I really really wanted to do Chrono Trigger! No seriously, you have no idea! And I still will. But I could not resist writing about quite possibly my favorite gaming experience of all time. If you’ve never played Final Fantasy VI, I’m so sorry. There are going to be massive spoilers ahead. The second I have you convinced you should play it, immediately stop reading and go play it. The one sad thing about the game is that while it is not dated, it is definitely a 16 bit RPG and that may hold a younger generation slightly back. But I’m telling you, dont let it hold you back. Final Fantasy VI is not only the greatest Final Fantasy of all time, it is the greatest JRPG of all time. From the visuals to the story, to the characters, to the combat, to the leveling system to (Obviously) the music, FF VI excels in every way.
It’s all well and good to say it is the greatest RPG but the question still stands, why? I’m glad you asked because I’m planning to go into great detail on the subject, pointing out through the games music, why there really is no other game like FF VI. I’ll try to be brief because I really want to get to the music but I also think its important to see where I’m coming from before we get into the bulk of the music. (MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD)
Atmosphere: Look no further than the games chilling title screen complete with dreadful organs and a vast array of storm clouds. The game then opens on a frozen mountain and the opening scene may be my single favorite piece of gaming cinema. This dark atmosphere permeates through everything I’m going to mention afterwards so please keep it in mind. Even the color schemes chosen for the games battle backgrounds and enemies are vastly darker than the bright flashy colors of earlier Final Fantasies.
Seriously check out the opening scene. It is mind blowingly beautiful. Even now almost 20 years later you can only shake your head at its beauty. This is from 1994! Look at that snow! It reminds me of something out of a Miyazaki film. Still gives me chills. This is Final Fantasy VI and it is perfect.
Setting: The world of Final Fantasy VI is not a loving one. Unlike the magic filled worlds of previous Final Fantasies where magic crystals fuel the world’s energy, Final Fantasy VI takes on a steam punk vibe that takes place in the years after a huge war of magic has ended and now magic is (almost) mythical. Gone are the good natured fantasy kingdoms (for the most part) and in place, we find the Empire, a war centered totalitarian regime that has secretly rediscover magic and weaponized it for its war machines in an effort to take control of the world.
The Characters: What sets the characters of Final Fantasy VI apart is that none of them set out to be heros. They are just trying to live their lives but each of them has some common hatred for the Empire that draws them together to fight against oppression. They dont do it because they are destined heros. They do it because the Empire is knocking people down and if they dont stand up for themselves, no one else will. And this is a ragtag bunch of individuals! A thief, an ice cold commander of the Imperial army, a gambler, a mercenary, and a genetically engineered super soldier to name a few. Oh did I mention there are 14 characters?
The Combat: Which brings me to the Combat. A lot of characters doesnt necessarily mean a better game. Sometimes new characters are just the old characters in different skins. What FF VI does amazingly right is in making each character unique in battle. No two characters have the same abilities and switching different characters in and out of battles strategically can sometimes be the most important part of battle. It also has an early materia system where character can equip summons (known as Espers) that will teach them magic. These must be constantly micromanaged in the background but can result in your strongest tank character also being able to heal your entire party. The game also causes forced party splits from time to time allowing you to try out different character combinations and learn what works best for you. It’s also the first game to feature limit breaks! Not only do the characters have different play styles, their unique personalities allow for different kinds of people to all get attached to someone. Its fun to talk with friends about who ends up in their party because it often reflects a friends nature and you’ll both laugh about how each of you always puts in a character the other never uses. Except Sabin. Everyone uses Sabin! Ill try to go into a little bit more detail on my favorite character skills during their respective songs.
The Story: Ive touched on this already but the story is one of the most important pieces of an RPG. I’ll even suggest that Final Fantasy VI is one of the reasons that RPG’s are expected to deliver great stories. The game takes huge unexpected plot twists never taking the easy way out. Kefka is also tied for my favorite Final Fantasy villain. The man is an insane clown general! Who would think those things would appear together? Do you like the Joker? Because Kefka is basically the Joker with a God complex. The man lives to create mayhem. Some men just want to watch the world burn. When a castle refuses to give up a hidden prisoner, he attempts to burn it to the ground. In order to make one of the empire’s wars go faster, he poisons another kingdoms water supply killing almost the entire population including the wife and son of one of the main characters. Oh and he laughs while doing it. Probably one of the most recognizable and horrifying sounds of the 16 bit era. And you know how villains try to destroy the world? Well Kekfa succeeds! Remember those unexpected twists I told you about. In the supposed final battle of the game, Kefka defeats your party, murders the Emperor and harnesses the power of the God’s to literally blow up the world. He destroys all current continents reshaping the very world map. Not only that you wake up on a tiny island in a cabin as one of the games minor character and have to start all over. Oh and she contemplates suicide. The second half of the game revolves around traversing the post-apocalyptic world trying to scrounge up as many of your defeated party members as possible for a second shot at taking down a God. An insane clown God.
