Resurrection: Final Fantasy VI

Ah, Kefka Pelazzo. A demented court jester driven insane by an experimental procedure, his villainous allure is born out of a general disdain for humanity and a sociopathic desire to kill everyone. He’s Final Fantasy’s version of the Joker, and possibly the only character in JRPG history that can say a line like “I’m all powerful! Hee hee!” and remain a bit creepy. He’s easily the most magnificent antagonist Square Enix has ever created.

The rest of the 14-strong cast (a record for the series) is equally superb. Some of the highlights include Terra – arguably the protagonist – who is riddled with amnesia and spooky powers. Her first ally is Locke, a treasure hunter (he won’t let people call him a thief) who has sworn to protect women after the death of his fiancé. He spends most of his time lusting after turncoat Celes and mocking King Edgar, a long-haired smoothie with a penchant for the ladies. Edgar’s brother, Sabin, absconded from his royal responsibilities to live a peaceful life and learn kick-ass martial arts. Shadow is a ninja, Cyan is a knight with a beefy moustache and Setzer is a gambler. Even Gau – a child from the wilderness who loves collecting shiny things, and who fills the role as the game’s ‘comedy’ character – is a delight.

The battles lack the dynamism of the script, however, and the game is always about progressing to the next narrative point. Ditching the Job system of Final Fantasy I, II, III and V, VI chose to stick with the rigid class mechanics of IV (which would become more common as the series progressed). It seems so simple now, but was definitely a big deal at the time. The series was young enough to have a bit of fun experimenting with character-specific techniques, too: take Sabin’s martial arts techniques which require you to input moves in a way similar to something from Street Fighter. The result is a battle system that still feels unique – we’ve never seen anything else like Edgar’s Tools ability, for instance – in a series that’s become all too homogenous over the years.

THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
Its setting, a ripe rendition of a steampunk 19th Century, contrasts with the series’ mainstays of long, long ago or far, far into the future. The world has been suffused with magic – although, in a nice touch (which has been repeated over and over since its use here), the tinkering society of the technology-crazed world is doing its best to experiment with this new, untapped energy source.

As the plot progresses and Kefka takes his position as primary antagonist, the world as the characters know it – dubbed the World of Balance – is destroyed and replaced with the World of Ruin. As well as a significant part of story and setting, this is a much more fitting home to the game’s assortment of nasty high-level monsters, which you’ll be desperately angling to beat up by this point in the game.

A multitude of bosses later, the end is in sight. But Kefka has basically won: he’s already laid waste to the world and destroyed the lives of everyone, after all. In the final battle – which culminates in our villain transforming into an Angel of Death, in what would become a common motif for the series – he is, obviously, defeated by the forces of good. It’s here that the game pulls its most disappointing story twist: by killing Kefka, the world magically reverts to its former state. The evil has been defeated. Everybody celebrates. Edgar probably gets laid. It’s a clean and tidy finale for a game that’s been muddied since the opening cutscene and it doesn’t quite feel fitting to the events (not to mention the hours upon hours spent levelling) that have preceded it.

It does work, though, and the ending gives the characters back their lust for life. Nihilism is a major theme for the second half of the game, with most characters taking a moment to question the point of life at some point. That’s a bit dark, and the themes are a bit too miserly for a game with such adorable pixelated graphics to ever possibly capture. But they are there, buried underneath a 16-bit presentation and low quality sound. And it’s fantastic.

Regardless of its age, Final Fantasy VI is a game that I still think about to this day. I honestly can’t say the same for many of the others in the series. By Martin Gaston

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