Final Fantasy 6 is a masterpiece, still holds strong today against today's RPGs, Final Fantasy or otherwise.
Final Fantasy 6 has your basic Rebels Vs The Empire plot line, but it’s told beautifully throughout with many sub plots mixed into it. Each character within the game has their own story to tell and amazingly, each character is enduring and memorable, charming and you do care about them. The story is too complex and long to post on this review, but what I will post is it's stunning from start to finish.
The game plays in a similar vein as previous games and indeed, the sequels. You travel through towns and cities; dungeons and castles and of course, the world map. You still have the random battles, which may grate you at some point in the game (but if you're a Final Fantasy fan you should be used to it by now) and the combat is still menu driven. But you must appreciate this title introduce many core elements that have been implemented into future Final Fantasy titles ever since. Although Final Fantasy 6 didn't introduce the Active Time Bar, it did allow the player the choice to choose which character they wish to pick first (if their time bar is filled up of course). Also, Final Fantasy 6 introduced the "Death Blow", or in other words the Limit Break move. After a character takes a certain amount of hits, for example, the character has access to a move called "Death Blow" that deals a critical amount of damage to the enemy. This game also marks the final appearance of four characters in a party (but four characters get introduced back into the party on Final Fantasy 9).
The game looks amazing and it still amazes me on how they managed to fit this game into a SNES cartridge. Each town looks divine, each dungeon has it's own unique atmosphere and the character sprites are just adorable. Of course, I haven't forgotten that this game is a re-release for the Playstation and it can be argued that it does look a bit primitive, which is why Square integrated CGI cut scenes into key moments. They're pretty to look at but I felt they weren’t really needed. The soundtrack for Final Fantasy 6 is one of the best in the entire series and although due to the limitations of the sound chip of the SNES, it does sound a bit dated. But that would be missing the point because the quality of the music, sound effects etc are simply marvellous to listen too after all these years.
Make no mistake; Final Fantasy 6 is a gigantic game with other 60 hours of game time in it. It also boasts the biggest playable character list in the series. With a staggering 14 permanent characters to choose from with many more guest characters to the party. The Playstation port also boasts a bestiary to complete, but that's about in terms of new content. Final Fantasy 6 is a wonderful title to own. If you were unfortunate enough to miss out on the initial release of this game way back in 1994 then this is your chance to play a fantastic title. If you can get over the fact that this is a 2-D RPG then you'll find one hell of a game in store for you. The story is superb, the characters are expertly designed and the battles are fun and frustrating. Just like any Final Fantasy title really. New fans of the series won't see the importance of Final Fantasy 6, but they will see a great game and that’s all that matters. Buy it.