I am now 20 hours into Final Fantasy VI for the first time, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite games. I have played all of the other main series Final Fantasies, and I have seen the endings of Final Fantasy 1,2,4,7,10, and 13, and this game has already become one of my favorites in the series.

One of the biggest things that make this game so great in my eyes is the inclusion of espers. For those that haven't played Final Fantasy VI espers are the system in this game used for both magic and summoning. You equip an esper to each of your party members and then you can summon the esper into battle. When you level up you are given a different stat bonus for whichever esper you have equipped, and you are also given magic points at the end of every battle that gradually allow you to learn the spells associated with each esper. This allows you to put a lot of customization into your party members, and it also allows you to teach every single spell in the game to as many playable characters as you wish. This system is one of the best systems ever put into a Final Fantasy game, and it makes the game incredibly addictive. The only Final Fantasy that I feel even rivals this system is the materia system from Final Fantasy VII.

I am also extremely impressed with the graphics in this game. Flying around in the air ship looks absolutely phenomenal when you consider that this game runs on a 16-bit 4 MHz processor it really shows how good the people that made this game were at making video games.

I just got into the second world, and I am currently gathering my party, so I can go and take on the final dungeon. I can't wait to see what happens in this game, since the story has also been another high point in this game.

i'll say it: best snes game. second best... maaaybe tied for best ff.

@killacam said:

i'll say it: best snes game. second best... maaaybe tied for best ff.

I'll will wait until I see the ending before I make that decision. If VI isn't your favorite Final Fantasy which one would be?

@bam13950 said:

@killacam said:

i'll say it: best snes game. second best... maaaybe tied for best ff.

I'll will wait until I see the ending before I make that decision. If VI isn't your favorite Final Fantasy which one would be?

i have to go with VII. shocker, i know. sephiroth, materia, buster sword, midgar, clones, pseudio-sci-fi.. that game and i, we just get each other.

yours? FFVI notwithstanding.

It's my favorite FF too. It has my favorite story, favorite cast of characters, favorite soundtrack, Kefka is tied for first place with Sephiroth as my favorite villain and 18 years later its gameplay mechanics don't feel archaic by modern jrpg standards.

It's an amazing game. It and Chrono Trigger make for a famtastoc double JRPG bill.

Love it, my favorite Final Fantasy and one of my overall favorite games. I usually do a play through every few years or so. Enjoy the rest of the ride.

I was actually thinking about this the other day, so I pose a question to fellow FF6 fans - would you want some sort of sequel to this game from modern-day Square Enix? A part of myself would like to experience more adventures with the FF6 cast and would be willing to take a chance that it would not live up to the hype nor my standards.

Fuck yes. Kefka is easily the best FF villain and the characters are some of the best in the series. VI, VII, and IX are my top three.

@bam13950: Make sure to get GoGo and Umaro. FFVI is great, I really like how each of the characters have there gimmick. Sabin has the fighting game moves. Mog dances, Ed has the chain saws and machine cross bows. Also good story. The graphics also hold up better than FF7.

@joshthebear said:

Fuck yes. Kefka is easily the best FF villain and the characters are some of the best in the series. VI, VII, and IX are my top three.

Why? Why is he the best villain? I found him stupid and moronic. Playing Final Fantasy Dissidia just aggravated that fact when they gave him obnoxious voice acting.

I still haven't played all the way through FF6 (maybe I'll have time to actually do that this summer, after I finish Mass Effect 3, Persona 3: FES, and The Witcher 2), but it has always been my favorite in the series. That said, I've never been the hugest Final Fantasy fan. There's something about the aesthetic and tone of the series that has always turned me off. Maybe it's just the fact that Final Fantasy games take themselves so damn seriously.

It's a great game. Probably my favorite SNES game. @Clinkz said:

@joshthebear said:

Fuck yes. Kefka is easily the best FF villain and the characters are some of the best in the series. VI, VII, and IX are my top three.

Why? Why is he the best villain? I found him stupid and moronic. Playing Final Fantasy Dissidia just aggravated that fact when they gave him obnoxious voice acting.

I like Kefka, but he isn't my favorite villain. He's pretty one-dimensional which makes him a little less interesting to me.

I really liked what I played of FF6. I got pretty far into it (I've passed the bit where things go to hell, without saying too much), but I stopped playing not long after that. I think I was distracted by another game and never got back to it. This happened during a time where I wasn't as disciplined at finishing games as I try to be now. I still have the save file for it (I played it on the PS3), but I'll probably start from the beginning when I get round to it again. As much as I have a good memory and remember a lot of what happened, I think I'd probably benefit from a fresh start to get the full experience (and also because I think I focus on levelling better than I did a few years ago).

