Basically an updated version of the SNES Super Mario Kart with improvements from the N64 Mario Kart.

Unfortunately, the handling is pretty awful. The game also suffers from the fact that the courses are still 2d, which means that all courses are flat with no changes to elevation. Because of this, courses are rarely memorable outside of a few exceptions: like Sunset Wilds changing the lighting every lap, Lakeside Park having a volcano that is more active every map, and Rainbow Road with its jump walls.

Since this is a GBA title, there's a single player focus as multiplayer is much more cumbersome to set up compared to console titles. But the only single player options are time trials, single races, and Grand Prix. There's a definite lack of single-player options.

Shelved again. I really want to like this game. For every good design idea, there's also a bad design idea. It's been a while since I've played a game that seems to have open-ended character creation and exploration that railroads the player this hard.

You are going to make a party composition like this, or die. You are going to primarily focus on elemental geomancy as a primary battle strategy, or die. You are going to do these quests and sidequests in this specific order, or die.

The writing can't tell how seriously it wants to take itself. It neither commits to being a grand adventure, nor a farce, and ends up with a weird tonal compromise.

But when you figure out combat, it's pretty great, when you finally know which quests wont kill you at your level, it's great. Especially if you've got someone to play co-op with.

I was prepared to throw 5 stars at this game right around chapter 8. However,t he last 5 hours were so much different and worse that what came before that I need to dock a whole star.

Despite being derided as a walking simulator, the core gameplay loop is actually fantastic. I loved creating routes, optimizing my paths between different bases, and integrating my constructions with the other online players. Planning delivery loops, then executing them by foot or vehicle is one of the coziest gameplay loops that I've encountered in a while. The trickle of new equipment is perfectly spaced out to give the player a sense of "oh! I can now put this on the map here, here and here" to optimize routes.

Walking and driving around wouldn't be as fun if it wasn't for the world design, which is top notch. The creepy, otherworldly aspect is contrasted well with the beautiful, scenic landscape.

The initial lore and mystery of the game is also highly compelling. I want to know how the world got like this; I want to know who the hell all of these people are.

Unfortunately, the last few hours of the game tank the overall quality of the whole experience. By chapter 9, walking and delivering is basically done - the player is in for a few boss fights that aren't terribly challenging, but are terribly time consuming. More of the third-person shooter sections appear: not the game's strong suit. It's a shame the game ends with hours of game play that the game really doesn't handle well.

And then the story. Most of the early story and lore is told in the first few hours. Enough to set the tone and get one excited to delve into the mystery. But, the meat of the game really spaces out the focus on the story. A few cutscenes and arcs here and there, but most of the lore is gained from emails and data logs, and even then, in small chunks.

Then the end game dumps the rest of the story on the player all at once. There are emotional moments that don't land, and scenes that should be tense but are more laughable and confusing as meaningless antagonists threaten the player and the plot seems to twist itself for no real reason. There are plot revelations that are like, "This is true. But actually it was this all along! But actually someone else did this! But actually it was really THIS behind everything, but actually this person is good, but actually this person is bad but no wait they're good!" The characters aren't developed enough to give a shit and it feels like Kojima is just making things up at the end. No emotional stakes. Please get an editor, Kojima.

Despite that - the beginning and middle of the game are incredible and those parts will stick with me for a long, long while.

The evolution of video games is wild. What was once one of the grandest adventures you could have on a console feels like nothing special compared to modern titles. Sure, FF6 remains the finest 2D Final Fantasy game. The sense of exploration for a SNES jRPG is nearly unmatched here, but what does a SNES jRPG have to offer someone born after the SNES' heyday? I can't imagine a 20 year old kid would get much out of FF6... besides the music. The soundtrack here remains timeless with a wonderful orchestral reimagining. Sprite work is also great, both the original and this remaster.

The story is hampered by the dialog limitations of the time, this goes for characters as well. FF6 opts for an ensemble cast, which is great for mixing up party composition over the runtime, but severely impacts the amount of character development each character can receive. Most characters do have a small arc to their backstory, but it feels like one never spends enough time around the main cast as a whole. The plot and backstory are certainly serviceable, but there's really only so much the game can convey. The break into a pseudo-open-world in the second half remains a great design choice. World lore and character backstories are developed more in the second half during a series of vignettes discovered by exploring the world.

The Esper system is a decent jRPG system. It's an interesting way to balance learning magic with levelling up stats. However, I found that Esper stat boosts from level up are fairly low impact. A lot of damage and damage mitigation is based on character level, not stats. Sure, you could really min-max the boosts to make them impactful. An additional 30 STR is going to be noticed. The question remains though, "why?" I was able to beat the game around level 45 with a fairly un-optimized party and still managed to dish out 9999 damage on most of my attack turns.

All in all, I can't help but think about a kid forced to play this asking his dad, "This is what you went apeshit over in the mid 90s?"

Game gets 3 stars from me, plus a half star for the soundtrack, plus a half star adjusted for nostalgia and the game's age. 4/5.