Final Fantasy VI (Pixel Remaster)

If Final Fantasy IV was my first real RPG, Final Fantasy VI would have been my second. For most of my life I would point at this game and say that it was my favourite game of all time, or at least my favourite RPG. It helped solidify the groundwork FFIV laid for me as a kid, with its improved graphics, huge cast of characters, and mostly self-driven open world in the latter half of the game.

Yet playing it through again, I can see that nostalgia may have clouded my vision and memory of what I played. Or maybe I'm just older and have stronger opinions than I had as an 11-year-old when it comes to video games.

What I Didn't Like

World of Balance Narrative

When I talk about FFVI as one of my favourite games of all time, it is usually because of the characters and the character development. I remember thinking that FFVI was amazing and all the characters were enjoyable and loved in one way or another.

But now, I can see that my imagination and various side stories in both the official and unofficial player's guides that I could get my hands on helped me fill in the blanks.

As much as I enjoy all the characters, not all of them are created equally. There are parts in the story where you only get to play with the characters for an hour or less (unless you're grinding out some levels). Beyond the lack of exposure to some characters, the linear nature of the plot means characters just go in and out of your party constantly, again not giving you a lot to go on.

To be clear, I understand that this was groundbreaking at the time and had a lasting impact on my preferences in games and game development.

Yet, playing it now, I couldn't help but feel surprised how uninterested I was in the plot. You can even see the evidence of that in my start and completion dates, being that I started in March, put it down in April, and finally came back to it while I was on vacation this summer.

Once the story moves past the World of Balance, it opens up and all those nostalgic feelings start to come back. However, those rose-tinted glasses did not work on the first half of the game.

What I Liked

Graphical and Audio Upgrades

In the Pixel Remaster version, the graphics and audio got a significant upgrade.

For the audio, you can switch between the original soundtrack and a fully orchestrated one. I kept the orchestrated one playing, as I feel that high-quality audio is what I remember with my nostalgic lens looking back.

For the graphics, they kept the original pixel art, but cleaned it up for modern displays. They also added some special effects here and there to spruce things up a bit without taking away from the original charm. Again, I appreciated these little upgrades around the game, as it looked like "how I remember" even though I know full well that graphics like that (beyond the pixel art) were not possible.

They did a great job remastering this one, IMHO.

Character Versatility

While I was watching David Vinc a while ago, he mentioned (and I'm paraphrasing here) that FFVI was the first one to let you do whatever you wanted to all the characters. As in, each character started with a default job, but through the power of the espers and magicite, you could tailor their stats and abilities to almost anything you wanted.

It wasn't completely open, but the fact that all the characters could have their stats manipulated while leveling and anyone could learn any spell really felt more open than most RPGs of the time.

When I was younger, I didn't know this was special due to my lack of experience with RPGs. However, playing it now I can see how this freedom of choice really spiced things up for the player. For the first time, leveling yourself up wasn't the only thing to make your party overpowered. You could level up and tailor everyone to become power mages or, in my case, create some muscle heads AND mages to handle anything the game threw at you.

All in all—this is really cool, and something I want to understand a little more in-depth from a game design point of view. More specifically, how this sort of thing impacts design, if at all.

Conclusion

I still love Final Fantasy VI, but not for what I remember as a child.

When I look back, I realize that I have played Final Fantasy IV so much more over the years as compared to Final Fantasy VI. Really, it's because of the amount of work FFVI is in comparison. With FFIV, you just play and the game guides you through the story and then you win (with some levelling).

Easy peasy lemon-squeezy.

With FFVI, there is a lot to do. Not only do you need to collect all the characters, but you also need to complete the second half of the game in an open, self-driven way. It requires more effort by design, and that's not a bad thing—but it's also not as much comfort gaming as I would like some days.

In any case, I still appreciate this game for what it is, and I would say that it is still in my top 10—but I really need to reflect a bit to decide if it is my favourite RPG or even if it's my favourite Final Fantasy anymore.