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i90east
03-12-2004, 05:29 AM
How have your feelings for the 14 playable characters changed from the first time you played FFVI to now? Has your favorite character ever changed?

Some characters have a more immediate wow factor than others (either ability, personality, appearance or a combination of the three), while others hold powerful secrets to be uncovered by experienced players. Some characters might grow on you after a while. So let's see how this all goes down.

I'm going to average all of the answers later which should provide some definate information in a solely opinionated field of study. Use a scale of 1-10 with 10 being "I love this character" and 1 being "I dislike this character". This way I can average numbers.

I got FFVI on August 21st, 1995 which is when I started playing.

Then/Now
Terra 4/5
Terra is too confused about who she is to have a real personality until the WoR where all she does is talk about love. That's not very interesting if you ask me. I think the only time you really get a hint of the colorful side of Terra is during the scene where Gau is dressing up to meet his father. She was selfish during the game even though she claims to have found what love is. I think she just loves herself. She just wanted Leo so he could teach her stuff. She just wanted to take care of the kids to feel needed. Have you ever noticed that whenever she interacts with the other main characters it's just to talk about herself? The Gau's father scene is the only exception I can think of for that too.

Locke 3/4
I always thought Locke was ugly, and he's very weak. Plus I get tired of all the people that are like "OMG Locke 0wNs y00 with the mad tyte Offering + Genji Glove combo!!" Yeah well what about the other 90% of the game? The only thing that makes his existance worth while is his relationship with Celes, and the Rachel scene was cool too. Dual Hawk Eyes are neat but they're only very effective during a brief time near the end of the WoB. Steal is near worthless in FFVI.

Edgar 7/5
Edgar's great in battle when you first get him but his usefullness declines as you get better characters and the monsters get stronger. Edgar gets his best tools too early in the game which prevents him the ability to upgrade his best attack late in the game. Plus his stats are quite low so for me Edgar is just a so-so character.

Sabin 9/10
Sabin's blitzes are extremely useful throughout the game is his evasion is pretty good too. Plus he's got a great sense of humor and his scenario is the best part of the game for me.

Shadow 2/6
I used to dislike Shadow. However his stats are above average, Interceptor is nice to have around and the throw command is fun to use. So now I think he's alright even though his sprite is ugly and he has a dry personality.

Cyan 9/8
I think Cyan's abilities look more impressive than they are useful. I've used Cyan a lot for years but I've come to the conclusion that ultimately Swdtech is a disruption to the flow of battle. Not only does Swdtech take a while to charge up (I know there are ways to avoid hold-ups but that gets tiring too), but the overly dramatic Quadra Slam/Slice takes a long time to sit through as well. I like to do all my damage in one quick hit and not sit there watching Cyan's big show over and over and over. Besides, Catscratch and Bum Rush do more damage than all 4 of Cyan's slices combined. Plus Cyan's stats are well below average. Swdtech is still a cool and unique ability so I still like him. Perhaps I've just used him too much.

Celes 4/7
I never realized how odd yet intriguing Celes' outfit is until recently, and although she's rather weak in the WoB she does control the levels of many WoR characters. Plus she's somewhat powerful in the WoR with the Ragnarok. Celes is alright... better than Terra.

Gau 10/10
Gau has always been the most intruguing character for me ever since I first saw him in the instruction manual before getting anywhere near the Veldt. How many other FF characters are just like Gau? None. We've seen kings, warriors and theives but then all of the sudden here's this wild kid. Gau's got the funniest personality and yet he's one of the most powerful characters in the game (the fact that most people don't know that also raises his cool factor... he's a sleeper). He simply tears everything up and he almost never dies due to great defense. I put my groups in order by level, and Gau always rises to the top because he dies less and therefore gains more experience than everyone else. That proves something doesn't it? I can honestly say that anyone claiming Gau is weak or useless doesn't know what they're talking about. After schooling people for years no one has shown me how he's weak. Keep trying people... I'm convinced it ain't gonna happen.

Setzer 4/6
Setzer's pretty much average. The only cool thing about Setzer for me is that he can use free magicites with 3 bars which happens quite often. That actually causes him to be useful every once in a while. 7-flush ain't that bad but it's not that good either. His stats are well below average though.

Mog 8/5
Having more than one automatic character in a group is bad for many reasons. Gau already fills the single position for automatic character. Besides Mog stumbles way too much. If he did his dances 80%-100% of the time he'd be much better. Some of his dance attacks arn't very effective.

