Today is the release of Final Fantasy XIII, what better way to celeberate than
honor the highest rated game in the franchise.
Story:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhOWWxt9pA"]YouTube - Final Fantasy 6 Advance Intro[/ame]
Over 1000 years before the events of Final Fantasy VI, the War of the Magi (or
translated as the Great Demon War in the origional U.S. version) started between
the three gods of the Warring Triad. To provide with the need for supperior
soliders, the three gods began to produce Espers, which were humans turned into
magical beings.
After witnessing the devistationthey were causing to the planet, the three gods
agreed to seal away their power, and turned themselves into stone. This in turn
freed the Espers from the gods control, but their powers and differences made
them exile themselves into a remote region in the planet. With the gods and Espers
gone, the power of magic slowly vanished off the planet, causing people to resort
to technology.
Currently, the most powerful and technologically advanced nation, the Gestahlian
Empire, is attempting to take over the world without relent through the empire's
three head generals: General Celes Chere, Leo Cristophe, and Kefka Palazzo.
Emperor Gestahl, driven by the ancient legends of the power of the espers,
established the magitec program which combines magic and machinery into
powerful magitec armor. Unfortunately, the power of magitec isn't to potent,
causing the empire to seek the espers themselves.
The game begins following two imperial soliders, Biggs and Wedge, and a girl
under the control of a slave crown and has the strange ability to use magic. The
three march their magitec armor straight into the city of Narshe because of the
rumored esper inside the mines. After slaying countless villagers, they reach a
creature incased inside of ice. When Biggs and Wedge atempt to retrieve it, the are
knocked into the abyss below and knocks the girl unconscious.
She later wakes up inside the home of Avris, a member of the returners, a rebel
group atempting to overthrow the empire, destroys the slave crown on the girls
head, freeing her from imperial control. Unfortunately the slave crowns affects
without any memory except for her name: Terra Branford. She is forced to flee
from the local authorities via the mines, when the cave collapses and she again falls
unconscious. While unconscious, she remembers the actions of one of the
imperial generals, Kefka Palazzo, when he orders her to slay 50 imperial troops.
Although Narshe authorities are hot on Terra's tail, another member of the
returners, Locke Cole, and a group of moogles come and save her from certain
danger.
Both Locke and Terra flee from the village under the cover of night to Figaro
Castle, a Returner Safehaven. The King of Figaro, Edgar Figaro, attempts to hide
both Terra and Locke from imperial general Kefka, but upon there discovery,
Kefka burns the castle.
Fortunately, Terra, Edgar, and Locke successfully escape the imperial attack via
chocobo and sucessfully reach the Returner's stronghold and met with the Returner
leader, Banon. The party also gains assistance from Edgar's brother, Sabin Figaro,
after he defeats his former friend and martial arts expert Vargas.
The party decides to return to Narshe via the Lethe river where, because of Ultros
the octopus, they get sperated into three, following Sabin, Locke, and Terra.
There several underlying themes that drive Final Fantasy VI such as Love and
Greed. In previous Final Fantasy titles, greed was often by non-humans such as
Exdeath in Final Fantasy V. But in FFVI, it is the greed of an imperial nation
that is causing the suffering around the globe.
Love also has a strong influence in the main characters of Final Fantasy VI, Terra
and her motherly love to the children of Mobliz, Shadow and him protecting his
daughter Relm, and the brotherly love between Edgar and Sabin.
Another major theme is the loss of loved ones, Locke lost his beloved Rachel in an
imperial attack, Cyan's family was killed by Kefka's poison, and what is one of the
saddest scenes in series history, is when Celes loses her "grandfather" Cid.
One thing Final Fantasy VI is renowned for is the amount of character devlopment
that each individual playable character has. At first, Setzer Gabbiani seems like a
simple minded man who only cares about gambling, it's later revealed he only
gambled to help him cope with the loss of his childhold friend, Darill.
Final Fantasy VI also has one of the most renouned scenes in gaming, when Celes
dresses up as actress Maria and performs in
Maria and Draco.
If you've played Final Fantasy VI, the thing you most likely remember the most is
one of the most evil and insane villains in gaming history, Kefka Palazzo. His dark
deads, such as the poisoning of Doma, have given him a place as one of the most
infamous villains in gaming history.
After Emperor Gestahl tricks the Returns into bringing the espers to them, Kefka
slays every single one in an act of genocide to obtain the magicite and then in turn
kills General Leo, one of the most likeable charaters in the series.
Later in the game, Gestahl and Kefka are successful in raising the Floating
Continent to drain the power of the Warring Triad and become omnipotent beings.
Kefka, has other plans, and kills the Emperor and absorbs the power of the three
gods.
In one of the the greatest Climaxes in gaming history, players confront Kefka, now
the god of magic, with one of the most nihilistic speeches in gaming history:
Gameplay:
Unlike Previous Final Fantasies, where you were stuck with whatever party you
had, in Final Fantasy VI you are allowed to swap party members in and out from
within your airship.
In Final Fantasy VI Every individual character has their own special ability. For
Example, Setzer takes a gamble and uses Slots to obtain a powerful attack, Terra
can enter Trance and double her stats for a period of time, Sabin can use Blitz and
descimate opponents with powerful combos and Strago uses various Blue Magic
spells learned from enemies.
But when it comes to magic, Final Fantasy V's Job System is replaced by a far
more streamlined system: Espers.
If players equip Espers to various party members, the Ability Points (AP) recieved
after the battle will be used into learning magic. For example, Bismark has a x20
learning rate for Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder. If a playable character had him
equiped after winning 2 AP, they would gain 40% to learning those three spells.
Espers also grant a Stat Bonus. After leveling up, based on which Esper you
equiped, your stats will go up. For Example, if you had Bahamut equiped, your HP
would increase by 50%.
Graphics:
As with almost every Square Enix game, Final Fantasy VI looks amazing, every
environment looks beautiful and almost alwasy origional.
But the area that recieved the biggest boost was the character sprites. In Final
Fanasty V, there were two sets of Sprites, one for the overhead map and one for
the combat screen. This in turn severly limited the amount of sprites that could be
made for each character.
In Final Fantasy VI however, the overhead map and combat screens use the same
sprites, allowing developers to create more detailed sprites and new poses they
would perform allowing for more emotion.
Final Fantasy V Sprites (Cloud Strife):
Final Fantasy VI Sprites (Squall Leonhart):
Sound:
I have heard every single Final Fantasy soundtrack and the one that stands out the
most is easily Final Fantasy VI. The themes are extremely varied and appropriately
fit their location and almost no song isn't harmonious to the ears.
Terra's Theme:
Cele's Theme:
Kefka's Theme:
Edgar/Sabin's Theme:
Setzer's Theme:
Shadow's Theme (Why does a Ninja have a Cowboy theme?):
Mt. Koltz:
Phantom Forest:
Magitec Reasearch Facility:
Searching for Friends:
Floating Continent:
Awakening:
And of course Dancing Mad:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Overall:
Although it didn't nearly sell as much as Final Fantasies VII, VIII, or X, it still is a
masterpiece in gaming and recieved the highest ratings a Final Fantasy game ever
recieved.
9.8/10
Play it now on RetroUprising:
Retro Uprising - Arcade - Final Fantasy III
I put alot of effort into this one because I know how much people enjoyed this
game, so tell me how I did. Thanks
Loyalty of Leo[/ame]
Linear Mode
