Final Fantasy VI (SNES, 1994)
Graphics-8.5 Sound-8 Control-8.5 Challenge-7 Story-7
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
+
Somewhat improved interface (equipment description in shops as well as an arrow indicating if an item boosts or nerfs your characters, l/r function in menus)
Impressive use of colour
Some nice visual effects
More interactive battles (timing and combo based special attacks)
Good dialogue overall with some decent humour
Some innovative gameplay (moogle split party rescue, raft ride, cult of Kefka dungeon, stealth sequence (non-random encounters)
The opera scene
Choosing your own path during some segments (get to see the story from each character's different viewpoint))
Ride chocobos (now rentable) and airships
Some new abilities/spells (seal sword, re-raise, invisibility, deathblow/blitz, slot)
Plenty of new summons to find
Esper system allows for pretty good character customization
Some memorable characters (Orthros, Shadow, Kefka, Cayene)
Nice character introductions
Mostly well made personal scenes to flesh out the characters
Introduces ultima weapons
Searching for and reuniting with everyone in a post apocalyptic world
Can teleport out of dungeons (Phantasy Star II?)
Battle arena (automatic and the bidden item gets traded in when you win, AI is pretty random)
Auction house (need to bid on the current item to make the next one come up)
Some decent puzzles (crater dungeon, dream sequence, Zozo clock)
Optional bosses and characters
Fairly open ended late game (you can tackle the final dungeon almost right away or go find all characters/items)
Nice ending (somewhat different depending on which characters you reunited with)
Pincer attacks
Pretty impressive music
+/-
Running outside battle requires an accessory
Some Jobs from FF5 incorporated into accessories
Fairly specialized characters
Unintentionally hilarious voices in some music pieces
Tents are more expensive than before
Many segments where you need to split the party in two or three groups
Only one summon each per battle?
Features bestiality
Need to grind to afford all equipment/spells in a new town
Borrows plenty of elements from FF4 and FF5 (spells, abilities, dungeon designs, equipment)
Asper spell almost removes the need for Ethers
No submarines
Most status spells are less effective than in FF5
Some removed/missing spells from FF5 (reset, magnet, dynamo, combine)
Still can't change any other equipment than weapon/shield during battle
Beaten characters stay dead after battle
Save points (save anywhere on world map)
Confused allies act before your own command inputs if their bar fills up before the animation happens
Having a different combination of characters in your party will sometimes affect dialogue scenes (example: Edgar's and Sabin's entire backstory - both brothers want to travel the world instead of being a ruler, so they decide it in a coin toss. If you don't have the right combination of characters, you never know one brother sacrificed himself by using a double face coin)
-
Some control/interface issues (spells cast on jumping or dying characters are wasted, can't choose who to target with Mash's deathblow/blitz or Cayene's sword skill (there's also no indicator of a successful combo until you press and see the animation), can't see full equipment stats when shopping, no l/r in battle menus, can't sort spells or accessories/relics, NPCs don't get out of the way like in FF5, can't remove attached summons?, the world map view is too zoomed in (the overview is even worse when riding chocobos and it's unchangeable), Setzer's Slot doesn't always work despite your timing being right)
Frequent random encounters (a late game item lowers the rate a bit)
While there's a shared inventory in split party segments you can't access other characters' accessories to remove them (there's a guy who does it for you but only on the airship)
Mostly cliché story (magic vs. technology, history repeats... etc.)
Uneven difficulty (storm dragon hidden in a chest in Cayene's hideout cave, can't buy potions before Kefka's attack on Narshe (can be hard to reach the menu to heal here as well))
Some trial & error (Gau's and Mog's abilities not explained in-game, some spells can't be reflected, Magic Master's ultima attack (can only be avoided by jumping?), cult of Kefka dungeon (no saving), Death Gaze, some falling traps are invisible, soul sabers (need counter attack?), some bosses and enemies attack several times per turn (requires planning via trial & error or playing very defensively), rescuing the kid in the ruined world)
The silliness and carefree attitude of some characters gets tiring in some scenes
Plot oddities and lame plot devices (what happened to the cultists after beating master of magic on top of the tower?, where's the threat that makes the empire actually need more power? - they pretty much rule the world from the beginning, where did the second wave of imperial forces come from (airship fight)?, can't resist vs. Kefka in the Esper tube room (also later before the magic continent), Cid is ludicrously naive, a rebel group can buy equipment in a town occupied by the empire, the scene transitions after Linn's transformation and after opening the Phantom gate ("OK well, whatever, let's go back!"), "surely there must be something useful in it" - old man in Narshe about his own locked chest, Locke left the love of his life in the hands of a creepy old necromancer?, why's Edgar suddenly in Zozo after getting the Espers and why are you leaving Linn behind?)
