Final Fantasy VI Analysis (Ep.1): Development History | State Of The Arc Podcast

[@michs7451]

On the FFVI soundtrack: "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like an artist using Crayola crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns

[@ceegronlee]

so true

[@BlarGames]

For sure..to me Dancing Mad is pretty much the 'Stairway to Heaven' of videogames, especially when considering the simple sounds Uematsu was working with. An absolute genius of VG composing

[@samyie3279]

@Kenji Polk Audio would you mind giving examples? I know FF1 overworld theme is exactly “Planet Earth” from Duran Duran. But if you want weight to your statement; examples please.

[@brianclarkson5300]

Played 6 later in life, and I was blown away by how well it’s most impactful scenes still hold up. It’s crazy how much emotion they were able to draw out those little “Lego dudes”

[@cavemanben]

Honestly I've gotten far more from sprites than anything since. They had to actually create something real in lieu of having more advanced visual capabilities. 3D rendering is a crutch.

[@OfficialCrowMauler]

@@cavemanben Paint it any way you like-you’re in the minority on that one. 3D has the potential to offer richer character expression and emotion, tenfold.

[@MooseheadStudios]

VI changed my life. I fell in LOVE with this game at like 13 years old. looking forward to reliving it all bois.

[@KashiwaDaisuke]

The first time I played FFVI as a kid, I found myself constantly getting up at 4 AM to play it before school because I was so engrossed. I would literally set my alarm under a pillow so as to not wake up my parents.

[@johnbuda7593]

Would love a FF6 full remake!~

[@michs7451]

@@johnbuda7593 If it's done in the style of the FFIV DS remake, sure. I don't think it'll work as well in the high-fidelity, VII Remake style though.

[@Entresol18]

Yeah 6 was really cool.

[@jmarx3943]

@@michs7451 I'd prefer a ff4 psp style remake over ds. But yes, agreed otherwise.

[@GeebusCrust]

One of my old bandmates and another friend of ours had a noise/performance art two-piece called Lull, where all the songs were sort of thematically based on FFVI. The cassette they sold at shows had a woodblock print of Kefka on the sleeve, it was gorgeous

[@pingunooty]

Yo that sounds awesome

[@UliTroyo]

There used to be a college ska band here in FL called Audible that covered the opera song. When I heard it live, I could tell the rest of the room had no clue what the song was, but it was a cool gamer moment for me.

[@robardian3697]

Still got any tapes to sell? 😃

[@alphaentitysound]

This is the one. A true life-changer and a rocket ship in to another universe as a kid. Also the biggest reason (with Chrono Trigger) I became a musician. Thanks for the series, can't wait to hear more analysis and development stories.

[@TIDbitRETRO]

FFIV will always be my favorite, but whenever anyone asks which FF is the best, VI is always my answer. It’s both a technological and artistic masterpiece.

[@nicolasjonasson4820]

I find it crazy that Mike edits these videos in realtime while at the same time leading the show. Focus!

[@jazzandfriends1]

Peak efficiency lol

[@CasenSperry]

It's amazing.

[@AuspexAO]

Starting with the map was also something Tolkien did. There is an old expression that says, "the map is not the territory" that basically means that people often see a map or model and relate it to closely to the real thing. However, in a video game or fantasy world the map IS the territory. When you show the player a fantastic or beautiful place, their mind is in the world. You can trap them in your reality by doing now but showing them a particularly interesting map. It's especially brilliant because a map allows for infinite imagination. Even before you hear the story of Xenoblade or Frodo and the Ring, you can look at the magnificent Bionis or the desolate territory of Mordor and say, "I have to know the story of this place."

[@Realag666]

Played an english copy of it on the playstation 1 with 8 years, while not speaking the language at all and me and my friend basicly made the story up as we went further into the game. The unkillable tank in Vector was the one thing we couldn't overcome together, because we couldn't figure out how to progress/ get into the factory. Very fun memories. This game is the reason i love RPG's

[@philipboardman1357]

@1:13:30 restrictions definitely stokes creativity. This is true with regard to music, gameplay, narrative, art, and every other creative discipline.

[@JanneOksanenMusic]

Oh boy, I know this is gonna be good! Looking forward to you going through this masterpiece which is literally one of the greatest video games of all time! As a professional musician one track that really stuck with me was perhaps somewhat surprisingly "Forever Rachel". It was the saying "they don't make video games like this anymore" embodied into a song. Divinely beautiful.

[@michs7451]

They really don't make video games like this anymore. I can't believe they made convincing opera in the 16-bit era, and Dancing Mad is just another thing altogether.

[@nathank2289]

Not as good as 8 but 6 definitely has one of the best soundtracks in gaming. I think Chrono Trigger is sightly better but 6 is packed with hum/beat worthy tracks. Battle to the death, Slam Shuffle, and Terras theme were my standouts.

