What Makes Final Fantasy 6 Different?

Many people regard Final Fantasy 6 as the greatest Final Fantasy ever made. Some people even consider it to be the greatest RPG ever made. Considering the wealth of wonderful RPG's available on the market and even those available at the time, this is quite the statement to be making. Why do people think so highly of Final Fantasy 6? What makes it stand out from the rest of the pack. Here are just a few of the key traits that makes this game such a deeply-felt classic.

1. Every Character is the Protagonist

Sorry, Sabin. We brake for no man!

When the Final Fantasy team started out with Final Fantasy 6, they wanted to evolve what they had started with 4. In 4, they made dramatic and interesting characters but many felt like side characters while Cecil was undoubtedly the central focus. It worked well for that story but what if they could make a story where the central protagonist simply didn't exist. Instead, every character had an equal level of importance to the story.

Final Fantasy IV lacked a strong level of connection to any of the side characters because, frankly, they died too often. Final Fantasy V lacked any sort of meaningful development after the beginning of World 2 and the job system, while a lot of fun, made all the characters interchangeable. Final Fantasy VI eliminates the job system but gives a large cast of central characters representing the different jobs as a way of making up for this. They also don't kill them every other scene which helps. Combine that with frequent character development, fleshed out backstories and some great dialogue and you've got a great foundation for the game.

2. Strong Set Piece Moments

Gundam's got nothin' on me.

All Final Fantasy games have had their memorable moments. Final Fantasy's Mt. Gulag (or whatever translation you'd prefer) sticks out in my mind along with Final Fantasy IV's trip to the moon but Final Fantasy VI was the first to really nail these moments. These are moments where the gameplay shifts just enough to give you this run-and-gun feel that sticks with you. Moments like the Ghost Train, crashing through the imperial base on Magitek Armor, saving Cyan from the dream world, etc. These moments are frequent and greatly loved. They break up the games pacing just enough to keep you coming back for more.

Set pieces are hard in games, especially ones with open worlds but Final Fantasy VI really got these right and it's all the better for it.

3. Good Translations

I paid $50 bucks for this game so they'd better!

While this isn't a huge draw for me as the fan translations have been very high quality, we have to bring ourselves back to the US in 1994. This is only our third Final Fantasy game and the past two have pretty much sucked. Lines ranging from "You have legs!" to "Wow! You noble looking!" were all over both of these games and they were a huge barrier for English-speaking fans to get really invested in the stories. Final Fantasy III finally had an English-speaking translator who was able to not only convert the lines to English but make them make sense in our context.

It may seem like a small thing but that emotional connection to the story is a fragile thing and when lost, it seriously hampers the enjoyment of a game. With a storyline as hard-hitting as this (for the time), the translations were a requirement and they got it right (for the most part).

4. Differing Battle Styles

Blitz: Easily the greatest special move EVER!

This is a huge one that plays along with the first point. Each character fights very differently. Not only do they each represent a different job, as I mentioned above, but they each have a different fighting option available for each move. These moves rarely cost MP and are unique to each character. Sabin, my personal favorite, uses Blitz. Blitz involves activating the move, entering a series of commands usually referencing Street Fighter II, and then activating again to use an attack. These attacks range from blasting a single enemy with a kamehameha to healing your entire party. Celes has the move Runic which makes her use a turn to act as a sort of magical lightning rod, absorbing any magic attacks thrown at the party until her next move. Shadow uses the Ninja's throw, Cyan has a series of progressively stronger moves you can use by waiting for a bar to fill... These are often intentionally more powerful attacks that cost nothing so that the player spends less time hitting Fight over and over again and more time considering his/her moves carefully.

This is my personal favorite change that Final Fantasy VI makes. While it later will evolve, along with desperation attacks, into the Limit Break system, none of the games I played have quite hit the pure note that VI has with this system.

Just to give an update on my progress, I am in the World of Ruin, plodding through the overwhelming number of side quests available. My guys are all around level 35 and most have completed their side-quests. I have yet to defeat the 8 dragons (have only taken down the ice dragon in Narsche), need to get Gogo, have several Espers I haven't gotten yet and still need to find Shadow, Strago and Locke.

Game on!