[Editor’s note: Aurvantoid takes a look atFinal Fantasy III,also known asFinal Fantasy VI,for hisMonthly Musing piece. — CTZ]
A lot of people have been posting their own origin stories of how they fell in love with gaming and transcended the glass ceiling from hobby to affair. While I have my own moments that I look back on I guess my own experience with the “Start of the affair” happened with a nifty little RPG title that was released on the SNES so many years ago.
I had been playing videogames ever since the release of the Nintendo Entertainment system back in 1987 and before that, I had been toying around with my fathers old Atari 2600 from the seventies. Even after receiving a Sega Genesis and a Super Nintendo in the early nineties, I still just considered them something that was useful for killing lots of time. Sure, I had spent many hours chugging throughGyromiteon the NEW (betcha don’t remember that one) and sped my way throughSonic the Hedgehogso many times that I had lost count.Super Mario World? Forget about it. I spanked that series and every incarnation of it that Nintendo tossed at me. Even so I didn’t care about the games any more than just something to do when I didn’t want to go outside.
I also absolutely loathed RPG’s. More after the jump.
Then, one day, my dad took me to the local movie store and while he was checking out the latest videos, I was searching through the games section for something new to play. I had pretty much completed everything that my local video store had (and this was before Blockbuster arrived in my area) except for this new game that they had just put out. I was familiar with the title and I knew that it was a role-playing game, but it was either find a new time waster or go play out in a field outside that was littered with cow-pattie mines. Needless to say that the new game, known at the time asFinal Fantasy III,was my only savior from cow crap hell.
The box art was a bit funny considering on the front of it was a small white peculiar creature that I would soon to forever know as a “Moogle” and I had no idea what this game was about. Did I need to play the otherFinal Fantasygames to be caught up? What the hell is that white furry creature that stands so arrogantly on his magic wand? How was it aFinalFantasy if they’re already on the third one? So many questions …
So, I popped in the game and waited to begin my quest. I saw the Squaresoft logo and then a scene of rising clouds began with some very chilling music that seemed to signify some epic event. After a moment of waitingI heard the song that would begin my love affair with RPG’s from that day forward.“The Prelude”, as it was simply called, literally captivated me and I was hooked immediately.
The combat system inFinal Fantasy VIwas something that I was not familiar with at all. I was used to controlling every move of my character and slicing and dicing through the constant stream of foes that would appear on screen like a parade. So having to actuallythinkabout my moves in some menu format was a bit unsettling to begin with. I can remember being furious with myself for not being able to master Sabin’s martial arts skills, and tossing many a controller on hoping to pull off a Pummel or an Aurablast only to hit the wrong button too soon or hit something out of sequence. It was a learning experience to say the least.
One thing that I began to notice as those bothersome boxes full of text kept popping up to let me know that my cannon fodder had something to say was that I was actually starting to enjoy reading them. I had always been a heavy reader, but I had preferred more action than context in my games. So, for me to actually care about my characters and their scripted thoughts was new and as the minutes turned in to hours and those in to days of constant play, I was completely engrossed by the story. What began as some simple woman escaping her kidnappers and seeking help turned in to a full-scale adventure filled with magic, deception, warring countries, maniacal villains, and a cast full of characters who trekked the entire globe moving from one strange incident to the next. The writing, while considered today as a “bad” translation, was amazing for your average teen at the time and it was filled with a great series of plot twists and humorous encounters. Not to mention a few times when it was very emotional and sad. However, none of these scenes would have been any good if it wasn’t for the music.
From the fast tunes that expressed the need for haste, theindustrial beats of the devils lab, orthe tunes that almost made me well up inside, I couldn’t have enjoyed this game as much as I did if it wasn’t for the wonderful music of Nobuo Uematsu. I don’t really have to explain this part because if you’ve played the game, then you know. If you haven’t, then I pity you just a bit.
Not to mention the game had one of the most villainous antagonists ever. The Mad Jester, Kefka, who would begin as a small nuisance and then become a full-blown overlord, was the perfect bad guy for this game. Crazy, sadistic, almost clownish, and as ruthless as they come. He tortured your characters from the very beginning until the very end when you finally put him down. Also, on the subject of actually fighting Kefka, it has to be the longest boss battle inFinal Fantasyhistory. I’ve pretty much played them all before and after that and I can’t find any other one that came close.
As for the ending? Completely epic and I still love it to this day. I won’t spoil it for the few of you who may have never come across this game, so I guess you’ll have to go beat it to see it. I was completely in love with this game from beginning to end and even after I was finished with the game I continued to play it over and over again just to find every little thing that I may have missed. In fact, it is the onlyFinal Fantasygame I have ever timed out the clock by reaching the time of 99:99:99 and yet still found more and more things to do with the game.
So, in closing, I have to say thatFinal Fantasy VIhas been the game that was the beginning of my affair. Although the hobby started many years earlier, it was this game that finally opened me up to the RPG genre and it signaled a time when gaming became a lifestyle more than a simple timewaster.
Oh, and if any game from Square deserved a full next-gen remake, it’s this one. Period.