[@jaymulls5426]

VI was hands down one of the most formative games in my life. The story, the music, the characters and art- amazing

[@oplawlz]

What a lot of those old school dev studios ignore is the overwhelming empirical data showing how much damage you actually do to your project by overworking your devs. Programming isn't like an assembly line. Crunch is terrible for the bottom line, and most problems game companies have faced come down to a simple failure of project planning and management.

[@Xygor]

I'm pumped that my favorite game is being covered on the best retrospective RPG podcast! Keep them coming, boys.

[@FantasyYeet]

Yo Xygor!!!! U great too my dude. Fawk ff15 btw

[@JapanFreak2595]

I was born a year after FF6 first released, played it all the way through for the first time back in 2020. With zero nostalgia and a few minor misgivings, I understood why this game was such a landmark in both games and RPGs, and became one of my personal favorites. Even listened to the soundtrack from start to finish whenever I was working on projects for my 2D Design Art elective for my final semester of college. (43:42- 46:30 This was a very enlightening part for me personally, cuz I’ve been working on my own concepts for stories as well, but have mostly developed the characters first rather than the overarching plot/story. Strange to realize that a fair amount of people don’t work on the characters first)

[@Arkholt2]

FF6 is my favorite FF game, and is the reason why I'm a fan of the series to this day. Anyone who says video games aren't art should play this game, because it will change your mind. I'm really looking forward to your discussion on it. Plus, I know you said you're going to be playing the original SNES version, but the pixel remaster is also incredibly good and a great way to experience the game if you haven't before.

[@GamingWithSpoons]

Honestly the world of ruin was such a tonal shift for the game, it adds so much to the story in so many ways. It allows these characters to finally be okay you've come to the end of your arc but let's see how your new found values hold up after dealing with failure. Such a beautiful game.

[@MINI_JasperJunior]

Mike is the reason I say I'm 99.7% straight. 😍 Also recently started a playthrough of ff6 before I knew this series was coming, paused my playthrough at the 3 situations stage so I can play along. 🥳

[@plain_simple_garak]

On the idea of not being afraid to use your best story idea, Melinda Snodgrass, who was a science fiction novelist, was tasked with writing an episode of Star Trek: TNG. She wasn't sure if she should do it, because it was a challenging idea and she thought it might be better to save it. But she was advised by her friend George R.R. Martin to "never hoard your magic bullet." On his advice she wrote the episode, and that episode was "The Measure of a Man," one of the best and most memorable episodes of that show, where Picard and Riker have to face off in a hearing about whether Data the android has the right to self-determination, or whether he is property

[@zerorisker9161]

Pinocchio is broken. Its strings have been cut.

[@jaymulls5426]

Also gotta say that the whole second half of the game that y'all touched on being an addition surprised me. It's like the intro to bioshock- so critical to the game (and what made it transcendent) that I don't think it would've stuck with me this hard without it. The second half is a masterpiece in its own right

[@DasCody]

It's hard to express how excited I am for this series. Final Fantasy VI is one of the first games I played, some of my earliest memories are watching one of my brothers play this. This game was a motivation to learn to read and started my love of video games. I can't wait to re-experience this through the podcast, thank you so much for doing this game!

[@apnwu369]

This was my favorite game of my childhood. I had played FF4 with my friend but this was the first Final Fantasy that I owned myself. Replayed it a ton and would just grind levels in it for hours.

[@pickerofnits3066]

It’s kind of surprising to learn the latter half of the game wasn’t even initially on the books, partly because of how good it actually is and doesn’t really feel tacked on or unnecessary. I’d argue 6 has overall the best side content in the franchise because of how it gets the player invested into the idea of doing it beyond material reward. You actually don’t need to reunite most of the cast of characters (although it is highly recommended just from a gameplay perspective) but for most players they will be thinking “of course I’m going to do this” and don’t even consider all the leg work to be side quests insomuch as something that is needed to have a complete experience.

[@Sinistra359]

I'm so glad these come out on Wednesdays. I listen to other pods that come out Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, but I'm glad to have a pod to fill in my Wednesdays! 😀

[@magicianman534]

FF VI was the first video game I ever played. I was 6 or 7 and my aunt gave me used SNES and this game. It was one of those formative experiences that really set the tone for my interests in media for the rest of my life.

[@markasscop]

something I'll always love on this channel is the development history talk on final fantasy games

[@jacobstevens7548]

Eager to see this analysis! VI is my favorite Final Fantasy game. Thinking about the era, I think it is fair to say that VI is to VII what A Link To The Past is to Ocarina of Time, namely, the last game prior to the implementation of 3D, and which managed to produce a true classic.

[@royaltyalign417]

Once I saw the thumbnail, I’m like”oooohhhh shiiieeett, I’m watching this!”

[@rauusu]

Masahiro Sakurai started a KZbin channel about game development, and he recently did a video on work ethic and hardship. One of the things he said was(and I'm paraphrasing): "I will usually forget the hardship, but I will never forget the things I could've done better." That really resonated with me. Sabin and Edgar's middle names are Rene and Roni, so they still kept it somewhat. Also, FFVI is my favorite game of all time so I'm loving all this info.

