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10-22-14 08:43 PM
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Final Fantasy's epic story of loss and hope

 
Game's Ratings
Overall
Graphics
Sound
Addictiveness
Depth
Story
Difficulty
Average User Score
9.6
8.8
9.7
9.2
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9.6
7.3
endings's Score
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10-22-14 08:43 PM
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endings
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Final Fantasy 3 (or 6, depending on your chronology) was the last version of the game released for Super Nintendo, before moving on to Playstation. Its a role playing game that is heavy on social and political storytelling, and the themes of loss and hope. Also in a unusual turn since most former Final Fantasy (FF) games felt set in the middle ages, the game is set in a more modern time period like its during some Industrial revolution. Also magic is not regarded as a common thing, this is an age of science and the approach of technology. A renaissance. The magic spells common in past games here are considered rare, in fact, most of your characters have no natural ability in it - but you can teach them.

The magic in this game often comes from Espers, which are treated like fairies, make-believe creatures from an earlier time. What remains of Espers is often small crystals (also a recurring item in this series).  The start of equipping a summoned monster and gaining abilities is (as far as I know) first evident in this game, and it carried on to FF7 and FF8. You can summon Ramuh, the lightning spirit, or simply have his materia stone present to raise your own stats, or learn the magic spells he will pass down (in this case, lightning).

I enjoyed how all the player characters in this game had a lot of personality and motivators for joining, and then usually a side mission or two you could do later for them. Nowadays that is fairly typical for rpgs, but not when this game was released.

Your party
This game has the largest cast in FF history, I believe. Some are optional recruits, but just the story characters puts it over an impressive threshold. This large roster I see as good and bad. With more cast, the story feels like it affects more people - a world of adventurers who want to stop the madness. The game also occasionally uses the entire party for group dungeon exploring or war sequences, and this is awesome.  On the flip of the coin, having this many people means some story lines are diluted, and some of your forces feel redundant - we have three characters who use the enemy's abilities to attack (4 if you count a certain copycat).

Terra - When you first meet her, shes in service to the evil Gestahl Empire, and an amnesiac. As arguably the main character of the game (at least for the first half), she has the most dramatic revelations. She is able to wield weapons and use magic effectively. Her special abilityties into her past, thats all I will say about that.

Locke - He's not a thief, he's a treasure hunter! Romanticist Locke is a major character, and despite his insistence he isn't a looter- he certainly can steal items in battle. This light-fingered ability is used in the story early on, when he has to keep stealing enemy uniforms from the soldiers fighting him. He has some deep, emotional baggage that really comes into bloom the last half of the game.

Edgar - One of the two brothers of the kingdom of Figaro, and the current king. Edgar is a bit of a womanizer, but he also is quite a mechanic. His special ability is using his tools and inventions, which are often very effective. He is kind of a cheat, because you don't really need to give him weapons - as he can use his deadly tools constantly without penalty. He has a strong moral side to him, and is not afraid to stand up for the oppressed, no matter how daunting.

Sabin - The other Figaro brother, he lives a nomadic lifestyle after a familial incident, he is an expert in martial arts. His special attacks involve his physical training, called Blitzes, and to use them is like inputting Street Fighter moves. While his abilities are very fearsome, it requires some dexterity.

Celes - Another former Empire member, she is also skilled in both magic and fighting. Her special ability needs her to have a sword equipped, and involve blocking and absorbing the next spell cast. She is also our link to Cid, as every FF game features a story character with this name.

Cyan - The closest this game gets to medieval knights, Cyan lives and breathes his code of honor. He also uses "thee" and "thou" in his conversations, which are usually used to comic effect. Despite the lighthearted jabs at his speech, he is quite a tragic character. A physical fighter, his special ability is based on waiting for a bar to slowly charge up, then unleashing it.

Gau - The wild boy of the Veldt. He is quite uncivilized, and his past is a bit of a mystery. His ability is to turn into an enemy that he captured in the Veldt, which is a large region on the map. If Gau is there, he can leave your party and will later come back (in the Veldt), with the new moves. despite his innocent humor.

Setzer - A rake and a gambler. Setzer is actually one of my favorite characters in this game. He can attack with card and dice, and also has a roulette wheel of randomness and can throw money at the foes. Lots of options. He doesn't get a lot of story unfortunately, but his theme music is cool.

Mog - The moogle has become something of a mascot for the series, along with the chocobo. This is the first time you get to have one of the 'little teddy bear with wings' on your team. Mog uses spears to fight, reminding me of Ewoks. He specializes in dances during battle, something like a fairy I guess, he learns different ones based on the background of your fight stage.

