14. Final Fantasy VI (1994) – SNES
The history of Final Fantasy VI is confusing. Some may remember it as Final Fantasy III on Super Nintendo. The numerical discrepancy is a result of widely divergent release dates between Japan, where the games are made, and North America. It takes a great deal of time to prepare these games for release outside of native Japan, because there is a wealth of dialogue that needs to be translated, along with all the other packaging and menu literature. Final Fantasy I came out for the original Nintendo in both Japan and North America, and, in Japan, Final Fantasies II and III also came out for Nintendo, but while localizing the sequels for North America, Super Nintendo was released, the localization was halted, and we would not see these sequels for well over fifteen years. So when Final Fantasy IV was released in Japan, it became Final Fantasy II in North America, the first entry on the Super Nintendo platform. For some reason Final Fantasy V was skipped and Final Fantasy VI was released as Final Fantasy III on North American Super Nintendos. Phew. Thankfully today, with the growing homogeny of global media distribution, most of these discrepancies have worked themselves out, and all the franchise sequels have be reinserted into their proper order worldwide, as the earlier games are remade or updated for release on handhelds.
I`m sorry if that was boring, but I find the history here really interesting. Now onto the game. Final Fantasy VI is an extremely important entry in the franchise, widely regarded as the best. It has the longest, most intricate, involving storyline that the series has ever told, it has one of the weirdest, most frightening villains aside from Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII), and the soundtrack is one of the highlights of Nobuo Uematsu`s work for the franchise.
Final Fantasy VI is the only core franchise entry to feature a female in the lead role; although, after the initial chapters, it becomes clear that this is an ensemble piece. Final Fantasy VI has one of the largest casts in franchise history, it even has a couple optional characters that are easy to miss altogether if you`re not paying attention. The game spends an incredible amount of time building each character, everyone has a complicated history that slowly fleshes out as you progress. The majority of the game time, which is epic, is spent exploring individual characters and relationships, it only briefly lingers on the main plotline about a group rebels seeking to overthrow an anarchistic dictator who seeks to reunite a long forgotten magic with modern technology , which would, of course, result in total devastation. It is this total dedication to the characters that makes VI deeply memorable.
Nobuo Uematsu really shines here, producing a catalogue of themes and melodies and span three full discs, a first for the series. It`s amazing that Uematsu composes such beautiful, emotional music given the limitations of the technology he had to work with; the music was still limited to 16-bit midi tracks. I have come to appreciate his soundtrack even further after picking up the Piano Collection of music from Final Fantasy VI: hearing his music on a real instrument only affirms the composer`s genius. If you doubt me, look no further than Terra`s Theme that opens the game, while we watch our enslaved protagonist cross a barren, frozen landscape, on her way to obliterate an innocent village.
The graphics are about as advanced as one could ever expect for the Super Nintendo, yet the emotional responses of the characters are still limited to simple winks and anime-type expressions like teardrops or exclamation marks. The dialogue carries a lot of the weight that the visuals cannot, and the characters, their histories, and their journeys still manage to retain a lot of potency. The artwork is till gorgeous and the themes are still timeless. Final Fantasy VI is a classic in every sense of the word.
The history of Final Fantasy VI is confusing. Some may remember it as Final Fantasy III on Super Nintendo. The numerical discrepancy is a result of widely divergent release dates between Japan, where the games are made, and North America. It takes a great deal of time to prepare these games for release outside of native Japan, because there is a wealth of dialogue that needs to be translated, along with all the other packaging and menu literature. Final Fantasy I came out for the original Nintendo in both Japan and North America, and, in Japan, Final Fantasies II and III also came out for Nintendo, but while localizing the sequels for North America, Super Nintendo was released, the localization was halted, and we would not see these sequels for well over fifteen years. So when Final Fantasy IV was released in Japan, it became Final Fantasy II in North America, the first entry on the Super Nintendo platform. For some reason Final Fantasy V was skipped and Final Fantasy VI was released as Final Fantasy III on North American Super Nintendos. Phew. Thankfully today, with the growing homogeny of global media distribution, most of these discrepancies have worked themselves out, and all the franchise sequels have be reinserted into their proper order worldwide, as the earlier games are remade or updated for release on handhelds.
I`m sorry if that was boring, but I find the history here really interesting. Now onto the game. Final Fantasy VI is an extremely important entry in the franchise, widely regarded as the best. It has the longest, most intricate, involving storyline that the series has ever told, it has one of the weirdest, most frightening villains aside from Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII), and the soundtrack is one of the highlights of Nobuo Uematsu`s work for the franchise.
Final Fantasy VI is the only core franchise entry to feature a female in the lead role; although, after the initial chapters, it becomes clear that this is an ensemble piece. Final Fantasy VI has one of the largest casts in franchise history, it even has a couple optional characters that are easy to miss altogether if you`re not paying attention. The game spends an incredible amount of time building each character, everyone has a complicated history that slowly fleshes out as you progress. The majority of the game time, which is epic, is spent exploring individual characters and relationships, it only briefly lingers on the main plotline about a group rebels seeking to overthrow an anarchistic dictator who seeks to reunite a long forgotten magic with modern technology , which would, of course, result in total devastation. It is this total dedication to the characters that makes VI deeply memorable.
Nobuo Uematsu really shines here, producing a catalogue of themes and melodies and span three full discs, a first for the series. It`s amazing that Uematsu composes such beautiful, emotional music given the limitations of the technology he had to work with; the music was still limited to 16-bit midi tracks. I have come to appreciate his soundtrack even further after picking up the Piano Collection of music from Final Fantasy VI: hearing his music on a real instrument only affirms the composer`s genius. If you doubt me, look no further than Terra`s Theme that opens the game, while we watch our enslaved protagonist cross a barren, frozen landscape, on her way to obliterate an innocent village.
The graphics are about as advanced as one could ever expect for the Super Nintendo, yet the emotional responses of the characters are still limited to simple winks and anime-type expressions like teardrops or exclamation marks. The dialogue carries a lot of the weight that the visuals cannot, and the characters, their histories, and their journeys still manage to retain a lot of potency. The artwork is till gorgeous and the themes are still timeless. Final Fantasy VI is a classic in every sense of the word.
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