Games like FFVI are the reason why legends of 2D era still stand out tall in this era of Next-gen.
But thankfully, I can say that Square has indeed saved the best of the SNES to GBA ports of 2D Final Fantasy games for the last. Because Final Fantasy VI Advance is a near flawless game that very much like it’s original stands out yet again as one of the top if not THE best 2D game. The reason is very simple because it is a very well balanced game. Unlike FFIV which had it’s story strength and FFV which had it’s trademark job system, FFVI has almost everything from brilliant story, to a memorable cast of characters, to an undoubtedly the gaming world’s best original soundtrack.
FFVI story is not quite original but it is handled really well and it really shows the level of perfection Square had reached even then. Terra, a Magitek Elite controlled against her will by the treacherous Empire. She is sent to retrieve an esper’s power from a hilly town of Narshe. She is soon trapped by the City Guards and is timely rescued by a so called treasure hunter called Locke. Together they meet twelve more characters that are equally as interesting as them.
The applause for Square is that despite the large cast they have handled each and every character’s background with utmost care. Never for one moment do you feel that the game developers are doing partiality to any character. Sure a few like Terra, Locke and Celes are more important but unlike FFIV there is no actual main character. That is quite good!
This means that at certain stages in game there will be only a certain playable character. That yields scenarios. And that is something really very good. At a certain point early on the party members will separate and three scenarios arise from where you can follow a character’s story of what happened next. There is a common goal in the scenarios from where the normal story actually resumes.
FFV had probably produced some of the sharpest graphics on GBA anf FFVI just improves from that. The in-town and battle graphics are almost flawless. The overworld view has been improved. No longer do the characters have big heads and tiny and at sometimes almost illegible bodies. The bodies of your character now appear just like how they did in the town or in games. Of course, that comes at the cost of the overworld surroundings. There is a considerable decline in the quality of the surrounding overworld graphics clearly evident during chocobo rides. Graphics during Airship travel has been improved. Otherwise FFVI graphics still stands nearly equal to that of the FFV.
Of course, FF games are famous for their so called magical moments. FFIV’s journey to moon was one of many in that game. FFVI has even more,like the opera scene, the banquet with the Emperor Gestahl, the immensely SHOCKING twist in the tale at the end of Part one and like the war against Empire where you have to break the Empire’s defenses and defeat Kefka. Talking about Kefka he is a real twisted madman and the main antagonist of the game. He is comic but is a true evil atured villain something that previous 2D FF games did’nt offer. His maniacal laugh sound still stands great.
Random battles aren’t a lot if you compare to FFIV and FFV and for once it is for a bad reason. Because Kefka’s tower in the final showdown is a really tough place and requires to split into parties, something which happens a few number of times. The obstacles of the dungeon cal be cleared by pressing a switch by another party. Leveling is required.
NOW!!!HOLD YOUR BREATH! The soundtrack. Speechless. Absolutely speechless. For once to the non FF fans—if you don’t like FF leave it but if you haven’t heard the soundtrack then you’re nuts. The over world music, the one of Shadow’s, the all town’s music , the flashback music and of course the ultimate of them Aria di Mezza Caraterre.
Of course, not many might appreciate the opera soundtrack as it is truly deep and few can understand it’s true beauty but the other soundtracks make this game a must-buy even if you’re not a gamer. While hearing these tracks you feel the real presence of 2D era even in this era of Next-gen.
The bosses number has been greatly increased with 50 bosses around this time. The bosses aren’t particularly tough and if you have trained well you should have no problem at the end too. With 14 characters there have to be special abilities. And each and every one of them has a unique ability. Locke’s Steal, Edgar’s Tools, Sabin’s Blitz are few of them. The latter one is a regard to few fighting games like Alpha Fighter where circular motion on D-pad was common. If you have played FFVIII before a little then you will get the system of Espers easily. It is similar to GF’s in FFVIII.
So I am thus ending this review where I have described nearly every aspect of the game. I have not told about how I liked it. AW COME ON! After all such things in a game there is no reason why I shouldn’t call this game a masterpiece. It is a rare word from me but if there is one game that truly deserves it this would be it. Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtracks along with the storyline makes you feel so touched. Hence, if any 2D game was going to make you cry this would probably be it. I didn’t cry but at times I felt really touched by those sixteen bits.
If there is a reason that any one had to put FF games at bay, that reason would not stand up against FFVI. Because it is truly a masterpiece that not only I but the gaming world says. Games like FFVI are the reason why legends of 2D era still stand out tall in this era of Next gen.