Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI
FFVI logo. Released in North America as Final Fantasy III
Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Square Co., Ltd. (Japan) Square Soft, Inc. (North America) SCE Europe (Europe/Australia)
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Sony PlayStation
Release	April 2, 1994 (Japan SNES) November 2,1994 (N. America) March 11, 1999 (Japan PlayStation) May 17, 2002 (Europe/Australia)
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player

Final Fantasy VI is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Square Co., Ltd. in 1994. Originally for the Nintendo Super Famicom (known as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, internationally). Final Fantasy VI was rereleased for the PlayStation in 1999. This version is fundamentally identical to the original SNES version, save for the inclusion of three full motion video sequences, and a handful of extras, including an art gallery and monster database. Final Fantasy VI was also the last Final Fantasy title to be released on the Super Famicom video game console.

Because Final Fantasy VI was only the third game in the Final Fantasy series to be released in North America (following the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy IV), the English localization of the game was marketed in North America under the title Final Fantasy III. When the PlayStation rerelease was issued in North America as part of the Final Fantasy Anthology collection, the original Japanese title and numbering scheme was restored. The game did not receive an official European or Australian release until the PlayStation version was issued in both places in 2002, but the original SNES cartridge was popular in European and Australian imported game stores during the mid-1990s.

Gameplay

Final Fantasy VI featured a four-character party fighting monsters to earn experience points. It abandoned the Job System of Final Fantasy V in favor of a more-defined and less-flexible character class system like that Final Fantasy IV, in which each character has a specific and unique ability (sometimes more than one).

New to the game were 'desperation attacks,' a precursor to the Limit Breaks of Final Fantasy VII. When a character was reduced to critically low hit points, there was a chance they would use a special, extremely powerful technique in place of their normal physical attack. The game also featured a simpler version of the customization skills of Final Fantasy V, as well as a precursor to the Materia of Final Fantasy VII, in the form of Magicite, items that would teach characters specific magic spells if equipped: though only two characters start the game with the ability to cast magic spells, almost every character can learn to do so. Each Magicite would also impart various statistic bonuses on level-up. Finally, the Magicite were the game's version of summon spells; any character who was equipped with a Magicite could, once per battle, summon its associated monster for various different effects, typically damaging all enemies.

Story

File:Final Fantasy III US Wedge talks.png

Wedge talks about Espers

Template:Spoiler The game is set 1,000 years after the ancient War of the Magi, in which humans and magical beings known as Espers fought over the power of magic. The Empire that now rules much of the world has developed a strange force known as Magitek (a mixture of magic and scientific technology) and is on the verge of rediscovering the full potential of magic. A woman named Terra is sent to the town of Narshe with two soldiers from the empire to investigate a frozen esper that has been found there. After finding it, the soldiers are killed by the Esper, and Terra is released from the "slave crown" used to control her. After meeting with a thief named Locke, Terra makes her escape from the forces of the empire and joins The Returners, a rebel group that is trying to bring an end to the Empire. Together, they journey to stop the Empire from gaining the power of magic and stop a potential apocalypse that could result from it.

Characters

Template:Spoiler The main playable characters in Final Fantasy VI are (in order of appearance) Terra Branford, Locke Cole, Mog, Edgar Roni Figaro, Sabin Rene Figaro, Shadow, Celes Chere, Cyan Garamonde, Gau, Setzer Gabbiani, Strago Magus, Relm Arrowny, Gogo, and Umaro. Other characters accompany the party on a temporary basis, but these 14 characters are the only ones the player is able to equip, teach magic to, or otherwise customize. Each individual has a unique special ability.

Playable characters

File:Final Fantasy VI JAP 1st battle.png

An imperial Magitek-steering soldier attacks a Guard using Bolt Beam

• Terra Branford – (Called "Tina" in Japan.) A woman born with the power of magic and the first player-controlled character, Terra was enslaved by the Gestahl's Empire for her powers. Hunted by her former captors after she is released by a frozen esper in Narshe, she joins the Returners to escape the Empire and find out why she can use magic.
  • Terra's special ability is Morph, which she can access after a certain plot event. She can transform into a creature of pure magic for a brief period, which gives her a boost in magical power.
  • While riding Magitek Armor, her Magitek command gains several attacks absent from all other characters.

