Final Fantasy VI

I'm a big fan of the Final Fantasy series and this is one of my favorites. Definitely one of the best games on the SNES with its gorgeous visuals, sweeping musical score (courtesy of Nobuo Uematsu), engrossing narrative and a memorable cast of ensemble characters (my favorites include Terra, Edgar, his bro Sabin, and Celes), and one of the most unforgettable villains in video game history: Kefka. From his diabolical laugh, his power, and a feat I won't mention here in case anyone hasn't played it yet, you have to play it to find out, though I will say you'll never forget it. I haven't found all the secrets, but I've come back to this one time and time again. Add this to your VG bucket list if you haven't already done so.

Released in the United States as Final Fantasy III originally, this role playing game contains a combination of drama, science fiction, and action into something resembling an independent film noir turned into a video game.

The story starts by explaining what has happened in the world up to that point in an intro story, and we are then introduced to three soldiers of the Empire in their mechanical Tek Armor: Vicks and Wedge, two bland troops, and Terra, a brainwashed prodigy. They enter the frozen Northern city of Narshe in search of a creature called an Esper. They fight through the city's defenses, but get more than they bargain for once they discover the creature in the caves to the North of Narshe. Since this is a video game, seeing the story progress depends on you being successful in the game, and you can achieve slightly different outcomes depending on your actions.

Terra is the center of the game, with Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, and Cyan also as lead characters (did I mention the cast is big?). Supporting characters include Shadow, Gau, Strago, Relm, Umaro, Gogo, Mog, Setzer, General Leo, Getsahl, and Ultros, with Kefka as the resident villain.

I am a big fan of film, television, literature, and video games (I have no life), and am familiar with all four mediums. I have to say, Final Fantasy III is better than most movies I have seen, and I have seen a lot of good movies. Although the dialogue can be cheesy at times, and the scene at the Opera House is awful, there are many good points. The overall plot is astounding, but I do have to say it could only work in video game format, not film or television. Maybe literature. Still, the writing is great and original. The art direction is fantastic. The design of the backgrounds, characters, and monsters (especially in the battle scenes) is the most creative I have seen.

The best part, however, is the soundtrack. The music for this game is just amazing. Excluding the Opera House scene, every track for this game is something I would listen to, and i'm generally not even into instrumental music. I could start naming names, but everyone who worked on this project did a good job, so I won't pick and choose. Easily the best video game of all time, and better than most movies.

You have to understand, I first played this game when I was 11 years old and it was one of the most amazing and emotional things I'd gotten involved with at that age. Sure, I read books all the time, but video games added the element of interactivity and that made me feel more involved in the story. I cried, I cheered, I fell in love with the characters. I scribbled quotes from the game all over my notebooks and dreamed about being part of the cast of characters.

That said, this game is from the SNES days, and if you've played RPGs from that era, you may understand that the standards for writing and translation were significantly lower than they are today. Dialogue is frequently awkward and badly-written, and the scenes that once moved me to tears are (seen from more mature and experienced eyes) very brief, often too brief to really have the necessary emotional impact. It's like someone had a really good idea that was lost in translation, but as much as I like to make fun of the translator, I suspect that the writing in the original Japanese wasn't much more sophisticated. That, I think, is where this game really suffers. If you are playing it for the first time today, comparing it to modern games, please bear in mind that its writing was excellent for the time but has not aged well. Everyone fixates on how graphics have changed over time, but I think that the level of writing is a more significant and noticeable difference and I think that if people want to judge a game by fair standards, they have to take that into consideration as well.

The music, as many people have said, is one of the strongest points in the game. There's really not much else to say except that it's really good and adds necessary emotional oomph to key scenes. The graphics were great for the time, and I think they're still pretty solid for what they are. The gameplay is ... well, it's Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy gameplay is always solid and never amazing, but at least there's nothing horrid about it like the FF8 Draw system. If you've played any Final Fantasy game, you have some idea of what to expect.

I kind of wish that they could remake this game and help it live up to its potential. The characters (many of them) have the start of excellent development, enough that some of them remain my favorite characters of all time, but the writing does not do them any favors. If the writing could be brought up to modern standards, I think there's enough of the human soul in this game to forgive its save-the-world storyline.

You know, the wonderful gameplay isn't this game's best feature. The best feature would have to be the story. The game stars 15 heroes, who are determined to demolish the Empire for separate reasons. No two characters are the same in this game, and are all unique in their own way. The game start off, like many Square Soft games (like FF4 and 7,) with the main character doing the dirty work for the evil side. When The Empire discovered she had the mysterious gift of magic, they quickly placed a slave crown on her, which put her under their control. One day while invading the town of Narshe, Terra and two other troops (Vicks and Wedge) come across a glowing crystal. Vicks and Wedge were instantly killed by stepping too close. However, the crystal has a mysterious effect on Terra, as she feels drawn towards it. Suddenly, lighting begins to flicker between Terra and the crystal, as if they're becoming one. Terra passes out, and finds that a local from Narshe took her inside once she wakes up. He takes the slave crown off her head, and for once Terra can think straight. However, she doesn't get too much time to think, as Emperial Troops soon come barging down the door. They need Terra's power back! Fearing for her life, Terra runs into a nearby hospital, where she falls down a manhole, and is knocked unconscious. The Empirials almost capture her, but a wandering thief (or he prefers, "Treasure hunter") named Locke comes in for the rescue just in time. Terra soon wakes up after being rescued, and tries to explain what happened. However, Terra has a hard time thinking after falling. Locke is frightened, as he's heard of how powerful Terra truly is. He's going to need help to save her, preferably the king of Figaro, Edgar!

If this intro intrigues you, then your jaw will drop in awe at least 7 times while playing this game. There's a total of 15 heroes, each with their own reason for joining the fight against the Empire. Characters range from Mog the Moogle (who joins your team after you save him from falling off the edge of a mountain) to Shadow (a mysterious man who is thought to be ruthless. However, he has a very soft side too, and finds love in his companions. He shows no love at all to the Empire however.) Overall, I have never been more impressed by a storyline than in this game (including books, movies, and TV dramas.)

From the moment you power on your SNES or PSX to the moments the final credits crawl across your screen this game will hold you under it's spell for hours at a time. The quality of this game can be seen in every part of it be it the music, Uematsu Nobue the Character design Yoshitaka Amano or simply the amazing story this game shines above all the rest even through it's age. Simply put for those who never had a chance to play this masterpiece back in 1994 do yourself a favour and buy the rerelease on the Sony Playstation because if you can enjoy a good movie you can enjoy this game.