The 16-bit era is considered by many historically-minded gamers to be the best time to be a video game player, and one of the reasons for that was Final Fantasy III for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game brought storytelling, character development, graphics and music (and, to be fair, glitches) to previously unattained heights. Due to its overwhelming popularity among "old school" gamers, the title has been re-released twice – first, with its original designation of Final Fantasy VI as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology for PlayStation, and now for the GBA as Final Fantasy VI Advance. The latest release is enough improved to make it a worthwhile supplement to owners of the previous two versions, and is an absolute must-have for anyone who has not experienced the game in either of its prior forms.
The game takes place a millennium after the War of the Magi, a conflict in which magic nearly brought about an apocalypse. The ability of magic was thought to be lost, and in its absence, society has been rebuilt around steam technology. However, the Gestahlian Empire has rediscovered magic, in the person of a young woman named Terra who was born with the capability to cast spells. By enslaving and studying Terra, the Empire has developed a hybrid ability called Magitek, and they are using this power to systematically conquer other nations, with the intent of eventually ruling the entire world.
The tale begins with two imperial troopers in magitek-powered armor investigating the possible existence of an esper. Espers were creatures from the time of the War of the Magi, which were the source of magical power, but were thought to be extinct. With them is Terra, an orphan girl who was born with the power of magic, and is now serving the Empire due to an artifact that makes her incapable of any thought but to follow orders. After marching through the neutral town of Narshe, they find the frozen esper in a mine shaft, but there is some reaction, and terra is freed from imperial control, while the troops vanish mysteriously.
When Terra recovers, she finds herself hunted by the Empire. She attempts to escape from Narshe through the mines, and is nearly caught, but for the help of the treasure hunter Locke, a member of the anti-imperialist regime called the Returners, and the moogles who inhabit the caverns, including the dancer Mog. They travel to Figaro, a technologically advanced citadel which is openly a supporter, but whose king, Edgar, supports the Returners in secret. However, Kefka, one of the Empire’s top generals follows her there. When he threatens to burn down Figaro if they don’t hand Terra over, she, the king and Locke escape on chocobos to the Returners’ base while one of the castle’s secrets saves the people of Figaro, meeting up with Edgar’s twin brother Sabin along the way.
After the Empire tracks Terra to the Returners’ previously secret hideout, the party is split. You follow each of their stories in the order you choose. Locke reconnoiters South Figaro and rescues Celes, a general of the empire being interrogated for possible treason. Sabin is lost in a raging river, and when he comes to, meets with the assassin Shadow; Cyan, a samurai who is driven mad by a horrible tragedy; and the feral boy called Gau as he returns to Narshe via, among other means, the train of the damned. Edgar and Terra have a slightly less eventful trip with Banon, the leader of the Returners, before the party reunites.
The newly enhanced group decides how to best deal with the growing menace that the Gestahlian Empire represents. Their travels will take them to an opera house, where the party must persuade the inveterate gambler Setzer to allow the group the use of his airship; through the xenophopbic town of Thamasa, where the team may enlist the help of eccentric scholar Strago and his exuberant artist granddaughter Relm; and to the heart of the Empire itself for a confrontation with Cid at his factory, where the horrible truth about Magitek begins to become plain. This is only the beginning of the story, which includes a number of betrayals on both sides of the fight and one of the most gripping stories in the annals of gaming.
One major theme in Final Fantasy VI is love, and it is done in a way that avoids most of the tired clichés. The most notable is the romance between Celes and Locke, which is allowed to grow organically, with all the stumbling blocks one would experience in a real-life love affair; the story rings more true than most main character-female protagonist pairings in video games. There are other types of love demonstrated, though – including the sacrifices made by Terra’s parents, the caring that Strago shows to his granddaughter Relm, and the strange compassion that otherwise cold-blooded Shadow demonstrates as the game progresses.
Equal in depth to the plot is the development of the main characters. Through flashbacks, dreams and the occasional solid hallucination, the player gets mountains of information about each character’s past and insight into their current motivations. Unlike in most RPGs, Final Fantasy VI’s characters continue to grow and change once they have become part of the group, a sharp contrast to many less character-driven stories where people who are in the party become nothing more than a collection of statistics. In this title, you understand the characters and care what happens to them throughout the adventure.
