Synopsis
Final Fantasy VI is similar to previous Final Fantasy titles in that its gameplay can be divided into three basic categories: the overworld map, towns and dungeons, and battles.
While on the overworld map, the player directs the characters to locations spread out across the world in which the game takes place. Travel can be initiated in several ways, primarily by foot in the early stages of the game, and by airship in the latter stages. Like most games in the series, there are three primary means of travel across the overworld: by foot, by chocobo, and by airship. Random enemies may be encountered while travelling on foot.
Most of the plot takes place as the player progresses through towns and dungeons. The citizens of the towns offer helpful information and rumours, and some own shops, which sell equipment and items. "Dungeons" refers to several different types of areas, such as caves, sewers, forests or man-made buildings, which often progress the game's plot. Like the overworld map, random encounters occur, but it is also possible to find treasure chests containing rare items that may not be available in stores. Some dungeons require the player to split the characters into multiple parties in order to solve puzzles.
Combat in Final Fantasy VI is menu-based. The player selects an action from a list, including such options as Fight, Magic, Item. Battles take place in pseudo-real time, a system called Active Time Battle. A party may consist of up to four characters. Each character has an action bar that replenishes itself at a rate dependent on their speed statistic. When a character's action bar is filled, the player may assign an action, such as Fight, Magic, or Item, from a list. In addition, each character possesses one special ability available only to that character; for example, Locke possesses the ability to Steal certain items from enemy monsters, while Celes' Runic ability allows her to absorb most magical attacks until she uses her next turn. Parties are rewarded for battle victories with experience points and money, called "gil" (or "GP" in the North American localization). When characters attain a certain amount of experience points, they gain a level and their statistics increase. A multiplayer functionality for battles also exists; control of individual characters can be assigned in the configuration menu.
In contrast to previous titles featuring the Active Time Battle, the player is able to pick any character who has a filled action bar and has not yet received any commands, instead of forcing the player to issue commands to whatever character had their action bar filled first.
Customization in Final Fantasy VI lies in the choice of equipment the player chooses to outfit his characters with, including the usage of relics—accessories which augment stats or lend special abilities to the wearer. Although only two characters start the game with the ability to use magic, almost every character can learn to do so. Characters may equip Magicite, enabling the use of specific magic spells. As a character gains magic points, he or she gradually learns spells from the Magicite equipped. In addition, equipped Magicite allows the player to summon a monster to help the party in battle, and may also offer a statistical bonus upon level up.
An element not included in previous games is the desperation attack. When a character becomes critically wounded, there is a small chance that the character will use an extremely powerful technique in place of their normal physical attack. Similar features appear in subsequent Final Fantasy titles, under a variety of different names (Limit Breaks, Trance, Overdrive, etc).
The total length of the game is usually cited as approximately 40-50 hours, although much of that consists of optional side quests. A fairly recent gamer fad includes the speed run, which ignores all but that which is necessary to reach the ending in the fastest time possible. The current record for completing the North American localization of the game is 5 hours and 26 minutes.
Source: Wikipedia - Final Fantasy VI
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Information
Developer:
Square Co., Ltd.
Publishers:
 Square Co., Ltd.
 Square Soft, Inc.
 SCE Europe
Platforms:
Sony PlayStation
Super Nintendo
Game Boy Advance
Medium:
24 Megabit Cartridge
1 CD-ROM
Release Dates
Super Nintendo
April 2, 1994
October 11, 1994
Sony PlayStation
March 11, 1999
May 17, 2002
Game Boy Advance
TBA 2006
Box Art
- US -
- Japan -
- Japan -
- Europe -
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