Thursday 11 January, 2007

So I progressed my second hour into FF6. I found the gameplay this second hour to be more compelling, and the storyline more interesting as more elements were advanced. I encountered some trouble in the Kolt Mountains when I, in my eagerness, neglected a usual tenet of Japanese RPGs by not first leveling up my characters. This was remedied, however, when I encountered the save point on the mountain, and proceeded to beat Vargas with relative ease after a few rounds of random encounters, followed by using a tent at the save point, making my characters just that much stronger. One particular aspect of the game I am beginning to notice that I find negative is the lack of a clear protagonist at this point. It could be argued that the role of protagonist is occupied by Terra, as at the moment she seems to be the character that the story most revolves around, and has received the most play time. She, however, does not possess some of the attributes that made characters such as Squall in FF8, strong lead characters. This is also due in part to the lack of player participation in dialogue. Whereas in FF7 and FF8 the player often had the opportunity to choose which specific statement Cloud or Squall would use, I have encountered no such interaction in FF6. Not to harp too heavily on a classic, but the battle system is also growing tiresome for me. This is most likely, though, because I haven't gotten very far in the utilization of artifacts, which seem to be FF6's token innovation, akin to materia, careers, or the GF and junction system. While I am finding that many of my other favorite RPGs are superior to FF6 at the outset, I am enjoying playing it, and I'm sure it will grow better as I progress and become more immersed in the game, and emotionally attached to the characters.

I'll agree with you on how tiresome some of the old FF battle systems can get. But then again I remember them being hella fun back in the day...maybe I've outgrown it or perhaps the modern RPG's offering more involved battle systems are giving us a wider view of possible alternatives and pointing out some of the gameplay limitations in the classics. I don't know.

Also, I just felt like jumping in and saying that the lack of a clear main character was something I really liked about FF6. Not trying to start an argument or anything, just sayin. Or maybe I just liked Terra the most.