Board 8 > I'm playing Final Fantasy VI for the first time.

(+) Yeah! (+)

In my ongoing quest to rectify my greatest gaming sins, I'm finally digging into one of the few titles on my SNES Classic I've never experienced before and playing through this beloved game. A few months ago, I played Symphony of the Night for the first time and absolutely loved it, but that was an outcome I had expected. Metroidvanias are a top tier genre for me and I was already a Castlevania fan, having an affinity for the DS ones especially. But... things are different for me and Final Fantasy.

What I've played of the series has been somewhat hit or miss for me and I have a general distaste for RPGs, especially those of the turn-based variety. I remember enjoying FFIV Advance a decent amount back in the day and appreciating how clearly foundational it was for the genre, but repeated attempts to play FFX resulted in much boredom and frustration. Turns out that walking in a straight line for 10 hours isn't very enjoyable! (I could never bring myself to grind it out and see what the later game had to offer.) I also owned FFV Advance and enjoyed that a decent amount, but I think I just stopped playing it about halfway through for whatever reason and never came back to it. It didn't really captivate me.

So even knowing that FFVI is one of the most revered games of all time, I certainly had my doubts going in. But...holy shit is this game winning me over.

I'm super into this world, into these characters, into this goddamn mesmerizing music that's hitting all the feels. I love how many varying scenarios the game continues to put in my face, changing up the style and pacing. I love how every single character seems to have unique, often downright weird traits in battle.

I'm currently about 7 hours in, just after the part where your group gets split into three different factions following the rafting misadventures. The Terra, Edgar, and Banon story was the sequence I saved for last, and it looks like that just wrapped up. Kefka is literally about to attack Narshe right now as I make this topic. I know I'm still incredibly early, but I'm genuinely surprised at how much I'm adoring this game right now. Here's hoping it continues getting better and can join my (rather small) favorite RPG list!

so yeah go my Kefka and this will probably be a semi-playthrough topic
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It continues getting better, imho.
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tag

StartTheMachine posted...

But...holy shit is this game winning me over.

yesssssssssssssssss good man this will be a topic to watch

ff6 da best
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also thoughts on Sabin & Locke routes plz and impressions of Celes~

Terra route is whatever but the other two are fantastic portions
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holy shit that Kefka battle (and the whole scenario leading up to it) was dope

Kefka kicked my ass, but I whooped him right back round two. Went with a Cyan, Celes, and Locke team as my only three member group and Celes saved the day with all dat magic

CelesMyUserName posted...

also thoughts on Sabin & Locke routes plz and impressions of Celes~

Terra route is whatever but the other two are fantastic portions

Yep, both those routes were awesome. Sabin was the really long one with the Doma castle and Shadow and Cyan right? That was almost certainly my favorite. Sneaking around the Imperial campsite and witnessing Kefka's madness for the first time (well I guess second, he definitely torched a castle earlier) was so good. That was the sequence I played first and it went on soooo long -- in a good way -- but I became worried that was an actual split in the story and I wouldn't get to experience the other two groups. Then when it finally went back to the moogle and I was able to play the other sequences, I was super happy. That's an example of the game doing some really neat stuff structurally that adds variety to the gameplay and spices up the general pacing. Good stuff.

Locke and Celes' route was really cool too. I know Celes gets a lot of love around these parts. So far she seems pretty interesting; the dialogue between her and Terra in Narshe just now, where Terra bizarrely asks her about love and stuff, seems like its definitely setting up something cool to come for her. Or actually, maybe that's setting up Terra plotpoints because they hinted at a romance plot between her and Locke. Hmmm, who knows!

Yeah, she seems pretty interesting, but I think so far Terra and Kefka are my favorite characters. As lame of a plot device as amnesia is, the general mystery surrounding Terra has me really fascinated. And Kefka is just as ruthless as they get and is shaping up to be one hell of a villain.
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Celes's first line depends on what outfit Locke's wearing, so if you stole the green soldier armour and don't take it off when you enter the room she quotes Leia, "You're awfully short for a soldier"

... there's a lot of Star Wars references actually, hence the first incarnation of Biggs (.. well, Vicks) & Wedge
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bee tee dubs

For comparison sake, my current all-time favorite RPGs are Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Skies of Arcadia: Legends. I'm dying to do a replay of TTYD too, but I found out that the disc is missing in my case of the game. :( God younger me did not take care of my game collection...I have so many game cases that don't have the actual disc inside anymore ugh.

I totally think TTYD would hold up for me because I actually do dig action RPGs. Not sure if I would have as much patience for Skies of Arcadia anymore, but hopefully if I ever did replay it, I'd still love it too. That game was a magical experience when I played it as a teenager.

CelesMyUserName posted...

Celes's first line depends on what outfit Locke's wearing, so if you stole the green soldier armour and don't take it off when you enter the room she quotes Leia, "You're awfully short for a soldier"

... there's a lot of Star Wars references actually, hence the first incarnation of Biggs (.. well, Vicks) & Wedge

Neat! I went from a merchant outfit to the green soldier outfit and back to the merchant outfit (had to get my boy some cider), so that's what I was wearing when I rescued her.
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Nice to see someone else liking this. In the meantime, I'm trying to go through FFVII, but am not as dedicated as I could...
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Did you suplex the train?
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I'm sad you didn't enjoy 10

But I'm glad you're enjoying 6! It's also very very good
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igordebraga posted...

Nice to see someone else liking this. In the meantime, I'm trying to go through FFVII, but am not as dedicated as I could...

Never playing FFVII is perhaps my greatest "gaming sin" -- if you consider it to be worse than not playing FFVI anyway -- and if I bite the bullet and buy a PlayStation Classic, it will definitely be getting marked off the list soon for me.

MZero11 posted...

I'm sad you didn't enjoy 10

But I'm glad you're enjoying 6! It's also very very good

I've played X on three different occasions and yet for some reason I still kind of want to give it another go for whatever goddamn masochistic reason. Like, one of those times I think I played it a mere two hours or so, but the other two times I played the game for a couple of days and had about 10 hours of playtime in. But seriously, the entire game was walking in a straight line. I found it to be pretty abysmal. I know it opens up later, but I couldn't help but feel like I could be experiencing great shorter games in the meantime, instead of waiting for FFX to get good.

It's only because of B8's adoration for the game I kept trying to give it another chance. Maybe sometime in the next decade I'll try giving it a fourth...and hopefully final...go. I don't enjoy quitting on games, but sometimes I think that's the correct course of action if you're just not having fun.

And yeah, I think my disdain for FFX caused my expectations to be pretty low for this game, and I could not have been any more wrong about that. It's a great feeling.
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Grand Kirby posted...

Did you suplex the train?

oh right excellent point to raise


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GuessMyUserName posted...

Grand Kirby posted...

Did you suplex the train?

oh right excellent point to raise

whoa I did not do that

I did however leave my game on in the background just to hear dat haunted train music and get some good Halloween vibes in

in general I want to do that all the time in this game because again, the music is so damn good
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Aaaaaaaand tracked
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FFVI was my favorite game of all time for a long time. Still my favorite FF.

And yet I wouldn't have said it was great at the point you're at lol. If you like it this much already, I can't imagine how you'll respond later.

Then again, the second half of the game is divisive. You might be the sort of person who prefers the first half (although based on something you said, I suspect you will enjoy the second half.)
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I think it's just rare for a more traditional JRPG to actually hold my attention from a gameplay perspective, and the constantly changing scenarios and unexpectedly ambitious setpieces have gone a long way to do so thus far. These cool design choices are perhaps what I'm loving most this early on besides the music. I can only imagine how revolutionary this game must have felt during its time.

oh and speaking of SNES classic games I haven't played, I've also never played EarthBound guys
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Tag
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StartTheMachine posted...

But seriously, the entire game was walking in a straight line.

