I’ll be honest, I’ve never gravitated towards 2D RPGs. My introduction to the genre was with newer titles like Final Fantasy X and Dragon Quest VIII. I’ve always thought that these ancient, decrepit games were too simple to be worth my time. Characters in these older RPGs were one-dimensional, there was usually barely any story to speak of, and combat was the most basic template of what turn-based combat could be. However, there have been a few games that have grabbed me. Although it certainly wasn’t the first 2D game I played, Final Fantasy VI is probably one of the best representatives of the old school out there. For a brief moment before the advent of 3D, this one title stood as a monument for what interactive storytelling could be on the fourth generation consoles.
One Snowy Day In Narshe
Final Fantasy VI takes place in a world without magic. A long time ago, an event called the “War of the Magi” occurred. Humans abused magic in this great war, almost screwing up the entire planet. Since then, magic has faded from the world. Jumping back to current day, you start out the game as Terra, a woman who’s hair color just depends on Square’s mood that day. Terra is a magic-user, which is a huge deal, and she starts out the story being under the control of the Empire, a humanitarian collective who seek to help the world, giving aid to the poor and brin- Nah, they’re the bad guys. You’re sent out to crush a village full of commoners in order to get at an ancient Esper. These Espers are magical creatures that the Empire wants to use for their immense power. After the mission goes a little wonky, Terra escapes the control of the Empire and joins a resistance movement called the Returners. From there, the story goes so much farther and tons more characters and twists are introduced. The plot is pretty thick and the game handles its vast scope pretty well, considering when it came out.
Final Fantasy VI is actually a pretty experimental title when it comes to story. The narrative bounces around between multiple characters, without a clear protagonist. Besides giving nerds online fuel to argue over the main character, this choice is important for story reasons too. It lets all of the cast define their own personalities without being tied to the player’s actions. Without these narrative limitations, the writers didn’t need to worry about whether a character was always acting like the “savior of the world.” There are heroic characters who do terrible things when pushed to their limits and vice versa. There’s some writing here that creates a very somber tone and there are actual themes that the game establishes and reinforces through its characters. The writing here still holds up today and it makes looking back on Cecil’s arc in Final Fantasy IV seem quaint by comparison.
No Bards Allowed
These games are nothing without their characters. And it seems like the story-telling prowess of the developers had a huge growth spurt during the making of this game. Characters in this title are (mostly) complex beings who fit into the overall narrative and theme in a masterful way. But with all of the good Final Fantasy VI brings in, the presentation isn’t perfect. There are some lines that don’t seem like they survived translation very well. The limitations of the SNES also don’t allow as much text as some character moments desperately need. And despite how nuanced the main cast and villain are, the other characters in the game don’t fare as well. Every other character in the world is pretty one-note and boring. A few late-game characters as well as almost all the optional party members have very weak backstories and don’t have any time to develop. As cool as it is to have an actual yeti on your team, it’s not like he has a tragic backstory where he had to choose to forgo saving his yeti wife in order to save his yeti children, who were then taken from him by the Empire, thus fueling his yeti rage. Although, if anyone from Square reads this, then go ahead, that one’s on me.
The world of Final Fantasy VI is more vast than it may appear at first. Even though you only have a handful of places you can visit, most of them have their own distinct identity. You’ll dive beneath the sands in a burrowing castle and stumble your way through a drunken town of thieves. You’ll even slip into the MC Escher-inspired dreamscape world for a spell. Final Fantasy VI never dwells too long in one place. The game does a great job at advancing the story along at a nice pace. And that’s nothing to say of the huge story moments peppered through the narrative. A lot of the set pieces from this game have gone on to be immortalized in the annals of gaming history. When a game not only lets you fight a ghost train but also allows you to pick up and suplex said train, you know you’ve got something worthwhile on your hands.
Watch Out For Dinosaurs
Battling in Final Fantasy VI is pretty standard for the time. An ATB system is used, where you have to watch your characters’ bars fill until you’re allowed to perform an action. Characters all fit into classes and can do special abilities as well. One character can input Street Fighter commands during battle to beat insane amounts of behind. Another can hold and charge his attack for longer in order to do other, more powerful moves. It’s all pretty fucking rad. You’ll find your favorites in this game based on how well you can utilize these special moves. And you remember when I said that this is a world without magic? Aside from a few characters who just always knew it or had it forcefully jammed into them, this is true. At least for the first few hours. Pretty soon though, you’ll be able to attach Espers to your characters. Espers act as the game’s summons but more importantly, they can also teach magic to whoever has them equipped. Teaching teammates specific spells can give even the most useless of party members some purpose. On top of all this, there’s plenty of equipment that can change your attack properties and resource cost. All this comes together to make Final Fantasy VI‘s combat system not overly complicated, but deep enough to be fun the entire game through.