FF8 is my fav, then 6, then 7, then 9. I'm a veteran of the series, played them all till the very end... except the mmo... though I tried it.

I should probably play this at some point... what's the best way to play? The original FFIII for snes? Or Final Fantasy VI Advance...?

It is great. I actually got around to beating it recently even though I've gotten to the end like three times already. Not "best of SNES" great (that'd be Chrono Trigger or Super Metroid or...well, I have a list.) But yes, probably my second or third favorite FF game. My favorite 2D one easily. VIII or IX are both pretty freaking sweet for different reasons too. Not to troll, but screw VII. I didn't like that game much at all.

@TooWalrus said:

I should probably play this at some point... what's the best way to play? The original FFIII for snes? Or Final Fantasy VI Advance...?

The SNES original is the most...pure(?) way to play it I guess, but the GBA port is great and has better translation as well. Plus, it's portable so easier to just play in quick bursts all the time instead of having to hook up the SNES and kick your roommates off it so you can play a game that's almost 18 years old and kind of esoteric and boring looking to anybody around...plus it's cheaper on the GBA, so I'd say go with that unless you're into SNES collecting. Which I am.

best FF and RPG of all time.

Glad you're playing this! One of the best games ever!

It would be even better without randomly triggered encounters.

And without the load times that were introduced in virtually all successive versions of the game. Yes that 'really shows how good the people that made this game were at making video games.''

I think it has the best overall story in the series, and Terra is probably the best main character of them all (I'd say X would be the best in the series if it weren't for Tidus). My only complaint is that it really holds your hand with the difficulty for a large part of the game. Most of the battles throughout the first half are total gimmes. That little quip aside, it's a classic. Glad you're getting into it

@killacam said:

@bam13950 said:

@killacam said:

i'll say it: best snes game. second best... maaaybe tied for best ff.

I'll will wait until I see the ending before I make that decision. If VI isn't your favorite Final Fantasy which one would be?

i have to go with VII. shocker, i know. sephiroth, materia, buster sword, midgar, clones, pseudio-sci-fi.. that game and i, we just get each other.

yours? FFVI notwithstanding.

I am split between VII and X. Final Fantasy X was the first FInal Fantasy I ever finished, so I think that plays a big role on that one being up on my list, and VII is just awesome. Final Fantasy VI may be joining as a third favorite.

@frankfartmouth said:

(I'd say X would be the best in the series if it weren't for Tidus)

The voice acting is pretty bad too.

@cmblasko said:

I was actually thinking about this the other day, so I pose a question to fellow FF6 fans - would you want some sort of sequel to this game from modern-day Square Enix? A part of myself would like to experience more adventures with the FF6 cast and would be willing to take a chance that it would not live up to the hype nor my standards.

I personally have never had too much interest in playing the sequals, but when I run out of main series Final Fantasy's to play my mind may change on that. I think it would be awesome if they redid VI on the 3DS, and I bet by the time the 3DS' successor comes along we will at least have a 3DS remake.

@MormonWarrior said:

Not "best of SNES" great (that'd be Chrono Trigger or Super Metroid or...well, I have a list.)

Super Metroid is my favorite SNES game hands down.

@Nottle said:

@bam13950: Make sure to get GoGo and Umaro.

I plan on getting everything although I already missed 2 espers from before the world goes to hell.

@killacam said:

i have to go with VII. shocker, i know. sephiroth, materia, buster sword, midgar, clones, pseudio-sci-fi.. that game and i, we just get each other.

Yes, I agree! FFVII's my fave, with FFVIII my second favorite. After that, if we don't count the MMORPG I've given countless hours to, lol, it could be FFVI... I certainly like what I played, but I didn't get very far.

Judging by Dissidia (not any character's best showing, I'm sure...), Kefka's my least favorite FF villain, though. He's certainly maniacal and cruel and sufficiently villanious, but there's nothing really interesting about him or his motivations like I got with most every other FF villain in the Dissidia series (Cloud of Darkness was the only one I can think of that was more of a non-entity in terms of personality or motivation). Kefka just seemed kind of one-note. That one note is played to perfection, sure, I just look for more in a villain.

I didn't like it.....I prefer FFV.

I agree its my third favorite FF. FFIX and FFX beat it for my top 2 favorites, but a damn good game nontheless.

It's a damn masterpiece. A 16-bit game that takes on suicide, teen pregnancy, and what happens when the bad guy succeeds in blowing up the world? With interactive opera, and a party member whose special moves are achieved with Street Fighter button combos? Best FF ever for me, and I played through them ALL (even FF11, where after about 13 months I got in a party, beat the Shadowlord, and said "peace" to my server).