• Locke Cole – A thief, though he much prefers the term "treasure hunter", Locke finds Terra in Narshe. He helps Terra escape the Empire and is responsible for introducing her to the Returners. He shares some, if not all, of the traits befitting a Byronic hero.
  • Locke's special ability is Steal, which allows him to steal items from enemies. When he equips the Thief Glove relic, Steal becomes Capture, which allows him to do physical damage whilst stealing.

• Edgar Roni Figaro – King of the country of Figaro and a member of the Returners, Edgar is a relentless lothario, given to flirting with any woman he meets.
  • Edgar's special ability is Tools, which allows him to attack his enemies with a variety of special weapons that he finds over the course of the game.

• Sabin René Figaro – (Called "Mash" or "Matthew" in Japan) A martial arts expert, Edgar's younger brother Sabin left in order to escape the pressure of potentially inheriting the kingship of Figaro. Though more serious than his sometimes flippant sibling, he is also less jaded. It is later revealed that the inheritance was settled by a coin toss. He joins the group after meeting up with them while traversing Mt. Koltz.
  • Sabin's special ability is Blitz, which allows him to use a variety of martial arts abilities activated through complex controller combos.

• Shadow – A mysterious ninja and mercenary who works temporarily with the group at a few points in the story, Shadow fights along with his dog, Interceptor. He can join the party permanently after a certain plot event.
  • Shadow's special ability is Throw, which allows him to throw weapons from the party's inventory at his enemies.
  • Outside the floating continent, Shadow has the 'Interceptor' status. While in effect his dog Interceptor sometimes blocks enemy attacks and counterattacks. Note: Shadow can lose Interceptor status if an enemy swaps status effects with him.

File:Ariadimezzocarattere.png

Celes takes the stage at the Opera House

• Celes Chère – A former general of the Empire, Celes was infused with Esper powers as a child to give her control of magic. Later in life she voiced misgivings over Imperial policies and was jailed for her insubordination. Rescued by Locke, she joins the Returners in their fight against the empire, despite her questionable loyalty.
  • Celes's special ability is Runic, which allows her to absorb any magic spell cast on the battlefield by friend or foe, and restoring some of her magic power in the process.
  • Plays Maria in the opera scenes, which contain the Aria di Mezzo Carattere.

• Cyan Garamonde – (Called "Cayenne" in Japan.) A retainer of the kingdom of Doma, Cyan is an expert swordsman. The lone survivor of an Imperial attack on Doma, he joins the Returners to avenge his family and homeland. He harbors a serious distrust for Celes.
  • Cyan's special ability is SwdTech (Sword Technique), which allows him to perform a variety of powerful techniques with his sword, but a special time gauge has to build up to use the stronger techniques.

• Gau – A feral child, Gau was abandoned as a baby and was raised by animals in the harsh wilderness known as the Veldt. He makes friends with Sabin and Cyan after they run into him on the Veldt and decides to journey with them.
  • Gau's special abilities are Rage and Leap. While on the Veldt, he can learn the abilities of a monster by Leaping it, and afterwards use those abilities with Rage. Note: The Leap skill can't be used outside the Veldt.

• Setzer Gabbiani – A gambler with an interest in adventure, Setzer is asked to join the Returners so that they can use his airship for transportation. He accepts after losing a rigged coin toss to Celes (the coin, not coincidentally, was provided by Edgar). He is searching the world to find out more about his lost love, Daryl.
  • Setzer's special ability is Slot. He is able to use a slot machine with special powers to give him random abilities for use in battle. By equipping the Coin Toss relic, Slot becomes GP Rain, which allows him to throw GP (the game's money) at all enemies on screen causing an amount of damage equal to the GP lost in the attack.

• Mog – A moogle with the rare ability to talk like a human, Mog joins the Returners after they save his life from a thief. He is considered by many fans of Squaresoft to be the company's unofficial mascot.
  • Mog's special ability is Dance, which allows him to use one of eight dances learned in their respective terrain (for example, Desert Aria), to create attacks in battle. Once he starts, he continues to use random attacks from the selected dance until the battle ends or he falls.