Does it bother you in games when you’re forced to swap party members? When you have to touch that character you decided to throw in a corner and forget about for most of the game? Then oh god, Final Fantasy VI might not be the game for you. There are a handful of moments during the game where you have to separate your cast into squads. These parts are pretty neat, allowing you control over all your groups simultaneously. You can usually pick and choose who’s going to be in what team, but you’re always going to have that one character who is just dead weight and uses up your resources just to stay alive. This all isn’t even mentioning the story moments when you lose party members, which are frequent. There’s nothing so egregious as Edward just deciding to stay in bed back in Final Fantasy IV, but you’re constantly going to have to use the benchwarmers in your party. This may be seen as a good way to keep every member of your party in fighting condition, but it’s still a rough wake-up call when it happens.
A Whole New World
Also not pictured: The ungodly amount of potions I had to use when he was forced in my party later on.
I think one of the main reasons Final Fantasy VI is held in such high regard has to do with how the game is structured. You see, there are two halves to this game. In the first half, you go on a more linear adventure, where the game’s narrative follows a more traditional path. Cutscenes tell you where to go, you meet party members, you watch set pieces, yadda yadda. It’s a good game and the way that these events are connected together is compelling and interesting. But I think most people fell in love with the game during its second half. Here, the structure falls apart in a beautiful way. In so many words, the world gets fucked. Major story events break the world apart and separate you from the cast that you’ve been buddying with for the past fifteen hours. Instead of being rail-roaded from place to place, there are only vague hints you can find regarding where to go. Then you’re left to wander. It’s incredible. The world and characters that you’ve become familiar with are in much different places than the last time you visited them. The tone of the game shifts drastically and you have to build back up out of the dirt to take down the big bad.
Of course, the other reason why this game is lauded as the pinnacle of the franchise probably has to do with the amount of content in the game. These pieces of content are often substantial and tucked away. And most of the time, the game is content to let you pass over them if you’re not paying attention. Coincidentally, most of these secrets rear their heads in the aforementioned second half of the game. Let me give an example:
During my playthrough, I was enjoying the game, though I wasn’t singing its praises or anything. It was a fun, if standard, RPG experience for me. Eventually, I got to the point where I was sure I knew how the rest of the game would play out. Final Fantasy VI promptly shut me up once I got into the second half of the game. While wandering around, I got into a random encounter with a giant desert worm. The worm methodically started eating my party members and I had no defense against the attack. Just as I was resigning myself to starting over from an old save point, I realized that getting eaten somehow transported me to an underground cave. There were a handful of treasures to pick up down there and a whole new freaking party member to recruit. This was the moment when I fell in love with this game. And the game is filled with moments like this at this point. Yet if you felt so inclined, you could end the second half of the game in an hour or so just by bum-rushing the end boss. And the game is more than happy to let you do this. This whole section of the game demonstrates the confidence of a team that would create all this additional content and then not shove it in your face. They didn’t need to because they knew you would want to go out and find it.
The Show Must Go On
The game holds up pretty well graphically as well. Even if you didn’t grow up in the era of sprite-based graphics, you can still appreciate how detailed and emotive these characters can be. The team at Square really stepped up their game from past titles in the series and it all comes down to one thing: shading. This makes the graphics easily readable, even through today’s unattuned eyes. You can now tell depth on character models and environment and it all looks great. Backgrounds are amazing and are lovingly created. Monster and enemy designs are creative and stupidly detailed when it comes to creatures like the Atma Weapon. I’m not going to make the claim and say these are the best sprite-based graphics ever made, but I wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to make that argument. And if you’re not in awe of the spritework on display during the final boss encounter, just know there’s probably no one out there in the world to love you.
Final Fantasy VI’s soundtrack is one of the franchise’s finest. From the breathy synth and sparse piano in the snowy town of Narshe to the staccato stomping and warped melody in the Magitech Facility, almost every track here is incredibly memorable. Each tune suits its location or scenario and does a lot to set the intended tone. And with such a huge soundtrack, it really makes a statement when there aren’t any stinkers in the whole thing. Final Fantasy VI takes risks when it comes to its sounds as well, from its sprawling eighteen-minute final boss theme to the liberal use of vocal melodies. There probably aren’t too many other games from this era that can make you feel things when pixelated opera singers are conducting their performances. But Final Fantasy VI does and that’s damn impressive.
Yeah, But There’s Been, Like, Fifteen Of Them
Final Fantasy VI is, in my estimate, the point where the series started to really be something special. Past entries may have been good games and introduced fun mechanics, but they were just lacking in too many areas to really be great. But with this game, Square really nailed down a winning formula. By combining complex, layered theater with engaging gameplay and content, Final Fantasy VI stands as a really compelling piece of media. And even through a contemporary viewpoint, the game holds up surprisingly well. If the sight of 2D puts you off, I urge you to reconsider. Because while many of those titles may be antiquated, Final Fantasy VI is a fresh experience, even today.
If you want to join Team Celes, you can pick up the game here for SNES. You can also grab it on PS1 or GBA. The main difference between them all is in the translation. It’s advisable to do your own research on which you prefer, but they’re all pretty similar, so you can’t go too wrong. There are also downloadable versions on PSN, Steam, IOS, et cetera, so it’s not like this is a hard game to find. Just get it in your life.