Review: Final Fantasy VI Advance
This past Friday, I got home and found a nice FedEx envelop from Nintendo, what was inside made my day ten times better. It was Final Fantasy VI Advance! While I may bitch and moan about not getting new games until I finish the 30 or so games I have backlogged on my shelves, FF VI is totally the top priority.
For those of you who have not had the pleasure of playing the greatest game of all time, FF VI follows a young natural-born magic user who is being used by the power hungry Gestahlian Empire to conquer other kingdoms and revive the power of magic (which was thought to have died out 1,000 years ago after an ancient war). She is helped by many adventurers, all of whom are entirely unique with their personalities and abilities, to stop the Empire from wielding this power and causing the world to be destroyed, yet again. With an epic storyline, one of the greatest villains in all of video game-dom (Kefka), how could you go wrong? Well, in my humble opinion, you can't with this game. Since receiving it on Friday, I've already logged a healthy 20 hours and am prepared to give you my thoughts. For the review, make the jump!
Music/Sound:
The first thing that struck me was the music...some of it is about the same, some of it simply sounds better on the SNES original (thanks to Sony's music chip, in fact, I think Square was the only company to make use of that piece of hardware). ...but, for the most part, it still sounds as grand as it ever did. Terra's Theme is especially well done and Cyan's theme has never sounded so good. As for Kefka's maniacal laugh? It's still there, in its full 16-bit glory. As for the effect that the GBA/DS speakers have on the music/sound, it's a little underwhelming. I'd highly recommend playing it through your sound system or TV via the Gamecube GameBoy Player or wearing a set of headphones. You'll enjoy the audible aspect of FF VI much better that way.
Story/Script Updates:
The story/script has been cleaned up, in fact, it's a completely brand-spankin' new translation, but holds to the original story...so don't expect changes to the storyline. One small example of the new change is when Kefka calls Edgar a "Son of a sandworm!" In the SNES version, it was "Son of a submariner!" Minor changes like that plus some extra dialogue, but overall, I think it's better. Some of the monster's names also have been changed...like Doomgaze is now Deathgaze. Each character also has a class now (Sabin is a monk, for example). At least in FF IV Advance, they didn't change the classic "You spoony bard!" line.
Graphics:
Graphically, the game is just as stunning and the graphics have been cleaned up a bit, be it more color or made clearer. Playing it on the Gamecube GambeBoy Player (in progressive scan, at least) has not degraded the graphics one bit, and I think one can appreciate the game's art better on a HD-TV as some of the finer details are lost on the GBA/DS's smaller screens. One thing about the new look, be it a fault in the porting process or whatever it might be, is the noticeable slowdown one will experience in areas where there is a lot going on. The same is true of the battle sequences, some of the more detailed spells/Epspers slow things down a tad, but this, in no way, has any effect on the gameplay nor will it impede your ability to thoroughly enjoy this game.
Battle System:
The battle system is as trustworthy as before and yes, random battles are abundant. I've always enjoyed the battles system and it has aged very well. You may summon Espers to unleash insane damage upon your enemies, change weapons in mid-battle, and each character has a unique ability. Gogo, one of the 'secret' characters (I love him/her because of his/her theme song) can mimic the previous action with...ummm...Mimic. Edgar uses his machinery, Sabin uses his blitz techniques (which require you to input moves, much like a fighting game), Terra can use magic and later on...well, it's part of the story and I don't want to spoil it! ...and I think you get the idea, in addition to their personalities, the characters have their own abilities. When you equip Espers, they can boost your characters stats for each level they gain. They are also a means by which you can teach every character spells. If you're nerdy enough, as I was, you'll have each character learn every spell...it's time consuming, but I'll gladly do it again.
Special Features:
This edition of the game has many special features, including a bestiary, 4 new Espers (monsters that you can summon in battle), a music player (after you beat the game) and a new dungeon called the Dragons' Den. While I've not yet advanced far enough to enter said dungeon, I'm sure it'll be a blast.
Final Thoughts:
Anyone who loves RPGs or is looking for an entry point to the Final Fantasy series, this one is a fantastic way to acquaint yourself with the best the series has to offer. The game holds up amazingly well 13 years later. Awesome story, great soundtrack, beautiful visuals, a massive cast of unique characters...you know want it.