• Strago Magus – A descendant of the warriors who fought in the ancient War of the Magi, Strago has inherited a trace of their mystic powers. The Returners meet him while they are passing through the town of Thamasa, and he reluctantly joins them for the safety of the world.
  • Strago's special ability is Lore (also known as Blue Magic), which allows him to learn certain magic abilities of enemies and use them as his own. As opposed to normal magic, Blue Magic is available only to Strago.

• Relm Arrowny – 10-year-old granddaughter of Strago and expert artist, Relm joins the Returners despite Strago's unwillingness to allow her. Before American censors got to her, she swore like a sailor.
  • Relm's special ability is Sketch, which allows her to draw a copy of her enemies that will come to life and attack them. If she equips the Fake Moustache relic, Sketch becomes Control, which allows her to control enemies and use their own attacks.

• Gogo – Gogo is a mysterious person about whom not much is ever revealed, not even its gender (though in the Japanese version of the game, Gogo uses the pronoun "おれ", which suggests that Gogo is male). Gogo lives within a creature called Zone Eater on Triangle Island. Gogo is a "secret character" (a form of Easter egg); persuading him or her to join the party is optional. Because of Gogo's mysterious nature, fan rumors and hoaxes abound about his/her true identity, ranging from "Setzer's friend Daryl whose airship crashed on Triangle Island" to "Adlai Stevenson".
  • Gogo's special ability is Mimic, which lets him/her use the abilities of his/her teammates after they use them. Gogo can also equip a selectable set of abilities from the other characters.
  • In Final Fantasy V, the player needed to defeat an optional boss named Gogo in order to obtain the Mimic job class. This Gogo would counter the abilities used against him/her, and visually resembled the Gogo of Final Fantasy VI.

• Umaro – A yeti (or sasquatch in Woolsey's localization) living in the caves of Narshe. Umaro is an optional character and will join the party only if the player brings Mog to talk him into it.
  • Umaro is the only main character that cannot use magic and will fight without being controlled by the player. Umaro gains a unique breath attack if he equips the Blizzard Orb relic, and the Rage Ring will cause him to pick up an ally and hurl them at an enemy, to the target's great displeasure (the teammate comes out unscathed).

Major non-playable characters

File:Final Fantasy VI JAP Final Kefka.png

Kefka in the Final Battle.

• Kefka Palazzo – Kefka is the first MagiTek Knight created by the Empire and the primary villain of the game. The process of gaining magic left him more than slightly insane. Despite his tendency to dress like a jester, he is not to be underestimated.

• Emperor Gestahl – (Called "Gastra" in Japan.) The ruler of the Empire with a desire to rule the world. Gestahl rules the southern continent from its capital at Vector. In the course of the game, Gestahl's Empire conquers both Doma and South Figaro, but will withdraw if the player has good manners during an Imperial banquet. Gestahl himself seeks first magicite and, later, the magical Statues in his thirst for power. He is betrayed and killed by his deranged right-hand man, Kefka Palazzo, who throws his body from the Floating Continent in the final moments of the World of Balance.

• General Leo Cristophe – Like Celes, Leo is a general of the Empire who opposes Kefka. After being sent by Gestahl to locate the Espers, he is murdered by Kefka. Strictly speaking, Leo is a playable character, as the player can control him in one short segment of the story.

• Ultros – A lonely octopus that follows the group around the world, Ultros fights them from time to time until he ultimately ends up being a receptionist at the Colosseum in the World of Ruin.

• Banon – Leader of the Returners, a rebel group against Gestahl's empire. Although, Banon is listed as a non-playable character, there is a short section of the game in the beginning where you have the ability to use and control him in your party.

Localization and censorship

The North American SNES game is not a straight translation but contains some localization changes.

The biggest change is the title, which was changed to Final Fantasy III. Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, and Final Fantasy V had not yet been released in America, so Squaresoft (the North American subsidiary of Square) decided to alter the numbering scheme in the North American releases to hide the fact that some games in the series did not appear in the US. Thus Final Fantasy Final Fantasy IV became Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy VI became Final Fantasy III. Starting with Final Fantasy VII (and the switch from Nintendo to Sony), the decision was made to realign the series with its Japanese numbering, leading to an apparent "jump" of 3 games. This continues to cause confusion, with some American players referring to the games by the American-release numbering and others by the original, full series numbering. One method to keep things straight is to refer to the American versions as Final Fantasy 2 and 3 (FF2 and FF3), while reserving the Roman numeral designation for the Japanese games (such as FFIV and FFVI).