Possibly the most remarkable aspect of this game is that the main enemies have significant amounts of backstory. Though Kefka does intend to destroy the world, he is far from a typical nihilistic villain. There are legitimate reasons to his madness, and more intelligence to his plans than one would normally attribute to a madman. In contrast to his tragedy, the other characters from the Empire have a measure of nobility, even as they engage in their conquest of the world. Gestahl himself is trusting and diplomatic; his third general, Leo, is just and honorable; and the chief researcher, Cid, is rational and compassionate. Enough of these characters is revealed to make it difficult to treat them simply as living obstacles to the party, as villains in many games turn out to be.
Something unique happens in Final Fantasy VI (skip this paragraph if you don’t want the spoiler). Rather than preventing the end of the world, or the slightly less clichéd starting after the apocalypse, the cataclysm in this game happens halfway through. In addition to giving you two stories for the price of one, it gives you the opportunity to do something that only works in this style of game: rebuild a shattered world where you already care about the inhabitants. It’s one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences ever, and it’s something that can’t be found elsewhere. Much of the replayability of the game comes after the disaster, where the plot forks multiple times and the player gains near complete control over who they meet and what they do.
Also, the game is not afraid to tackle issues with resonance in the real world. Terra’s origin, a major focus of the first half of the game, is a story about interracial relationships and teen pregnancy. The game doesn’t simply tell you what happened and move on, either – it goes into some detail about how the situation came about and the repercussions, all the way to the present day. Questions involving despair and suicide are also tackled in this game, and, though not discussed directly, genocide and human rights issues are also touched upon.
Despite the heavy issues that make appearances in the title, the game maintains a balance between actions of grave consequence and more light-hearted matters. The game’s sense of timing is impeccable, refusing to interrupt the most intense scenes, but willing to break the tension which builds over the course of the game. The lecherous octopus Ultros makes a number of amusing appearances over the course of the game, and any situation in which Gau calls the wrong ally "Mr. Thou" is entertaining. The humor is never overpowering, but it does provide some balance to a story which could otherwise grow too heavy for many players.
The battle system is fairly standard for a roleplaying game. You can have up to four characters in your party, either in the front or back row (the latter reduces damage dealt and received by most physical attacks). Each character has a gauge which fills over time, and once it is full, you choose a command to execute. Battle continues until all members of one side are defeated or have escaped. Unlike many RPGs, however, starting battlefield position varies. In addition to the chance of getting attacked from behind (and having your rows reversed), you can also start a fight surrounding or surrounded by enemies. Attacking someone on the inside whose back is turned deals extra damage, but it is impossible to target your entire party with a spell when you are making a pincer attack. Also, some enemies attack in formations which make targeting members near the rear impossible while their allies live.
Most characters can fight, use items or change rows on their turns. Additionally, each character has a special ability to set them apart from their allies. Franchise basics like Locke’s Steal and Shadow’s Throw appear, as do new abilities like Terra’s Morph, which powers her up temporarily (and how long depends on how long it’s been since the last time she morphed); Celes’ Runic, which cancels a spell and absorbs MP; and Cyan’s Bushido, in which the attack used is based on how long you wait between selecting and confirming the command. Some, like Setzer’s Slot (which does a random effect, usually a minor amount of healing but can include instant death your enemies – or your team) are nigh useless. Others, such as Edward’s Tools (purchased items which make attacks) obsolete the Fight command for the character. And one, Sabin’s Blitz, requires skills you honed on fighting games; attacks are performed by entering button combinations, including the ubiquitous (partial) circles on the directional pad.
There’s an unusual focus on monster-based abilities in Final Fantasy VI. In addition to Umaro, the hidden character who is essentially a good-aligned monster himself, three playable characters get their abilities from enemies. Strago’s Lore will be familiar to fans of the series as blue magic; after surviving certain techniques used by enemies, he can use them himself like any other spell. Relm draws pictures of the monsters she is facing with the Sketch command, which come to life and attack for her. Most bizarre is Gau’s combination of Leap and Rage. Instead of the Fight command, Gau uses Rage, in which he emulates the properties and attacks of a specific enemy (you choose which monster, but not the attacks Gau uses). In his home are of the Veldt, Gau can leap into a group of enemies, losing him for two or more battles. When he does return, he will add any monsters in both the party he leapt into and the party he returned from to his list. With patience, Gau can mimic nearly every regular monster and some bosses by game’s end. Mog’s Dance works similarly, in that he randomly uses abilities based on which dance you choose. However, Mog needs only win fights in different terrains to learn new dances.
