Final Fantasy VI Advance

"Wow... FFVI gone portable is a great thing to see"

Final Fantasy VI is one of the best RPGs created. Its plot is simply amazing. It first appeared on the SNES, and was very popular. Then, it came back in Final Fantasy: Anthology on the Play Station. This is the third time; on the Game Boy Advance. And it has lost none of its greatness. Heck, this game can be remade a fourth time, and no one would complain.

Gameplay 9/10
FFVI has quite a unique style of gameplay compared to the other Final Fantasies. It uses Espers, which not only make the gameplay fun, they make you look out for which Espers you level up with because those Espers can change your stats. Another thing that is great about the gameplay is that each character has their own special moveset, for example, the Samurai in this game has a fight option called, "Bushido". They're all very creative, and many times, they can turn the tide in a battle. They provide a whole new strategy to the game, and it also makes it a lot more fun than it would be without it.

The difficulty in this game is usually easy, but hard at some parts in the game. It all depends if you're leveled up high enough, or if you are using the right strategy. Many times, if you just keep on attacking and don't pay attention to what the enemy is doing, you could end up getting annihilated. FFVI is one of the first games to provide the need for strategy and paying close attention towards the enemy. Usually, this only applies to bosses, but this can apply to some random battles. Some of the random battles are actually harder than some boss battles.

There are also some parts in the game where strategy is involved. This is not just some strategy you use in some boss battle; you actually have to be careful of where you move your units. These parts in the game are actually quite fun to play, because they provide a nice, enjoyable change from the normal gameplay.

The controls in this game aren't bad either. Unless you're mashing the A button or something like that, you won't mess up in inputting the right command. Basically, these are the controls of any normal RPG. There isn't really such a thing as bad controls in an RPG.

Story 10/10
Probably the best part of the game is the story. Most RPGs cannot compare to this game's. In the beginning of the game, there is a short introduction about the "War of the Magi", and how that nearly destroyed the world. As the story progresses, the story becomes focused on a magical substance called "magicite", which is basically a form of an Esper. The villain, Kefka, starts collecting the magicite, and basically acts like a demented, power-hungry person. There are many plot twists in the story, and at times your jaw will be left hanging as the story changes from one plot to the next.

At times, in the story, you can decide the outcome of what is supposed to happen. I won't go into details about how you can change the story, but I assure you, some choices you make can affect the gameplay greatly. Very greatly. Sometimes this can get annoying, because if you choose the choice that you find out is not the greatest one to pick, well, you'd probably want to start all over again.

Another thing about the story in this game is that each character has some role to play in the game, no matter how small. Just as long as you get them all, that is. Some of them can be annoying, some are funny. Some of the characters are serious, and still others are light-hearted. There are 14 playable characters in this game, and as I said before, they are special in their own way. The story would be a lot different if one of the characters were taken out. All in all, the story of this game is enough to blow anyone away.

Graphics 8/10
These are definitely not the best graphics seen on the Game Boy Advance. Definitely not, but it comes pretty close. The animations for each move are each different looking, which makes the battle experience more enjoyable. Some games have the same attack animation for every single move, and believe me, it gets boring and bothersome. All the magic spells are enjoyable to watch, and casting them is not going to be something irritating to your eyes. Sometimes, the weapons that the characters are holding have their own way of attacking. And I'm not going to lie; some of them are pretty darn cool.

The areas in the game are also well laid out. There are some setbacks, and some maddening parts, but for the most part, they're pretty to look at. One of the parts that just bugs me to no end is the poor placement of the doors. In some areas, sure. There are hidden areas that need to be obscured from view, but the normal doors? Those are supposed to be plain in sight and easy to see, and yet, they usually aren't. This makes the gameplay a little confusing in some parts of the game, and sometimes, you'll overlook a door or a stairway that you're supposed to enter or climb to go on in the story, and you won't look at that place again for a long time. This happened many times to me, and sometimes had me slapping myself across the face. Other than those hard to find doors, though, this game has great graphics for a Gameboy Advance game.

Sounds 10/10
FFVI's soundtrack is one to be held up high on a golden, shining pedestal. It evoked many emotions, and set the mood for every single part of the game. And it hasn't lost its quality in FFVI Advance. The boss theme, Decisive Battle, is still as urgent and awesome as ever, the Final boss theme, Dancing Mad, still rocks all out, and the Opera themes are still here. Oh, the Opera... People would probably disagree on this, but the Opera music just might beat out the Final boss theme. Aria de Mezzo Carattere is breathtaking. It has the ability to send chills down your back every time you listen to it. It has that epic, yet royal theme to it, and once you listen to it, many games' soundtracks will seem like Old MacDonald. There are many other themes that should also be mentioned, such as Terra's Theme and Searching for Friends, but if I named all the great songs out of this game, it would take up a paragraph or two just to list them. Out of all the video games created, this one might just be called one of the very best. Nobuo Uematsu never lets us down!

Now, on to sound effects. The menu chime is still there, and the explosions still sound pretty cheesy. The voices in some of the opera songs sound really digital and unrealistic, but this is a Gameboy Advance game! What do you expect? At least they tried to put some voices in the Opera! What kind of game would this be if there were no voices in the Opera house? Hmm... The Opera House probably couldn't be called an Opera House if it didn't have any voices. Maybe they should have just left the opera alone and kept the voices out of it, but if it weren't for those voices, the opera wouldn't be an opera.

If you are really into music and great audio effects, this game will not let you down. The soundtrack is an unforgettable one, and the special sound effects are not all that bad. If you are the kind of person that just speeds through the game with the sound muted, I just want you to know that you probably won't want to do that with this game. You'll be glad you listened.

Play Time 8/10
FFVI Advance can be quite a long game. If you whiz through it, you'd probably get many Game Overs. The difficulty of this game isn't that bad, but it just wasn't made to be sped through in under 10 hours. It takes some patience to finish this game, but the story will probably make you forget how long it is taking to finish. There are some boring parts in the game and some fairly long parts in the story that might take a sizable chunk out of your time, but all in all, this game probably won't be a chore to play. It definitely will not take over 100 hours of game time, and it definitely will not take less than 10 hours.

Replay Value 8/10
Some people will replay this game just for the story. Some will play it again to play as the characters again. Some might play it just for the sake of experiencing it all over again. But whichever one of these you do, FFVI Advance does not get old. Take it on long car rides, or play it when you are bored and have nothing else to do. It's a great way to sit back and kill time. Once you beat it the first time, you'll probably start it all over again right after finishing it. The story can get to the point where you absolutely need to see it over, to relive some golden moments in the game, or just listening and watching as the story unfolds for the second time. I wouldn't blame the people that wouldn't replay this game, but they'd be missing out on a whole lot. The story makes a lot more sense the second time, and you feel as if you're more connected to the characters than you were the first time. So just give this game a second playthrough. It definitely deserves it.

Final Recommendation
Even if you do own this game on the SNES, on the PSX, or both does not mean that you should completely ignore this game. You can't take the other versions of FFVI on road trips or plane rides, but with this one, you can relive the moments of this amazing game in the air or in your car. The soundtrack has not lost its greatness, and the gameplay is still its unique, fun self. Not to mention the story, which is still amazing. FFVI is regarded as one of the best Final Fantasies, so why not remake the game? If you have the money and the time to play this game, get it.

Gameplay: 9/10
Story: 10/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sounds: 10/10
Play Time: 8/10
Replay Value: 8/10
Total Score: 8.8/10 which rounds up to 9/10
Final Score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/09

Game Release: Final Fantasy VI Advance (US, 02/05/07)