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Why does Final Fantasy VI get so much love?

The_Technomancer said:
Really? I found Kefka's simplicity very attractive. I've gotten so tired of horribly overwrought villains with complex ideologies and tormented backstories and possibilities of redemption who transform into giant techno-angel things for the final battle alone. Having a main villain who was just sadistically insane, who knows exactly what he wants, and who actually gets it was awesome.
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It's not about him not being overly complex or anything; I liked Ex-Death over him and he's pretty much barebones as far as FF villains go when it comes to backstories. I didn't really find the fact that he was basically insane for no reason really interesting. Then again, I feel like that characters like him work best when they're messing with the party directly, which was basically lacking during the WoR for obvious reasons.
 
IchigoSharingan said:
FFVI is the reason I can't enjoy other Final Fantasies much anymore.

*plays FF6*

*plays FF13 and asks himself 'what is this garbage?'*
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FFVII's ending was a real letdown for me since FFVI had such an amazing one.
 
I thought it was melodramatic shite along with FFIV. But then again I was playing Ultima VII and Diablo back in the 90s and JRPGs seemed primitive to me :s

FFV was the one that got me to love job systems in JRPGs.
 
perfectnight said:
I thought it was melodramatic shite along with FFIV. But then again I was playing Ultima VII and Diablo back in the 90s and JRPGs seemed primitive to me :s

FFV was the one that got me to love job systems in JRPGs.
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I know what you mean. Diablo 1's story is so deep.
 
TaintedEden said:
Okay I'll take a shot at this...

The music is absolutely incredible, some of the best in a video game.

Memorable characters and villains.

DAT INTRO:
Final_Fantasy_VI_Intro.jpg


Memorable set pieces and locations.
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This.
cements my love for SNES.
SNES > Genesis.

ya FF6 got the right mix of cinematic and roleplaying elements for jrpg. subsequent FF went downhill by making less game, more like an anime run.
 
Davidion said:
What makes it all click is how it's all weaved together and framed within the overwhelming theme of the struggle to put back together something broken. It's elegant, simple, and so subtle that you'll seldomly hear people describing it as such, yet it's undeniable.
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Yep. I do think that games should be classified by gameplay genre and not "comedy," "action," "horror," whatever. However, that shouldn't prevent people from framing the World Of Ruin as this rather than "an open world."

It really isn't. With the exception of 2 characters, you wrap up storylines the same way as any Eastern role-playing game. There aren't a complex series of mechanisms like Western graphic adventure/role-playing games to unlock certain gameplay paths or characters. You just reassemble what used to be through linear town-dungeon-boss-"other" sequences. They're just optional and not ordered.

It's theme-driven, not gameplay-driven.

Fantasy Final said:
Worst final boss ever
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Psi said:
"We have several villains who would make epic final bosses but...here's this random blue guy instead! Enjoy!"
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RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHNONONONOWRONG

On-topic, though.
 
As a kid I loved it. When I went back to replay it as an adult on the GBA I just found it passable, but a bit of a slog at points.

On the negative side the battle system is on the low scale of a Final Fantasy for me. It was hard to customize characters the way that I wanted to with the Esper system and battles in a specific section grew quite repetitive. This was by far the big downer when replaying it.

One the plus side the world (both versions) was just plain packed with cool stuff. Lots of cute little plot points and hidden secrets all over the place. It's just a really dense game world in a way that modern games are not. The cost of modern assets leads to games that are either extremely focused and narrow, or big and procedurally generated and empty feeling. FFVI has a world that feels handcrafted and when you see a funny shaped forest, mountain or town, go ahead and land your airship and poke around, you'll probably find something cool.
 
GhaleonQ said:
Characters: Final Fantasy VI is not a Japanese kids animated show. It has no obligation to have 1 brash leader, 1 goofy joker, 1 uptight disciplinarian, and 1 peaceful caretaker. Ensemble casts and austere characters are well-established forms that don't really need justification.