And finally yes(only because I said I’d keep this brief) the music!! Oh yes the music!! I’ve spoken before in my Ode to Final Fantasy VII about how amazing Nobuo Uematsu is and this is what I’m talking about! The man created the single greatest 16 bit soundtrack ever. It’s like FF IV and V were just warm ups for his masterpiece. He uses the tried and true leitmotif (repetitive themes for characters and places) to create instantly recognizable tunes for almost every major character and place. Not only that, the amount of instruments he creates is astounding. Oh and did I mention he actually throws a 16 bit OPERA into the game?? Seriously, there is an SNES Opera in Final Fantasy VI and it is brilliant.
As an aside. I’d really like to highlight artist Yoshitaka Amano! He is responsible for all of the drawings for characters in the first 6 Final Fantasies and his art is absolutely brilliant! I’d like to try and find pictures of each of the characters I discuss drawn by him. I hope it works out. And seriously if you’re a fan of the early FF’s check out his work. He has a ton of it!
So without further ado…
Opening Theme
Soaring clouds. The camera pans over them. Thunder strikes and so does the organ! Complete with 16 bit choir! Then a mysterious harp theme. A bell tolls. The ominous strings bring in a sense of unease as the games history scrolls by in text. A flute plays. There’s a repetitive fading echo and then the main theme begins to play as you watch three mech warriors marching through a land of ice and snow towards a huge foreboding mountain… Who can forget the wonder of the opening minutes of Final Fantasy VI. It’s as if the game is letting you know, this is not a story for the light hearted. This game will rip your heart out and step on it. And then laugh in your face. But you will love it. The piece that plays over the marching warriors also happens to be a piece of the first character introduced into the story: Terra. Terra is a mysterious slave of the empire that can use magic. Her past is shrouded in secrecy and it is her story that truly pushes the game forward.
Terra Riding a Mech Warrior
Caves of Narshe
The isolation you feel in the caves above Narshe are perfectly reflected in this sparse theme with its subtle bass line that keeps you moving forward with a deep feeling of unease that is peaked every time the piano part jumps up on you. I was already in love with the game just from its first two scenes. My heart was all anticipation for what would follow. Terra enters the caves in Narshe with two soldiers in an attempt to find an ancient frozen esper (a creature of great magic power) The esper ends up killing her captors and then knocks her off a cliff.
Locke’s Theme
Locke was always my favorite character in the game. Maybe it was his cool bandana or his no-care attitude or the fact that he was a good guy and a thief (I mean “Treasue Hunter”) at the same time. All I know is the dude never left my party and once I obtained the monster destroying Atma Weapon, there was just no stopping my Locke. The dude is super altruistic and like most of the characters in the game, has a hugely depressing backstory. Locke’s hometown is destroyed by the empire and his amnesiac lover Rachel is murdered in the attack. Her final words? She remembers his name! How chilling is that? His tale is motivated by revenge against the empire but he also has the even darker desire of raising his love from the dead! He doesnt succeed however and she begs him to watch over the two new women in his life. This shines through in his extremely protective nature of the two main female characters in the game. All I know is that I love Locke, and despite his dark past, his theme is one of constant adventure, hope and conquest. It always plays to motivate the crew towards their next objective. Locke meets Terra after her near fatal fall. Unfortunately she has lost her memory (which we all know now is something close to Locke’s heart). He swears to protect her until she can regain her memories and decides to take her to the resistance, a group known as the Returners in hopes that they will be able to find some form of aid.
Locke
Battle Theme
Lets talk battle themes for a second. Battle Themes in RPGs, ESPECIALLY random encounter RPGS are probably one of the most important themes in the game. You will fight MANY battles. Often times they will interrupt whatever you are trying to accomplish in the game. If a battle theme sucks, it can quickly bring down an RPG experience making you hate wanting to play the game. No matter how good the combat is, if the battle theme doesnt pull you in, you’ll eventually grow tired of the fights. Thankfully, Nobuo Uematsu has composed one of the most memorable and energetic battle themes of all time with the Battle Theme of FF VI. In fact, it is so addictive it actually works as a drug! Every time you hear the loud sound of a random encounter and the screen blurs, its like another hit of your favorite drug. You’re like “Damn! Battle! Oh wait though, its that really amazingly addictive song again… and before you know it theyre playing the victory fanfare theme and youre all like “wait, I wanted to here that 16 bit trumpet one more time!”
Fanfare
Which brings us to Fanfare. It has to have that same addictive quality so you want to keep winning battles and this definitely delivers with a happy bass line that gets you fist pumping as much as the characters in the game. Thats right! The characters fist pump when they win! I can remember endless hours of listening to this and being especially elated when I would hear the extended version while watching all the new spells my characters just learned off of an esper.
