to finally play this one all the way through.

Title	Final Fantasy IV (US Final Fantasy II )
Year	1991
System	SNES
Developer	Square
Publisher	Square

Final Fantasy IV is a simple game. Party changes are forced at certain points in the story and, as far as I can tell, characters have fixed stat growth and learn abilities at fixed levels. When I was younger, I would have found this boring, but as an adult I find it relaxing to just play the game without worrying about that. "Freedom from choice", if you will.

The story is undoubtedly the highlight of the game. This is the first game that really feels like a proper "Final Fantasy". The party has many memorable characters with their own backstories. I was saddened by the many apparent sacrifices made by various party members during the game. Although, I was actually disappointed when most of them were suddenly revealed to still alive at the end because I felt it kind of lowered the stakes. Despite the short length of the game, the plot still has quite a few twists and I was pleasantly surprised while playing. Well, except for that repeated mind control twist which I found rather silly (fool me once...).

I guess my biggest problem with this game is the ATB (Active Time Battle) implementation. While the series would become well-known for this mechanic, this is the first game to use it and it shows. There's no visible ATB bar yet, so it's unclear which characters will act next and when. Worse, spells have a casting delay which makes powerful but slow spells somewhat impratical to use. However, this is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for complaints.

Ultimately, I think Final Fantasy IV makes for a great "beginner's RPG" — it has an memorable cast of characters, but it is short in length and has simple mechanics. While there is little replay value here, I've heard that this translation is poor (despite being done in-house by Square), so I may eventually play one of the many ports/remakes.

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. It's a tough decision for me between this game and Final Fantasy III, but I'll choose plot over gameplay and put this game on top!

Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy III is a game I've beaten before. I'm not talking about the DS remake either — I've beaten this specific version before. So how does it hold up on replay?

Title	Final Fantasy III
Year	1990
System	NES
Developer	Square
Publisher	Square

In my opinion, this game feels like the real sequel to the original game. The classic job system is back, but now you can change jobs freely throughout the game. In fact, several dungeons in the game will essentially force you to use certain jobs to advance. Although this can feel frustrating at first, it does encourage you to change jobs more often and try more things than you may have otherwise.

Like the first game, the party consists of generic create-a-characters so there is no personal drama or character growth. However, this time the game world is much more interesting and filled with some memorable NPCs. Overall, I think this game provides a great sense of adventure. It's a big shock when you leave the floating continent for the first time, and it's fun to go exploring again whenever the party receives a new vehicle.

This game also introduced many recurring Final Fantasy concepts such as summons (all iconic and well-known), stealing (although it's honestly not worth the effort), moogles, dragoons jumping, and airships with town features. This makes the game really feel like a Final Fantasy to me, despite the lack of interesting party members.

The biggest downside to the game is the sudden large difficulty spike in the final quarter of the game starting at the Cave of Darkness. While I was able to complete most of the game without any grinding, I spent a lot of time grinding at the final dungeon which left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

I'll also admit that the story seems to be somehow kind of missing a primary antagonist. There are a couple characters revealed at the end who are apparently responsible for some of the game's events, but with such little interaction and exposure to them, they just feel like "yet another boss". Ironically, there are several minor antagonists along the way that are more memorable.

I have not played many NES RPGs yet so I don't have a lot to compare this to. However, I suspect this is very likely to be the best RPG available for the system. Although the endgame difficulty spike is frustrating, I have enjoyed this game every time I've played it. I would definitely consider playing it again.

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 think this game is superior on all aspects to the original, and the gameplay is more fun than the second game, so Final Fantasy III is going straight to the top of my list!

Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy II is an infamous game due to its experimental mechanics and extreme differences from the first game. It is frequently described as the "worst Final Fantasy game". I had avoided this game for years because of its reputation, but was it really as bad as everyone claims?

Title	Final Fantasy II
Year	1988
System	NES
Developer	Square
Publisher	Square

It's immediately clear from the opening sequence that this game is much more plot-focused than the original. The story was interesting enough to keep my attention, but it's not as complex as later games. Notably, the three main party members have very little characterization or personality which was a disappointment. They could have easily been nameless create-a-characters like the previous game. I also found the story to be a little nonsensical near the end when Leon suddenly joins the party after being a major antagonist for most of the game. Perhaps that part was not translated well.

While the plot is decent, it's the gameplay that makes this game controversial. Instead of traditional character levels, Final Fantasy II has a stat/ability training system. Essentially, a character increases their stats by "using" them. While this sounds fine in concept, there are some serious pitfalls in the implementation.

The most serious issue is that evasion is trained solely by equipping a shield. In the endgame, there are monsters that will inflict either instant death or petrify on attack. The only defense against this is dodging, which requires high evasion. If you've been dual-wielding, using bows, or didn't equip your mage for the first 12-15 hours, then the game will suddenly become almost impossible.

However, you must also be very careful not to raise your HP too high. In the endgame, some monsters can absorb a percentage of your character's HP. If this is higher than the damage that you can deal, then things will again suddenly be very difficult. Humorously, you can cheese some of the final bosses by using the exact same strategy against them! Don't discard the Blood Sword!

Finally, magic is a tedious in this game for a few reasons. Each spell has its own skill level, which means you'll probably stick to the first 2-5 spells you acquire. Training MP is also difficult, because you need to expend a certain amount of MP per battle to even have a chance at gaining MP. However, the worst thing is the hidden magic penalty mechanic that is never mentioned in-game. Every piece of equipment has a secret magic penalty value that reduces the effectiveness of your magic when equipped. I assume this is for balanace reasons — generally, the strong "fighter" equipment has high magic penalty. I don't have an issue with this mechanic per se, but you will likely have no idea why your magic is so pitiful unless you are using a guide.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the game more than I expected to. I did enjoy the plot, but the gameplay has serious problems that likely will prevent me from ever playing this again. Perhaps the many remakes/remasters address some of these issues?

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've only played two games so far, but I already have an opinion that's probably unpopular — I enjoyed this game more than the original!