Strago 3/3
Strago's stats are low, he can't equip any good weapons or armor and his Lores do below average damage throughout the game, except maybe the end... maybe. Besides, who wants to fight with an old man? He's past his prime, let's put it that way.

Relm 5/8*
Relm would be alright if sketch didn't glitch the game so much. It's not very effective anyway but control is. Not only does it stop an enemy from attacking but it also provides for some interesting battle situations. In my Expert Version 2 she starts out with control, no relic required. Plus you gotta love her high magic stat.

Gogo 7/4
Gogo's abilities seem really cool until you look at his stats along with the fact that you can't change them. Plus he also has no personality. What fun is that?

Umaro 1/2
Umaro has no personality other than wimpering when he's hurt, he can't cast magic, you only get him late in the game and he's a big ugly hairy monkey. It is nice to have him around on Kefka's tower though because of the nice physical damage he delivers. The fact that I almost never use him raises his fun factor when I do use him.

*Expert Version 2 enhanced stats & ability

Edgar
03-12-2004, 12:04 PM
Then/Now
Terra 7/4
Locke 3/2
Edgar 7/9
Sabin 7/10
Shadow 4/9
Cyan 7/7
Celes 4/9
Gau 4/6
Setzer (slot doesn't work for me) 1/5
Mog 10/8
Strago 1/2
Relm 5/7
Gogo 9/7
Umaro 6/10

There :)

Azrael85
03-13-2004, 09:26 PM
Then/Now:

Terra 8/9
Locke 4/5
Edgar 7/9
Sabin 10/10
Shadow 9/8
Cyan 8/7
Celes 5/6
Gau 3/3
Setzer 3/3
Mog 7/5
Strago 5/4
Relm 3/3
Gogo 8/6
Umaro 6/6

:D

Flying Mullet
03-16-2004, 03:07 PM
The only impression that's changed for me is Gau. I like him a lot more now that I know what his powerful rages are. I've never had a lot of absolute favorites though. I've always tried to mix up the parties I take through the game every time I play to keep it fresh and make it a unique experience.

Edgar
03-20-2004, 01:36 PM
I might as well elaborate on my ratings

Then/Now
Terra 7/4
Eariler on, Terra was useful for her magic, until Celes comes along with her Runic. Unfortunately, Celes does not get along with terra combat wise so Terra's rating naturally drops. Morph is good but not at high levels when you easily hit the damage cap of 9999.

Locke 3/2
First, I'm a rich bastard, I don't steal. yeah, Locke is fast, but I would rather Shadow than him.

Edgar 7/9
I thought Autocross bow, some sort of 'manaless magic attack' was bad. Chain Saw and Drill and the status changing thing was worse.

Sabin 7/10
I thought pummel and Aurabolt is lame, but Bum Rush and Air Blade is worse. He can pretty much kill things by himself so he is usually my highest level character, thus I gave him GG and Offering, which was even worse.

Shadow 4/9
First time i see him, heh, throwing shurikens is no different from Cyan's Dispatch, except that it waste money. When weapons you once wield are rendered useless, he can truely shine at disposing them for you.

Cyan 7/7
Nothing much on him. I usually go for Dispatch...which CAN do SOME damage.

Celes 4/9
First, why need Celes when you have Terra? Then, Kefka comes and attacks Narshe and MY GOD she's useful. Runic :)

Gau 4/6
His rage is useful. Some attacks are useful. The reason why he can't go above 6 is that Strago has some of those moves.

Setzer (slot doesn't work for me) 1/5
Because slot did not work for my snes and I suck at slot machines anyway. Like I said, I'm a rich bastard, to GP toss is good to me :D

Mog 10/8
Those manaless, unrunicable healing dances pwn! At WoR however, he starts to drop a little. Reason why he has an 8 is because he can equip moogle charm :mog:

Strago 1/2
Rods? Gave to Shadow lol. Why Blue Magic when Terra and Celes can do Ultima and such?

Relm 5/7
I bet Gau loves Relm :) Control is good for many stuffs.

Gogo 9/7
Good thing, he can use Tools, Blitz, Throw and Swordtec. Bad thing is, he can only use one of them at one time and he is not as good at them as the originator. And I got no space lol.

Umaro 6/10
First time I see him, wow, potential energy. At level 60 with Gauntlet and Rage Ring, wow, kinetic energy.

Outsider
04-04-2004, 08:04 AM
Hmmm...