Encounter rate: ?

World Of Ruin: You should have at least checked to see if it's a fetch quest. It isn't. It's also incredibly innovative.

You basically dislike most of what makes the game interesting. It's fine to like really good traditional stuff (Chrono Trigger), but it's not like Final Fantasy VI is some avant garde half-successful experiment. It just innovates extraordinarily well. Everyone should be able to handle that level of creativity, so I'd say it's bad that you gave up without trying it. You ought to try it again, because it's not so obtuse to prevent anyone from "getting it."
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I don't know where you pulled some of those opinions from, but I can assure you I'm not trying to compare FFVI to any other games that I might've liked. There are no deeper meanings to my views on the game; I'm just not a fan. Apologies if I somehow offended you, as that was not my intention. >_>

Dark Schala said:
Oh Beef, you just opened a can of worms. :lol
Aw, it's alright if you don't like it. You're still cool with me.

-The spritework as well--wasn't this the first time Square used one expressive sprite for both battle and field?

-YOU CAN SUPLEX A TRAIN.
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I forgot about the sprites entirely. Some really good artwork on the battlefields, I must admit.

As for the train? I'm embarassed to admit it, but...
I actually had no idea you could suplex the train since I figured it was a FUCKING TRAIN.

LevityNYC said:
Find the Moogle Charm in the WOR and you'll have no issues with the encounter rate.
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Why is something like that not to be found near the beginning of the game?

perfectnight said:
FFV was the one that got me to love job systems in JRPGs.
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FFTactics was the one that did it for me. So much so, in fact, that I'm really looking forward to (eventually) playing FFV.
 
Thinking about it more, I think my disdain for Kefka has more to do with how much I enjoyed WoB/WoR. I didn't really like WoB as much as I did WoR, but WoB is where you see Kefka do things. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here, besides the one part of the game I enjoyed the most was the part where Kefka had the least screentime.

I'm not sure if my dislike of WoB has to do with Kefka or not. Maybe I should replay the game one of these days to get some sort refresher. I don't really feel like it now though... meh.
 
I've only read the OP but I think whats he's missing is FFVI's theme, all of these characters to some degree are outcasts trying to find their place in the world they live. This theme is focused mainly on Terra (Tina) the 1st half and expanded to all of the characters in the world of ruin. I think thats why the ending is so great, its not a storybook with every loose end tied up nicely, instead the characters are left with an idea, a feeling on what to do next with their lives. Not trying to build it up too much here, but I think people identify with the feeling of either not belonging or being left behind. How do you reconcile that? FFVI does a pretty good job of addressing that feeling.
 
FFVI and FFIV are still my favorite of the series with FFXII just behind them.

FFVI just had so much going for it, the art direction is godly, the environments are godly, the entire perfection of the the overall package was just godly. It's probably ridiculous, but I remember being completely amazed that the same character sprites were used for the battles and the on-map graphics, and the Opera scene literally made me hold up my hand at the TV and think, "what the hell is going on here? how is anything this amazing?"

It was so well put together that it has aged great, and I really don't know if they should do a release like FFIV:CC for it rather than just a nice PSP port minus the loading problems of the PS1 releases.

Anyway, I'm actually surprised to see the love for FFIX here. I remember liking it well enough on my first playthrough, but I'm playing it again right now (haven't played it in more than a few years), and I'm really not enjoying it too much.
 
I do really like the game for reasons people have expounded upon already, but man do I wish it would get a FFIV Complete style remake... You either have the crappy translation from the snes version, the ps1's load times, or the GBA's ghastly sound. There were some good points to the rereleases, though, so I'd like to see it all rolled into a definitive version.
 
Really wish the game kept the same style of progression as the World of Balance. The World of Ruin sucks, everyone becomes a faceless zombie besides their one big moment and the storytelling isn't nearly as tight as it was in the WoB.

I also think the game is too easy and find its leveling/ability system to be pretty crappy, especially as something coming off the amazing Job System in FFV and preceding the pretty cool Materia system in FFVII.

