Introduction
Square-Enix has released Pixel Remasters for the first six Final Fantasy games. The first batch of remasters came out in 2021. The Final Fantasy VI Remaster came out early 2022. The Remasters focus on sprite and music updates. All the characters in particular have been redone. All the music has been updated. There’s also some quality of life updates like auto-battle.
FF6 has long been one of my favorite FF’s but it’s now been 8 years since I played it. This post will build off the thoughts I put down then and focusing on what I noticed in this playthrough with the remaster.
Graphics Update Callouts
The biggest standout is Edgar’s new sprite. His old sprite had this weird green color (likely due to SNES palette limitations), looked very boxy, and my eyes never saw his ponytail on it. His new sprite looks much more like his concept art, has better colors, and you can clearly see his ponytail.
Locke looks more slender. Relm’s outfit looked very compressed with the old sprite and now looks more defined. In general, they managed to add just a bit more detail that makes the sprites look better.
Most cutscenes are still rendered with the in-game engine and that leads to tight limits on expressions and actions. However, there are some moments when a special effect is used and those got touched up. For example, Strago tries to use his magic to put out a fire. In the original game he throws some generic magic stars at the fire. Now he uses Aqua Breath to blast water at the fire, making the scene look much better.
On that note, they enhanced some other iconic moments. The most iconic scene of FF6 is the opera. There’s now lighting and an audience, making the opera seem more real. Celes’s solo has 2.5D effects to bring the set alive. And actual vocals were added to the scene.
Music Update Callouts
Mines of Narshe – Sounds more like echoes and sounds from a mine plus I enjoy the saxophone.
Phantom Train – The banjo in the beginning has an added sense of sorrow and mystery and the brass that joins in feels appropriately overbearing; like being trapped on a train for the dead.
Decisive Battle – Already a theme I loved, it now combines electric guitar with violin.
Searching for Friends – This theme of determination is the world map theme for the World of Ruin. The cleaner instrumentation and higher energy in its second loop really bring out its potential.
Game Balance Thoughts
I still love FF6 but coming off years of the FF5 Four Job Fiesta and even FF7, which I often compare it to, has exposed some more of its flaws to me. I still like the idea of the espers more than FF7 and its materia, due to liking character building as opposed to slap powers on everyone and trade. But I think the execution is a bit lacking.
For one, it feels like there’s too much overlap among the espers. Part of this is from some espers basically being upgrades over others. It makes esper selection feel small in practice. Espers and magic selection are a major focus of Brave New World, a re-balancing romhack I keep meaning to try some day.
Damage is also pretty damn high and bosses go back to being immune to interesting statuses. Thus, straight damage race is the way to go for a lot of bosses. Stuff like Haste, Slow, and protection buffs come in handy still. Toning down the damage and making it possible to disable foes would be good.
This applies to Relics too. Relics are a cool idea in theory as you can equip two per character to get a variety of effects. But most of the time I equipped the (physical/magical damage x1.25) and Auto-Haste Relics. Those should be rarer.
Finally, there’s a great disparity in the characters’ individual talents. Sabin’s Blitzes do big damage to single or multiple targets for no MP throughout the game. By comparison, Setzer’s Slots are hard to use and quickly become obsolete. Mog’s Dances are similar.
Assorted Gameplay Tales
Battle of Narshe – The flavor text is that Kefka is invading Narshe with an army. You have 9 characters to split into 3 groups. You need to intercept any enemy groups before they reach the esper. They move slowly so it’s not really a tactical situation. Nevertheless, it’s a lot of enemies and you can involve 9 characters so it gives the feel of a great battle. Fighting Kefka at the end can also be tricky due to his powerful magic.
Magitek Research Facility
The opera is the most iconic part of FF6 but it’s light on gameplay. To me, the Magitek Research Facility is the best blend of story and gameplay. The team is sneaking through the empire looking for something to help Terra and learn how the empire is using espers. Celes ends up having to stay behind to cover the group’s escape.
The dungeon has a great theme and great aesthetics, like walking through a factory. There’s hidden passages all around. You gain a bunch of espers and thus a bunch of magic. The treasure is also great, including elemental swords. You end on a minecart escape sequence and then an aerial boss fight against Kefka’s last attempt to block your escape.
