Twenty years ago, an RPG called Final Fantasy VI came out in Japan. And it’s all just been downhill for video games since then.
Square’s seminal RPG for the Super Nintendo was filled with issues: buggy skills; weird translations; way too many fights that were way too easy. But somehow, against all odds, the game once called Final Fantasy III struck a chord and resonated with millions of RPG fans. There were just so many memorable moments. Defending the esper on the frozen cliffs of Narshe. Stealing giant robots and escaping from an enemy camp as your party threw down one-liners, Lethal Weapon-style. Suplexing a train. Recruiting a sasquatch. Driving a giant castle across the ocean. Stealing enemy soldiers’ clothes to sneak through a captured town. Falling in love with Terra, and Locke, and Celes, and Edgar, and all the other 16-bit characters who somehow felt more real and compelling than any 3D hero we’ve seen to date.
…The friggin’ Opera House.
Final Fantasy VI was lightning in a bottle, and it’s hard to know if Square will ever capture anything like it again. Happy 20th birthday, FFVI. You’re the best.
Share your best FFVI stories and memories below.
Comments
12 responses to “Happy 20th Birthday, Final Fantasy VI”
once called FF 3… Only by North Americans…
The first 20 hours of this game are fantastic. Then suddenly you have to climb up a tower full of Zombies, and after that, everything unique and interesting about the characters is thrown out in favor of materia-like character customisation. No thanks.
Still for me hands down the best RPG i have ever played, bought it when it first came out from a game shop in Box Hill (paid $250 for it) the game has everything in it, comedy, drama, action an awesome cast of characters a stunning soundtrack and a 24 minute ending.
Final Fantasy III was reviewed by EGM magazine when it came out and it beat Street Fighter II as game of the month and this was at a time when Street Fighter was all the rage.
I’d totally buy this on Android if it wasn’t 17 freaken dollars.
Best damn game ever. One of my main reasons for not giving up on Square… entirely.
Wouldnt honestly mind a 3DS release.
The first game that made me cry from sadness of the story.
I WAS ONLY 8!
but yeah Its my favorite snes game.
its pretty amazing to think a game as old as me can still be played and loved no matter the simplicity.
Still my favourite RPG of all time, although Chrono Cross, Persona 3, Persona 4 and Dragon Age have all given it a run for its money.
Like most people I failed to save Cid the first time through, and anyone who’s played FF6 knows what that means. One of the few times I’ve cried playing a video game. And the moment where the Falcon begins to take flight, the new airship music begins (after hours full of depressing post-apocalyptic tunes) and Celes comments that for the first time in a long time she feels hope again- one of my favourite moments in gaming. (As is the opera sequence. As is the ending- now THERE was a proper ending, 15 minutes of closure- and a half dozen other bits of FF6).
I imported the soundtrack back in 1998 when that was a gigantic pain in the ass to do. That’s how much I loved FF6.
So many memories, so many small details that fleshed out an already memorable story. The world being destroyed and the game was only half-way through, Shadow’s sacrifice, Cyan and Locke’s sidequest stories delving in their pasts, General Leo’s death, Kefka’s one-liners, Edgar’s one-liners, Gau’s anti-climactic meeting with his estranged father… I could keep going for sooo long.
Another thing that stays with me is the sheer amount of secrets and hidden things. You were truly encouraged to go out of your way instead of just following linearly the story-path. Gogo, Umaro, Ultima (or Ragnarok), Mog’s final dance, etc, etc, etc.
i wish i had played it at the time.
i first sat down to play it on an emulator in year 12 some 13 years ago. i was on a final fantasy binge having just played through FF8 and while i loved FF8 as it was my first FF i cant say i was ever as engrossed as i was in FF6.
i played through it again last year on vita and it reminded me how fantastic it is. i never remember it as fondly as i should until i start playing it again then it all comes back to me.
Virtual Console >.>
Amazing game. Here’s FF6 in the Year of Retro Gaming project: