About twelve hours into the new iOS release of Final Fantasy VI, I had a sudden realization: 'I still have to write my review!' That's the hallmark of a great game. No matter how many times you've played it you still find yourself sucked into its world, and few games are greater than Final Fantasy VI.
Much has been written about this classic title in the twenty years since its release and it has made countless 'Best Of' lists. Like many gamers, I jumped for joy when I heard I'd be able to carry this undisputed classic around on my phone, and I'm pleased to report that this latest version (for the most part) doesn't disappoint.
If the Chinese, Traditional option is not available, set the device to another language and the Chinese, Traditional option will appear.FINAL FANTASY VI for the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad is here. In that year, FinalFantasyVI was released, and there was much rejoicing. The genre was RPG; the fictional foe was the evil Emperor Gestahl, and later, the pompous nihilist Kefka. Sure, there were other RPGs before it, but none that struck the perfect balance of character similarity vs. Diversity, importance of storyline vs. Feb 24, 2014 Final Fantasy VI is still today one of the best Japanese role playing games released in recent years, thanks to the game's unique story, compelling characters and gameplay experience. Even though the game is definitely not a hard experience, some gamers may find some troubles in understanding the characters' different abilities as well as defeating. Jul 01, 2019 Final Fantasy 6 is a long, sometimes arduous game that is split into two parts: the World of Balance (WoB), and the World of Ruin (WoR). Both of these halves are vastly different in how they play. Final Fantasy VI (iOS) Review – Still Great. Mobile Uncategorized. Final Fantasy VI (iOS) Review – Still Great. By Garrett Glass March 3, 2014 January 21, 2015 2.
If you haven't played the game before, a brief synopsis: A thousand years before the start of the game, a devastating war fought with magic left the world in ruins. Magic was sealed away to prevent any such occurrence from happening again and in time faded to myth. Society rebuilt itself on the foundations of technology and the arts (unlike the medieval settings of previous games in the series, FF6 has a distinctly steampunk aesthetic).
Trouble, however, looms on the horizon. The evil Empire, led by the dictator Gestahl, seeks to claim the lost art of magic for its own and conquer the world. You, the player, take control of a ragtag band of heroes who come together to combat this threat.
My synopsis does not do the uncommonly rich story justice. What other game can claim an extended opera sequence as part of its plot? It also features some of the most finely drawn characters in the series – Terra, a former Imperial slave; the womanizing king Edgar; Locke, treasure hunter and rebel sympathizer; the ninja mercenary Shadow; Setzer the gambler and many more – as well as one of the most expansive storylines.
FF6 does not shy away from darkness, and in fact, certain moments were softened for the original North American release. When we first meet the general Celes, she is being brutally beaten by her guards. The game's primary villain, Kefka (perhaps the greatest villain in the entire series, though a case could certainly be made for Sephiroth from FF7), poisons a river and we watch as men, women and children die. One of the characters – I won't say who for fear of spoilers – even attempts suicide in one of the game's most heartrending scenes. This game has stakes.
Final Fantasy 6 Ios Guide
So, how does the game fare on iOS? Not too bad, as it turns out. There have been changes, of course. Most obvious is the visual style. When I heard the visuals had been retooled I was worried. The iOS release of FF5 featured some baffling visual changes – for example, character portraits would have hair of a different color than their sprites, a confusing inconsistency. Luckily, there are no such missteps here.
The character sprites and some of the backgrounds have been smoothed out (which, to its detriment, at times makes the game seem like it was made in RPG Maker), but the look is still unmistakably of the SNES era. The combat screen backgrounds have been entirely redrawn and look gorgeous, even if they make the sprites seem dated by comparison. There are new character portraits as well and while I don't love all of them, for the most part they stay true to Yoshitaka Amano's portraits from the original. I played the game on both iPhone and iPad and the visuals are clearly sharper on the phone, but the game still looks great on iPad.
The combat system has also been retooled for iOS. The game uses the Active Time Battle (ATB) system established in FF4: each character has an action bar that fills up at a rate dependent on their speed statistic. When the bar is filled, the player can assign that character an action (Attack, Steal, Magic, etc.). In the original game you simply watched a bar fill up; here, each character has their own box, which rises from the bottom of the screen. When it stops rising, the bar is considered filled and you can assign your action.