Only one beast/esper per character
Poor animation overall
Somewhat rushed/awkward scene with Cid after the world is ruined (#everyone's dead or missing, let's go fish! Oh, I'm dying too" - "more fish! It didn't help!?" - Then Cid's letter reveals that there really are others out there, you also don't get to know much about Cid compared to the previous two games)
The ruined world isn't very ruined (the world map is quite deformed so it's still fun to explore)
Some backtracking (Yeti in Narshe, world map locations, cult of Kefka tower)
Can't cancel rage/dance making their use very limited
Some near useless spells/items/abilities
Enemies sometimes try to cast spells without having enough MP or use boosting spells on the party
Some underdeveloped characters (Shadow, Strago, Relm, Mog, Umaru)
Some grinding required for all characters to learn important spells (need to attach a specific summon, of which there's only one in some cases, and go through a number of battles with it)
Too many cave dungeons
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-8 Fun-7.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-8
+
Somewhat improved interface (equipment description in shops as well as an arrow indicating if an item boosts or nerfs your characters, l/r function in menus)
Impressive use of colour
Some nice visual effects
More interactive battles (timing and combo based special attacks)
Good dialogue overall with some decent humour
Some innovative gameplay (moogle split party rescue, raft ride, cult of Kefka dungeon, stealth sequence (non-random encounters)
The opera scene
Choosing your own path during some segments (get to see the story from each character's different viewpoint))
Ride chocobos (now rentable) and airships
Some new abilities/spells (seal sword, re-raise, invisibility, deathblow/blitz, slot)
Plenty of new summons to find
Esper system allows for pretty good character customization
Some memorable characters (Orthros, Shadow, Kefka, Cayene)
Nice character introductions
Mostly well made personal scenes to flesh out the characters
Introduces ultima weapons
Searching for and reuniting with everyone in a post apocalyptic world
Can teleport out of dungeons (Phantasy Star II?)
Battle arena (automatic and the bidden item gets traded in when you win, AI is pretty random)
Auction house (need to bid on the current item to make the next one come up)
Some decent puzzles (crater dungeon, dream sequence, Zozo clock)
Optional bosses and characters
Fairly open ended late game (you can tackle the final dungeon almost right away or go find all characters/items)
Nice ending (somewhat different depending on which characters you reunited with)
Pincer attacks
Pretty impressive music
+/-
Running outside battle requires an accessory
Some Jobs from FF5 incorporated into accessories
Fairly specialized characters
Unintentionally hilarious voices in some music pieces
Tents are more expensive than before
Many segments where you need to split the party in two or three groups
Only one summon each per battle?
Features bestiality
Need to grind to afford all equipment/spells in a new town
Borrows plenty of elements from FF4 and FF5 (spells, abilities, dungeon designs, equipment)
Asper spell almost removes the need for Ethers
No submarines
Most status spells are less effective than in FF5
Some removed/missing spells from FF5 (reset, magnet, dynamo, combine)
Still can't change any other equipment than weapon/shield during battle
Beaten characters stay dead after battle
Save points (save anywhere on world map)
Confused allies act before your own command inputs if their bar fills up before the animation happens
Having a different combination of characters in your party will sometimes affect dialogue scenes (example: Edgar's and Sabin's entire backstory - both brothers want to travel the world instead of being a ruler, so they decide it in a coin toss. If you don't have the right combination of characters, you never know one brother sacrificed himself by using a double face coin)
-
Some control/interface issues (spells cast on jumping or dying characters are wasted, can't choose who to target with Mash's deathblow/blitz or Cayene's sword skill (there's also no indicator of a successful combo until you press and see the animation), can't see full equipment stats when shopping, no l/r in battle menus, can't sort spells or accessories/relics, NPCs don't get out of the way like in FF5, can't remove attached summons?, the world map view is too zoomed in (the overview is even worse when riding chocobos and it's unchangeable), Setzer's Slot doesn't always work despite your timing being right)
Frequent random encounters (a late game item lowers the rate a bit)
While there's a shared inventory in split party segments you can't access other characters' accessories to remove them (there's a guy who does it for you but only on the airship)
Mostly cliché story (magic vs. technology, history repeats... etc.)
Uneven difficulty (storm dragon hidden in a chest in Cayene's hideout cave, can't buy potions before Kefka's attack on Narshe (can be hard to reach the menu to heal here as well))
Some trial & error (Gau's and Mog's abilities not explained in-game, some spells can't be reflected, Magic Master's ultima attack (can only be avoided by jumping?), cult of Kefka dungeon (no saving), Death Gaze, some falling traps are invisible, soul sabers (need counter attack?), some bosses and enemies attack several times per turn (requires planning via trial & error or playing very defensively), rescuing the kid in the ruined world)
The silliness and carefree attitude of some characters gets tiring in some scenes
Plot oddities and lame plot devices (what happened to the cultists after beating master of magic on top of the tower?, where's the threat that makes the empire actually need more power? - they pretty much rule the world from the beginning, where did the second wave of imperial forces come from (airship fight)?, can't resist vs. Kefka in the Esper tube room (also later before the magic continent), Cid is ludicrously naive, a rebel group can buy equipment in a town occupied by the empire, the scene transitions after Linn's transformation and after opening the Phantom gate ("OK well, whatever, let's go back!"), "surely there must be something useful in it" - old man in Narshe about his own locked chest, Locke left the love of his life in the hands of a creepy old necromancer?, why's Edgar suddenly in Zozo after getting the Espers and why are you leaving Linn behind?)
Only one beast/esper per character
Poor animation overall
Somewhat rushed/awkward scene with Cid after the world is ruined (#everyone's dead or missing, let's go fish! Oh, I'm dying too" - "more fish! It didn't help!?" - Then Cid's letter reveals that there really are others out there, you also don't get to know much about Cid compared to the previous two games)
The ruined world isn't very ruined (the world map is quite deformed so it's still fun to explore)
Some backtracking (Yeti in Narshe, world map locations, cult of Kefka tower)
Can't cancel rage/dance making their use very limited
Some near useless spells/items/abilities
Enemies sometimes try to cast spells without having enough MP or use boosting spells on the party
Some underdeveloped characters (Shadow, Strago, Relm, Mog, Umaru)
Some grinding required for all characters to learn important spells (need to attach a specific summon, of which there's only one in some cases, and go through a number of battles with it)
Too many cave dungeons