Well it's mostly about the story and characters

And it gets good

But anyway if you don't enjoy don't force it too much
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my favorite JRPG for over 2 decades until Dragon Quest XI finally surpassed it this year
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StartTheMachine posted...

oh and speaking of SNES classic games I haven't played, I've also never played EarthBound guys

I bought this a few months ago and have been meaning to get to it. Joint playthrough topic?? :O
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Tag. FF6 is such a good game.
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best FF
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Tag. Great topic so far.
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StartTheMachine posted...

oh and speaking of SNES classic games I haven't played, I've also never played EarthBound guys

I like Earthbound for a lot of the usual RPGish reasons, but it has a lot of small "quality of life" problems which make it feel dated.
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MZero11 posted...

StartTheMachine posted...

oh and speaking of SNES classic games I haven't played, I've also never played EarthBound guys

I bought this a few months ago and have been meaning to get to it. Joint playthrough topic?? :O

I'm down! But I'm not sure how many RPGs I can play back to back like this. I actually also beat SMRPG for the first time before this (though I had played that game like halfway through prior).

it was good, but didn't hold a candle to the first two Paper Marios
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Started drinking tonight, so I sadly don't think I'll be playing any FFVI. I'll update as soon as I get another good chunk of playtime in, of course.

After beating Kefka last night, I merely messed around in Narshe for a while, upgrading my gear after that trippy ass scene with Terra transforming into...something...and flying off. Found some pretty good relics and lots of money in a house hidden off in the lower right corner and switched my party around to equip acquired gear and relics -- didn't want to forget to do that when my party changes in the future. Oh, and I think the team I went with in the end was Celes, Cyan, Sabin, and Edgar. They're all my highest leveled characters; Locke is like a good two or three levels below any of them somehow.

I have an important question I've been wondering all game though: do party members still gain EXP if they get wounded in battle?
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negative, same with statuses, or if they simply aren't in the party

also good choice taking Edgar & Sabin
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What do you mean by "same with statuses"?

Figured as much about them not being in the party though. One thing I really liked about SMRPG was that party members not being played as gained half EXP. Cool little compromise of a system.
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Certain statues I mean, like Zombie & Petrify

I think
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I believe all characters gained full exp in SMRPG even if they are KO'd or not in the party.
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Yeah they definitely do
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Party members not in your main party should gain xp. They just won't gain AP.
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Oh wow, apparently they did. I read some misinformation on that, it looks like.

Dang, I actually prefer the idea of non-active party members gaining half EXP.
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Uh they definitely don't gain full exp right? I usually rotate my party based on level, characters I used a lot are usually the higher leveled ones too.
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I must be the only one here who didn't like FF6 that much. But hey I voted Terra!

FF5 >>>
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glad you're loving it so much. totally agreed about the soundtrack - possibly my favorite of all time
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Iirc nobody outside the party gains xp normally, but there are a lot of checkpoints where the game boosts whoever is not in the party to the average.

I believe characters outside of your party don't gain exp at all in FF6.
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Also if a character leaves your party for good and returns in a later point of the story, they will be boosted to have the party's average too. I think that happens with Shadow mostly.

lordjers posted...

I must be the only one here who didn't like FF6 that much. But hey I voted Terra!

FF5 >>>

I still have my copy of FFV Advance! I might even be tempted to play it afterwards.
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StartTheMachine posted...

MZero11 posted...

StartTheMachine posted...

oh and speaking of SNES classic games I haven't played, I've also never played EarthBound guys

I bought this a few months ago and have been meaning to get to it. Joint playthrough topic?? :O

I'm down! But I'm not sure how many RPGs I can play back to back like this. I actually also beat SMRPG for the first time before this (though I had played that game like halfway through prior).

it was good, but didn't hold a candle to the first two Paper Marios

Oh don't worry I probably won't be ready for a while anyway, take your time!
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FFV is only better if you enjoy the series for the gameplay. Every other element doesn't really compare to FFVI. And TC you seem more interested in those other elements.
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I really liked this game when I played it a while ago but it never really felt like one of the best games ever to me.
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Yeah FFVI's gameplay is somewhat... unpolished. They made over 10 different gameplay systems for the characters, and some of them outright suck, while others are cool but are badly optimized for the second half of the game. It's a little annoying.

But the story is so good and the game is easy enough that I didn't mind those things that much tbh.

