Final Fantasy 6 (3 US)
Created | Updated Mar 10, 2004
Note: This entry contains slight spoilers of the game.
In 1994, SquareSoft got to work on making the next Final Fantasy game, the sixth installment in the RPG series, on the Super NES (which is called the Super Famicom in Japan)*. SquareSoft has the habit of successfully exceeding their previous results each time they make a Final Fantasy game, and Final Fantasy VI was no exception.
The game is set 1000 years after the War of the Magi, which ended with magic being eradicated from the world. Technology has been rediscovered and employed by the Empire, along with a bizzare combination of something suspiciously like magic and technology called MagiTech.
A girl named Terra is kidnapped by General Kefka for her magic abilities. She is freed by a thief (who prefers the term "treasure hunter") named Locke, and they join the Returners, an underground organization rebelling against the Empire.
The Good
One of the more interesting things about Final Fantasy VI is that there isn't really one "main" character. Each character is so unique and integral to the story that when someone asks who the main character is, you should do the same thing as if someone asked which Final Fantasy game is the best: leave the room.
Terra is the greatly-overused-girl-with-magic-powers-and-emotional-problems, but Square makes it look good. Locke is a "treasure hunter" and adventurer who is trying to get over the death of his lover, Rachel. Edgar is the womanizing king of Figaro; his brother, Sabin, gave up the throne of Figaro for his freedom. Shadow is a bandit who joins the party for money; Cyan, retainer to the throne of Doma, wants revenge against Kefka for poisoning his family. Gau is the child-abandoned-at-birth-to-be-raised-by-wild-animals prevalent in many stories; Celes is a former general who turned against the Empire when she found out about its evils. Setzer is the owner of an airship who joined the party when he thought Celes was a famous opera singer; Strago and his granddaughter Relm lived in a village of magic-users ... until Kefka decided to burn it down.
And no list of heroes would be complete without General Leo, a definite good-guy-fighting-for-the-wrong-side. About halfway through the game, he is killed by Kefka, but the way it is presented drives this home more than simply mentioning it would have.
The Bad
The Emperor was described by one reviewer as "bland and uninteresting." He wants to rule the world, but what RPG emperor doesn't?
General Kefka, however, is absolutely fascinating. While the Emperor is boring because he wants global dominion with a side order of godhood, Kefka would actually use those exact words if it occurred to him. Most RPG villains never appear until the end of the game, when they express their hatred of the hero(ine)(s) and then attack. Kefka, however, is right in the middle of the stage from act 1, scene 2. To use the words of Douglas Adams, his mind is "not merely twisted, but actually sprained." He has hilarious one-liners that most villains would -- ahem, kill for, and makes the player almost sorry when, in the end of the game, he is eventually killed.
Another bad guy who must be mentioned is Ultros, an insane octopus who has a sweet tooth for adventurers and who also has complete and utter insanity. He has even more ridiculous lines than Kefka, and he has to be fought four times! "No, really," he sais at the beginning of the fourth battle, "this is our last battle! Trust me!" And halfway through that battle, he is joined by Chupon, a bizzare monster whose trademark ability is to sneeze everyone out of the fight.
The Ugly
Well, there's probably not going to be a lot that actually fits under this section, because Final Fantasy VI is fantastic. The creators pushed the limits of what the Super NES could do, and rather successfully. The pixellated sprites had animated faces, that could express surprise, anger, laughter, and several other expressions. Final Fantasy VI touched on several themes that most games wouldn't dream of having done: losing loved ones1, suicide, a touch of racial bias, and there's even a 17-year-old girl near the end named Katarin who's pregnant.2All in all, one must not say that this is the best game in the series, because then you'll have to fight people who say that Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 9 are the best.
1As opposed to gaining them, as in a lot of other games, even though how they fell in love, i.e. he rescues her, is a bit suspect.2The creators at Squaresoft made sure they said as little as possible about how this happened (at least in the American version), but the boy involved, Duane, almost broke up with her -- much the way things happen in real life.
