Final Fantasy VI Advance is a fantastic RPG that is must play material for fans of the genre.
Graphics: The graphics are hardly showing their age. The character sprites are 2D and 16 bit, but highly detailed and well animated. The environments you go through are varied and many, never losing their appeal even near the end. Enemy designs look great (despite the lack of animation), especially the bosses, which have considerably more detail than normal enemies. Spell effects are flashy and fun to watch. Despite the age of the game, the visual aspect is top notch and charming, and aids the atmosphere of the game quite well. 10/ 10
Sound: The sounds of FFVI are many; there is a huge soundtrack with a ton of different tracks, and the sounds of battle are pleasing. The main component of the sound is undoubtedly the music, which is, simply put, fantastic. The number of themes in the game is almost staggering (complementing the he cast) and what's more impressive is that there really isn't a bad one in the bunch. Despite the decidedly lower quality of the GBA speakers, the music is very pleasing to the ears. 10/ 10
Story: Long ago, three beings known as the Warring Triad fought one another for fear of their powers. After seeing the suffering it caused humans, they sealed themselves in stone to maintain the balance of the world. However, humans came to be able to use magic by utilizing the powers of magical beings called Espers , which led to the War of the Magi, a worldwide conflict that nearly ended the world. The Espers sealed themselves off in another dimension, which ended the War, and made humans simple beings again. Now, technology has replaced magic; soldiers walk around in machines called Magitech tanks, airships and trains are common modes of transportation and no one can use magic.
The game opens with a squad of imperial soldiers being led by a mysterious girl happening upon a frozen Esper. From there, events unfold quickly, and we are introduced to a huge cast, all with unique backgrounds and pasts. The story itself is quite good, dealing with an evil empire, forbidden magic and an extremely demented, odd and power hungry general. However, the story is supported well by the excellent cast of characters. They are all strangers at first, but come to know and rely on each other. Each one has their own reasons for fighting, and some are quite sad and tragic; I won't spoil anything here, but, despite the light rating, the game deals with some very dark issues.
The game takes a huge twist in the middle (one that I won't spoil) that sets it apart from other JRPG's. Needless to say, the excellent cast of characters and strong plot will make you want to see it through to the end. The only issues I have are small. The whole second half of the game is rather unfocused (with a reason) and there's very little development during it. (Most of it is during the first half.) Despite that, the story is great, easily one of the best in an RPG. 9/ 10
Gameplay: Like most JRPG's, FFVI relies on its progression and battle systems. I'll explain each in detail.
In the game, you can gain Espers by various means. With these mystical beings, you can have characters learn certain spells by equipping them to someone. In battle, you gain the typical experience points and money, but you also gain Action Points, which help you learn spells. Each spell is learned when you have achieved 100% AP needed for it. However, the allocation rate is different for each one. For instance, a low level fire spell has an allocation of X20, which means that you really only need to earn five AP to learn it. However, a high level healing spell has an allocation rate of X1, which means you must earn 100 AP to learn it. In addition, the Espers serve as summon monsters, like in other Final Fantasy games. It all depends on which one is equipped on which character. This system allows for strong customization, especially once you begin earning higher level Espers, which teach some of the strongest spells in the game. Some even give level up boosts, such as a bonus onto the Strength stat, which makes you consider which ones to equip to which characters at which times. It's a very smart and addictive system.
The battle system is, more or less, the same as Final Fantasy IV's. The ATB gauge fills up over time, and when it does, the character can make a move, whether it be attacking, casting a spell, or using an item. Either way, it worked in previous games, and it works well here.
One feature that sets the game apart is the importance of Equipment and Relics. Equipment is just what it sounds like; the armor and weapons a character is wearing. However, many pieces of equipment have special bonus effects, like one that protects against spells, but not against physical attacks. Weapons in particular are very important. There are some that are the typical RPG fare (gives boosts to attack power) but others have very special effects, like a sword whose attack power is determined by the wielder's HP, or a knife that does extra damage to humanoid enemies. Sometimes, the stronger equipment that gives you the most boosts isn't necessarily better. It requires careful planning on the part of the player. However, arguably more important than equipment are Relics. These are essentially Accessories, like in previous games. However, they play a crucial role in battle, thanks to the effects they have. Early in the game, they give you meager upgrades, like boosted running speed or immunity to Poison. However, late in the game, they start boasting totally game changing effects. For instance, if you are making a melee fighting character who can take a lot of damage, one Relic can greatly boost their physical attack, while another can increase their maximum HP by a whopping 50%. That means if a character has a total of 4000 HP, they will be boosted to 6000 HP. With the right Relics, fights that were once unwinnable become a total breeze. This makes the game highly exploitable in a good way, since it's fun to experiment with different load outs to find the best possible outcome to a battle.
The first half of the game plays like a regular JRPG; you go around to places that the story dictates, you buy equipment, you complete quests, etc. However, in the second half, the game opens up and is, essentially, one huge side quest. For reasons I won't say, you must rebuild the team by performing numerous side quests. The open ended nature means it can be tough to find out what would be the best place to tackle next and it you can find yourself aimlessly wandering around, lost as to what to do next. Thankfully, the world is filled with things to do, so you won't be wandering for too long. Additionally, there are lots of optional bosses to fight, plenty of great pieces of equipment to find and many party members to recruit.
If I had one complaint about the game, it would be the end game grind. Throughout the bulk of the game, you are likely to find a party you are comfortable with and stick with them, and this includes the majority of the end game sidequests. However, the final dungeon requires that you have three parties to use. This means that if you want three full parties, you must train twelve characters. This is troublesome, since you will have one great team and likely two mediocre ones, which means you have to grind to give them the spells you want, and to level them up to an appropriate level. This takes quite a long time, even if you know the proper places to grind away. It really hurts the pacing of the game, since the rest of it moves along at a pretty brisk pace.
Despite any problems, the gameplay of FFVI is quite strong. 8/ 10
FFVI is a true classic that holds up well. The excellent production values, the strong story and great cast and highly customizable gameplay helps this RPG achieve new heights. It's well worth playing if you've never been able to play the game before, or you're looking for a great portable RPG. So long and thanks for reading.