This is the first JRPG or RPG I ever played. It was the 90's I was in 4th grade and my friends older brother was playing it with a friend. In the end we all played it for hours together trying to work out what to do with nothing but some hints from Nintendo Power. I personally played through the game years later and the story is excellent. They somehow manage to make you care about a large cast of characters, something few games accomplish as well. This game is no less worth playing today than when it came out. The one negative I can think of is that accomplishing some tasks in the game require a long grind. It can now be easily obtained on Steam as part of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters. If you want you can probably still find an SNES copy but it will cost a bit and may or may not save reliably if you don't change the battery.

Pros: The game starts with a perfectly moody opener with a credits crawl over a dark snowy horizon, setting the tone for the epic adventure that awaits. Big story, big characters (Kefka really is a presence), amazing moments (that train fight, heh, or that opera number, so good, right?) with incredible music by Nobuo Uematsu, and some solid RPG gameplay with cool effects (I love the mode7 overworld riding Chocobos or in the air ship, it's just so cool!). This is a classic, and I like to think this game is to Final Fantasy VII what Link to the Past is to Ocarina of Time, as with both examples, I enjoyed the latter much more, but so much of them is owed to these SNES originators.

Cons: I didn't connect to these characters as much as I did to future FF games, but they're still pretty good. Also, in general, I don't like RPG gameplay, it's just a me thing, not really a fault of the game. I'm just not really into random encounters, grinding experience, leveling up by battling, etc. Not how I typically enjoy my gaming. But it is what it is, and plenty RPG games contain other elements that I love anyhow.

What it means to me: Didn't play this one until after I played Final Fantasy VII and IX, so I always had those to compare this to (thus that LttP to OoT comparison above) It was fun seeing where some of the things I loved from VII were rooted in VI (oh right, this title says III, that was a whole confusing thing for us Americans for a while... ugh). But when my brother and I really got into playing this game, it sucked us in just like VII and IX did with us beforehand, and yeah, it's pretty damn good!

I always loved the scale of Final Fantasy. I love how each of their distinct worlds come with their own culture, history, and side stories. I think in Final Fantasy VI what makes it really special is how the culture, history, and side stories are the real meat of the game. The main quest of VI is not itself that interesting its a fairly average resistance vs evil empire story that turns into a resistance against crazy nihilist story halfway through. What really captivated me aboout this game was its characters and their own personal journeys. See despite what Final Fantasy as a franchise will lead you to believe FFVI has no real "main character". yes Terra is a very important central character but she is not the main character. Instead FFVI has several characters all of equal importance go through their own personal journey and thats why I think FFVI is really special in its own way.

Uno de los mejores juegos que he tenido delante jamás. Cosas como su banda sonora (tener la ocasión y el privilegio de escuchar una pieza sinfónica de casi 20 minutos compuesta con las limitaciones de los cartuchos de la época es algo que prácticamente no se ha vuelto a repetir), sus carismáticos personajes (tiene varios de los protagonistas más icónicos y relevantes de la historia) o su absurdamente espectacular combate final (creo que el mejor al que me he enfrentado nunca) hacen que no me arrepienta ni un poquito de haber empezado esta franquicia por este pedazo de obra maestra.

El arte conceptual, los sprites y en general la estética tan oscura y apropiada para la SNES (versión original y la que he jugado) que tiene hacen que esté más que justificado que esté en los tops de todos los tiempos de tantas y tantas personas. Es de esos en los que te sientes triste al terminarlo porque sabes que es una experiencia que ya nunca en la vida podrás repetir y sentir por primera vez. 10/10

Top tier track: Dancing Mad

Wait, is this a horror series now?

FFIII has incredible graphics, but I recall much less of the game than I do for FFII or FFI. That might be because it is substantially weirder and moves the series out of straight fantasy and into the weird techno-fantasy world that most of modern day Final Fantasy fans know. The battle mechanics changed a bit with a new variant of the "Active Battle" system and, as mentioned, the graphics were at the peak of late-era 16 bit JRPG's, but there's just not the level of nostalgia for this one for me as there is with FFII and FFI.

Chocobos, though. I guess that's worth it!

Review from thedonproject.com

Eh, its really not that special, and is blown out of the water by its successors. I think the main reason its regarded as the goat by so many is because it was a game that came out in 1994 that had things in it like suicide, depression, grief, romance, etc. Not to mention that the story telling was extremely ambitious and grand in scale for a game at this time. I think the problem I had with this game is that final fantasy games are usually driven by presentation, and apart from a few areas every place in the world looks exactly the same, as opposed to the later games, and even games at the time like chrono trigger where every corner of the world was extremely unique. The atb system is still fun, but is still done better by games like chrono trigger due to its integration with the overworld. Its still a good game, with good gameplay, good story and good characters, it just isnt amazing

This is my favorite Final Fantasy.
The story of Terra and the Espers and the Secret Origin of that goddamn Kefka laugh.
This game hits all the feels. Unapologetically.
Interesting skills, Magic, weird characters, dumbass emperors without a clue.
It’s all here.
Also, if you haven’t, you should try the FF VI randomizer called Worlds Collide. Absolutely brilliant.

A pretty clear step up from the previous Final Fantasies in terms of gameplay pacing and storytelling (both in terms of a well-rounded cast of characters that almost all have arcs throughout the story and an emotional core that was, for the most part, absent in the other games.) Final Fantasy VI (III in the West) is a story that was no doubt a revelation in the days when game stories were essentially just getting from point A to point B, and yet it still carries a lot of weight in today's video game climate with some surprisingly mature and nuanced subject matter (suicide, the end of the world, guilt and grief, etc.) It's the first time in my marathon that I have truly loved a Final Fantasy game, and I hope it continues!

I’d strongly recommend Final Fantasy III to those who can play through any JRPG regardless of some repetitive elements. Of course, if you like the JRPG genre you’ve probably played this game already. If you’re on the fence about it, watching a playthrough might actually be the most enjoyable route. It’s a game I’m glad I experienced even though playing through it wasn’t the most entertaining time.

From a story perspective, Final Fantasy III is a wonderful at creating a unique world and balancing a huge cast of characters. Celes and Cyan in particularly became immediate favorites and any plots involving them directly were highlights of the game for me. As an antagonist, Kefka is one of the best in video games as a whole, posing a consistent threat throughout. On top of it all, every event in the game is elevated by the beautiful soundtrack. I’ve probably spent just as much time listening to the music outside of the game as during my actual playthrough.

The big factor that really held back this game for me though was much of the moment-to-moment gameplay. Final Fantasy III has a very prevalent encounter rate, to the point that I felt discouraged from exploring much of the world. One benefit from this is that additional grinding is never necessary with how many battles you’ll come across from just traveling to your main destinations. If the battle system was a bit more engaging I wouldn’t have any issue with how much of the gameplay it takes up. However, Sabin’s Blitz ability was the only one in the party that made it feel particularly satisfying to pull off attacks.

Even though games like Earthbound and Undertale are some of my all-time favorites, I wouldn’t typically consider myself an RPG fan. Final Fantasy III is one of the prime cases of why I appreciate the genre but don’t play too much from it.

Part of the Glitchwave Top 100 Project (#41/100)