Strago - A crotchety old wizard. He is, as expected, excellent in magic. His specialty, if you've played previous FF games before, is blue magic, or learning rare magic spells cast by certain enemies. He has to be in the party and survive the spell however!

Relm - the artsy grand-daughter of Strago. She's fairly feisty for such a young girl, and also skilled in magic. Her ability is to copy the enemies and use their skills against them.

Shadow - Shadow is in this for money. You can hire him, but he will leave when he wants, which makes him rather random. He dresses like an honest to goodness ninja, and has an attack dog named Interceptor. He can also throw items at baddies. And his theme music is Fistful of Dollars realness.

There are other characters too, from guest NPCs whom you only have in your party a short time, to hidden characters that don't have much story behind them, but can join you in the later half of the game. The hidden allies are quite unusual, but that makes them pretty fun.


Story: 9
You start as Terra, a seemingly mute girl inside a mechanical fighting robot. You are in the snowy town of Narshe, and its grim business. Its clear from the actions of your talkative cohorts, some officers of the Gestahl Empire - that they are up to no good. You overwhelm the feeble civilians in a brutal display of force on your way to collect what the Empire believes is an Esper. Whatever it is is frozen in ice, and shows its own terrifying power. Terra survives, without any knowledge why, but is sick in bed for days.

Enter Locke, a thief (he denies that) - a member of a ragtag rebel force against the Empire, he agrees to help Terra escape Narshe when the Imperial forces come looking for the valuable woman. The journey with Locke starts leading up to many other characters and adventures, and we see how the Empire affects them personally - and why they would join with Terra and eventually, the rebellion. You eventually seek to infiltrate the Empire, and find out how they are making these super soldiers and magic robots. The answer is chilling, and learn that the Emperor's limits for power are not quenched. He wants to do something so drastic, it almost spelled the end of the world a thousand years ago.

The second half of the game is one of my favorite parts. It is a bit of a bummer though, and can understand why some people don't like it. For one, its bleak nature. Second, that its actual plot missions are slight, and focuses VERY heavy on side missions and recruitment. This side of the story is quite bleak at first, but i found it just as interesting as the more scripted first half.

The main bad guy
The evil Gestahl empire is the 'bad guy'of course, but this game also features one of the most memorable villians in the franchise. I found it hard to describe him beyond being a homicidal nihilist, but now with advances in pop culture - I can tell non- FF players the main bad guy for this game is basically Heath Ledger's Joker. A painted public persona, he cracks himself up and does the most vile things, along with fractured ideas on how the world should treat each other. He is utterly without a soul or concience, and is truly insane.


Graphics: 8
The characters are still a bit blocky, still keeping with RPG tradition that graphics take second priority (little did we expect what FF7 would bring). The environments are quite detailed in the towns though, with hanging signs and flower boxes, Narshe with its puffing heaters and snowy streets, an airship casino with a built in felt tables. One noteworthy example is the opera house scene, which is full of graphical delights.

Traveling the overworld (a scaled down version of a map you walk on), mode 7 graphics have come a long way since demo'ed in Super Mario World, are used to give perspective on horizon and when flying about in your airship. by foot or by chocobo (a bird). The overworld graphics are heavily stretched, and are not a highlight. However, once you enter the world of ruin, the strange, sickly skyline and grey beaches lend a nice otherworldly feel.  The enemies on the battle screen are more detailed, sometimes showing a sharp contrast. Take Ultros, a mini-boss. From the overworld he looks rather small and silly, when you fight him he is large and positively demented with that row of teeth. Spell effects look good, however  most summons look compressed and detail is lost. While these are not the best looking graphics on SNES, they are nothing to sneeze at.


Sound: 10
FF6 continues the tradition of excellent music from this series. I honestly love ever piece of it, over 30 tracks. Each hero gets their own theme music to suit them, and in general, the overall feeling is just epic and grand. I have heard this music applied to a real symphony orchestra, and it works so well. The last bosses music is actually a series of suites, and to see it play out is wonderful. The title music also borrows from this last boss music. There are several styles included in this game, and many are applied to the location. Let me use an example, and discuss one of the most highlighted parts of this game - the opera house.

The Opera
Its a graphical and musical tour-de-force. You are there to meet the rich owner of the fastest airship in the world. One of you, Celes, has to go undercover and learn the lyrics to a song she must sing. The entire music is set to motion, the actors moving and fighting to the music, just as a true musical would be.  You have to learn her lines and say them before the melody gets too far and she blows her cover!

