Final Fantasy VI
Brandon g
Final Fantasy VI (which was called Final Fantasy III when it was first released in the U.S. in 1994) is considered by many to be the best RPG of all time. It was the first game in the series to give you a choice as to which of the 14 characters was in your party. There was no central character—the story focused on the entire group and the events surrounding them. (Arguably, Terra could be seen as the protagonist of the first half of the game and Celes as the protagonist of the second half, but the fact that it's still up for debate says a lot about how forward-thinking this game was, plot-wise.)
Not that this game isn't without its Final Fantasy logic. For starters, of the three playable female characters, only one of them appears to be wearing any pants. (Attention Squaresoft: Army generals do not get to where they are by not wearing any pants. Or if they do, they at least wear pants when they're on-duty.) Also, the lonely, vulnerable girl with amnesia ends up being the key to the destruction of the earth. (She's not wearing any pants, either.) A great game, but true to its Final Fantasy roots.
What is Love?
The theme of this game is love. All types of love are covered: romantic love, fraternal love, love for a group of orphaned children, love that makes you kidnap a celebrity and force her to marry you—everything. But before you start thinking that this game is for sissies, you should know love compels people to kick some serious ass (in this game, anyway).
In the second half of the game, almost every character discovers love in one way or another: one cares for a group of orphaned children, one succeeds in restoring his lost love, one is finally able to say goodbye to his recently-deceased family, one finds a bandana and goes from being the tough girl to being extremely girly for the rest of the game. The surprising part is that, in all cases, discovering love gives them a desire maim or kill everything that gets in their way, whether it be evil villains, dinosaurs, or random townspeople.
Culture Shock
Previous Final Fantasy games have been interesting, but they didn't quite make the cut to be considered works of art—they just weren't cultured enough. Not so with Final Fantasy VI! Final Fantasy VI features a full-blown opera. If you don't believe me, here's the music from the only interactive scene (composer: Nobuo Uematsu, 1993). Here's a transcript of the entire scene (translated, of course), if you want to take a look at it. A whole opera. Take that, Legend of Zelda!
And then, as if that weren't enough, they threw in a little girl who aspired to be an artist. This wasn't just a poor, vulnerable little girl that you had to save from certain destruction, however; it was a playable character. That's right—this game is so cultured that you have a character who literally uses a paintbrush as a weapon.
And let's not forget about Cyan Garamonde! Despite everyone else in the game, including the people of his own country, speaking normal, modern English, Cyan speaks in eloquent Shakespearean prose. What other games have characters that spout out such beautiful phrases as...
- "Thou licentious howler!"
- "Sir Sabin! How might these abominations be manipulated?"
- "Look! We can't have ye two prancing 'round all day!"
- "Thou art so.... odd."
Cyan has more culture than a stuffy Englishman from the 1800s. He's also, oddly enough, a samurai warrior.
All that culture almost makes up for the little cactus man you have to fight in some deserts. Damn you, little cactus man! Damn you and your uncultured cactus ways!
Check That Clock Again
In addition to curative items hidden in random pots all over the world, there's an Elixir in every single clock in the world. It could be some large-scale conspiracy enacted by clock manufacturers of the world; or it could be the Medieval equivalent of bundled software; but most likely, it's just something the programmers did to make their lives easier.
Killer Clowns from the Empire
Kefka is, without a doubt, the coolest villain ever in a Final Fantasy series. Amazingly, Kefka manages to fit right in with Final Fantasy evil villain logic while making the whole thing seem pretty straightforward. Yes, it's crazy that he wants to destroy everything and kill everyone, just because. But unlike other Final Fantasy villains, he's actually crazy.
The guy is completely insane, and not in an accidental, translator's Engrish sort of way. The evil Empire was creating troops with the power of magic, which had been dead for over 1000 years, by infusing them with magical power drained from a recently re-discovered species of magical creatures. Kefka was one of the first to receive this infusion, but the process wasn't perfected yet—and as a result, his mind snapped. So he's actually crazy. Everyone in the game realizes that he's crazy, too.
But the best part about Kefka is his incredible skill for verbal abuse. Even his curses are catchy. He's the kind of villain that you love just for pulling off Evil so well. For instance: Right from the start, you sort of feel sorry for Terra—she has no memory, she was being used as a weapon by the Empire, she has to watch the Empire kill her entire family. But even when Kefka declares that he owns Terra, you like him. He's just that good.
Final Fantasy Logic Score: 6
So the paintbrush is a deadly weapon, love breeds violence, and clowns are to be feared above all else. Got it.