[@Artimes.]

This game was literally my gateway into RPGS. In fact the first scene I ever saw in an rpg game was the Opera scene, ironically, it was my friends Grandfather that introduced it to me and from then on. My childlike mind was just mesmerised in the art and narative depth that these games are capable of and i put down mario and street fighter and started my introduction into the world of Final Fantasy. From then on, I was an rpg addict.

[@daveybjones999]

I think it’s really interesting what you were talking about around the 43-minute mark about Celeste and Kafka getting more and more scenes as the development of the game went on when they weren’t intended to be such big characters in the original outline for the story. I find it fascinating because that’s really how all stories are made. Regardless of if you have a loose, or detailed, outline for what you want to do in the story, things will change as you continue because that’s just the nature of writing stories. As you continue writing a story things change and sometimes concepts and characters you intended to have a really heavy focus get reduced or completely dropped, and ones that either didn’t exist in the beginning or were just a small part of it become really major parts. That’s why writing stories can be so challenging and rewarding at the same time. Even if you’re the type of writer that likes to plot out and outline everything before starting the process of fully writing the story you need to be able to either change or completely throw out said outline if what you write becomes incompatible with that original outline. That’s why some stories, like How I Met Your Mother, end really badly because even though they followed the original outline and idea they had for the ending, the story had changed so much over the course of the TV series, said ending became incompatible with how the story had progressed. It’s also why some stories like the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy end really badly because they had no outline for the story so it was made up as each movie was coming out and the entire story became disjointed because every director ended up doing their own thing. In the end, it became an unwieldy mess of constantly retconning and changing aspects of the previous movie. (Note I actually really love the first 2 movies of the sequel trilogy, the only one I don’t like is the third one)

[@mattsully2238]

So hyped for this series. Thanks gents for your time and energies.

[@tonyranallo8306]

One cool thing about Sabin and Edgar when you hit the Credits Roni and Rene are their middle names.

[@EvilCronos13]

I'm pretty sure that Roni and Rene are the middle names of the Figaro brothers. Also, if you guys want to check out both translations as you play, legends of localization has a mod that shows SNES translation, GBA translation, fan translation, and original Japanese all on the side as you play. It can be fun to see the changes each team used as you play

[@Kosmic_Aes]

This is going to be good! Fun trivia about Sabin and Edgar. 36:07. Their full names are shown in the end credits sequence. They are; Sabin Rene Figaro and Edgar Roni Figaro. They are never referenced as such in game. Plus, in the JP version Sabin is named Mash, or maybe Masshu? Regarding Terra/ Tina 41:45. I don't know exactly why Woolsey translated Tina to Terra, but I am so glad he did. To me her name is Terra full stop. As far as I know her name has been translated as Terra in the every piece of media we have gotten in the west, so it's square enix approved apparently. It's not really like the Aeris/ Aerith thing. If they oopsied their way into some really cool heaven / earth connections with Celes and Terra I think the game is better for it.

[@CassidyListon]

A KZbin channel made the interesting connection with Terra as a name. Paraphrasing it, but basically "If Terra represents the mother Earth, it makes sense that you have to win her back after the world of ruin."

[@armorvil]

I think Woolsey decided to rename her because Tina didn't sound exotic at all for western audiences (and he was right)

[@arcturionblade1077]

@@armorvil Agreed, and I'm glad Woolsey made that choice. Tina is not an exotic sounding name at all to Western audiences; it's quite common (dare I say, boring) name for arguably the main character of FFVI. But to the Japanese, Tina sounds uncommon and unique to their ears. Thematically, for the main female lead, Terra makes more sense to tie her to the idea of Mother Earth as in Greek mythology. Similarly, I always favored Terra having green hair to set her apart from normal humans and hinting to her magical Esper heritage. The Japanese tend to favor the blonde haired representation of the character which, while nice, isn't nearly as iconic or unique to me (again, having blonde hair denotes being foreign and uniqueness to Japanese sensibilities). I own the Play Arts Kai figure of Terra/Tina Branford (excellent detailing and sculpt and among my favorite of the PAK figures) and she has blonde hair, which is a slight disappointment to me, as I much prefer her having green hair. The green hair vs. blonde hair might be confusion on the part of Yoshitaka Amano's original sketchy artwork for her, and color coding for the game sprite and portrait art. Just found this interesting. Edit: 40:00 Oh, they actually talk about the name and hair color change, lol. Excellent!

[@nathank2289]

Also Terra fits better with the Protagonist having a weather/nature theme

[@cloudkitt]

As an added bonus, Terra is Earth in Latin, but Tera/Teras is "monster" in Greek. Which can relate to her nature as well :)

[@heeeyyy2947]

I say this everytime yall start a new series but I CAN'T BELIEVE YALL ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS GAME!!