Edgar and Sabin Theme
Hmm. Where to begin with Edgar and Sabin? Um… THE COOLEST BROTHERS EVER! You meet Edgar first and the man is amazing. The dashing young desert prince of Figaro Castle, he has a shaky alliance with the empire but he secretly funds the resistance. When he hides Terra from the evil clown general Kefka; Kefka decides it would be in his best interest to burn Figaro to the ground. What he doesnt know is that Figaro Castle can actually sink into the sands! So awesome! Whats even crazier is than his brother Sabin is a SICK martial artist. The story goes that neither brother wanted to become king. However, Edgar could tell that he was more suited to the task that is care-free brother. He proposed a coin toss. The winner would be free to leave and the loser would rule. Edgar uses a double headed coin to ensure that he will lose so that he can give his brother freedom without regret. And Sabin. The dude can SUPLEX A TRAIN! Game Informer sited that as the single reason Final Fantasy VI is the best Final Fantasy. Because you cant suplex a train in the others. The gang escapes on Chocobos before the castle sinks into the ground and eventually runs into Sabin who is training in the mountains. Edgar and Sabin also have two of the games best abilities. Edgar can use tools which basically allow him to attack entire groups of enemies at will without spending any magic and they can cause status effects as well. Sabin has a bunch of hand to hand combat moves including a suplex. He’s basically a super charged version of the monks of earlier Final Fantasies. Also, all of his moves require you to input fighting moves a la Street Fighter! He can literally do a hadouken. Seriously the amount of variety added to the games combat is just wonderful.
Edgar
Sabin
Kefka’s Theme
I’ve raved about Kefka’s theme in the past as it actually appeared as one of my songs of the day! This is an excerpt from that post:
Just to give you a picture for why the music has the flair it does, Kefka is an insane clown (like the Joker) except that he’s a general of the Imperial Army. This guy poisons an entire kingdom’s water supply and then says, “Nothing can beat the sound of a hundred voices screaming in unison” and then laughs about it. The craziest part is this guy actually succeeds in his plan to lay waste to the entire earth and succeeds in ruling the world for over a year, before your characters can mount a counter attack. So yeah, his theme kicks ass, and they play it everywhere he shows up.
He can also be actually funny like when he walks through the desert and throws a fit kicking his feet around. Then he gets mad that theres sand on his boots and makes two of his soldiers wipe down his boots. And then you know what he does? He laughs at them. The game is full of similar scenes. Oh and one more thing of note, before Sephiroth ever killed Aerith, Kefka killed General Leo. And it was devastating. More on that later.
Kefka’s Laugh
I’m sorry but you need to hear it to understand the full weight.
Kefka
Mt. Koltz
I mentioned before about meeting Sabin on a mountain. This is that mountain. This is also the first real taste of the games difficulty. This game could be down right brutal and you would learn first hand when it was time to fight Sabin’s masters son Vargas at the summit of the mountain. The fight was brutal and it forced you to learn how to use Sabin’s skills on the fly in the heat of the battle or else lose. I lost. Many times. You have to understand, they had never put fighting game moves in and RPG before! How was a boy of little dexterity supposed to be able to input such complicated commands as back forward back?? Yeah I was young. But it doesnt make it any less memorable!
Returners
I’ve never give this theme enough credit. It starts off kind of slow but once it gets going, it really gets going. This is the theme of the rebels fighting against the army of the Empire and is played during a lot of big decision talks in the game where the characters are trying to decide what to do next. The ragtag crew of Terra, Locke, Edgar and Sabin finally make it through some caves to the Returners hide out. The Returners make a plan to split up with Locke. He will head to a besieged city to slow down the empires plans. The rest of the crew travels by raft down the Lethe River. I believe their plan is to meet up in Narshe.
The Decisive Battle
Arguably the only theme more important than the battle theme is the boss battle theme. It needs to be even more epic and intense than the battle theme to really get your blood pumping for an amazing boss fight where you will most likely get your ass handed to you. Thankfully, Uematsu delivers here in spades! I also bring this theme up now because the rafting Returners crew is stopped by the unlikeliest of villains. An insane octopus named Ultros. Best minor villain ever! You win the battle but not before he knocks Sabin clean out of the raft.
Ultros
I think this is a good point to take a break as this is also where the games story takes a new turn by doing something really awesome. The game converts to a black screen with threw parties standing around. One is Locke, the second is Sabin and the third is Terra, Edgar and Banon(the leader of the Returners). You actually get to pick which order you want to play the now THREE separate stories that are taking place at the same time. This game is just constantly breaking new ground. I love it! I hope you enjoyed reading it as well and that you’ll tune in for my next installment as we continue to reminisce about one of the greatest games of all time!
Banon
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