@GalacticPunt said:

It's a damn masterpiece. A 16-bit game that takes on suicide, teen pregnancy, and what happens when the bad guy succeeds in blowing up the world? With interactive opera, and a party member whose special moves are achieved with Street Fighter button combos? Best FF ever for me, and I played through them ALL (even FF11, where after about 13 months I got in a party, beat the Shadowlord, and said "peace" to my server).

Impresive I never got into 11 I am just not a fan of MMO's. Did you play any of 14?

Yeah it's great only better game ever made is Chrono Trigger. 

The most impressive thing about it is how they fit so much stuff on an SNES cartridge. That cart was STUFFED, which explains what I find most interesting; namely that in addition to being full of data, the game is filled to the brim with incredibly odd errors.

No, seriously, to the brim. Everyone knows about stuff like the vanish-doom bug, which allows you to bypass enemy's resistance to instant death and kill pretty much anything in two actions, or the sketch bug, which has the game load data from junk data if Sketch is selected while Mute is in the lead character's 28th spell slot. But did you know that the evade stat is useless (the game uses magic evade for both evasion types)? Or that you can end up with live character at zero hp who is invincible unless healed? Or how about THIS(link contains spoilers), probably the most awesome glitch exploitation you will ever see?

It's a great game when played legitimately. It's EVEN BETTER when you take it apart and see how it's held together with twine and prayers.

i love 8 for some reason , though its a toss up between 5 6 and 7 for actual "best" imo , i dunno . out of square games secret of mana and chrono trigger rank way higher than all of those for me , ... how about fftactics ? eheh

That game is amazing in every way possible.

The semi Steampunk aesthetic was one of the thing's I really like about it.. But hearing you're explanation of the Espers really reminds me of FFVIII's GF system.. I think Kefka was evil but was nothing really beyond being evil for the sake of evil (It has been a while since I played it)

@gamefreak9 said:

FF8 is my fav, then 6, then 7, then 9. I'm a veteran of the series, played them all till the very end... except the mmo... though I tried it.

I echo this, but I've started to recently play through 9 and damn how could I have missed that when it originally came out

@bam13950: it is the game that ushered me into the world of JRPGS on the SNES which of course lead to MMORPGs and into RPGs like Fallout, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so on... its been a wonderful gaming life and I seriously owe it all to this game.

Not only that but it weirdly opened my eyes to the world of Art in a lot of ways, if you can, try to get your hands on the manual, which is chock full of handdrawn art by the famous artist and character designer Yoshitaka Amamo.

If you dont know what I mean, just google images the name and be ready to be blown away.

Cheers.

FF6 graphics spoiled me, almost all other 2D games look like they were fanmade, even in later gens and on DS/PSP.

but it has randomly triggered encounters so it is not a good game.

I like it a lot, in spite of the espers. I just think that is a really convoluted and awkward way to level up. The materia system is way better for spell customization and assigning points to stats would make way more sense then having to reassign espers all the fucking time. Fuck man, the Sphere Grid makes more sense than espers.

Not to bitch too much though. It's a legitmiately amazing game, and even if you don't care too much about esper allocation and just kind of roll with it, the game is easy enough to manage anyway. So the complaint falls fairly moot in the grand scheme.

@Genkkaku said:

The semi Steampunk aesthetic was one of the thing's I really like about it.. But hearing you're explanation of the Espers really reminds me of FFVIII's GF system.. I think Kefka was evil but was nothing really beyond being evil for the sake of evil (It has been a while since I played it)

@gamefreak9 said:

FF8 is my fav, then 6, then 7, then 9. I'm a veteran of the series, played them all till the very end... except the mmo... though I tried it.

I echo this, but I've started to recently play through 9 and damn how could I have missed that when it originally came out

i'm still torn if I prefer 9 to 7. I usually just say 7 because its the commonly accepted answer.

I have a troubled history with FF6. I've played into the second phase three times and never beat it, despite wanting to. I keep trying to pick it back up, but I've gotten to the point where I actively hate the first part of the game and its incessant random encounters. I don't know if FFVI actually has a higher encounter rate than 7 or 8, but it sure seems like it. (IV and V are not my basis for comparison, I never liked them).

I will hand one thing to FF6; best music.

I'm actually playing through the series as part of my FF Marathon, currently up to Final Fantasy V. I'm enjoying the heck out of that and I'm really looking forward to the next game.

@gamefreak9: I can see the charm 9 has, though I'm not very far through it yet, I could see myself liking it more than 7 as much as I love that game, the music, the story, Sephiroth.. Since I believe 8 is the best I'm okay with putting 7 high on my list but there are one's I enjoy more, I think it's just because 7 is the pure embodiment of a JRPG and it came out at the right time..