This is quite simply one of the best RPGs I've ever played. From the main story, to the game-play, everything shines in FF6, but what everyone remembers really about FF6 is the incredible "acting", evocative scenes, and endearing characters.
In my opinion, the characters make this game entirely. I don't think there's a gamer out there who has played this and doesn't remember Edgar and Sabin's coin toss, or Locke's freeing of Celes (an obvious knockoff of the Luke/Leia scene in Starwars ep 4), or the Opera House. The Opera House... such a throwaway component to the game's overall plot, even still not as significant to the characters themselves. But, I must say, what a beautifully staged scene, what wonderful directing, and what a memorable theme. The midi-composed opera theme was so rough and harsh, and yet still its beautiful melodic quality came out even in that form. I hear that theme and I still get chills.
And this is essentially a metaphor for what is so great about final fantasy 6. Looking back, it was a medium with so many limitations, such a small constrained box to work in. It was a media that was about to be turned around and revolutionized by full motion videos and three dimensional character models. It had all the limitations of space and size, with characters only a few dozen pixels tall, and music that could only blurt out in synthesized tones. The last game of that generation had all these limitations, and yet it possessed a core that was irrepressibly beautiful. Whether it was the character arcs or the individual stories, the acting, the character interaction, the game sucked you in and made you care for these little guys.
This doesn't really read like a review, but I would have to admit that it isn't. It's not a review, it's more of a nostalgic love-letter to a game that ended an era by taking things to the basics. In the end, what a good dramatic RPG, Film, or Book wants to do is get you to feel real emotion, and to identify with the characters and scenes it presents. So this is what I would say to someone who hasn't played ff6: Even though its storyline is certainly not the most complex in the world, even though the graphics are decades old, even though there's no voice acting, even though there is no full orchestral score, even though all these things may be true, you will still fall in love with all of the main characters in it and you'll be surprised you did.
In my opinion, the characters make this game entirely. I don't think there's a gamer out there who has played this and doesn't remember Edgar and Sabin's coin toss, or Locke's freeing of Celes (an obvious knockoff of the Luke/Leia scene in Starwars ep 4), or the Opera House. The Opera House... such a throwaway component to the game's overall plot, even still not as significant to the characters themselves. But, I must say, what a beautifully staged scene, what wonderful directing, and what a memorable theme. The midi-composed opera theme was so rough and harsh, and yet still its beautiful melodic quality came out even in that form. I hear that theme and I still get chills.
And this is essentially a metaphor for what is so great about final fantasy 6. Looking back, it was a medium with so many limitations, such a small constrained box to work in. It was a media that was about to be turned around and revolutionized by full motion videos and three dimensional character models. It had all the limitations of space and size, with characters only a few dozen pixels tall, and music that could only blurt out in synthesized tones. The last game of that generation had all these limitations, and yet it possessed a core that was irrepressibly beautiful. Whether it was the character arcs or the individual stories, the acting, the character interaction, the game sucked you in and made you care for these little guys.
This doesn't really read like a review, but I would have to admit that it isn't. It's not a review, it's more of a nostalgic love-letter to a game that ended an era by taking things to the basics. In the end, what a good dramatic RPG, Film, or Book wants to do is get you to feel real emotion, and to identify with the characters and scenes it presents. So this is what I would say to someone who hasn't played ff6: Even though its storyline is certainly not the most complex in the world, even though the graphics are decades old, even though there's no voice acting, even though there is no full orchestral score, even though all these things may be true, you will still fall in love with all of the main characters in it and you'll be surprised you did.