Terra 3/8
Locke 7/9
Edgar 5/5
Sabin 8/8
Shadow 7/9
Cyan 8/9
Celes 9/9
Gau 5/7
Setzer 10/9
Mog 2/0
Strago 4/6
Relm 2/6
Gogo 6/6
Umaro 5/5

aeris2001x2
04-04-2004, 10:50 AM
to be honest the characters dont really vary much at lv 99 when u have genji glove+offering and gembox+econmiser. who ever has them owns over all, except umaro and gogo cant use them so they suck over all.

ok, this is based on personality. before/now

terra 5/5
locke 4/5
edgar 5/5
sabin 5/4
gau 3/4
cyan 5/5
mog 5/3
setzer 4/3
relm 4/4
strago 2/3
shadow 4/5
umaro 1/1
gogo 2/3
celes 5/5

m4tt
04-04-2004, 05:24 PM
Nice idea..

Terra 9/9
Locke 5/8
Edgar 10/8
Sabin 8/8
Shadow 8/10
Cyan 7/3
Celes 7/9
Gau 4/10
Setzer 7/5
Mog 5/7
Strago 2/1
Relm 1/1
Gogo 10/10
Umaro 10/10

Gau was my biggest jump, since the first time I played the game I hated him. Now I love love LOVE him.

Danger
04-04-2004, 11:45 PM
Terra 6/9: I never realized the damage potenial of single strong physical attacks and maigc before. Well developed... however the rating might change again now that i90 dropped that selfish hint about her.

Locke 3/8: A better fighter than everyone gives him credit for. Front row damage, back row weapons. Very developed.

Edgar 10/7: Thought this guy was god my first play through. Now Realize he's only ok. Fun character personality.

Sabin 10/9: Excellent damage producer. Not as godly as I first thought.

Celes 4/8: Useless at first because of my magic ignorance and the presence of Terra as a healer. Now I enjoy creating havoc with these two heavy hitters. Nicer story than Terra's. I bet she shags like a minx... (Did I say that out loud?)

Shadow 8/9: Not much personality but makes up for it on the battlefield.

Cyan 9/4: Godly to nothing special. Swordtech kept going downhill for me. His story is cliche at best.

Setzer 5/4: Unimpressed with the guy. Once I gave up using the offering he became totally useless. Uninteresting story.

Relm 1/5: New found respect for the girl because of high magic power. Still not much use to me because the other strong magic users can equipe big swords and not paint brushes.

Strago 2/7: Story is nothing interesting, but blue magic is extremely effective against many enemies.

Gogo 9/5: Super cool to nothing again. He's ok, no story and brings nothing new to the table.

Umaro 10/8: I loved this guy my first play around. He's less useful now, but still fun because of the many elements he absorbs and his rage attack.

Mog 4/4: I like him now for different reasons than before. First it was the ok dance, now it's the snow muffler. All in all not a good character.

Gau 3/8: Snow muffler. That's what changed. Decent story too if you play with him a bit.

Imperia
04-05-2004, 12:36 AM
Then and now, huh? Something else I haven't thought of (not with FFVI at least)!:D

I was still a kid when this game came out, so the guys will have lower points in the "then" spot (mainly because I didn't like boys then, but I LOVE them now!:love: ).


Terra: 9/10
Locke: 6/10
Sabin: 5/8
Edgar: 4/7
Celes: 7/10
Shadow: 7/8
Gau: 2/5
Cyan: 3/4
Setzer: 6/7
Strago: 5/6
Relm: 8/10
Gogo: 4/5
Umaro: 1/3

Outsider
04-05-2004, 06:33 AM
Kefka 10/12 (!)

aeris2001x2
04-06-2004, 04:23 PM
kefka 100/100,000

Imperia, what would celes do to you with an econimiser and gem box knowing you held a torch for locke? lol. Edgars single and rich and sabin's well built. alls fair in love...

Sephex
04-08-2004, 02:37 AM
Then/Now:

Terra 6/7--Found her slightly interesting then, and it has increased a little over time.
Locke 3/10--Didn't care for him to much. Now he is my favorite character due to his personality and backstory.
Edgar 5/8--I thought he was alright at first, but I got into TOOLS more as time went on.
Sabin 9/9--Really liked him then and I still really like him now!
Shadow 10/7--was my favorite character because I found him mysterious. Now I just think he is pretty cool.
Cyan 4/5--Never liked him that much, and I still don't.
Celes 7/8--Thought she was pretty cool. Her backstory bumped it up more over the years.
Gau 1/1--Never got into the whole monster ability thing (in any game though).
Setzer 5/6--SLOTS is alright, but I never use him all that much. His personality is most of that rating.
Mog 6/6--DANCE is okay, but whatever. Moogle charm is awesome(I used to use it when I was lazy)!
Strago 2/2--See "Gau".
Relm 3/3--SKETCH sucks, and I don't like her.
Gogo--7/8--Picking your own abilities rock
Umaro 0/0--I like to name him "Assrag" because that's all he's good for. Not controlling him sucks. When he is high leveled he is OKAY, but that's it.

