Actual Grade 9.5
When I was young and had the Super Nintendo I pretty much had most of the classics with the exception of a few, this one being one of those exceptions, I never heard to much of it as a kid but if you ask anyone now about most people will say that this is one of the best games on the Snes and I have to agree.
Story:(Spoiler Alert)This is a huge story so excuse me if I don't nail every single detail. The story basically starts you out as a girl that is being controlled by Gestahl, he is an evil king that will basically take over any land he pleases they are able to use a power known as Magicite, basically magic in other words, they are able to crush pretty much anyone in their way, Gestahls policy if you don't join their empire you will be destroyed in other words. Terra and this group are looking for a certain esper by the name of Tritoch, so they can use his magic however, he is too powerful and overpowers them, Terra wakes up in a bed to a guy by the name of Locke, Locke convinces Terra to join his group by the name of the returners to help overthrow Gesthal, Terra doesn't know what to think, in fact Terra barley knows who she is, or what's going on. But somehow Locke is able to convince her to join up with the rest of the group, The main plot is basically the returners trying to overthrow Gestahl, it's a long journey ahead of them and I don't want to spoil it all, you need to play this game, if you really want to know all the details, it's definitely worth it. I will mention more about it later in my review though. I do want to mention every single character in the game though, because each one needs to be talked about cause they are a huge part of the game. Terra is basically the main character, You really are told nothing about her in the beginning and it isn't till at least the middle of the game that you learn that Terra is a mix between an esper and a human, there are a lot of interesting details to this but i'll let you play the game yourselves to learn about it. Terra is probably the best person to have in your party, her magic can't be matched by anyone, especially since you have the option to morph into her esper form, She is a must have in the party, and one of my favorite characters in the game. Next we have Edgar, he is the new king of the kingdom Figaro, their honestly isn't a whole lot of back story on Edgar, but he definitely is a memorable character with his witty dialogue, and he's a great character to use in battle, I would probably say he's is not a character for everyone but he was one of the main characters I used every time he has the ability to use tools, like literally power tools, I'm not making this up, and this is actually a great feature, they do lots of damage and lots of them are very useful in battle, Edgar definitely was one of my favorite characters in the game. Next we have Locke one of the most memorable characters in the game, he meets Celes another character in the game(which I will get to) and their relationship is one of the most interesting parts in the game, they are perfect characters for each other, and the game does such a good job at hinting a relationship towards them without blatantly making it obvious, we also learn that locke went to the ends of the earth just to find an esper to try to revive his wife, he gets to see her for one more moment, in which she tells, him to live his life and basically to not worry about her, it's one of the best moments in the story, I have to admit while Locke is a great character I never found myself using him a whole lot, because during the middle of the game when you are looking for most of your party, he is one of the last characters you can get, so he will be pretty low in levels and won't know much magic, which is a bit disappointing, his battle skills aren't bad but I wouldn't say he is worth keeping on your team the whole time, he has the ability to steal items from enemies but I feel like this never worked and when it did it was something worthless, so I was a bit disappointed with this skill, still Locke is a great character and definitely one of my favorite characters in this game. Next we have Sabin, Sabin is a great character he's a very funny guy but again their isn't a whole lot of back story with him like Edgar, speaking of Edgar, Sabin is Edgar's, brother, we learn that Sabin left the kingdom of Figaro after his father died, because he wanted to train and I don't think he honestly wanted to be the leader, so that is basically his story. Sabin is a powerhouse, a must have in your group his fighting skill is unmatched by any character, and his magic isn't half bad either, he has a skill known as the blitz command, as you level up you learn certain combinations you can use for the blitz command these are really strong, and help out so much during battle, the only problem is, that they put in diagonal commands, I hate these, when it comes to the Super Nintendo, all you have is a D-pad why would you put in a diagonal command when