Only Terra and Celes can use magic at the beginning of the game, but all but one (optional) character can learn to cast every spell by the end of the game. They do so by equipping magicite, the remains of an esper who has passed on. Most espers have a list of spells they can teach and a rate from 1% to 20%. At the end of battle, the party gains AP, and these are multiplied by the spell learning rate. Once the total reaches 100%, the character learns the spell. Equipping espers has two other benefits. The spirits of espers can be summoned in battle by the character equipping their magicite for a single attack or action. Also, some espers provide a bonus to the equipped character’s stats when the latter gains a level. The esper system makes the game less difficult than it might otherwise have been, but there are still a few challenges where you need every advantage you can get.
This title has two new features not present in prior releases of Final Fantasy VI, both of them dungeons available after the end of the game. The first, the Dragon’s Den, appears after defeating the eight dragons who appear across the world. This is a huge, mazelike dungeon which uses three parties simultaneously. Therein, you rematch with powered-up versions of the dragons as well as some impressive new bosses, and win better equipment and a piece of magicite unique to this release. After completing the Dragon’s Den, you gain access to the Soul Shrine, where you battle any and all of the monsters you have previously defeated consecutively, like a survival battle in a fighting game. Additionally, this game has a music player and a bestiary, as did the version in Final Fantasy Anthology. Finally, a number of glitches present in prior releases have been fixed with this release. Oddly, one will be missed by players of earlier incarnations of the title: the Vanish spell, which grants immunity to physical attacks at a cost of increased vulnerability to magic, no longer makes instant-kill spells infallible.
Final Fantasy III had the finest graphics to ever grace a 16-bit console, and this title can now claim the same title with regards to the GBA. The characters are small, but highly detailed and distinctive. Monsters too are intricate and appropriately threatening-looking. Backgrounds are sweeping and diverse and provide the perfect backdrop for the fantasy/steampunk world in which the game takes place. The animations are universally clean and free of slowdown. The font is eminently readable, even on the Game Boy Micro’s small screen, and the map is as functional as possible given the amount of room available to it. The menus are simply and highly customizable to the player’s tastes.
Square’s house virtuoso Nobuo Uematsu provided the soundtrack for Final Fantasy VI, and is ranks among the best in any video game. The highlight is Aria Di Mezzo Carattere, the song from the opera Celes performs in as a lure for Setzer. The song is so profound and touching that a proper Italian version was recorded. The rest of the soundtrack contains many other excellent pieces of music, including Kids Run Through the City, a heart-wrenching piece about the loss of innocence, and Dancing Mad, the intense music used for the final boss battle. Music from many divergent styles can be found in this game, and all of them are worth listening to in their own right. The sound quality for the songs is as good as the GBA’s speakers can manage.
The sound effects don’t quite live up to the music, but they are still better than most of what. Kefka’s maniacal laughter returns in all its insane glory, and Celes’ voice is clear and sounds more human than any sound to come out of a handheld system has yet managed. The rest of the effects are relatively generic, but are subtle enough as to not overpower the wonderful music. Overall, the sound is much better than it was for the 16-bit release, but there was some small room for improvement in this release. This one of the few portable games where it actually hurts the experience to play with the sound turned off.
Final Fantasy III was the pinnacle of gaming in the 16-bit generation, and Square Enix did just about everything right in the transition to the handheld version. Final Fantasy VI Advance immediately joins the short list of best games available for any portable system. Unparalleled graphics and epic music draw you into the world, and well-developed characters and a sweeping plot keep you interested from start to finish. If you have a GBA, you should get a copy of this game unless you already have the PlayStation version in Final Fantasy Anthology – and even then, it may be worthwhile to pick this up for the two new post-story dungeons, which add to the not insignificant replay value. This is the definitive version of one of, if not the, best RPGs in video game history.