Uh-oh, theres more. While shes's singing to keep the airship guy's attention, you discover a murder plot. The music changes tempo and now you must race to stop Celes from being flattened. You are being timed the whole time, racing against the map and the enemies.  Its definitely one of the more dynamic points of the game, and memorable to a lot of people.


Addictiveness: 9
Its strange, as rpgs don't normally have lots of replay value after being them (its an investment), and this one features only one fixed ending - but I had no trouble replaying this game. 6 times I think. Even thinking about it gets me a little giddy to play it. I love the story of tech eclipsing magic and the long cast of characters and side missions were very interesting to me.
Since there are hidden elements such as characters to acquire, espers to get, and moves to discover, this could keep you busy for quite awhile. I had beaten the entire game before I found out about Edgar the toolman's secret chainsaw weapon. Or perhaps the hidden Odin familiar, or the coliseum. There is a lot to do here, but story scenes are unskippable- they might be tough to go through all that again.


Depth: 10
The most party characters of any Final Fantasy, and two whole worlds to explore - each with items, spells and people that you could not get again. The game is massive in scale, I m very impressed all this fit on a SNES cartridge. From ariship battles to undersea exploring, white-water rafting, mastering skills from enemies in the Veldt or with your blue mage - there is much to do here.

I also like this game has the seldom seen final attacks (desperation attacks) - the early precursor to limit breaks which dominated FF games later on. Despite playing the game to completion 6 times, I have only had about half of the characters perform a limit attack on screen.
I think this is also one of the last FF games to use perspective tricks with the camera and have areas that look closed off that you can actually go through (invisible entrances). And of course, what old school rpg worth its salt would not have a host of items in a house to loot and plunder.


Difficulty: 7
I found the difficulty perfect.I cannot recall any terribly hard part - the group battles involving your entire party can be easy or hard depending on the matchmaking you do - but thats the players responsibility, and a good reason to not keep characters underplayed, sitting on the bleachers.In typical role playing fashion, if you cannot pass something, you can level up enough until you can.


Final Score: 9.6
I enjoyed so much of this game. It is like hugs, it just gives and gives and gives. While at times the story might drag a bit, and the world of ruin might just be seen as fluff, I would never sell my copy of this game for SNES. I also bought the DS version, with includes an extra group dungeon. This game is one of the pinnacles of Square's talent. Money well spent!
Final Fantasy 3 (or 6, depending on your chronology) was the last version of the game released for Super Nintendo, before moving on to Playstation. Its a role playing game that is heavy on social and political storytelling, and the themes of loss and hope. Also in a unusual turn since most former Final Fantasy (FF) games felt set in the middle ages, the game is set in a more modern time period like its during some Industrial revolution. Also magic is not regarded as a common thing, this is an age of science and the approach of technology. A renaissance. The magic spells common in past games here are considered rare, in fact, most of your characters have no natural ability in it - but you can teach them.

The magic in this game often comes from Espers, which are treated like fairies, make-believe creatures from an earlier time. What remains of Espers is often small crystals (also a recurring item in this series).  The start of equipping a summoned monster and gaining abilities is (as far as I know) first evident in this game, and it carried on to FF7 and FF8. You can summon Ramuh, the lightning spirit, or simply have his materia stone present to raise your own stats, or learn the magic spells he will pass down (in this case, lightning).

I enjoyed how all the player characters in this game had a lot of personality and motivators for joining, and then usually a side mission or two you could do later for them. Nowadays that is fairly typical for rpgs, but not when this game was released.

Your party
This game has the largest cast in FF history, I believe. Some are optional recruits, but just the story characters puts it over an impressive threshold. This large roster I see as good and bad. With more cast, the story feels like it affects more people - a world of adventurers who want to stop the madness. The game also occasionally uses the entire party for group dungeon exploring or war sequences, and this is awesome.  On the flip of the coin, having this many people means some story lines are diluted, and some of your forces feel redundant - we have three characters who use the enemy's abilities to attack (4 if you count a certain copycat).

Terra - When you first meet her, shes in service to the evil Gestahl Empire, and an amnesiac. As arguably the main character of the game (at least for the first half), she has the most dramatic revelations. She is able to wield weapons and use magic effectively. Her special abilityties into her past, thats all I will say about that.

Locke - He's not a thief, he's a treasure hunter! Romanticist Locke is a major character, and despite his insistence he isn't a looter- he certainly can steal items in battle. This light-fingered ability is used in the story early on, when he has to keep stealing enemy uniforms from the soldiers fighting him. He has some deep, emotional baggage that really comes into bloom the last half of the game.