At first I found this change jarring and unnecessary, but after some time with the game I think it's a fun visual representation of the ATB system, and if you don't like it you can turn it off. Other aspects of combat have been overhauled for touchscreen, most notably Sabin's Blitz attacks, which work quite nicely.
Other changes are small. The developers have added a story button at the top of the screen that you can click when you don't know where to go. I can see purists griping about this, but I consider it a very welcome addition as early FF games were not always helpful about what you needed to be doing.
The translation has been updated as well. Some of the more memorable lines from Ted Woosley's original translation ('Son of a submariner!') are missing, but I consider that a small price to pay for a more accurate translation. In addition, the iOS version has all the extras added for the Game Boy Advance release. There's also a nice iCloud save feature that lets you sync your game between devices.
My biggest complaint with the game has to do with the movement controls. Virtual sticks have always been hit-or-miss on touchscreen devices and FF6 misses the mark here. Instead of a circular stick, you can move in one of eight directions, mapped out in a star-shaped icon that appears whenever you touch the screen. The fussy controls make movement unnecessarily difficult, especially in spots where you must move carefully to avoid enemies or solve puzzles. There is an option in the menu to reduce eight directions to four, but this makes movement even more difficult, so I wouldn't recommend it. The movement controls do not make the game unplayable, but it is notable.
Finally, I must give praise to the soundtrack. I have long held that Nobuo Uematsu's work here is the best of his career – FF6 has arguably the greatest game score ever written. Every character has their own distinct theme and even without real vocals the opera sequence soars (check out a glorious live performance from the 1994 Orchestral Game Concert here). When FF6 was released on GBA, however, the soundtrack was handled by the game and not the system itself, which resulted in a notable simplifying of the music. For this release the score has been restored and I could not be happier.
To sum up, this version of FF6 is a winner. The changes are largely cosmetic and don't detract from the core experience of the game, which is as addictive, thoughtful and moving as it was back in 1994. If you've never played the game, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. If you have played it, having it available in your pocket to play whenever you want is a joy. This is an absolutely essential release for iOS.
It's not the end of the world if you miss out on this RPG classic.. well, actually, it kind of is.
Did you enjoy this week's podcast? You should have! It was really quite good.
Final Fantasy 6 Ios Review
And now that you've listened to us blather on, you're in the mood for a little Final Fantasy VI action, right? Right. Good thing we've got your hookup: A list of all the ways you can legally acquire Final Fantasy VI in this day and age. One of these has got to work for you… though these releases are definitely not all created equal.
Super NES: Final Fantasy III
1994 - Approx. $40
In a lot of people's eyes, this is the version to go for. Sure, the title screen has the wrong number at the end of the title (it's a long story), and not everyone is in love with the localization by Ted Woolsey (he had to play fast and loose with specifics in order to squeeze the game into the limitations of a Super NES cart). But on the other hand, this version suffers no emulation errors, includes all the odd and obscure bugs that have become legend among fans, and features music that sounds, well, perfect. With the growing number of Super NES-playing devices on the market, e.g. the Analogue Super Nt, the old cartridge remains a surprisingly viable medium for playing this classic (if you can afford it, of course). Chances are pretty good the original backup battery will still work 24 years later, too.
PlayStation/PSN: Final Fantasy Anthology
1999 - Approx. $10 for physical set, $9.99 per game on PSN
Well, this isn't the worst version of the game ever. But lord knows it's not good. The Final Fantasy Anthology set mostly stands out for being the first time Final Fantasy V had appeared in English (officially) and for correcting FFVI numeration in English. But the PlayStation conversion of the game had a lot of issues, including terrible slowdown, massive load times, and some really unpleasant graphical distortion (since it upscaled the 256x224 resolution Super NES game to 320x240 PlayStation output). The addition of some porcelain CGI in the intro and ending definitely don't make up for the technical issues this version introduced.
Game Boy Advance: Final Fantasy VI Advance
2007 - Approx. Active uneraser serial key. $20
Final Fantasy VI Advance took the classic game portable. It also threw in some new content, including a proper use for a dummied-out super-boss in the original Super NES ROM (the Kaiser Dragon). On top of that, it added a new localization that didn't just revamp and expand the script but also brought the names of skills and monsters in line with the series' modern standards. The downside? The colors appear washed-out, the sound suffers considerably, and the resolution has been cropped. There's no way to fix the resolution, but industrious fans have managed to patch the game to restore colors and audio — which means this is a pretty solid way to experience Final Fantasy VI, if you don't mind doing a little leg work.