Imperia
04-08-2004, 03:32 AM
I forgot about Mog... Darn it... With him, it's 7/7.

i90east
04-10-2004, 05:43 PM
Thanks for the replies guys. What I'm going to do is take the results here and combine them with the results from another forum and average them all together. There are over 30 replies total which represents a decent amount of avid FFVI fans. This should provide some definitive information. If you haven't made a post in this thread yet please do so for I will be compiling the results soon. Then we'll see which characters showed the most change along with popularity comparisons then and now. I'll post the results here and on my new website.

Sephex
04-10-2004, 06:43 PM
Thanks for the replies guys. What I'm going to do is take the results here and combine them with the results from another forum and average them all together. There are over 30 replies total which represents a decent amount of avid FFVI fans. This should provide some definitive information. If you haven't made a post in this thread yet please do so for I will be compiling the results soon. Then we'll see which characters showed the most change along with popularity comparisons then and now. I'll post the results here and on my new website.

Sounds cool, can't wait!

Imperia
04-11-2004, 02:22 AM
Thanks for the replies guys. What I'm going to do is take the results here and combine them with the results from another forum and average them all together. There are over 30 replies total which represents a decent amount of avid FFVI fans. This should provide some definitive information. If you haven't made a post in this thread yet please do so for I will be compiling the results soon. Then we'll see which characters showed the most change along with popularity comparisons then and now. I'll post the results here and on my new website.


Awesome! That's great, and you're very welcome! ;)

i90east
05-25-2004, 03:36 AM
Ok, the results are in! :) You can view all the info right here:

http://www.cyberveldt.com/impressions/

i90east
07-29-2004, 02:24 AM
Forgive me for double posting, but I'd like to inform you guys that I'm collecting more results. If you haven't yet participated in the survey, you now have until September 3rd, 2004 to do so. If you want to make changes to existing ratings, you can do that too. Just post here specifying what the changes are. Thanks.

Martyr
07-29-2004, 05:58 AM
Then/Now

Here goes...

Terra 8/8 - At first, I thought the green hair and stoned expression on the stat sceen was funky. Later, I realized that she could wield a wide range of powerful weapons and cast some of the most powerful magic. That, combined with good stats and having her for most of the game, and the neat esper transformation thing made me appreciate her a lot as a character. Plus, her story wasn't too bad. The love thing near the end was really corny and it pissed me off that she wouldn't leave the kids. She also becomes a little dull, characterwise, as time goes on. She's supposed to be a killing machine. But, of course, when she is in and when she rejoins your party, she is a killing machine. I always use her when I'm going up against the harder bosses.

Locke 7/4 - Locke was cool. I liked his solo mission, and I like his character. The protector! But the thief protector sounds oxymoronish. He turns out to be a lot goofier of a character, and I find him to be poorly designed. Eventually, I disapproved of his character on the whole. About the time of the WOR, and then I thought that the Phoenix thing was way too dismal and anticlimactic. As far as usability, well, I used him a lot. Theres a lot of enemies who give off cool things. Especially in the middle where you can steal those expensive potions for free and always have a supply of heals. But, ultimately, there are much better characters all around than Locke.

Edgar 10/9 - Edgar is the coolest, most stylish character. No exceptions. In the beginning, his skills make him a veritable badass. He's funny as a mug; he's a king; he's got a good backstory; and he's got stats that enable you to play him with magic, fighting, and tools. Very versatile. The only downside is that the tools become much less useful as the game goes on. He isn't the best warrior or magician later on either. Basically, his usefulness fades near the more bitter end (Sometime WOR). Unfortunately, that pulls him down, but he's still totally kick-ass.

Sabin 6/8 - I'm just not a fan of monks. I got him. I thought his sprite was nicer than the FF1 monk. Then I found he was Edgars brother, which was cool. Also, his history turns out to be a great story, which is good. My distaste for him faded fast. Although it took some time to get the hang of memorizing and mastering the blitzes, they soon made him one of the strongest characters in the game. Sabin does get boring at times because all he is good at is working those blitzes, but his character is still really great and really powerful. Plus, his weapons aren't poor when you're looking for a change from constant Aura Bolt. But his defense ain't great. But look at that vigor! He isn't as cool as Edgar. But I always have them both at the same level and in the same party when possible. They make a truly hardcore pair.