Edgar - One of the two brothers of the kingdom of Figaro, and the current king. Edgar is a bit of a womanizer, but he also is quite a mechanic. His special ability is using his tools and inventions, which are often very effective. He is kind of a cheat, because you don't really need to give him weapons - as he can use his deadly tools constantly without penalty. He has a strong moral side to him, and is not afraid to stand up for the oppressed, no matter how daunting.

Sabin - The other Figaro brother, he lives a nomadic lifestyle after a familial incident, he is an expert in martial arts. His special attacks involve his physical training, called Blitzes, and to use them is like inputting Street Fighter moves. While his abilities are very fearsome, it requires some dexterity.

Celes - Another former Empire member, she is also skilled in both magic and fighting. Her special ability needs her to have a sword equipped, and involve blocking and absorbing the next spell cast. She is also our link to Cid, as every FF game features a story character with this name.

Cyan - The closest this game gets to medieval knights, Cyan lives and breathes his code of honor. He also uses "thee" and "thou" in his conversations, which are usually used to comic effect. Despite the lighthearted jabs at his speech, he is quite a tragic character. A physical fighter, his special ability is based on waiting for a bar to slowly charge up, then unleashing it.

Gau - The wild boy of the Veldt. He is quite uncivilized, and his past is a bit of a mystery. His ability is to turn into an enemy that he captured in the Veldt, which is a large region on the map. If Gau is there, he can leave your party and will later come back (in the Veldt), with the new moves. despite his innocent humor.

Setzer - A rake and a gambler. Setzer is actually one of my favorite characters in this game. He can attack with card and dice, and also has a roulette wheel of randomness and can throw money at the foes. Lots of options. He doesn't get a lot of story unfortunately, but his theme music is cool.

Mog - The moogle has become something of a mascot for the series, along with the chocobo. This is the first time you get to have one of the 'little teddy bear with wings' on your team. Mog uses spears to fight, reminding me of Ewoks. He specializes in dances during battle, something like a fairy I guess, he learns different ones based on the background of your fight stage.

Strago - A crotchety old wizard. He is, as expected, excellent in magic. His specialty, if you've played previous FF games before, is blue magic, or learning rare magic spells cast by certain enemies. He has to be in the party and survive the spell however!

Relm - the artsy grand-daughter of Strago. She's fairly feisty for such a young girl, and also skilled in magic. Her ability is to copy the enemies and use their skills against them.

Shadow - Shadow is in this for money. You can hire him, but he will leave when he wants, which makes him rather random. He dresses like an honest to goodness ninja, and has an attack dog named Interceptor. He can also throw items at baddies. And his theme music is Fistful of Dollars realness.

There are other characters too, from guest NPCs whom you only have in your party a short time, to hidden characters that don't have much story behind them, but can join you in the later half of the game. The hidden allies are quite unusual, but that makes them pretty fun.


Story: 9
You start as Terra, a seemingly mute girl inside a mechanical fighting robot. You are in the snowy town of Narshe, and its grim business. Its clear from the actions of your talkative cohorts, some officers of the Gestahl Empire - that they are up to no good. You overwhelm the feeble civilians in a brutal display of force on your way to collect what the Empire believes is an Esper. Whatever it is is frozen in ice, and shows its own terrifying power. Terra survives, without any knowledge why, but is sick in bed for days.

Enter Locke, a thief (he denies that) - a member of a ragtag rebel force against the Empire, he agrees to help Terra escape Narshe when the Imperial forces come looking for the valuable woman. The journey with Locke starts leading up to many other characters and adventures, and we see how the Empire affects them personally - and why they would join with Terra and eventually, the rebellion. You eventually seek to infiltrate the Empire, and find out how they are making these super soldiers and magic robots. The answer is chilling, and learn that the Emperor's limits for power are not quenched. He wants to do something so drastic, it almost spelled the end of the world a thousand years ago.

The second half of the game is one of my favorite parts. It is a bit of a bummer though, and can understand why some people don't like it. For one, its bleak nature. Second, that its actual plot missions are slight, and focuses VERY heavy on side missions and recruitment. This side of the story is quite bleak at first, but i found it just as interesting as the more scripted first half.