Trouble, however, looms on the horizon. The evil Empire, led by the dictator Gestahl, seeks to claim the lost art of magic for its own and conquer the world. You, the player, take control of a ragtag band of heroes who come together to combat this threat.
My synopsis does not do the uncommonly rich story justice. What other game can claim an extended opera sequence as part of its plot? It also features some of the most finely drawn characters in the series – Terra, a former Imperial slave; the womanizing king Edgar; Locke, treasure hunter and rebel sympathizer; the ninja mercenary Shadow; Setzer the gambler and many more – as well as one of the most expansive storylines.
FF6 does not shy away from darkness, and in fact, certain moments were softened for the original North American release. When we first meet the general Celes, she is being brutally beaten by her guards. The game's primary villain, Kefka (perhaps the greatest villain in the entire series, though a case could certainly be made for Sephiroth from FF7), poisons a river and we watch as men, women and children die. One of the characters – I won't say who for fear of spoilers – even attempts suicide in one of the game's most heartrending scenes. This game has stakes.
Final Fantasy 6 Ios Guide
So, how does the game fare on iOS? Not too bad, as it turns out. There have been changes, of course. Most obvious is the visual style. When I heard the visuals had been retooled I was worried. The iOS release of FF5 featured some baffling visual changes – for example, character portraits would have hair of a different color than their sprites, a confusing inconsistency. Luckily, there are no such missteps here.
The character sprites and some of the backgrounds have been smoothed out (which, to its detriment, at times makes the game seem like it was made in RPG Maker), but the look is still unmistakably of the SNES era. The combat screen backgrounds have been entirely redrawn and look gorgeous, even if they make the sprites seem dated by comparison. There are new character portraits as well and while I don't love all of them, for the most part they stay true to Yoshitaka Amano's portraits from the original. I played the game on both iPhone and iPad and the visuals are clearly sharper on the phone, but the game still looks great on iPad.
The combat system has also been retooled for iOS. The game uses the Active Time Battle (ATB) system established in FF4: each character has an action bar that fills up at a rate dependent on their speed statistic. When the bar is filled, the player can assign that character an action (Attack, Steal, Magic, etc.). In the original game you simply watched a bar fill up; here, each character has their own box, which rises from the bottom of the screen. When it stops rising, the bar is considered filled and you can assign your action.
At first I found this change jarring and unnecessary, but after some time with the game I think it's a fun visual representation of the ATB system, and if you don't like it you can turn it off. Other aspects of combat have been overhauled for touchscreen, most notably Sabin's Blitz attacks, which work quite nicely.
Other changes are small. The developers have added a story button at the top of the screen that you can click when you don't know where to go. I can see purists griping about this, but I consider it a very welcome addition as early FF games were not always helpful about what you needed to be doing.
The translation has been updated as well. Some of the more memorable lines from Ted Woosley's original translation ('Son of a submariner!') are missing, but I consider that a small price to pay for a more accurate translation. In addition, the iOS version has all the extras added for the Game Boy Advance release. There's also a nice iCloud save feature that lets you sync your game between devices.
My biggest complaint with the game has to do with the movement controls. Virtual sticks have always been hit-or-miss on touchscreen devices and FF6 misses the mark here. Instead of a circular stick, you can move in one of eight directions, mapped out in a star-shaped icon that appears whenever you touch the screen. The fussy controls make movement unnecessarily difficult, especially in spots where you must move carefully to avoid enemies or solve puzzles. There is an option in the menu to reduce eight directions to four, but this makes movement even more difficult, so I wouldn't recommend it. The movement controls do not make the game unplayable, but it is notable.
Finally, I must give praise to the soundtrack. I have long held that Nobuo Uematsu's work here is the best of his career – FF6 has arguably the greatest game score ever written. Every character has their own distinct theme and even without real vocals the opera sequence soars (check out a glorious live performance from the 1994 Orchestral Game Concert here). When FF6 was released on GBA, however, the soundtrack was handled by the game and not the system itself, which resulted in a notable simplifying of the music. For this release the score has been restored and I could not be happier.