That aside, great soundtrack and graphics.
 
Pureauthor said:
FFIX's Memoria is better!
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So, anything to add to the topic's title? Let me refresh your memory:

"Why does Final Fantasy VI get so much love?"

I'm joking, mostly... but your above comment is pretty ridiculous!
 
SO many reasons.
Watching the world get destroyed made my jaw drop fifteen!? years ago. After that everyone became scattered and disillusioned... you never have to even find everyone again.
It was a shade of grey. The world was twisted. You had to kill a demon in your sleep/ the paintings came alive/ there was a cult constantly marching/scary dragons everywhere. You snuck out of a town being taken over by the military, you had to disguise yourself to get past guards.
You can use the characters YOU liked.
Every character had their own abilities.
You were given a character who was badass then couldn't believe they died.
Music is unique and memorable.
TONS of secrets. Secret characters and you could save a character or they'd die.
You can visit a castle from an earlier final fantasy in the sand.


It was just perfect for its time. It's a lot of nostalgia talking in this post, but if I think about games that are like FF6 I can't think of any.
 
final fantasy doesn't have many good games, but VI is one of the few that did everything right. it's uematsu's best FF OST, the characters are fleshed out very well and the scenario was pretty bold for its time. if i could, i'd refine the battle system a bit to create the perfect game.

that's all there is to it. it's a pity square can't create memorable characters these days.
 
Professor Beef said:
I don't know where you pulled some of those opinions from, but I can assure you I'm not trying to compare FFVI to any other games that I might've liked. There are no deeper meanings to my views on the game; I'm just not a fan. Apologies if I somehow offended you, as that was not my intention. >_>
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Hm? I apologize if that message came across that way. I was just being matter-of-fact about it, since those are the things it did differently and you disliked them.

Characters: You said that there were too many characters. That's necessarily a comparison; you're saying there's a norm for how much time a character should have devoted to them and how many there ought to be. I'm saying that there isn't, whether it's good or bad, and that it's, in fact, really good at integrating 1 or 2 storylines per character. Ensemble casts are parts of lots of art. "Likeable" also seems to imply that you like a charismatic, positive central protagonist. Again, that's a comparison.

World Of Ruin: I think that you kind of dismissed me on this. Did you look up what the World Of Ruin is? It's genuinely not a fetch quest (and I like fetch quests, even). On that matter, I think that you were unfair to the game.
 
teiresias said:
FFVI and FFIV are still my favorite of the series with FFXII just behind them.

Anyway, I'm actually surprised to see the love for FFIX here. I remember liking it well enough on my first playthrough, but I'm playing it again right now (haven't played it in more than a few years), and I'm really not enjoying it too much.
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Off-Topic:
I hate (x10) FFIV.

I like FF9, but those loading times sure seemed a lot more tolerable back when I was first playing it. Still love it to death, though.

Chacranajxy said:
I do really like the game for reasons people have expounded upon already, but man do I wish it would get a FFIV Complete style remake... You either have the crappy translation from the snes version, the ps1's load times, or the GBA's ghastly sound. There were some good points to the rereleases, though, so I'd like to see it all rolled into a definitive version.
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I think I heard that someone hacked the GBA version to have the SNES sounds/music.
 
Clocian-IGN said:
i dont understand the love either

ff4, and all the main final fantasys after six are better than it.
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FF4 I will give you as a possible challenger to it, but it falls short. And FF7 too, it is the closest.

But any other FF? You must be smokin something hard.

Or be under the age of 18.
 
I bought this game for $65 from Babbage's on release day. I played it for a week and gave up. I believe I got relatively far in the game, and it was enjoyable to a point, but there were just too many goddamn characters. I didn't like how I would invest time into a character only to have him leave. It felt like characters were swapping in and out all the time and I couldn't get attached. I took the game back and got $50 trade-in value.

I haven't played the game since.

