VXA Pantomime: FFVI

Final Fantasy VI is indisputably a classic and the best of the original six Final Fantasies; it takes the best of what Square had done with the first 5 installments and leaves out most of the annoying nonsense. The "class" system is flexible and the characters are entertaining and varied, blah blah blah. The bottom line is that, when push comes to shove, the actual story of Final Fantasy VI is pretty straightforward and short. The characters and subplots bring the game to a whole new level (as with any Hero's Journey story). With that said, the actual story is good enough, and Brady does a great job boiling it down to its essence in this little cutscene-game.

The "game" is actually a long, 30-minute cutscene. It features our favorite VX Ace characters as stage actors in a faithful reenactment of Final Fantasy VI, complete with authentic music, sets, and dialogue! Brady did a good job with the characterization given the short amount of dialogue he had to work with; the characters generally feel like their FF6 counterparts, and the most essential one-liners from FF6 are preserved fairly well. The dialogue does feel a tiny bit forced at points, mainly due to the breakneck pace of the story; Brady might have went a little too fast. There are also a few text cut-offs that are somewhat off-putting because this game is all cutscene. These are fairly minor issues, though, because the scenes are still entertaining and offer a pretty good synopsis of the plot.

The "choreography" of the scenes, for lack of a better word, isn't bad. Brady makes good use of emote bubbles, sprite poses, jumping mechanics, and stage movement to help us visualize the scenes. Adding to the immersion are some custom graphics based on the classic tiles and sprites from FF6 that serve as stage props. A nice touch, especially since they look stylish and hand crafted, as if they were actual props in a high school play. They also don't clash too hard with the RTP sprites and stage tiles, so that's a plus. I would've liked to have seen more battle animations, as some of the early combat scenes were lacking a little punch, as it were. Lastly, some of the choreography is a little too forced and/or fast-paced; the developer should've added longer pauses between some movements, as they appear too well-coordinated and robotic at times.

There is an interactive element about a quarter of the way through the game and again near the end. While I appreciate the gesture, I didn't really feel the first interaction segment added to the game in any meaningful way. Why is that? Well, it's basically a multiple choice question that requires you to keep guessing until you select the right answer. This isn't exactly intuitive. I did like how it was disguised as a bout of audience participation; Brady should've just had the audience shout out the answer and moved along with the scene. The second segment is implemented a little better, but my opinion still stands. There's no need to force any kind of interaction because we all know what we're getting into.

Some other things to note. There's a little bit of audience interaction between acts that helps bring the theater setting to life - a nice touch indeed. The lighting effects, while a bonus, could have been used better I think; more variety to the lighting would've been great, and there are some rough transitions. I would've also liked to have seen save points between the acts. The second "half" is boiled down into a quick narration and a final segment, which was a little jarring. Overall, though, it's a fairly well polished, well written, and "well acted" performance!

Pros:
- Good eventing/choreography and writing overall
- Stays true to FF6 in its plot, music choice, etc
- The custom graphics add to the FF6 immersion; this game wouldn't have worked without 'em

Cons:
- The first interactive segment was unnecessary
- Some awkward eventing/text cutoffs take away from the immersion a bit
- Lighting effect(s) could have been implemented a little better