The World is Square!
GAMEPLAY ~
This part will be broken down into Positives and Negatives.
+ POSITIVES +
+ Classic FF feeling from the always experienced random battles to over-world exploration, everything plays as well as it always did.
+ The active-time battle (ATB) system works remarkably well, for both you and the computer. Strategy is defiantly needed for some of the later enemies so charging head first isn't always an option.
+ The new team branching portion of the game is nicely done and really tests your team building skills.
+ Magic is learned universally in-game from the many different Espers acquired in game. Magic is accumulated when you defeat enemies and acquire their AP, when the AP of a certain spell reaches 100, you than learn it. Some Espers also add a leveling bonus like HP+ or some status upgrades like Strength or Stamina for example.
+ Over 12 different characters join your force each with their own personalities and powerful unique abilities.
+ Almost none of the characters become obsolete so leveling them up with both magic and skills is essential to finish this game without the constant fear of A "game over”.
- NEGATIVES -
- Due to such a huge cast of characters and the fact that those not in your initial party do not accumulated Exp., leveling up might take you much longer than expect.
- To ensure the best in HP you might find yourself jumping the HP+ Espers around to each character before they level up, another time consuming effort, but well worth it!
No real reason to complain much about game play as good as it was in the final days of the SNES.
STORY ~ 10 / 10
The game story speaks for itself. Nothing I can say will change that, so if you're a story kind of person... get this game immediately!
The game also host a great updated translation so alot more makes sense and all names aren't in capitals! But some name changes weren't necessary (Tritoch was changed to Valigarmanda, not really necessary...) yet everything else seems to fit more accurately.
ENJOY!
GRAPHICS ~
As impressive as it was on the SNES and the PS1. Nothing major has changed and the game experiences almost no slowdowns, unlike its PS1 counterpart, which was all slowdowns.
An maybe that was a problem in all, nothing graphically was changed from the original SNES. An part where graphics needed a MAJOR upgrade (Magitek Facility escape route, Chocobo riding) were not even touched, making for some unpleasant in eye candy. But those little quirks hardly draw away from the advancement made for the series.
Character sprites in-game represents both the over-world look and battle look. Giving each character their own actions and reactions that can also be duplicated wherever needed. They are double the size of past over-world FF sprites and twice as detailed. The over-world almost looks 3D as things become clearer as you explore the surroundings, and the airship segments are top of the line for it's day.
Battle magic and summoning spells are what should really draw you in. With many of the spells taking up the whole screen as well as many of those spells showing some background distortion and character distortion.
Alot of effort was put into making FFVI as good as it could be and it really when out with a bang for the series SNES line.
SOUND ~
FFVI for the SNES had one of the greatest, if not the greatest soundtracks ever produced for a video game ever and shines as Nobuo Uematsu crowning work in the series which hasn't been duplicated. Too bad the GAB hardware doesn’t let the soundtrack shine as well as it did on the console. I tried everything to make it sound remotely as good, and my answer? Appreciate it for what it sounds like now, cause we probably won't get a game like this again for some time! Also... try headphones.
The SFX were nicely done and FFVI is a host to many and doesn’t just stick with the same old stuff, it's use of the digital voice is actually clearer than the SNES, so when Maria sings it's almost like she is human, and the always crazy laugh of the maniacal mad man Kefka will ring true 'til my final days! Outstanding work... too bad the GBA just doesn’t have the audio tools it needed to get a perfect 10 in sound.
REPLAYABILITY ~
This is where FFVI will really draw you in! With an initial play time of 50 - 60 hours and a maximum stemming for as long as it takes you, you could play on the go for a long time! But lets not jump ahead! Lets bring other aspects up first!
Quicksave is a check! It works as well as the other series and during those branching quest expect to use it a bit. The game also offers you a Bestiary in-game and also a "New Game +" feature which carries over your stocked Bestiary... maybe they should add something else to the "New Game +" feature... there is also a Music Player available when completed, which I actually for once used!
Now lets speak of extras, FFVI is chock full of linear gameplay allowing you to undertake certain missions at your leisure. VI introduced the idea of optional characters that take a bit of sleuthing to find, as well as original characters you could pass up later in the game if you wanted. There are as well new Espers to collect, two are former enemies in FFV (Leviathan / Gilgamesh) and two summon beast from FFVIII (Cactuar / Diablos). Worth tracking down for the powerful spells they teach!
There are also two character skills that take a bit of time to fully complete, Strago's Lores (Blue Magic) and the always time consuming Veldt for Gau (Rages). The Veldt alone will suck up over 10 hours of your time! So it all falls into a game of patience and luck! An don't forget about utilizing the Coliseum to garner some powerful weapons, armor, and relics for your final confrontations with Kefka and the bonus dungeons.
The real draw of FFVI is the new bonus dungeon presented to give fans a bit more to do once the game is completed. It's called the dragons Den and inside expect to have some hard-times. The enemies are powerful the dungeon is one big puzzle and you'll be experiencing several of the more powerful dragon bosses you encountered earlier in a more powered up state. Only undertake if you are looking for a challenge.
Once the Dragon's Den is completed another new dungeon opens up, this time it's more of a boss-rush mode called the Soul Shrine. You get a medal for completion, so undertake at your own leisure.
OVERALL ~
As the title proclaims the world is indeed Square and with the fourth FF release for the GBA finally in hand we can close these chapters off until their release for another system gets underway!
As legendary as any game gets! An you should defiantly get it!