[@akiinmoonlight79]

FFVI is a timeless masterpiece that will be remembered forever ❤

[@armorvil]

I agree because I'm an old fart, but be careful with the praises : it's not mindblowing for people born after the mid-nineties. So many people end up being disappointed by FF6 because comments like yours made them expect the 2nd coming of Christ lol.

[@212mochaman]

​@@armorvilI've only just started playing this a month ago. Prob later than that, i forget. I'm 39. This is my.... 4th snes game I've ever played. Things I'm confident in saying so far. Its the 🐐 ost. Not cause its amazing considering the limitations. Its just, great and mindblowing in spite of them. Ive heard the hype. Ive heard the godlike praise. Its elevated the game for me because i thought it couldn't live upto the hype. And it didnt. It exceeded it

[@Enharmony1625]

My favorite game of all time, and one of the greatest games ever made! Full stop! This game left a huge impression on me when I was young, and it remains incredibly special all this time later.

[@Rorshacked]

Randomly stumbled upon the video and within 30 seconds knew I was gonna sub and go back and watch the old episodes. I’m stoked

[@kylechwk]

You're in for a treat. Many hours of quality from these guys

[@rainmaker709]

45:20 That is (one of) the exact issue with Octopath Traveler. All the characters feel shoehorned outside of their own main story.

[@hgc7000]

So glad you two are covering FF6. Although 4 was the game that hooked me into RPGs, this is the game that set the standard for what I consider a great game experience. Story, characters, gameplay, and that musical score. Just hearing you guys talk about the mode 7 opening brings just reminds me of my early playthroughs and how much it impressed teenaged me. Even today when I replay 6, I still get hyped during the opening sequence. Looking forward to this series!

[@quiddity131]

Really excited for your coverage of this game. Final Fantasy VI was my first Final Fantasy and only my second JRPG ever after Chrono Trigger. It's up there with FF VII, FF XII and FFT as a top FF game for me.

[@ZappaSlave]

You'll want to pay attention to Edgar and Sabin's middle names, that are mentioned at the end credits. Surely those look familiar, no?

[@michaelcoraybrown]

We bring this up in the next episode.

[@michaelcoraybrown]

Nevermind... mixing up recordings. We brought it up in THIS episode.

[@kalinkapavlova9398]

I'm commenting just to say that I love the little hooks you guys do in the beginning of each episode, so much so that I was in the shower wondering what today's would be, and got impatient so I thought I'd check it out before I pick up my daughter from school and watch the rest when I get back. You mad lads did NOT disappoint. 🤙🏽🥳

[@orcbrand]

Like Edgar and Sabin, Roni and Rene were both brother princes and kings (they founded Aveh and Kislev) in Xenogears, and really Bart and Roni both do look & act quite similarly to Edgar. The fact that both Edgar and Bart also have a.... desert traversing stronghold sticks out too. I actually didn't know Soraya Saga was responsible for Sabin and Edgar but it all makes perfect sense now.

[@michs7451]

There’s actually an interview on Siliconeria where Soraya Saga talks about her creative process and her love for desert landscapes. You might like that one.

[@Seomus]

I believe the ending reveals that they're Edgar Rene Figaro and Sabin Roni Figaro (or vice versa) since they reveal the full name to the characters.

[@EdreesesPieces]

The way Figaro burrows into the sand is definitely like that scene of the Yggdrasil coming out of the sand.

[@chedhead3278]

Cheers guys, always a pleasure. Going to give this one a go as a first time play through.

[@patdzon]

VI was the first RPG I finished. The reason why I love the genre.

[@Zyel21]

The limitation comments at 1:11:40 make so much sense. I liken it to “analysis paralysis” when working with large data sets/limited direction, or perhaps more simply: not being able to decide what you want to eat at a restaurant when the menu is too large/unfocused. It can be infuriating trying to figure out how to proceed. There is a beauty to the early games and their ability to creatively solve for problems/constraints found in earlier hardware that we’ll never see again. That, compounded with the inability to easily update/fix issues down the road via patches (a common crutch in today’s development cycles) leaves me with so much admiration for the quality of the games of the time. We truly are blessed to have been able to see such large leaps in this medium and I’m glad you guys are covering this gem of a game.

[@ymalmihn5319]

I've known about FFVI since I religiously watched speedruns of it when I was 11 years old. That was over a decade ago. A few days ago I completed this game for the first time and just this morning finished writing my review of it. What incredible timing!

[@EtcEtcEtcFilms]

I can’t wait for Casen’s deep symbology analysis of Mog! 😂

[@MoodySelection]

So happy for another FF analysis, and can't wait for the reworked retrospectives! Thank you for 10 years of amazing content:)))

[@egoborder3203]

just want to say how much I appreciate these developer segments, especially for Japanese games. Japan is still weirdly separate from the West, and even after three decades of gaming I have a long list of tidbits of information about Japanese development that I've only read once. And with earlier games, where roles were less defined in a growing medium, it's really interesting to hear how developers intended the game to be received. Thanks as always!