Unlike the localization of Final Fantasy IV there were no significant gameplay changes. Certain editorial changes, however, were instituted in the English script, in large part due to the content guidelines imposed by Nintendo of America. These content edits were cited by Square as being a significant motivation behind their subsequent abandonment of Nintendo for Sony.

Well, there's a level of playfulness and – dare I say – sexuality in Japanese games that just doesn't exist here [in the USA], basically because of Nintendo of America's rules and guidelines. And this includes little characters that take their clothes off, or show their bottoms or chests – that Nintendo won't allow over here.

Ted Woolsey, Final Fantasy VI translator, regarding censorship of the North American version of Final Fantasy IV
"RPG special" (January, 1995). Super POWER, p. 18.
Translation from Swedish courtesy of Neil West [1]

Some of the most notable changes include:

• The title screen graphic doesn't show Terra riding Magitek Armor with sword outstretched. The logo itself has been altered from the standard Japanese series logo to something more closely resembling the logo used in the North American versions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy IV.
• The graphics on the bar signs were changed so that they read Cafe instead of Pub.
• Some minor instances of nudity were covered up.
• All profane language was removed. The most notable example is during a scene in which Kefka is attacked by Celes and tells her, "I hate you," repeating the word "hate" over a dozen times. In the Japanese release, Kefka actually repeats something akin to the word "fuck" over a dozen times. There are several other, slightly less severe, instances of profanity that are also removed.
• Smoke rings coming from a pipe were removed.
• Many spell and monster names were changed. To take just one example, the early "Leafy Rabbit" creature became simply a "Leafer" in the English release. Notably the spell name "Holy" was changed to "Pearl", likely for fear of offending American religious groups. This was in keeping with Nintendo of America guidelines: the same spell had been renamed "FADE" in Final Fantasy I and "White" in Final Fantasy IV.
• Many bugs identified in the original Japanese version were corrected, or worked around. For example, the Opera House rat glitch, the mosaic effect glitch, the 256th item equip glitch, and the Merit Award + Atma Weapon on Gau glitch. Interestingly, the mosaic effect glitch occurs in the PlayStation re-release in America, even though it did not in the original SNES release.
• One major bug, unfortunately, was added in the American release. If Relm's Sketch command fails, an uninitialised pointer in the game's programming could cause many damaging effects, such as the loss of all saved games. Later Final Fantasy III SNES cartridges corrected this, as did the PlayStation rerelease.

Name changes of major characters:

Japanese	Romaji	Designers' Intention	US
ティナ	Tina	Tina	Terra
マッシュ	Masshu	Matthew (*)	Sabin
カイエン	Kaien	Cayenne	Cyan
ストラゴス	Sutoragosu	Stragos	Strago
ガストラ	Gasutora	Gastra	Gestahl
アルテマウェポン	Arutema Wepon	Ultima Weapon	Atma Weapon
ケット・シー	Ketto Shî	Cait Sith	Stray
ミドガルズオルム	Midogaruzuorumu	Midgardsormr (**)	Terrato

(*) The original Japanese instruction manual erroneously lists this character's name in romaji as "Mash". However, according to the character's creator, Kaori Tanaka a.k.a. Clio Saga, his full name was intended to be "Matthew Rene Figaro." The entire mix up was simply due to the inherent likelihood of confusion and error when transliterating from English to Japanese and then back to English.

(**) The English Final Fantasy VII called this creature Midgar Zolom. See Midgard for its roots in Norse mythology.

Note that many of the changes to playable character names are simply reasonable approximations of the original names within the 6-character limits imposed by the game engine. However, some changes, such as Tina/Terra may have been intentionally instituted by the translator because of cultural differences. In Japanese Tina sounds exotic and intriguing because of its rare "Ti" sound, whereas in America it is an everyday name. Interestingly, three characters from this game appeared in Final Fantasy VII, but English players were not aware of this due to the name changes. They are Cait Sith, Midgar Zolom (a snake swimming on the world map of Final Fantasy VII), and Chupon, an ally of Ultros who appears as a summon in Final Fantasy VII under the name Typhoon.