However, I have recently re-acquired a SNES and a bunch of games. Final Fantasy VI has been on my "will try again" list since buying (and never opening) a copy of FF6 Advance for the GBA a few years ago. I plan on giving this game a serious try again, but it will have to wait until I play through Chrono Trigger, which I have yet to ever do.

Also, it is very unfortunate that the SNES version has the evade bug. I forget the details, but I believe it was that all attacks were treated as magical, so physical evade has zero effect in the game. Magic absorb defends against everything. The bug wasn't fixed until the GBA version.
 
Rpgmonkey said:
Really wish the game kept the same style of progression as the World of Balance. The World of Ruin sucks, everyone becomes a faceless zombie besides their one big moment and the storytelling isn't nearly as tight as it was in the WoB.

I also think the game is too easy and find its leveling/ability system to be pretty crappy, especially as something coming off the amazing Job System in FFV and preceding the pretty cool Materia system in FFVII.

That aside, great soundtrack and graphics.
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Ive never been fond of the job system personally, mainly because it requires you to waste hours leveling specific jobs and shit. Id rather just the characters have their set job/skill set and go from there, rather than switching jobs every few hours and re leveling again.
 
By far my fav for many of the reasons already stated. Liked the setting, the characters, the story, and absolutely loved the music. Just a great package.

Also wishing for that remake as it certainly deserves it.
 
LiK said:
http://images.wikia.com/egamia/images/8/82/Kefka.PNG
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If only there was such a thing as antidote... The man with zero personality and character wouldn't have been able to kill an entire kingdom.

OP's right in about Terra. Terra was one of the worst main characters ever. Her relationship with Leo made no sense and I don't get how she managed to develop such an attachment to him after talking to him on a boat.

Always thought it was funny that Kefka in betraying Geshtal and destroying the world resulted in no deaths. He mainly just inconvenienced people a little.
 
As an aside, I started with FF1 when it came out, and I loved FF6, and I loved FF13.


So not everyone dislikes the new direction.

(I did not like X though.)
 
Freshmaker said:
If only there was such a thing as antidote... The man with zero personality and character wouldn't have been able to kill an entire kingdom.

OP's right in about Terra. Terra was one of the worst main characters ever. Her relationship with Leo made no sense and I don't get how she managed to develop such an attachment to him after talking to him on a boat.

Always thought it was funny that Kefka in betraying Geshtal and destroying the world resulted in no deaths. He mainly just inconvenienced people a little.
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1250530813_dancing_storm_troopers.gif
 
I always felt this way about Final Fantasy X. I've always found IV,V,VII,VIII, and XII to be great games. With III,XI,I, and XIII being pretty decent, but X and II are downright unplayable. However X gets a lot of love, and I've never understood it. Regardless, I've never played through VI. I just picked it up on Super Famicom recently and I'll actually be playing through it for the first time this year. I originally had it on PSX but couldn't get into it then...perhaps now on the actual Super Famicom, I'll find it more playable.

Like a recent theory I had about X, that I mentioned on here before. Much like my love of VIII, and V. I think you just had to be there. I think X was just a lot of people's first RPG, or First or Second Final Fantasy game, or they just played it at a time when the story actually meant something to them. To an 18 year old such as myself at the time, all I was seeing was a whiny kid with daddy issues and horrible fashion sense. Whereas VIII struck all the right chords with me at the time (along with VII). However, I've been with the series since the beginning missing out only on VI for some bizarre reason. Maybe I'm just too old and unhip to ever get into X. Maybe you just had to be there at the height of the 16-bit era to really GET VI.
 
Although I like the characters, setting, music, etc, I realized a few years ago that one of the reasons I like it the most is probably because I'm not big on the general JRPG art style and that was the last 16 bit game that let me fill in the visual details with my imagination rather then having it spelled out for me the way Square pictured it. There's a big difference for me between what I picture those characters to be, and what the concept art/videos on the PS1 version look like.
 
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