Final Fantasy VII's equal in the 2D world.

User Rating: 9.7 | Final Fantasy VI SNES
Square likes to mess up on numbers when sending their Final Fantasy titles out of Japan in the 2D era of Final Fantasy. Like I'm sure you all know, the real Final Fantasy III came out for the NES in 1989 (or was it 1990? anyways...). This is Final Fantasy VI, which makes a little more sense to some people why this Final Fantasy was so much better than the ones before it, with it being the game right before the legendary 7th Final Fantasy that came out for PSX in 1997 (which took many ideas from this game, btw). The story is fantastic, the gameplay is the peak of Final Fantasy goodness behind 7, and the music and graphics are top notch. Like I was saying, Final Fantasy VII took many ideas from VI. In turn took ideas from previous Final Fantasy games IV (II in US SNES) and V (Never released in US until it came out for PSX), and improved upon them dramatically. The magic moves, like in Final Fantasy VII, are not learned by themselves. But, instead of using slots that need to be equipped to use the certain moves in VII, VI used these magical Esper creatures that gave you all their magic moves after a certain amount of time, and when you've mastered the moves, you can unequip the esper, keep the magic you learned, and equip a new esper to keep learning new moves. Terra and Celes along with 2 or so other people born with magic in the game could learn magic on their own without Espers, but can still equip Espers to learn more moves they can't learn on their own. Nothing completely original or difficult for Final Fantasy fans, but at the time, it was revolutionary, and it still has a lot of depth even today. You can use the magic moves whenever you like to in battle or out... normal Final Fantasy mechanics. Most characters, like Cyan, Gau, Sabin, Locke, Edgar, Setzer, Mog, and Shadow, among a few others, have their own special moves that depend on exactly what they are in the story. (Locke is a thei... uh... "TREASURE HUNTER" in the story, so he has "steal," Shadow's an evil ninja type guy, who can throw items like shurikens, etc.) And they can improve their Special Abilities over time. Gogo is the only character who can use other character's special moves, since he can "mimic" people, where he can use any of your other characters moves like "tools," (from Edgar, where he can use a chainsaw, among other gruesome weapons that don't look gruesome), "Throw," etc. The battle system itself, however, is far from original, like most Final Fantasy games. The ATB system is back again, where you can use any move at the beginning of a battle as long as you have the MP or ability to do so. It wouldn't be near as fun to play through if it wasn't for the great menu-driven system for special attacks and equipment, and the story, which is arguably the best ever seen in a Final Fantasy game. To not spoil it for you, I'll just give a little info about how dramatic this game gets: Unlike Final Fantasy VII, your crew of 14 or so can't stop the evil guy from turning the world into an apocolyptic wasteland halfway through the game. You might say I spoiled a lot of the story, but getting to that point is the best part of the story anyways. The feeling overall in the story will get you choked up at times, and not in the way when Aeris dies, the world itself and the music will set the tone for everything to make it such a dramatic experience at times. The graphics in Final Fantasy VI were landmark for 16-bit consoles... for a year, at least, until Chrono Trigger came out. But besides that, everything, the animations, the well-made 16-bit cutscenes, the world itself (good world and post-apocolyptic,) looks extremely well and fits the somber mood extremely well for the game. The battles, like usual, are full of great special effects, and the enemies have great artistic value into each one of them, rivaling Panzer Dragoon in exotic monster artistic value. Easily one of the best looking games for the SNES, and is only beat by the likes of Chrono Trigger. I just wish that the enemies weren't merely cardboard cut-outs, and moved more than just back-and-forth. But that is excusable, since all the previous FF games were like that. This is Nobuo Eumatsu at his best. People praising Final Fantasy VII's music have not even got close to the peak of Eumatsu's talent. Everything, from the battle music, to the gentle town music, to the post-apocolyptic somber music of towns and disaster zones fits in so perfectly, you'll almost have a tear in your eye from just how beautiful this really is. If this game did not have the excellent score it has, the story would not nearly be presented as well as it was. Once you hear the Final Fantasy VI's beginning screen, you'll understand exactly what this game's story is like. Sure, the quality isn't CD quality. But in some ways, that makes this sound all the more impressive. Sound effects are great as well, from the enemy attacks to the massive spell effects. But, since I don't pay too much attention to sound effects in games, that's all I feel the need to say. Final Fantasy VI is a moderately sized RPG, and average when it comes to Final Fantasy games. You'll pass this game in about 30-35 hours when trying to blast through it, but if you try to get all 14 characters and everything found, it'll take you around 40 or so hours. There is a lot to go back to once you do beat it though, since the story ranks among the best ever in gaming overall, but the somber story could also be a turn-off for replaying it, because it really doesn't start in a happy way, and doesn't end in a "happily ever after" status either. But, some people like that. I certainly do. Final Fantasy VII and VI are both masterpieces, and if you are any bit an RPG fan or you call yourself a Final Fantasy fan but never played VI... what are you doing still sitting on the computer reading this? Find a way to get this game! It's a must-have for every RPG fan, young or old. (It is for PSX as well.)