Super Timsy
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 20 February 2007
· Comments (11)
Other stuff like this: Best Game Ever, Final Fantasy VI Advance, GameBoy Advance, GBA, Nintendo, RPG, Square-Enix
FFVI is a damned fine game in any incarnation, but I would argue that the audio took a hit. considering how many times I played the game through, some of it just sounds wrong to my ears.
one thing that irks me is how they cut the scene where a guard is beating Celes, because they shouldn't be removing from the source material. since it is missing in the Japanese release as well, I am sure there has to be some reason for it.
humorously enough, some of the things that they added, like the Job Classes for instance, are remnants of the original Japanese Super Famicom release that were supposedly cut from the US release due to memory constraints. a friend picked me up a copy of the SFC release while she was in Japan a few years back. it was kinda funny finding out stuff I was used to secretly being in the original version of 6.
either way, this is by FAR the best Final Fantasy game that has been made, and the upgrades made here and there just make it all the better. (opera scene. squee!!)
Yeah, the Celes prison scene was edited in Japan too. I don't know if I'll get this one or not. I liked all the Advance titles but because the extras were nicely done. Here all the extras don't seem as relevant because FFVI is the only game I know where you can get nearly godlike power on your characters without that much effort depending on how you play it. The new Espers and weapons don't seem to add that much (though I'm definetly getting Gilgamesh) compared to the new jobs in FFVA and well, completely changing your party for the last battle in FFIVA (possibly the most radical of the changes in the series including The Dawn of Souls content IMO)
Why is it that almost every reviewer of this game bitches about the removal of that one line? What's so particularly special about "son of a submariner", anyway? To me it has always been just one of the nonsensical sentences that Kefka blurbs out every once in a while...
In relation to that, with the coming of these remakes of the "old-skool" FFs for GBA and DS, I have noticed the rising of the old fans of the series again. Nowadays, all one hears is how glorious and suberb those pixel-sprited games were and how utterly repulsive the newer FFs are with their "flashy graphics" and "gimmicky gameplay" - not to mention their gayer than gay heroes. If you dare to claim otherwise, you're brushed off as a noob and a graphics-whore.
I don't know, something in that fanwanking just rubs me the wrong way... Maybe fanboys/girls of both "skools" should remove the black-and-white goggles off their eyes, so that *real* conversation about the series could occur.
Heh, another rant from moi, s'il-vous plait.
Mr. S, I am moaning about that line because it was funnier! ...and yes, I have to say I was a little disappointed with the editing of Celes' beating...perhaps it was out of being politically correct?
I've heard that the beating scene was removed due to a rash of kidnappings in Japan making the culture very sensitive to these sorts of actions. It seems very unusual to me, and I would have liked for the scene to at least be in the American one, just as the scenes in FFXII removed for similar reasons were put back in for the US release.
"the greatest game of all time"
I completely agree with this statement! I've been into videogaming for "some" time (lol), and I never played another game with such an epic, rich and detailed story.
I just think they could have updated the graphics, as they've done in some other FF remakes, but they (the graphics) are still very beautiful.
And it's very nice to see that some games we grew up playing are still good after so many years...
S: the question of VI vs VII has been going on since long before the GBA re-release. it doesn't take a re-release for these discussions. look at Secret of Mana vs Dawn of Mana or Chrono Trigger vs every RPG they've made since. Square has a long line of games that are still hotly contested, recent re-release or no.
what it comes down to for a lot of people is storytelling. in an RPG that is THE element that we are looking for. I loathe the gambit system of FFXII, but I enjoy the story's intrigue.
I think that the newer FF games have their place with the old, and personally, would rather have 12 or 9 over 5 or 2 anyday of the week. they all have their strengths and weaknesses, but I'll STILL take FF6 and FFT over the rest of the series.
Definitely the greatest game of all time. Did they end up fixing the vanish>doom trick?
I haven't gotten that far, yet, but I don't think it was really a trick or a glitch. It was just one of those nice ways you could get rid of something...like using Phoenix Down on the Phantom Train.
Vanish/Doom wasn't a glitch per se. it works in MOST instances still. there are some enemies that were supposedly "supposed" to be be immune to it, and as such, are now.
I love the game so much that I am trying very hard to overlook the "new" translation which just seems like they used a grammar checking program and giving toned down literal translations from the Japanese script. An E rating was not necessary, and I think the game suffers heavily from it. A climatic scene is ruined when you call someone a brat instead of a bitch, at least Woosley tried to make something with his weird and wacky translation, it makes me appreciate how much work was put into it to keep the TONE right even with the Knights of High Moral Standards watch dogging everything.
But seriously FF6 is my favorite and the reason I game, and I feel cheapened by the lackluster effort put forth to update it.
(but the game play is still lots of fun, and more challenging with the bugs a bit more hammered out.)