My second Final Fantasy, the last time for the second time.
(Played Pixel Remaster, but if you're posting about FFVI you're doing it on the main FFVI page the differences are only relevant at one particular spot)
All in all it's pretty fun and has some solid moments. While it has more party members compared to VII they aren't as fleshed out, but they're endearing enough that outside Shadow they were all fun to be around. The real star of the show is Kefka though, who takes such delight in being an asshole you can't help but enjoy it, and enjoy going against him too. There are few villains that achieve this level of pure being a prick, and Kefka is for sure one of them.
I enjoyed that each character had a unique gimmick on the traditional RPG system, like Sabin's fighting game inputs, Mog's changing the background, Gau becoming enemies...They weren't all perfect (Mog's and Relm's failed far more often than they worked) but it was enough to make getting a new party member exciting to see what their gimmick is.
Honestly the only thing I really didn't like was the occasional spots where I had to stop and grind (one an issue exclusive to Pixel Remaster, right before Number 128, which can effectively be a softlock) and of course the existence of random encounters but given it's a game from before Chrono Trigger and EarthBound it gets a pass. The world's filled with beautiful graphics, and uses Mode 7 niceley. The music, masterful. The story of not saving the world, but rebuilding it, was a nice twist on the common save the world message. It's nice to say the world isn't about what you failed to do, but so long as you can get back up and fight you can build a better future.
(Played Pixel Remaster, but if you're posting about FFVI you're doing it on the main FFVI page the differences are only relevant at one particular spot)
All in all it's pretty fun and has some solid moments. While it has more party members compared to VII they aren't as fleshed out, but they're endearing enough that outside Shadow they were all fun to be around. The real star of the show is Kefka though, who takes such delight in being an asshole you can't help but enjoy it, and enjoy going against him too. There are few villains that achieve this level of pure being a prick, and Kefka is for sure one of them.
I enjoyed that each character had a unique gimmick on the traditional RPG system, like Sabin's fighting game inputs, Mog's changing the background, Gau becoming enemies...They weren't all perfect (Mog's and Relm's failed far more often than they worked) but it was enough to make getting a new party member exciting to see what their gimmick is.
Honestly the only thing I really didn't like was the occasional spots where I had to stop and grind (one an issue exclusive to Pixel Remaster, right before Number 128, which can effectively be a softlock) and of course the existence of random encounters but given it's a game from before Chrono Trigger and EarthBound it gets a pass. The world's filled with beautiful graphics, and uses Mode 7 niceley. The music, masterful. The story of not saving the world, but rebuilding it, was a nice twist on the common save the world message. It's nice to say the world isn't about what you failed to do, but so long as you can get back up and fight you can build a better future.
Reviewed on Sep 20, 2022