HEY READ THIS ABOUT FF6.

Good read, even if I disagree with some of the philosophy (attrition gets on my nerves nowadays). That's all I can really say.

Didn't realise you could delve this much into the mechanics of FFVI. Hell, I'm wondering whether even the game designers put this thought into the game. ;(

Good read though!

The notes about the meaningful gameplay in dungeons being "long game" - almost no individual enemies are challenging or different, and the primary challenge of dungeons is maintaining your healing and MP resources rather than winning battles - is something that many games emulate. Sometimes this is done on purpose and sometimes it's done because no thought was put into the encounters. I honestly have to admit to disliking it when it's overdone and prefer fewer, more meaningful battles in at least some parts of the game.

This is also the primary reason that save-anywhere is a bad idea in certain games. Individual battles aren't challenges - the dungeon is a single challenge. Saving mid-dungeon in this type of game is the equivalent to saving mid-battle in a game like FF10. (This doesn't mean you can't allow suspend data to be saved anywhere, which is a nice modern feature that wasn't technically feasible in the SNES era.)

Seeing someone go deep into FF6 analysis is really cool because I love me some FF6 and basically know every single area, cut scene and battle in the game by heart and can really appreciate it. I'll read the rest of the article and respond more later.

author=Jparker1984
I loved FF6, only had one problem with the game. In the beginning, in the world of balance. The characters were all really unique. However, in the world of ruin where everyone was able to start using magic, that kind of made it not so unique. As much as I love the skills of each particular character. I found my self casting magic with all most everyone all the time. To me, magic did the best damage. Other then that, I really loved that game.

That's actually a very valid point.

isnt most of the FF series known for having blank slot characters? (FF4 and beyond FF9 are the only ones that go against this) not sure if this would be a flaw in RPGs. I kind of like making Barret the healer/support or w/e because i can.

That's when you have to challenge yourself and keep everyone unique. The game didn't force you use the same moves for everyone. If that makes it boring, do something different. The quickest/easiest strategy might be to find the highest dmg dealing attack and spam it, but that is lame.

author=UPRC

author=Link_2112
Nice article, typical response.

I played FF6 maybe 10 years ago and I never did beat it. I can't even remember what espers are and half those character names are new to me...I really should try it again.

Yes, you should! Go do it immediately!

I concur.

Also, I think I might try Craze's FF6 guide. I just put FF6 on my phone's SNES emulator.

EDIT:
"this isn't a forum of game developers but rather of anti-discussion jerks"
^probably the most insightful (inciteful?) comment from that thread.

author=calunio

author=Jparker1984
I loved FF6, only had one problem with the game. In the beginning, in the world of balance. The characters were all really unique. However, in the world of ruin where everyone was able to start using magic, that kind of made it not so unique. As much as I love the skills of each particular character. I found my self casting magic with all most everyone all the time. To me, magic did the best damage. Other then that, I really loved that game.

That's actually a very valid point.

I really like the game though. the story is what brought me in the most. Kefka was easily the best bad guy in the FF series. Funny thing though, when I first met Kefka, I thought he was a woman lol.