Do you think FFVI's large playable cast helps or hinders the game?

[TreasonWall]

It's definitely an asset of the game. You'd think with this many characters, there wouldn't be enough breathing room to do them all justice. This is however not the case. Contrast with FF5, which only has five playable characters, and in spite of that there isn't much to any of them. This game however, despite having fourteen of them, gives them all very rich backgrounds and character nuances. Well, except the three optional ones (Mog, Umaro and Gogo), which is probably why they're optional. Not to mention, we can thank this uncommonly large roster for Phoenix Cave, Kefka's Tower and the Dragon's Den.

Also, something that is rarely pointed that is the fact every single one of them plays so differently that your party composition directly affects the gameplay style of the battle system to a small extent. Even FF4 and FF9 didn't quite go there.