Similarly, another such change involves the minor characters Biggs and Wedge, clearly named in reference to Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles from Star Wars, were translated as Vicks and Wedge. Chrono Trigger repeated this mistake, having been also translated by Ted Woolsey. However, in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, as well as the PlayStation re-releases of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, this was corrected.

The PlayStation rerelease (issued as part of Final Fantasy Anthology in North America) utilizes Ted Woolsey's original translation, with only a few minor edits (such as the aforementioned "Biggs" → "Vicks" correction, and changing the name of the item "Fenix Down" to "Phoenix Down"). This localization was also used when the game was released for the PlayStation in Europe in 2002.

Production credits

Original Super Famicom / SNES version

• Producer — Hironobu Sakaguchi
• Director — Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Itou
• Main Programmer — Ken Narita and Kiyoshi Yoshii
• Graphic Director — Tetsuya Takahashi, Kasuko Shibuya (as Kazuko Shibuya), Hideo Minaba and Tetsuya Nomura
• Music — Nobuo Uematsu
• Image Designer — Yoshitaka Amano
• Battle Planner — Yasuyuki Hasebe and Akiyoshi Oota
• Field Planner — Yoshihiko Maekawa, Keita Etoh, Satoru Tsuji and Hidetoshi Kezuka
• Event Planner — Tsukasa Fujita and Keisuke Matsuhara
• Effect Programmer — Hiroshi Harata and Satoshi Ogata
• Battle Programmer — Akihiro Yamaguchi
• Sound Programmer — Minoru Akao
• Effect Graphic Designer — Hirokatsu Sasaki
• Field Graphic Designer — Takaharu Matsuo, Yusuke Naora, Nobuyuki Ikeda, Tomoe Inazawa, Kaori Tanaka, Takamichi Shibuya, Shinichiro Hamasaka (as Shinichirou Hamasaka) and Akiyoshi Masuda
• Monster Graphic Designer — Hitoshi Sasaki
• Object Graphic Designer — Kazuhiro Ohkawa
• Sound Engineer — Eiji Nakamura
• Remake Planner — Weimin Li and Aiko Ito
• Translator — Ted Woolsey

PlayStation remake

• Director — Katsuyoshi Kawahara
• Producer — Yusuke Hirata
• Publicity — Masako Hozawa, Yuuki Kitayama and Testuya Tanaka
• Coordinators — Rei Komatsu, Terutaka Komorizono, Kiyomi Nakamura and Kiyomi Tanikawa
• Quality Managers — Hiromi Matsuda and Nishiki Sugi
• Executive Producer — Tomoyuki Takechi
• Localization Director — Kazuyoshi Tashiro
• Programmer — Yoshinori Uenishi
• Assistants — Mai Morofushi and Tomoko Sekii

Packaging artwork

Box art for the original Japanese Super Famicom release	Box art for the North American SNES release	Box art for the European PlayStation release
Final Fantasy VI Super Famicom, Japan	Final Fantasy III Super NES, North America	Final Fantasy VI PlayStation, Europe
Box art for the Japanese PlayStation rerelease	Box art for the Japanese Final Fantasy Collection compilation	Box art for the North American Final Fantasy Anthology compilation
Final Fantasy VI PlayStation, Japan	Final Fantasy Collection PlayStation, Japan	Final Fantasy Anthology PlayStation, North America

Soundtrack CDs

So far, three official soundtrack CDs have been released from Final Fantasy VI:

• Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections
• Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version
• Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale

See also

• List of Final Fantasy VI locations
• List of Final Fantasy characters
• Aria di Mezzo Carattere

References

• RPG Special (January, 1995). Super POWER, p. 18.

• West, Neil. SUPER PLAY-Fantasy Quest: Interview with Ted Woolsey (aforementioned magazine interview translated from Swedish to English). Retrieved 1 February 2005.

External links

• GameFAQs entry for Final Fantasy VI
• GameFAQs entry for Final Fantasy Anthology
• Caves of Narshe Final Fantasy VI Collection
• Final Fantasy VI Shrine