[@egoborder3203]

not to mention, of course, watching you guys riff on said dev history!

[@SatanClauze]

Very excited to hear that we're getting a retrospective retrospective!

[@JohnOethGuitar]

I'm so excited about this series. Thanks, guys!

[@patrickholleman9323]

All the stuff you guys are saying about the new, "narrative first" focus of the game is absolutely supported by the game design data. Indeed, Final Fantasy VI is one of the most radical innovations in RPG history. The central concept of the RPG, from the time of its creation, was job/character classes, like Knight, Monk, Wizard, etc. Those classes preexisted the RPG in the various tabletop games (like Gygax's Chainmail) that evolved into RPGs. The primary thing that players had to focus on for success in tabletop games, and even more in the early PC RPGs, was party composition. You needed to enter battle with a nice balance of tanky warriors, powerful mages, and nimble rogues and rangers, or else you died. Final Fantasy VI just... gives that up. Entirely! Yes there are "soft" character classes, and they have different special abilities and equipment they can use--but you don't need to build a balanced party to beat the game. If you want to beat the game with Relm, Umaro, Gau and Mog, you absolutely could, and it wouldn't even be that hard. The game's best "light" armor is (in some ways) better than the game's best "heavy" armor! The reason why the differences between character classes dropped away is so the narrative can take precedence. The player is able to use whichever characters he or she likes for reasons of plot and characterization, at any time. That was the goal! For a different perspective, I want to point out something interesting about the script that would be impossible to notice without counting it all. Who is the main character? It's hard to say, based on just the script. Locke speaks the highest proportion of the script, at just over 8%. Edgar is in second, not far behind Locke. Sabin is right behind Edgar. But the fourth-highest speaking character? KEFKA! He speaks a ton (5.9%), especially considering he only makes one appearance in the second half of the game! The villains in FF5 and FF7 don't speak nearly as much of the script. Back to script counting, Terra comes in 5th with about 5.8% of the dialogue, and Celes is just slightly over 5%. Again, who's the main character? I contend that, in many important ways, it's Kefka. Kefka is the center of the story that can unite 14 disparate character arcs. Also, at the beginning of each act, the "perspective" character for that act wakes up in a bed. First, Terra wakes up in Arvis's bed in Narshe. Then, Locke wakes up in the same bed after the Battle of Narshe, beginning act 2. Then in act 3, Celes wakes up on the solitary island. (Now, just for context, Cloud speaks more than 18% of FF7's dialogue, with Barret coming in second at 10%. Cloud's proportion of the script and the distance between him and second place are much, much larger in FF7 than any two characters in FF6. For even more context: in The Great Gatsby, Gatsby and Nick only speak about 14% of the dialogue each. That's less than Cloud, and neither one of them does anything in the novel other than talk!)

[@Kosmic_Aes]

I think the "main character" is whoever the player identifies most with. For me growing up it was Shadow, because he is an edgy ninja with a dog. Then it was Setzer because he is an edgy sad boy, who gets over himself and becomes a functional human being after hitting bottom. Now its Terra and Celes because I can more easily identify with women than I could as a kid. Their themes of love and purpose just seem the most relevant now. But if you wanna say Kefka is the main character, I can't really see how you are wrong. Kind of like how Thanos was the main character of infinity war. Edit: I actually didn't know you made a video about this when I commented. Coming at it from another angle, Celes, Edgar, and Setzer are the only three characters required to beat the game in the WoR. But Terra shows up in the final cutscene either way if you don't recruit her. So I think it could be argued any of those four are the "main character". Locke? Nope. He went looking for a magic rock in a cave and was never heard from again.

[@michs7451]

I thoroughly enjoyed the video you posted on your channel comparing FFVI to Avengers: Infinity War. I thought that comparison was genuinely inspired.

[@patrickholleman9323]

@@michs7451 Thanks!

[@Mezmero]

When I was first introduced to this game I remember one of the biggest things to leap out at me was how nearly all the "character-classes" FELT balanced compared to one another even if some are probably technically more optimized than others. Like it FEELS like you're wrecking shop just as much with Edgar's tools as you are with Terra's magic, or Gau's rage compared to Sabin's blitz, and so on and so forth. The novelty between characters also ends up extending the play time in a way since you might be motivated to grind levels between them for the sake of experimentation even though you will ultimately only need 4 for the final boss.

[@IdiotsAmongUs]

The main character of the world of FFVI is, without a doubt, Edgar. And his story (as pertains to FFVI) starts with avenging his father. His story begins before the game starts, and whenever he is not available for our party, he is working toward it. Before the start of the game, he is a member of the Returners while remaining cordial relations with the Gestahlian Empire as he bides his time looking for an opening to strike a back, an opening he finds in Terra. When we are forced to use Terra and Locke to go track down the espers, Edgar stays behind in the Imperial Palace to gather information, ultimately independently obtaining the evidence that Gestahl would betray the party. In the World of Ruin, Edgar has continued his quest in the form of finding access to his castle, the base of his power, presumably to rebuild and mount another offensive. But we don't play Edgar's story directly. Our narrative drivers are Terra and Celes as they navigate an unfamiliar world (Terra because the slave crown kept her from knowing the world in which she lives, Celes because the coma prevented her from knowing how the world changed) while making/finding and supporting friends along the way. We play the story that's happening around Edgar's story, while his story moves the world forward.