Shadow 6/5 - Shadow was way too cool. Way too celebrated. He's so passive and uncaring. It's all a facade to hide his sensitive side and his quelled emotions. Sorry Shadow, you invoke no sympathy from me. I prefer to let you die on the floating continent. It'll make you happier, and, hopefully, nobody else will care. It even improves the character value a bit, though it destroys your usefulness. Shadow becomes an extremely powerful fighter, however, and this cannot be ignored. OR CAN IT?!?!?!
6/5 HAHAHA!
Note: Shadow could be a "she," right?

Cyan 10/10 - Although Edgar is the coolest character, Cyan comes dang close. He is the second coolest, and, in a world without Edgar, the most coolest! (Pardon my grammar) His sword techs are cool. The names of his weapons are cool. His backstory is pivotal and cool. He remains a gentleman all the time and makes friends with everybody. Cyan is the ultimate champion in every way, shape, and form. Unlike Edgar, he does get stronger as the game progresses. His only weakness is in his low speed. But running shoes and Odin will easily solve this very minor problem. The only straight ten.

Celes 5/9 - At first, I thought that Celes was some Terra clone that would serve as another mage/fighter when necessary. She even has a similar backstory. But, eventually, she became very powerful and much more interesting. On the other hand, Terra became more boring. I am always stuck trying to figure out a way to not use Celes as her levels are always rocketing and I need to give the other characters a turn to play. She is always getting rapidly stronger, her (Waht is the name?) magic absorb skill is absolutely invaluable, and her story and charater is always getting mroe formidable. She even strengthens Lockes character with her excess coolocity. Definately a low to high conversion here.

Gau 3/10 - Gau started out as a stupid character, in my opinion. I didn't like the rages, and I couldn't remember which monsters made which attacks anyway. I thought that his defense sucked, not controlling him was annoying, and his comments were stupid so I'd rather have other characters with better lines than "GAU HAPPY!" Little did I know that Gau is one of the most powerful characters ever. When you get the hang of his rages, he never gets boring! His stats are totally awesome for strength and magic! His defense, it turns out, totally does NOT suck! He is always at the head of my party, taking and dealing out the damage. In fact, Gau becomes virtually unkillable near the end. He is also funny and interesting with a far better backstory than could be imagined than when you first get him. Excellent character.

Setzer 3/2 - Setzer never worked for me. I didn't think slot was very cool; his stats weren't impressive, nor were his weapons or abilities or oppertunities... Bleah. He has a mediocre story, especially in comparison with everybody else. Isn't much to say about him. Just a plot mover I guess.

Mog 2/0 - Mog is an idiot. I hate using him as dance doesn't work well. He comes in so late that it's hard to teach him magic quickly. His attack and defense is questionable at best. He usually dies fast and doesn't help. I think his character, generally, is stupid, and he has no interesting story. Maybe he and Locke should have been combined to make a cooler character... I dunno.

Strago 1/0 - No hope for him. Hestarts out poor. You're thinking he may have potential, but no. He gets more boring, his stats suck, the blue magic is not usually useful or fun. Basically, he is a Gau-gone-bad character of some kind. Unimpressive to the end.

Relm 8/8 - Relm is cool. She is a painter. She has style. She has unique abilities and awesome magic power. Ultimately, control is a lot of fun and very useful. Though her physical attack isn't much, her uber-high magic power more than compensates. I find I use her enough to get her to learn all the esper magics in no time, and she becomes a strong regular in my group. Plus, there's a lot of mystery and interesting story in her character. She shines in comparison with the wimpy Strago.

Gogo 0/0 - I can't believe I figured out how to get Gogo in the first place. Fat lot of good it did me. I never learned to appreciate this character as he/she/it has no character. I also didn't like using Gogo. Boring. Maybe Gogo can be used to be very powerful by mimicing superior attacks, but it still doesn't impress me. Unique but weak.

Umaro 7/3 - Umaro SMASH! Funny character, but the thrill dies fast. Umaro is very useful and fun in the colisseum, but he isn't that grand much else in the game. He is powerful, don't get me wrong, but the lack of character and playability detracts too much. Umaro just isn't fun enough. He usually sits in the back waiting to die second against Kefka, after his dorky friend Mog.

------------
I probably have really high ratings because I really liked FFVI. It was a fun game filled with well developed and fun to play characters. Even the ones I dissed have an element of style that was cool. It just didn't rate since the competition for excellence was so tough.


Edit: I visited your site. This probably works for a Loved/Hated poll too.
Edit 2: Check it out! My first novel!