[Ginkasa]

Final Fantasy VI is one of my very favorite FFs and one of my favorite games in general, but in some ways my feelings are a little mixed. Let me expand.

The World of Balance is nothing short of a masterpiece. The music, the characters, the tone, the story, the gameplay. All of it just really comes together to create something special. I actually played FFVI pretty late. I played a ROM briefly after I played VII, but it wasn't until it was re-released on the PSX that I played it through. Even playing the ROM, though, it felt really familiar and timeless. I don't know, there's just something about it.

If I were to pick some grievances they would be thus:

1) "Generic" character moments. On those occasions where you can any character with you, so the game chooses to just have generic dialogue that could be given to any character. It might have been system limitation, but I would have liked more character specific dialogue that changed depending on the characters chosen.

2) Some of the character back history moments felt out of place. They were good on their own, they just didn't mesh well with the rest of the story in terms of pacing and placement. They just happen, I guess. It feels odd sometimes.

Those are nitpicks those. Small complaints. Otherwise, the World of Balance is a masterpiece.

The World of Ruin, though, doesn't exactly live up to its name, but isn't quite as good. I enjoy the vignettes each village/character brings and its fun to get some actual non-linearity to an FF game. However, being able to choose who you recruit and bring along means you've got those generic character moments all the time. Once you get past a character's moment to shine you could almost forget their place in the story, you know? Celes starts out as the leader in the WoR, but by the time we get to Kefka's palace I've almost forgotten she was there (as an example).

It also really kills the pacing. I just don't feel the sense of urgency or anything like I did in the WoB. Like I said, the individual moments are good. It was just, by the the time I reach Kefka it feels like just an item on my list. Without a real "Okay let's do this scene" it kind of falls flat. Especially since you can come and go as please, really, with no consequence.

But really, its still a great game. I just think its a little top heavy with pure awesome, if that makes sense.

Another thing I find interesting is the lack of a real definitive "main character." Pretty much every FF game after IV (including III's remake) has one except for this game. Sure, you start with Terra and she's the traditional choice, but you don't really stay focused on her for that long. Soon you're jumping all over the place. Then she's not even accessible for a period of time. You could say Terra's the main character because the story, if not the gameplay, focuses a lot on her, but all bets are off once the WoR hits. Celes fits the role of a main character more there than anyone else. She's there from the beginning and starts to gather everyone up for the assault on Kefka's tower. Sure, she doesn't specifically do anything once you can switch her out, but its possible everyone would have stayed put if Celes had killed herself or just stayed on the island or something. Terra isn't even required to be recruited in the WoR. Her specific role ends with the WoB.

Although, really, most of the characters could be the "main" character if the Square had chosen to focus on them. This is cool, because it really shows how many of them had been fleshed out pretty well.

Anyway, that's really all I have to say on VI.