Yeah gameplay is just not as good. Game been easy is actually a negative for me too. Not in all games, but here, yeah, maybe cause I wasn't hooked on the story either. I was particularly disappointed with the Empire.

And I don't agree about the music been better than V. Sure Terra's theme, Aria de Mezzo and Dancing Mad are phenomenal, but the battle themes and stuff you hear throughout most of the game (Terra's Theme been on the running for this of course)? V beats it. IMO. Of course.
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FFV does have a slow middle but the final third of the game is the best part.

oh hey what's this, an actual update!?

I've had a particularly busy couple of days, but it's time to hop back on the FFVI train. I'll be playing bunches this weekend I'm sure, but here's what I've done the last couple of hours tonight.

I just wrapped up the town of Zozo. Really liked the concept of a town that's more of a dungeon due to being overrun by monsters and whatnot. I ascended that tall building and finally found Terra who has been revealed to be an Esper...or not an Esper! She's...apparently something unique all to herself? Interesting. Got to learn a little backstory on the War of the Magi. I guess Espers are these creatures with significant magic power, and man found out they could absorb their power from them and use it for their own gain. Sounds pretty cruel. The Esper Ramuh disguised as an old dude relinquished the rest of his energy, essentially sacrificing himself so we could have his power. And oh hey, a new gameplay mechanic!

These Esper abilities seem pretty darn useful, but they also take a lot of MP to use for each one. Buuuut the main benefit here is I can now teach other party members magic attacks! I figured since Locke is my lowest leveled character, I'd start him with the Esper that teaches the cure and regenerative spells. He already learned cure too! Cyan already has an insane amount of HP in that its over 600, but there's an Esper that says it increases HP by 10% every level up. Considering that it's by percentage, I gave him that Esper for now since he'll gain the most. The other two Espers I kind of assigned randomly.

Also also I looked up the solution to the clock puzzle thing, which I probably shouldn't have done, but... I'm not sure I'd have figured out that everyone was lying to me and I was supposed to figure out the correct time by process of elimination. I was super confused when different things people said seemed to contradict, but I thought they might be playing on words -- like one guy says the second hand on his watch, which made me think he actually meant second as in the numeral and was referring to the minute hand. I dunno, it was confusing, but I don't plan to cheat again! Anywho, I made it back to Jidoor and will probably play for a little bit more tonight.

I have one more question. I have a relic called Running Shoes and the description reads: casts "Haste." What does this do? Does it automatically cast haste all the time? Because I don't see any option to choose it. And if so, does haste cause me to attack faster or what?

here are some statz

Time: 9:36

Party Members (the four I chose for now)

Celes: Lv 16
Cyan: Lv 18
Edgar: Lv 17
Locke: Lv 13

not sure if steps or GP or anything else is any interesting to know, so that's all for now folks
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The Esper that boosts HP gain boosts the amount you get for that level up. It isn't based on your current max HP. So if the character would normally gain 50HP, they gain 55HP instead.

RunningShoes gives the equipped character Haste status in battle. It makes their ATB meter fill faster.
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If you don't like Final Fantasy VI there is a very strong chance you won't like nearly any of the others to this day it has a great cast of characters and the story is one of the most well thought out any developed of any Final Fantasy game.

I still think its the greatest Final Fantasy in the main series and the only game with the name Final Fantasy that beats it in my opinion is Final Fantasy Tactics. A lot of people sing the praises of Final Fantasy VII which was very impressive for its day, but I think that game has aged rather poorly and hopefully the remake helps it.
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lordjers posted...

Yeah gameplay is just not as good. Game been easy is actually a negative for me too. Not in all games, but here, yeah, maybe cause I wasn't hooked on the story either. I was particularly disappointed with the Empire.

And I don't agree about the music been better than V. Sure Terra's theme, Aria de Mezzo and Dancing Mad are phenomenal, but the battle themes and stuff you hear throughout most of the game (Terra's Theme been on the running for this of course)? V beats it. IMO. Of course.

You can go track down hacks to the game that do make it quite a bit harder, I think they made it easier to appeal to those that were new to Final Fantasy. A lot of people got their start with the series on VI or VII...
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