[@Carlito_Sway]

This game is absolutely my favorite video game of all time. Revisiting it is like rereading a favorite book- all of the characters are as beloved to me as they were when I was 10, and they've only grown better as I grow older. Uematsu's music is so perfect and timeless and the world is so rich and fresh. It wasn't until quite recently that I learned about the connection between the works of Gene Wolfe, the visual artist Yoshitaka Amano, and the world building and environment of Final Fantasy VI. Putting together those elements was a bit of a eureka moment for me, and I love getting to learn more about the design and development and influences in one of my favorite works of art!

[@skitswithextramayo6371]

I have been watching your guys' stuff ever since Mike was a small pre-teen, long before his bag dropped and he became the beast we all know today. These latest in-depth game analysis videos have been helping me keep my sanity while I am up late with my colicky newborn son. Keep the great content flowing so I don't have to slap the little bastard! Thanks a lot, guys!

[@bennykurns]

So glad you guys are covering this game! :)

[@Postumeartist]

There’s not much I don’t know about ff6 but I somehow never heard of the fact that the spoiler alert……. World of ruin was an afterthought. It’s such an amazing twist. It adds weight to the game, shifting the colour palette to give it FF’s first truly gritty, darker vibe that the series leaned into more in future entries. One really sucky thing though. If you had it for the snes with the manual, and like me, read the thing before playing, it gives away the world of ruin twist.

[@jonathanmatthews8862]

I have been waiting for this game. This is hands down my favorite RPG and is one I replayed a dozen times on the SNES. Random note about Roni and Rene. When you beat the game you are shown the names of each character. Sabin and Edgar have Rene and Roni as their middle names. This was also the game that changed my mind about translators. I learned Japanese in college and one of the first things I did was go back and translate from Japanese my favorite FF games (FFT and FF6). I found the Japanese script and began working on them. It gave me a new found respect for Ted. I had always heard people say he butchered the translation but a lot of the things I loved about FF6 were his creations. He had to translate Japanese jokes to English (which if you know Japanese is extremely hard). He renamed Tina to Terra because to English speakers, he felt the name Tina didn’t convey the same air of mystique. I played the Japanese version on the gba and realized that the game is not nearly as comical in Japanese. Also Terra’s personality in Japanese is far more withdrawn and blank; she is meant to sound like a child. In English she is given a much stronger personality but Ted tries to make it clear that she doesn’t know much about being a person (ie emotion). It is also VERY important to know that FF6 was the first translated FF game to use Kanji. FF4 (as far as I know) originally used only hiragana on the Super Famicom. In Japanese (if you don’t know) hiragana is phonetic while kanji hold meaning. Hiragana takes up one character slot in script but is usually the equivalent of 2 English letters in sound. Kanji, on the other hand, only takes up one character slot in script but can be the equivalent of 4 or even 8 English letters in sound. That made his job that much harder since each English letter is forced to take up one slot in script. To be fair I think English gets to fit slightly more characters into each dialog box versus Japanese but it’s not a lot more. Ted was given an impossible task and as a result he pretty much needed to rewrite the whole story. I love FF6 but I realized after playing the Japanese game that the script I love is the one Ted made. The story was generally the same but the way the characters and plot came off was different.

[@zackgordon3068]

Three notes 1. I would argue that this game was also very unique in the gameplan systems, even if the story is what ultimately sealed the deal. The magicite stat boosts at each level essentially make it so that (with time and patience) you can do a kind of "build-a-character" and not just stick to their preset archetypes. However, what I makes each character shine even more brightly are their unique skills and abilities. Granted, the abilities are terribly balanced, but I still love them because they prevent each character from becoming a generic vessel for your weapons/magic spells. 2. I think this game is a perfect example of how limitation breeds creativity (at least in terms of story-telling). There are so many instances where they are pushing the limits of the hardware, and it results in truly awe-inspiring moments (the intro credit crawl being one of them). Same goes for the writing. When all you have is a text box and "little lego people" as Mike put it, it forces you to say a lot more with a lot less material. I'm sure we'll run into many instances where a single line of dialog forces you to stop and breathe for a moment. 3. We all know Mog and Umaro are the TRUE main characters 😉 Super excited for this guys!

[@zackgordon3068]

Also forgot this game has some of the best usage of leit motif ever!

[@michs7451]

@@zackgordon3068 Leitmotif was also a term that Wagner inaugurated for opera.

