Game Review: Final Fantasy VI

Many game reviews start with the name of the game that is being reviewed. Final Fantasy VI, however, was released both under that title in Japan and as Final Fantasy III here in North America. Square released them under different titles due to the fact that only two other Final Fantasy games were released in North America at the time. Final Fantasy in 1990 and Final Fantasy IV -titled as Final Fantasy II– in 1991. Both versions of Final Fantasy VI were released in 1994: Japan in April and North America in October. Final Fanatasy VI itself is a masterfully crafted role-playing game that is a feat, not just in gameplay, but in development history.

History

Square was churning out Final Fantasy games like there was no tomorrow in the mid 90s as seen in the dates above. It wasn’t, however, always that way. In 1986, a year before the release of Final Fantasy, Square was struggling hard financially. Developing for the unfruitful Famicom Disk System and a few fallout deals led them into a spiral of downsizing and threat of bankruptcy. Square was approved to develop a role playing game in a last ditch effort. Quite literally, their final fantasy.  

Final Fantasy was a commercial success. And although it was not the first of its genre to be so successful, it was definitely one of the most memorable. Its success allowed Square to continue developing games which led to Final Fantasy VI. The game is so polished despite only having just a year for production. Final Fantasy V released in December of 1992 but Final Fantasy games also released for the two years prior. Square was working on these games nonstop and still producing high-quality products. Even just under three years after the release of Final Fantasy VI came Final Fantasy VII which is debatably the most popular of the series and was the jump to 3D. I’ll come back to production later to talk about the localization but it is time to talk about gameplay.

Gameplay

I played an emulated version of the original SNES version released in North America. There is a mobile version with “updated graphics” but I wanted to play the original North American release, even passing on the fan translations.

Upon loading the game, you are met with a cutscene with exposition text and establishing shots of notable locations. We are told that magic had died out 1000 years ago and humanity has mostly moved on to technology. The Gestahl Empire, however, has been experimenting with and conquering for magic once again. We follow two Empire soldiers and a girl they have mind controlled as they march towards Narshe, a town that holds a magical being known as an Esper. It is in their attack on the city that a tutorial on combat is given.

Combat

Final Fantasy VI uses Active Time Battles which is a slight modification of turn-based combat. Essentially, each combatant has a bar that fills relative to their speed. This system provided a much more active thought process compared to other similar games. You no longer can meticulously plan out each move, you have to think on the fly. You are given the choice to bait out more attacks so that you are wasting less healing or you can blitz an enemy before they have a chance to attack. So many more strategies are opened up through the implementation of time as a mechanic. Strategies that you need to use or else you will be “Annihilated” as the game says.

Progressing and Not Progressing

On the topic of failure, Final Fantasy VI handles it much better than other role-playing games. Save points are quite common and you have access to three save files. Additionally, full heals are available at natural points in progression while also being able to use specific items to fully heal at save points (sleeping bags and tents). 

The progression of the game felt very natural, the beginning quests are simple “point A to point B” but have enough hidden treasures and story to keep the player engaged. While later challenges involved puzzles of balancing items, hp, mp, and mapping that required careful planning. That being said however, there were moments that I needed to save state because of the amount needed to be jumped through before reaching a boss. The story kept me wanting to push through.

Story and Translation

The story is always one of Final Fantasy’s selling points and Final Fantasy VI is no different. The philosophy of “every character is the main character” truly shined throughout the story. Every character was filled with personality and even mocked the stereotypes they were modeled after. The dialogue was serious but knew when to be funny, for the most part.

The english translation for Final Fantasy VI was made in a matter of months and although not much changed mechanically, many things needed to be censored because they were “inappropriate for North American audiences.” This meant that there were pop culture references or lines that just didn’t fit the world. I knew of this coming in so it did not bring me out of the story but it did have me laughing for the wrong reasons. Even though there are “more faithful” fan translations, I highly suggest playing the original North American version -assuming you don’t speak Japanese- for a wonderful experience of gameplay and of the wonders of development.