Final Fantasy VI Review 1

	Final Fantasy VI Review 1 by Rubicant
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	Member Since: Monday 1st January 2001

Scores	Plot	Graphics	Sound	Game Mechanics	Replay Value	Overall Score
	3	5	5	4	3	9.5/10

Note: All scores on a five-point scale, with five being highest, except for the overall score, which is out of ten.

Around the time that Final Fantasy 6 was released, not many people knew what a significant game it was. Gamers in the US had only seen two of the previous five games in the series, the original Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy 4, which was released as Final Fantasy 2 in the States. However, it didn't take the release of all five previous games to realize that Final Fantasy 6 was something special.

At the time of its release, Final Fantasy 6 was gaining notice for its fantastic sound and graphic capabilities, truly pushing the limit of the SNES' hardware. Utilizing Mode 7 graphics and synthesized orchestrated music, it became a head-turner immediately. But, is Final Fantasy 6 THAT good of a game? You bet your bottom it is.

Let's start with the plot. The introductory sequence, in a word, is great. The game starts off in the mountains near the industrial town of Narshe. Three soldiers from the Empire of Vector are on their way to secure a recently uncovered beast known as an Esper. One of the three is a fascinating young woman, born with the ability to use magic, which, in Final Fantasy 6's world, is not a common trait shared by humans like in other RPGs. They depart, opening up a beautiful, almost ambient scene of the three marching towards Narshe in robotic suits known as MagiTek Armor.

From there, the plot is fairly straightforward. Your job is to secure the Esper, but along the way, something happens. Yeah, we don't want to ruin the plot for those of you who've never played this gem, but let's say that there's a change of heart and the Empire becomes your biggest enemy. While that's pretty standard fare for RPGs, Final Fantasy 6 seems to execute it with perfection.

Onto the visuals. The environments in Final Fantasy 6 are truly amazing, pure classics of the 16-bit era. The character sprites all have detailed animations, and the graphics of spells, monsters, and other objects in the game look very polished and detailed. Your eyes will beg for more when playing Final Fantasy 6.

Final Fantasy 6 even creates a good gameplay atmosphere to its storyline. Aside from each character having specific skills, some of which take a few twists and turns to uncover, the magic system will keep the player going into battle time and again to obtain the best spells. The aforementioned Espers are what teach your characters their magic abilities in Final Fantasy 6. After obtaining a new Esper, you can set it to a character, and through battle, can gain points to learn the spells that the Esper offers. Some Espers take a fight or two to obtain, giving even more reason to go exploring Final Fantasy 6's world.

With all that running around, you'd think character development would suffer, right? Wrong. Every single character in the game, even those not in your party, get significant time to show off their personalities and pasts. Well, OK, maybe one or two are left on the backburner, but for the most part, character development in Final Fantasy 6 is superb. You really begin to feel for the characters, as a common trait with most of them is that something saddening has happened to them in their past.

Each scene in the game is accompanied by one of over 60 musical tracks, and all of them are done extremely well. Composed by Final Fantasy legend Nobuo Uematsu, who could expect anything less?

So, what's the final verdict? If you're a fan of the 16-bit era of RPGs, chances are you probably already own Final Fantasy 6 and keep it locked in a safe wired for death. If you don't own it, then you should really go out to your local FuncoLand and pay the $50+ they're still charging for it, or hit up eBay and get it in your grubby paws immediately. Final Fantasy 6 is one game that every RPG fan should have.