[@Kosmic_Aes]

Unique systems doesn't mean well designed. The magicite/ esper leveling system doesn't stress test very well. Its easy to break like junction from FF8, except its permanent so you get punished hard for not understanding how it works, which I sure as heck didn't as an 8 year old. I don't even think the exact mechanics of the esper leveling is even explained to the player. To me FF6's esper system and FF8's GF's are my favorite FF magic systems conceptually, but are both pretty poorly implemented. That doesn't stop me from liking their game systems anyways. After all, they are both pretty easy single player games. Its not a big deal if your massively overpowered or slightly underpowered.

[@davis797]

Incredibly excited for this, one of my favorite games of all time and probably my favorite Final Fantasy.

[@SanjiTyloxion]

VI is such an impactful game to me. I've come to connect a lot to it in part due to how I've come to interpret a lot of the arc and story for Terra as almost a Third Culture/Immigrant kid. It may not be the main intent. But people who know about the game, and know about the experiences I describe can kinda see how I come to that interpretation. And of course Found Family with the party members. It is likely one of the strongest found families in its core, though I'd say parties in other FF games get very high up there and even surpass it. But that just tends to happen as time passes and story telling evolves. I may not be able to catch thes all as they release but imma def keep track.

[@sarinarivers7304]

This is an interesting perspective! I never thought of 6 in this light.

[@Sentinel_ICBM]

Just paid $65 and picked up an SNES copy of this game to play along with you guys - Super excited for this one. I haven't played this game since the PS1 Anthology version came out in 99 when I was 10 years old. Like you guys I played it once and loved it but haven't revisited it since, so really looking forward to this one.

[@CasenSperry]

Me too, Let's go! The translation has so many problems but I love the "originals".

[@dances_with_incels]

I think I'll be playing the pixel remaster

[@GeebusCrust]

I started up pixel remaster a couple weeks ago. Hoping to keep up with the show!

[@Sentinel_ICBM]

The pixel remaster looks great 👍 Personally, there's just something about playing the game on the original hardware and experiencing the product as the developers intended, with warts and all. I understand though it's not easy to find a SNES and a copy of FF3 though, or at least for a decent price.

[@riikka9842]

The difference when you were raised by classical musicians haha. I went to my first opera when I was 2 years old. And sat through the entire thing just fine. And still have a couple moments I can recall. (probably through a strange lense like my memories from Disneyland at 3 are weird)

[@fappydabear1774]

I've played this game probably 4 times. Got most of the way through the dark world but have never actually beat it. I think I'm going to go on the journey with you guys for the first time. Let's do it! Excited to finally see the ending for this game.

[@Chadius]

Ah... Final Fantasy 3, er 6, er VI. The game that made me love JRPGs. I've been waiting for this. I play randomizers of this game weekly.

[@jazzandfriends1]

Let's gooooo!!!!!!!!!! I'm so hyped for this one

[@OraNui]

I've really loved the non-FF game discussions but this feels like a nice return. Couldn't be more excited for more.

[@chaosmos24]

The Japanese Super Famicom box art is GOAT box art for me. Amano was at the height of his powers.

[@travisbplank]

After playing mostly score attack games and platformers and other arcade style games, FFVI was the revelatory moment for me as a kid. With its deep philosophical themes and music/art inspired by real life classics it blew my mind WELL before I was taught about art in school. It was that transformative "oh videogames aren't just GAMES, they're whole artistic universes" that took me from a kid who plays games to a kid who is a "gamer" or someone who goes deeply into the hobby. I hope its place in gaming history is solidified and it continues to enrapture new generations.

[@HappyMaiar]

So glad I found this podcast. Thanks!

[@MugenHeadNinja]

This is the most “magical” FF game imo, it's just got something to it that 7, 9 and 10 doesn't have. Even if I slightly prefer 7 and 9 (probably because of childhood nostalgia) there's no denying imo that this games a masterpiece.

[@MoonAtomic7]

Thank you gentlemen for all your hard work. I love these videos. I'm not able to comprehend or say how I feel about these works of art so poetically as you two do. Keep it up!

[@mquinhoz]

FFVI is the ultimate FF experience. Was the transition from Light Warriors adventure topos to subjective trips and obscure meanings wrapping the core of the plot

[@MrBehJefferson]

Have started FFVI at least 3-4 times on 2-3 platforms since PS1’s FF Chronicles compilation. Never finished. Very excited to play though with you all!

[@LS1Highwind]

I was stoked for Bioshock now I'm just smitten. 6 was just such a great game that, even to this day, doesn't get even close to the recognition that it should.

[@michaelsmith4832]

I first played this game in the late 90s. The intro blew my 11 year old mind. I've since played through this game several times in different ways, and it's amazing how impactful it still is. I fired it up again last night and thought I would share some of the reasons this game (at least for me) is so special. 1. The pacing of the story 2. The music 3. It's very cinematic 4. Darker tone yet doesn't take itself TOO seriously.

