My First Playthrough...

[Karifean]

So some time ago I got FF VI for the PSN. Tried it, saved at the first save point in Narshe, turned it off. About half a year later I decided to give it another go, made it to South Figaro, stopped again. Fortunately, I got the GBA version shortly thereafter and started a new game. It's one week later and I now have the airship in the shattered world and I'm looking for my lost teammates.

It was really difficult for me to get into this game. It might be because it was my first < 32-bit RPG and I was kind of irritated by the graphics at first. Or it might have been the god-awful loading times. Either way, there was just no motivation to continue playing at the beginning. The opening was awesome, but it felt kind of like a drag going through Narshe.

Once I got into it, though, I loved it. I still think Edgar and Sabin are broken when it comes to combat, but it's alright. I've come close to dying at times and I do have a bunch of Game Overs, but it feels like a fair challenge. (Well, except for that time Sabin held up the building while Celes went in to save the child - one of the enemies there death-counter-attacked with Rock, turning Celes to stone. That was fair.)

Currently, I *think* I'm at the end of the game, but it seems I missed a lot of optional stuff. I didn't use any guide or reference whatsoever while playing the game. There're a bunch of free slots for espers before Fenrir, and I don't seem to have gotten any optional party members so I kinda feel like I missed out on some things, however it doesn't seem like it was anything all-too important.

Some things I'd like to know is what kind of post-game content does FF VI Advance have? Does saving Cid have any reward besides a good conscience? Would it be wise to go for the final dungeon now or should I do all the other stuff first? What is up with Ultima Weapon (the sword)?

Did anyone else have as much trouble getting into FF VI as I did, or is it just me? What is, in your opinion, the tipping point where the game gets *really* good?

[Wolf Kanno]

So some time ago I got FF VI for the PSN. Tried it, saved at the first save point in Narshe, turned it off. About half a year later I decided to give it another go, made it to South Figaro, stopped again. Fortunately, I got the GBA version shortly thereafter and started a new game. It's one week later and I now have the airship in the shattered world and I'm looking for my lost teammates.

It was really difficult for me to get into this game. It might be because it was my first < 32-bit RPG and I was kind of irritated by the graphics at first. Or it might have been the god-awful loading times. Either way, there was just no motivation to continue playing at the beginning. The opening was awesome, but it felt kind of like a drag going through Narshe.

Yeah, the PSN version is a port of the PS1 port, which Squaresoft botched pretty badly; and the game had some awful load times that don't exist in the original SNES/Super Famicom version.

Once I got into it, though, I loved it. I still think Edgar and Sabin are broken when it comes to combat, but it's alright. I've come close to dying at times and I do have a bunch of Game Overs, but it feels like a fair challenge. (Well, except for that time Sabin held up the building while Celes went in to save the child - one of the enemies there death-counter-attacked with Rock, turning Celes to stone. That was fair.)

Glad you eventually got into it. It does have some trial and error type gameplay, I guess it was just that era in the mid to late 90s.

Currently, I *think* I'm at the end of the game, but it seems I missed a lot of optional stuff. I didn't use any guide or reference whatsoever while playing the game. There're a bunch of free slots for espers before Fenrir, and I don't seem to have gotten any optional party members so I kinda feel like I missed out on some things, however it doesn't seem like it was anything all-too important.

Well if it's any combination of the four espers I'm thinking of, I can understand why you may have missed them. Luckily, they are all still obtainable.

There are only two hidden characters (three if you want to count Mog) which are Umaro and Gogo, Umaro is not too difficult to figure out where he is. Gogo requires testing an NPC's comment about a certain enemy on a certain island. Beyond that, you probably haven't missed much.

Some things I'd like to know is what kind of post-game content does FF VI Advance have?

Yes, the GBA version added a full new dungeon, a battle with Omega Weapon, and a special Enemy/Boss rush mode called Soul Shrine. To unlock all of this though, you need to beat VI's original optional challenge which was finding and defeating all 8 Dragons. Six are in the various dungeons and places in the WoR, and two are in the final dungeon. After that, the Dragon's Den unlocks and it's a super dungeon that asks the player to use every exploitative trick in the book to survive. The dungeon nets you new ultimate weapons for all the characters, and the Esper Diabolos. Once you've beaten the dungeon, Soul Shrine unlocks and Omega Weapon becomes available in the Dragon's Den to fight.

The GBA version also added three other new espers (Jumbo Cactuar, Leviathan, and Gilgamesh but you can acquire any of them now in the WoR.

Does saving Cid have any reward besides a good conscience?

No, in fact letting him die nets you a better (though heart wrenching) scene.

Would it be wise to go for the final dungeon now or should I do all the other stuff first?

The final dungeon is not too difficult, though if you've been neglecting characters, I would level them up a little. Don't bother teaching every spell to every character, that will just make everything way easier than it should be, unless you're a perfectionist like that. It really depends on what you haven't done. Do you have the Odin or Raiden Esper? Have you returned to Thamasa with Strago and Relm in your party? Have you taken Cyan back to Doma and took a nap? Have you beaten the Fire Dragon, Holy Dragon, Wind Dragon, Earth Dragon, Water Dragon, and Snow Dragon so you can unlock the Dragon's Den? Have you taken Gau you to see the crazy old man you met way back when you were playing as Sabin and met Cyan and Gau? Have you taken Sabin back to his Master's house? Give me a list of what espers you have past Fenrir and I can give you hints on what else you have left to do.

What is up with Ultima Weapon (the sword)?

It's damage is based on the user's Lv. and how much HP they have (think Cloud's version). The weapon gets stronger as you level up and get more HP, it does max damage as long as you have full HP. The weapon ignores defense and row so as long as you keep yourself fully healed it will always do high damage. The weapon's real exploitation comes from it being one of the three weapons that ignores the Master's Scroll weakening property.

If you haven't picked up the Master's Scroll yet, that relic allows a character's normal attack to hit four times in a row, except each blow does half damage. The Ultima Weapon, Valiant Knife, and Fixed Dice all ignore the half damage property meaning you can potentially do four hits of 9999hp damage with the combo or more if you include the Genji Glove and a similar weapon.

Did anyone else have as much trouble getting into FF VI as I did, or is it just me? What is, in your opinion, the tipping point where the game gets *really* good?

Yes, but mine was more of an issue of never playing a turn based RPG before so the combat system was a little annoying to me at first until I became more familiar with the genre. The tipping point for me was simply getting used to how things work, course I played this game back when it was brand spanking new, so take with that what you will. I'm sure other people can give you more meaningful anecdotes.

[Weimar Pluto Knight VII]

you're missing out lockarted. it's really good ^_^ I thought most of the game gets good and thought it only slowed down at the world of ruin part but that's when the game opens up.