Floating Continent
The last dungeon of the World of Balance. The Floating Continent looks and feels alien, like biomechanical. The enemies are tough whether they have raw strength or status ailments. The boss, Ultima Weapon, is a fan favorite for its detailed design and powerful attacks.
Fanatics’ Tower – You can only use magic here. Same for enemies so Reflect Rings are really helpful. But towards the top there are foes that use powerful, Reflect-ignoring spells. Lv. 90 Magic can use Flare, Meteor, Quake, and Meltdown while starting with Reflect itself. It gave me two defeats and I had to treat it like a miniboss every time after.
The boss is infamous for casting Ultima on defeat which can’t be blocked and will probably party wipe you. You’re supposed to survive by using something like Reraise that auto-revives. I did that but then this happened:
Kefka’s Tower
Made up of debris from the cataclysm. You need to split up into groups of three. Fully equipping 12 party members is a challenge but having everyone work together to get through is fun. Lots of bosses including dragons and the mechanical Guardian who was previously unbeatable. You also fight the three Goddesses of magic and finally end them. Upon their defeat the group realizes that Kefka himself is now the source and god of magic.
Kefka’s fight is famous for the Tower of the Gods. Before reaching Kefka you fight up a tower he builds as a tribute to nonexistence. The tower is a fusion of debris and statues and is quite an endurance test. Kefka himself now has an angelic form and has powerful attacks. His signature is Forsaken, he charges it up by laughing insanely and then unleashes it for big damage.
Assorted Plot Callouts
The Ensemble – A fascinating part of FF6 is that it’s hard to pin down the main character. The debates are between Terra and Celes but both spend large portions of the plot irrelevant. This was intentionally done; the creators have said they wanted a large cast where no one person came ahead as the main character.
The Surprise Villain
Recently it’s been pointed out to me how shocking the reveal of Kefka being the final villain is. Put FF6 in the context of coming after FF5 and general trends in jRPGs at the time. Kefka seems to be an example of a Quirky Recurring Boss. He is fought, beaten, and humiliated several times. He dresses and acts like a clown. He’s an evil psychopath but seems to lack finesse and cunning. Clearly he’ll be a recurring nuisance that is eventually killed by either the heroes or the true villain.
For Kefka to come out on top, kill Emperor Gestahl, and destroy the world went massively against expectations of jRPGs of its day.
Terra’s Tale – Terra begins the tale unsure of what to do. She just had the Slave Crown removed from her head and doesn’t know what’s going on. Next, she interacts with the esper at Narshe which makes her own esper side come out and she goes berserk. Only learning her origins snaps her out of it: she’s the child of an esper and human and was kidnapped by the empire at a young age. She fights valiantly but wonders if she’ll ever know what love is.
In the World of Ruin she comes across a town filled with orphans. She cares for them and they call her Mama. She comes to realize she loves them. Other jRPGs of the time were all aboard tales of romantic love and FF6 was teasing that Terra’s tale would go there. For it to turn out to be parental love is a good twist. When you rerecruit Terra she has to use her esper form to fight a monster to protect the kids. At first the kids are afraid of her but one little girl realizes it’s her. Then they all accept her.
Difficulty
This version of FF6 scores a 0.01 compared to a mean of 24.79 and a median of 15.21. It ranks 148th out of 181, 18th percentile. It’s next to Super Mario Galaxy, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, and Chrono Trigger. It’s a bit lower than the GBA version which had been my primary version. This all seems fair. FF6 is not the toughest game in the series and they added auto saves to this version which you can use if you get defeated.
Conclusion
It’s been a while and the Pixel Remaster gave a fresh experience to one of my top FF’s. I still wish this game would get a full remake to bring out its potential but it remains fun and engaging as it is.
Super Romo Brothers 
Pingback: Final Fantasy IX – 2022 Playthrough – Post 1 | Super Romo Brothers
Pingback: Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Post 3 | Super Romo Brothers
Pingback: Craig’s 2022 Gaming Awards | Super Romo Brothers