---

-Basic Info.-

Release Date: October 1994, Remade in 1999

Developer: Square Co. Ltd.

Publisher: Squaresoft Inc.

Number Of Players:..Frighteningly enough, you can have two people play. But, it's a 1-person game mostly.

System: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Remake for Playstation

Genre: RPG

(Here. Work with me people. This is the era before PSX and N64… this is 1994: SNES rules)

"Long ago, the War of the Magi reduced the world to a scorched wasteland, and magic simply ceased to exist. 1000 years have passed... Iron, gunpowder, and steam engines have been rediscovered, and high technology reigns... But there are some who would enslave the world by reviving the dread destructive force known as "magic". Can it be that those in power are on the verge of repeating a senseless and deadly mistake?"

Castles, Dragons, Magic-wielding creatures, love, war, good music, and an Insane Clown of DOOM!!

That is Final Fantasy VI in a nutshell.

Never mind a nutshell. Try a gnat skull. Even smaller, an atom. Yes, That is Final Fantasy VI in an atom.

I cannot even begin to describe such greatness. There are no words to illustrate this game--- ... Okay. I am little biased. So, sue me.

Final Fantasy VI was released in 1994 in America under the title: Final Fantasy III. This game quickly flew off the shelves and went home with greedy children everywhere--- who therefore spent hours of quality time rotting their brains--- and therefore: American Gamers were born! The only game ever to be compared to Final Fantasy VI in gaming history is the amazing Chrono Trigger. But, we will get into that another day.

I remember the first time I played the RPG that would forever change my life: I sat in front of my TV for almost 24 hours straight. I got 46 hours into it when my father wanted to take it back. I bought it four days later.

Oh? you want an actual review? Okay, stories and rants aside: Final Fantasy VI created a world where anything could, and did, happen. The story begins, as so many do, on a dark and stormy night. A *snow*-stormy night. Enter Vicks and Wedge. Two Magitek soldiers sent to the small mining town of Narshe. They were sent to find an Esper, a creature capable of great and powerful magic supposedly extinct, which was frozen in the ice of the mines. Accompanying them is a mysterious woman, known to them only as a Magitek Witch. You, the Magitek Witch, Wedge, and Vicks locate the Esper&emdash;only to be shrouded in blue light. Vicks and Wedge are never heard from again. But you are saved by a local man. Over time you meet many characters on your quest to discover who you really are; like a dashing King and his muscle-bound twin, a wild boy, a gambling rouge, and a talking octopus, and you join a rebellion faction against the Empire known as "The Returners". From here, your goal is to stop the Empire from destroying the world.

Your typical RPG from here on out, right?

Hate to break it to you, but you fail. And you fail miserably.

Your world gets turned upside-down, inside out, and backwards.

Not to mention that Insane Clown of DOOM gets a huge ego trip from succeeding…

Final Fantasy VI shattered the world and left it to die when it came to graphics. Square created an entire world for you to live in with beautifully detailed backgrounds and enemies. Sure, the enemies don't actually do much more than flash white for a moment when they are about to attack&emdash;but who wants to sacrifice beauty for a little bit of movement? Even the bosses are a sight to behold. They are usually twice or even up to twenty times the size of your poor, puny, pathetic characters. It makes you wonder: "Do I actually have what it takes to beat this guy?"

Have I caught your attention yet? Good: Because there's more:

Nobuo Uematsu doesn't disappoint us yet: The soundtrack is memorable. Sure, on your other games you might turn the sound off and pop in your favorite CD. Why? Because you got sick of the music. The stupid MIDI repeating over and over and over and over and over… It makes you dizzy. Let me just say, you do that with Final fantasy VI and you are one twisted person. Final Fantasy VI is infamous for it's music.

Especially the Opera Scene. Your cute little characters get dressed up and perform an opera for you. Even with the singing! They open their 2-D mouths: and notes comes out. In tune, in key&emdash;incoherent, but you have the lyrics written above you. The Aria Di Mezzo Carattere is this, the most famous song Square has put out yet; as the first video game song with lyrics *in the game*.

And finally: The battle system. Sure, Square put in "Attack" and "Defend" But what about "Steal"? or "Magic"? Or "Summon"? What about "Rage" even? Try finding "Lore" in a supposedly "cooler" RPG. Yeah, that's what I thought. Square went overboard with the amount of attacks each character can do, and is capable of learning. As you venture out into the world and gain experience you have access to stronger, and cooler attacks. Plus, the most respected magic system yet was created at Square's hands. Whenever the aforementioned Espers die, they leave behind something called Magicite. Your characters use Magicite to gain magical powers to singe, freeze, shock, or DOOM (Yes DOOM. It's a nice spell&emdash;when it works) people, or creatures to death.

With colorful, ground breaking graphics, awe-inspiring music, a plot to leave you on the edge of your seat, jaw-dropping magic animations, and more characters than you could ever hope for: Final Fantasy VI leaves all RPG's behind. Proving, once again, that Squaresoft is not a company to be messed with in the world of RPG's.

-Scores-

Graphics: 10

Music: 100

Listen to it and page me later. If you still don't get it, I'll help you.

Plot: 10

Characters: 10

All the characters: Good, Bad, Major, Minor are Three Dimensional. This is a theatre term. It means, basically, you can relate to and/or understand the character and how they are feeling. They seem human and real, even though they are not.

Battle System: 10

Replay Value: 30

It's the Energize Bunny: You keep playing and playing and playing…

Originality: 10

Overall: 10

I don't think I even needed to say that.

 

-You'd better get a lot of caffeine. I don't think you'll want to sleep.

~~ Rei ~~