Final Fantasy VI (PlayStation) review "Everyone talks about Sabin suplexing trains, but no one mentions is ability to pause mid-jump..."

It's always nice to revisit games you love, even in the form of “revamped” releases. No, wait, that's not entirely true. It's nice to revisit the games you love if their “revamped” releases are handled properly. Sometimes, you run afoul of changes that aren't necessary, such as Tales of Phantasia's groan-worthy alteration of a binge drinking moment, where the characters “eat a lot” instead of swill brews, waking up with bellyaches instead of hangovers. However, nothing compares to booting up the PlayStation edition of Final Fantasy VI, watching the once-glorious opening cutscene, and hearing the soughing of the wind.

Scratch that. The wind isn't “soughing” this time around. It's shrieking. Something as simple as the soothing, yet ominous breeze blowing as Terra and her handlers gaze upon Narshe from afar becoming a rough, ear-splitting noise hampers the scene. Granted, if you've never played the SNES release of this title, you wouldn't know. I couldn't blame anyone for enjoying this iteration, because it really does present all of the same qualities, albeit along with many annoying imperfections that came to be associated with Sony's debut system.

Yeah, Final Fantasy VI is a terrific game even with these issues, but this port of the classic proves to be one of the least enjoyable renditions of all of them. Most of that comes from the problems it faced after jumping to the PlayStation... Ultimately, it's still the same adventure with its old rules systems and challenge factor intact, bolstered only by a redone script that clears up some of its questionably translated moments from the SNES iteration. Altogether, though, it just doesn't hit the same...

You still venture into a bright and beautiful world in the first half, joining a resistance movement against an empire that seeks to rule the planet through magical might. You enlist a colorful cast of characters, including a green-haired spellcaster named Terra, a treasure hunter called Locke, and a charming king in Edgar (not to mention his train-suplexing, martial artist brother, Sabin).

As the story progresses, each of these characters develop into something more than mere archetypes. You learn about each person's past regrets and how they've come to cope with them. Terra knows nothing of her past, and has had so much of her life and childhood taken from her that she never learned simple things like love. Locke occasionally visits a past partner kept in a coma, one who could die upon awakening unless he finds a way to prevent it...

Everyone's got their hangups, but they don't receive much in the way of resolution through the first half of their quest. They're expected to put their worries aside so they can band together and battle the villainous Emperor Gestahl, knowing full well that such finality won't give them the closure they all personally want. Ironically, they can only receive that after a tremendous defeat...

However, the content leading up to that climactic showdown sends you through numerous dungeons and vast walks over gorgeous continents teeming with everything from killer bunnies to dragon-like hellbeasts. In the SNES edition, this battles spring up and vanish quickly, partly owing to the fact your characters possess an array of handy techniques and powerful weapons. Things only improve for you once you acquire the ability to bestow magic unto anyone. And I mean anyone. That quiet ninja who throws weapons? He can also use healing spells. That feral kid who mimics monsters? He also learns to toss fireballs and summon lightning bolts. How about the little girl with the paintbrush? Yeah, even she can turn enemies to stone, levitate, and give your party a temporary speed boost.

However, in this release things don't run so smoothly. You encounter an enemy and the screen slowly dissolves to black. There it sits for several seconds before ushering you to the battle screen, where you win quickly because of the aforementioned arsenal on offer, only to watch as the visuals transition back even more slowly than before. An even longer pause comes about, and eventually you're back at it, only for the same thing to happen again after you've taken a few steps.

Oh, and it gets worse. In many cases, especially with flashy strikes or spells, our party halts for a moment while system loudly reads the disk, then the animation plays out. It's most noticeable with Sabin's “Aura Bolt” blitz skill, where he leaps, stops midair, lands, stops again, then fires.

For anyone who cut their teeth on the SNES edition, this slowdown is agonizing. You already know where the story's going to go and how things are going to play out, and now you just have to watch them slowly happen. Believe me, all of those delays add up, making sections of the campaign drag on waaaaaay longer than before. Don't believe me? Then play the SNES or Game Boy Advance versions, then take on Fanatics'/Cultists' Tower in the PlayStation disc and get back to me. That was already a long dungeon filled with misery because you can only use magic, there are no save points, and you can't run from battles. Worse, if you die, you end up taking the whole tower from its starting point, spending an ungodly amount of time staring at blanks screens and watching as tedious transitions play out time and again.

Yes, you still get that magical second half of the campaign, where linearity dies in a fire and you must either figure out where to go or hit up guides. After acquiring the airship a second time, you get the whole wide world to explore, giving you an opportunity to venture into towns you previously visited and look for clues regarding the whereabouts of your former teammates. Some of them are easy to locate, like Gau, who went back to his home on the veldt. Where else was he going to go? On the other hand, you have Shadow, who only appears if you completed certain tasks before everything went to hell. Even then, you've got to follow a long, confusing trail of side quests just to get him to appear.

And if you love super-bosses, there are plenty on offer in the second half, including numerous dragons, a flying monstrosity, and Tonberry. Always Tonberry...

Sadly, if you're used to the SNES's swift transitions, this last half is only going to be painful for you. The previously discussed slowdown only becomes more apparent by this point, made worse by this section's ramped up challenge factor. Unlike the first half, this one puts you through more desperate struggles, which you must manage while also waiting through drawn-out shifts from the main travel screen to combat and back.

I'll give the game this: If it's the only version to which you have access, and you've never played a more streamlined port or remake without all of the brain-frying load times, this release is still enjoyable. For anyone who used to smoother transitions, nearly instant saving and loading, and watching Sabin execute an Aura Bolt without randomly freezing, this title is stone cold torture. As I summed this one up way back in my GameFAQs days: “Terrible port of an excellent game.”

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (December 23, 2023) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.