the D-pad can't properly do a diagonal prompt, I played with kind of a bad controller, so I guess maybe it was my fault, but I just hate, that the D-pad was not made for Diagonal button prompts. If you are able to do the blitz combination properly though these will help so much in this game. Sabin was definitely one of my favorite characters. Next we have Cyan, I like this character, but he definitely loses his luster when you get further into the game, his attack power is great during the beginning of the game, but you start to notice that he is really weak during the middle of the game, his magic, isn't great either, he does have a special technique where he can use certain sword moves that can help but again not much in the later part of the game Cyan is a decent character but not worth one having on your team. Next we have Shadow, he is a cool character but not much else, his attack and magic are alright and he has the ability to throw item, this seems like kind of a waste of money if you ask me, and not only that but Shadow is always disappearing from the party, he's a cool character, but I wouldn't say he is worth having in your party. Next we have Celes, possibly my favorite character in the game, she was locked up for treason, because she didn't want to poison the kingdom of Doma, and Locke, finds her. she is not your typical damsel in distress, she can take care of herself and she is a good strong female character, like I said with Locke their relationship is definitely an interesting one, and their our so many parts of the story where she is involved, you can't not like her during these parts. There is even one moment in the story where the world nearly ends and she attempts suicide, have you ever heard of that in a kids game? She is an amazing, character and her magic skill is really great, and her fighting skills aren't half bad either, she was definitely one of my main characters. Next we have Setzer he's a gambler and really doesn't bring a whole lot to the character department, we do learn that he had a love interest with a girl name Daryl(Daryl? That's a girls name?) and that he tried to race her around the world with their airships, it's interesting to say the least. He doesn't honestly have the best experience of the team, but his attack is pretty good, and his magic isn't terrible, but not the best character ever. Next we have Gau, Gau is definitely not one of my favorite characters in the game when it comes to battle, the only way he attacks is by mimicking foes, there is just to much to remember when it comes to this attack move and you will never know which one is the most effective. His magic isn't anything worth mentioning either. His back story is the only really thing I would say that make him worthy of being in this game. You find Gau alone in the wild, it turns out that his father cast him away in the veldt, while the demons came after him, his father did this because he believed Gau killed his mother in child birth because he was a demon child, This is a really sad story and makes Gau a more interesting character. Next we have Mog, Mog is a popular character a lot of people like this game, for me though I never really used him, his dance move, really wasn't anything special, especially when he would keep tripping over and over again! That's so annoying! But other then that he's just an alright character his fighting and magic aren't terrible, but they aren't super great either, I don't think he was a bad character but nothing really special either. Next Relm, Relm is actually a really good character, I mean I didn't really care for her drawing technique but her magic power and magic defense are surprisingly really good, and she is definitely a character that is worth being in your group, she doesn't have much of a back story, but her father, is actually Shadow, believe it or not... That's … pretty awesome. Next Strago, he is Relm's grandfather their isn't a whole lot of back story on him, but he is definitely a nutty old man, Strago has special little techniques he can learn after fighting certain enemies, their really nothing special, his magic and attack power aren't bad, but just average, hes a decent character to have. Next we have Gogo, he is a hidden character, and to be honest he's not worth the trouble his special attack is mimic, he basically mimics the move of the character who went right before him, I just don't get this, whats the point? It's not anything special that will help you in battle. Next is the second hidden character Umaro, he is basically an abdominal snowman, that's cool, but one problem you can't control this guy he chooses to attack whenever he wants to, sure his attacks are crazy strong but whats the point if you can't have some sort of strategy with him, this guy is sort of worth having in the party since he is a really strong character, but I still wouldn't use him much. These are the main characters in the game, sure some are hit and miss but others you will remember forever.