[@ciavaldinimaeva8855]

Thank you for this amazing chat! It is super interesting to hear the journey of the development of FFVI 🤗

[@SimonDouville1]

And the music! Terra"s Theme is litteraly the theme yo my life.

[@treasurehunter3369]

Broooooooo!!! My fav game of all time! Dont forget to check the wall behind Mog!

[@scv-70whitebase]

Hell yeah, I’m stoked

[@bebopobama4686]

1:06:45 Man this sounds incredible. They were really living the dream.

[@Karim_sketchbook]

I'm so glad that you started this!

[@joevader10]

Excited for this one! One of the most influential RPGs to ever release, imo.

[@Shanmania]

I'm stoked, let's go

[@gumielmgz]

I am incredibly excited for this one. You've officially covered 2 of my personal Top 3 in Final Fantasy franchise, VI and Tactics (other one is XIV).

[@ILoveThisBlank]

This is my favorite game of all time, and I'm so excited that you're covering this now! This game is part of what made me want to be a composer. I just this week posted my third and final analysis video on our channel here, where I adapted a model of analyzing an opera (which I studied while working on my doctorate in composition) to analyze this game. It takes a Stanislavskian analysis of the script and compares it to the music. I was surprised it worked as well as it did, but I think this might be the game for which this method works best. Diving in and taking a deeper look at things only made me love this game more, and I'm so excited to see what you two say about it. Also, you two need to see an opera. Many are boring, but I'm sure there's at least one you'd enjoy. - Michael

[@thiago189]

I'm planning to play it for the first time when Square release the pixel version for PlayStation. Great to see the analysis here, but I'll wait to watch it only when I finish the game! Thanks!

[@Seomus]

Final Fantasy VI (or 3 as i knew it) was my first final fantasy game and is one of the reasons I'm a writer. That and Tolkien and some other stuff. But the first thing I ever wrote was tryign to turn Final Fantasy III into a novel. Not a fanfiction, but to novelize it. (Something I would also later do with Xenogears in high School). But it left me wanting to write my own stuff and now I have 22 epic fantasy novels and a bunch of co-written novellas on Amazon. So for me, it's usually character and a basic setting first and building the plot around the characters. Their story is waht drives it.

[@nathank2289]

I think it was after VIII, or maybe VII I was on a mission to play all the old FF games. III was the first snes one I played and Its 3rd on my list of best FF games. Under 7 but above 4 and 10

[@armorvil]

@@nathank2289 you say it's 3rd but your order would be : 1) 7 2) 6 3) 4 4) 10 This doesn't add up xD

[@nathank2289]

@@armorvil You got close but your mistake was assuming I like personality disorders more than time travel. 1viii 2 vii 3 vi 4 iv 5 x 6ix 7xv 8v 9ii 10xii 11xiii 12i &iii disqualified xi&xiv

[@GracelessTarnished]

Not sure if this was ever answered but Roni and Rene were actually used as Edgar and Sabins middle names.

[@JeminiThaBard]

Yes!! Finally! This game is soo dear to me. It's its my fave game of all time!

[@felixwalne3494]

Playing through this for the first time right now on the PS4! Easily one of the best!! Played 7,7 remake, 8,9,10,12,13 and 15 :)

[@HappyMaiar]

Having now listened to more of this podcast series, I wouldn't say that you guys do story 'analysis'. Like you don't really talk about plot structure, narrative technique and sub-plots so much. What you do is a commentary on a step by step playthrough of the entire game's story. Which is awesome! Closest I can get to playing FFVI while driving my car or doing household chores. Thanks! Also, just to say, if anyone is interested in reading / listening to an ongoing multi-volume web serial and podcasted audiobook that is heavily influenced by FFVI, search for 'Saga of the Jewels'.

[@Omnicloudx13]

Been waiting for this one for a while and I am really excited to watch this! I beat the pixel remaster of VI when it came out so I am ready for this analysis.

[@skaznguyna968]

I first came across his review of ff6 years ago, now i cant wait for this analysis.

[@marcushealey8777]

I'm extremely excited for you guys breakdown of one of my favorite, and one of my first games ever. Thank you for covering these great games like this!

[@DenofLore]

FIFTEEN HOURS OF FINAL FANTASY 6 ANALYSIS!?!?!?!?!?!?! WHAT THE HECK!?!??!?!?! THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!

[@josephsilberstein1577]

Before I could read, I'd watch my brothers and cousins play FF1 for the nes. By the time FF6 debuted on the snes I was mentally and physically prepared and primed to play the first rpg of my own. FF6 and earthbound were some of the first games I actually played to completion. Nes games seemed impossible back then but rpgs enabled that steady growth. even when you lose your way in a rpg you still make progress by leveling up. super excited to listen to the podcast just wanted to comment to keep the algorithm pushing you upwards and onwards. thanks for the show.

[@TheOneBearded]

Leaving a comment for the algorhitim. Won't be able to watch this until I get to play the game myself later in the year. It's super insightful playing and watching the podcast as I progress through it.