The main bad guy
The evil Gestahl empire is the 'bad guy'of course, but this game also features one of the most memorable villians in the franchise. I found it hard to describe him beyond being a homicidal nihilist, but now with advances in pop culture - I can tell non- FF players the main bad guy for this game is basically Heath Ledger's Joker. A painted public persona, he cracks himself up and does the most vile things, along with fractured ideas on how the world should treat each other. He is utterly without a soul or concience, and is truly insane.


Graphics: 8
The characters are still a bit blocky, still keeping with RPG tradition that graphics take second priority (little did we expect what FF7 would bring). The environments are quite detailed in the towns though, with hanging signs and flower boxes, Narshe with its puffing heaters and snowy streets, an airship casino with a built in felt tables. One noteworthy example is the opera house scene, which is full of graphical delights.

Traveling the overworld (a scaled down version of a map you walk on), mode 7 graphics have come a long way since demo'ed in Super Mario World, are used to give perspective on horizon and when flying about in your airship. by foot or by chocobo (a bird). The overworld graphics are heavily stretched, and are not a highlight. However, once you enter the world of ruin, the strange, sickly skyline and grey beaches lend a nice otherworldly feel.  The enemies on the battle screen are more detailed, sometimes showing a sharp contrast. Take Ultros, a mini-boss. From the overworld he looks rather small and silly, when you fight him he is large and positively demented with that row of teeth. Spell effects look good, however  most summons look compressed and detail is lost. While these are not the best looking graphics on SNES, they are nothing to sneeze at.


Sound: 10
FF6 continues the tradition of excellent music from this series. I honestly love ever piece of it, over 30 tracks. Each hero gets their own theme music to suit them, and in general, the overall feeling is just epic and grand. I have heard this music applied to a real symphony orchestra, and it works so well. The last bosses music is actually a series of suites, and to see it play out is wonderful. The title music also borrows from this last boss music. There are several styles included in this game, and many are applied to the location. Let me use an example, and discuss one of the most highlighted parts of this game - the opera house.

The Opera
Its a graphical and musical tour-de-force. You are there to meet the rich owner of the fastest airship in the world. One of you, Celes, has to go undercover and learn the lyrics to a song she must sing. The entire music is set to motion, the actors moving and fighting to the music, just as a true musical would be.  You have to learn her lines and say them before the melody gets too far and she blows her cover!

Uh-oh, theres more. While shes's singing to keep the airship guy's attention, you discover a murder plot. The music changes tempo and now you must race to stop Celes from being flattened. You are being timed the whole time, racing against the map and the enemies.  Its definitely one of the more dynamic points of the game, and memorable to a lot of people.


Addictiveness: 9
Its strange, as rpgs don't normally have lots of replay value after being them (its an investment), and this one features only one fixed ending - but I had no trouble replaying this game. 6 times I think. Even thinking about it gets me a little giddy to play it. I love the story of tech eclipsing magic and the long cast of characters and side missions were very interesting to me.
Since there are hidden elements such as characters to acquire, espers to get, and moves to discover, this could keep you busy for quite awhile. I had beaten the entire game before I found out about Edgar the toolman's secret chainsaw weapon. Or perhaps the hidden Odin familiar, or the coliseum. There is a lot to do here, but story scenes are unskippable- they might be tough to go through all that again.


Depth: 10
The most party characters of any Final Fantasy, and two whole worlds to explore - each with items, spells and people that you could not get again. The game is massive in scale, I m very impressed all this fit on a SNES cartridge. From ariship battles to undersea exploring, white-water rafting, mastering skills from enemies in the Veldt or with your blue mage - there is much to do here.

I also like this game has the seldom seen final attacks (desperation attacks) - the early precursor to limit breaks which dominated FF games later on. Despite playing the game to completion 6 times, I have only had about half of the characters perform a limit attack on screen.
I think this is also one of the last FF games to use perspective tricks with the camera and have areas that look closed off that you can actually go through (invisible entrances). And of course, what old school rpg worth its salt would not have a host of items in a house to loot and plunder.


Difficulty: 7
I found the difficulty perfect.I cannot recall any terribly hard part - the group battles involving your entire party can be easy or hard depending on the matchmaking you do - but thats the players responsibility, and a good reason to not keep characters underplayed, sitting on the bleachers.In typical role playing fashion, if you cannot pass something, you can level up enough until you can.


Final Score: 9.6
I enjoyed so much of this game. It is like hugs, it just gives and gives and gives. While at times the story might drag a bit, and the world of ruin might just be seen as fluff, I would never sell my copy of this game for SNES. I also bought the DS version, with includes an extra group dungeon. This game is one of the pinnacles of Square's talent. Money well spent!
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