Presentation:Final Fantasy six is one of the best looking games on the Snes, it's not as good looking as say Chrono Trigger but it's definitely close. The characters in the game as I mentioned are mostly all interesting and can be really funny, the dialogue in this game, is just amazing, it's well written and just comes in at the right time that it's needed, Final fantasy six just does everything right when it comes to it's aesthetics, it makes it's graphics stand out and it's story memorable, especially with moments like when Celes did Opera in Aria di Mezzo it's one of the best scenes in the sixteen bit era let alone today, and not only that but its soundtrack is right up their with Chrono Trigger as one of the best soundtracks ever made. The presentation is fantastic
Gameplay: When anyone talks about Final Fantasy especially the early games, they call them some of the most innovative RPG's ever made and I agree, the battles in this game are random encounters, and I do hate random encounters, but while they are annoying and can pop up every couple of steps! There is no question that the battle system in the game is great, as I mentioned above each character has some sort of special ability to them, not one of them play the same, and I think that's great, don't get me wrong some of the characters skills in the game are a little bit out their, but hey at least give them credit for putting some creativity, and not making each character similar. City's are built throughout the giant map of the game, their will be a lot of traveling in this game, but a lot of these cities are worth that travel, each one feels very different and in each city their our different events that happen in the story making each city worth visiting. The way to get stronger in this game, is by not only leveling up, but also learning more skills for other characters, like for example by fighting with Mog in different area's he learns new dance techniques, which help out in certain battles, this game definitely has a learning curve you are going to definitely have to play this game multiple times to truly master the RPG system, Another way of getting stronger in this game is to learn magic, to do this you must do certain tasks, or progress in the story to get stones known as magicite or in other words crystallized espers, they will teach you certain magic spells which can help a lot in this game. I really liked that you were able to teach whatever character you wanted any magical spell you wanted instead of the traditional leveling up, and learning new spells. You can also equip relics that have certain special abilities, that will help you along your way, you can only equip two per person but it adds more depth to the RPG system and it works really well. When it comes to difficulty in this game, you better be ready to grind on some certain point's don't get me wrong, you don't have to grind to much in this game, but their our some really tough boss battles in this game, if you don't grind on certain ones you'll get crushed. There is also so much secrets in this game, which demands you to explore, and the rewards for this can be super helpful, if you are looking for a game to get lost in, this game is the one of the best ones to do so, the regular playthrough of just playing through the game is about thirty five hours, if you are really invested in finding everything in this game, this could be fifty hours at the least there is so much to find in this game, it will drive completionists crazy, but the rewards are definitely worth it. One flaw in this game that drove me a little crazy in this game, is if you die in this game you are starting at your last save point, I can't believe they did this, look I get it this game isn't supposed to be a cake walk, but this is way to harsh, look at a game like Mother 3 if you die your level progress is saved but you are brought back to the save point you save at, this is a fair system, because you are still punished and have to go through the same enemies over again, but you are still strong, and don't have to worry, about grinding to get stronger then these enemies, but with final fantasy 6 you lose all the levels you have gained and must start the whole area over again, the greatest feeling of playing an RPG is progression, feeling like you are getting stronger, and having to go back because of a couple bad mistakes in some really hard battles, makes this games flow slow down, and not only that but it's just not fair, you worked hard for those gained levels, and to just take them away like oops sorry, is a bit of an insult, this was definitely a miss sighting on Squaresoft part. The gameplay is nearly perfect however.
(Spoiler Alert) In the middle of the story, we see that the evil Kefka overthrows Gestahl, and literally destroys the world, I am not making this up he actually gets what he wants and the wold basically becomes a wasteland, When do you ever see something like this? Celes ends up finding the rest of the group and after some story's about the other characters, it's time to go fight Kefka up in his fortress, you are going to need to do some major grinding, because if you don't Kefka will kick your a$$, this guy will treat you like a pushover if you are not ready for him. Once you do fight him you learn that he has four forms, you can use all your characters against him after one character falls, but this guy has to be one of the most difficult bosses in an RPG and also one of the greatest boss battles. After you defeat him you have to watch the returners run away from his base this is one of the coolest ending scenes ever, because not only is it cool to watch them escape, but during their parts of this escape you watch them and their theme plays while they do their heroics, it makes you reminisce on the past and makes the ending all the more memorable. In the end Terra is able to stay with her friends with the option of not staying with the espers ever again, sure their really isn't a reason Terra would choose them, but they technically are her family, The story is outstanding I can't do it justice, play for yourself and you will know why I like it so much.
Overall Final Fantasy 6 is one of the best games on the super Nintendo, this game is a must buy and the asking price is usually about fifty dollars, it's a bit steep but well worth it for this game, you will get tons and tons of hours that are completely worth your time, this is a must buy.