To sum up, this version of FF6 is a winner. The changes are largely cosmetic and don't detract from the core experience of the game, which is as addictive, thoughtful and moving as it was back in 1994. If you've never played the game, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. If you have played it, having it available in your pocket to play whenever you want is a joy. This is an absolutely essential release for iOS.
It's not the end of the world if you miss out on this RPG classic.. well, actually, it kind of is.
Did you enjoy this week's podcast? You should have! It was really quite good.
Final Fantasy 6 Ios Review
And now that you've listened to us blather on, you're in the mood for a little Final Fantasy VI action, right? Right. Good thing we've got your hookup: A list of all the ways you can legally acquire Final Fantasy VI in this day and age. One of these has got to work for you… though these releases are definitely not all created equal.
Super NES: Final Fantasy III
1994 - Approx. $40
In a lot of people's eyes, this is the version to go for. Sure, the title screen has the wrong number at the end of the title (it's a long story), and not everyone is in love with the localization by Ted Woolsey (he had to play fast and loose with specifics in order to squeeze the game into the limitations of a Super NES cart). But on the other hand, this version suffers no emulation errors, includes all the odd and obscure bugs that have become legend among fans, and features music that sounds, well, perfect. With the growing number of Super NES-playing devices on the market, e.g. the Analogue Super Nt, the old cartridge remains a surprisingly viable medium for playing this classic (if you can afford it, of course). Chances are pretty good the original backup battery will still work 24 years later, too.
PlayStation/PSN: Final Fantasy Anthology
1999 - Approx. $10 for physical set, $9.99 per game on PSN
Well, this isn't the worst version of the game ever. But lord knows it's not good. The Final Fantasy Anthology set mostly stands out for being the first time Final Fantasy V had appeared in English (officially) and for correcting FFVI numeration in English. But the PlayStation conversion of the game had a lot of issues, including terrible slowdown, massive load times, and some really unpleasant graphical distortion (since it upscaled the 256x224 resolution Super NES game to 320x240 PlayStation output). The addition of some porcelain CGI in the intro and ending definitely don't make up for the technical issues this version introduced.
Game Boy Advance: Final Fantasy VI Advance
2007 - Approx. Active uneraser serial key. $20
Final Fantasy VI Advance took the classic game portable. It also threw in some new content, including a proper use for a dummied-out super-boss in the original Super NES ROM (the Kaiser Dragon). On top of that, it added a new localization that didn't just revamp and expand the script but also brought the names of skills and monsters in line with the series' modern standards. The downside? The colors appear washed-out, the sound suffers considerably, and the resolution has been cropped. There's no way to fix the resolution, but industrious fans have managed to patch the game to restore colors and audio — which means this is a pretty solid way to experience Final Fantasy VI, if you don't mind doing a little leg work.
Wii Virtual Console: Final Fantasy III
2011 - $7.99
If you want this version, you'd better hurry. It's more or less identical to the Super NES game, with the minor caveats that go along with all Wii Virtual Console games. In Japan, this version showed up on Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console as well, but for whatever reason Square Enix never saw fit to bring them out here.
iOS/Android: Final Fantasy VI
2014 - $14.99
This is kind of a mess of a release. Which is to say, it's visually a mess, with filtered, clashing graphics and mismatched interface elements. And the original version of the game was also a mess, suffering from bugs that rendered the game unbeatable for a while. While the most egregious of these bugs were eventually patched out, there's no redeeming the rest of this disaster. Avoid.
Steam: Final Fantasy VI
2015 - $15.99
Final Fantasy 6 Ios Walkthrough
Based on the mobile version, this Steam port retains the same horrible art 'style,' but it's not quite as dire in terms of play as the iOS release. It adds Steam achievements and controller support, if nothing else. This is definitely not the ideal way to play, but it's the least painful format for gamers on a budget.
Super NES Classic Edition
2017 - $79.99 Nancy skerrett.
The Super NES Classic Edition mini-console does the best job of reproducing the original Super NES experience in HD. The sound's very slightly off, but otherwise, it's more or less perfect. Also, it comes with 20 other games. It's just, you know, can you actually find one?
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Related Reading
Retronauts Episode 341: Gunpei Yokoi, Part 1
