Final Fantasy VI Headscratchers

[Wolf Kanno]

It's a training ground dude, they don't need guards posted at the training grounds. Again, the place is filled with monsters as well, I honestly feel the guards wouldn't think of someone going through maze-like, monster-infested mines to get into the city. Not like Kefka's forces used that route either.

:/ Yes you most certainly do, to train the other guards! And you certainly don't leave the back door to the training ground unlocked.

Unless that was Gary, the new guy at Narshe Guard headquarters. He took his dog out and forgot to lock up when he came back in.

I'm sure Gary was simply too heartbroken when his dog was eaten alive by Leaf Bunnies the number one Pet Killer in the World of Balance.

[Spooniest]

I feel like the MST3K mantra applies to a lot of these.

Yah, but you can throw the MST3K at any headscratcher you want to, though.

I'm only doing it for a laugh, at any rate. FF6 FOR LYFE! Cloud who?

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel like the MST3K mantra applies to a lot of these.

Some of them are fair assessments of plot holes. Of anything it just kind of shows how VI was made back when the player still had to use a bit of their imagination to fill in the gaps. As opposed to modern game writing that often leaves no stone unturned unless it is an actual plot hole.

More legitimate plot holes imho would be stuff like Gestahl's crazy omniscience about letting Terra fall into Returner hands so she would eventually open the gate to their world (I call bulltrout personally), the ambiguous nature of Kefka's betrayal at the Floating Continent and whether he really did know more about the Warring Triad than anyone else or if it was simply a fluke, what happened to Banon and Arvis after the world was destroyed, what was the whole point of Siegfried, and probably a few more that I can't think of at the moment.

[Spooniest]

More legitimate plot holes imho would be stuff like Gestahl's crazy omniscience about letting Terra fall into Returner hands so she would eventually open the gate to their world (I call bulltrout personally), the ambiguous nature of Kefka's betrayal at the Floating Continent and whether he really did know more about the Warring Triad than anyone else or if it was simply a fluke, what happened to Banon and Arvis after the world was destroyed, what was the whole point of Siegfried, and probably a few more that I can't think of at the moment.

Oh, but you've noticed, I'm going through the game bit by bit

Really, if I can riff on it, I will

[The Man]

I feel like the MST3K mantra applies to a lot of these.

Some of them are fair assessments of plot holes.

Well yes, that's why I said "a lot" and not "all".

[Omni-Odin]

A lot of good points. Some better than others (I think we'll all get over the no showers thing).

This game is full of unexplained plot holes, villains without motive, and an excess of characters making you feel less and less for each one's individual story. I also like that with every point you come up with, most retorts consist of "Dude, it could have been..." or "Calm down, it's a fantasy game bro", which is exactly the point I feel you're trying to make. The game does not provide any plot points to fill in these holes so it's all up to "the player's imagination" or speculation. That's called a plot hole.

Btw every FF game has these plot holes. I'm just making the point that they're more heavily criticized in other games because FFVI is a favorite.

[Ayen]

Green hair equates to blond in anime anyway. Just like blue = black, pink = red, etc. And then black = black, red = red, etc. Japan be weird. So I never thought much about her hair.

I pretty much agree with Wolf on most things.

[Egami]

...what happened to Banon and Arvis after the world was destroyed...

Having just replayed VI, this is one of the things that I felt were poorly handled in the game. With regards to Banon, you could ask what happened to him after the Thamasa arc in the WoB. He just disappears and wasn't even present at the feast with the emperor. You'd think that the leader of The Returners, a character who is made out to be important and who in one instance you had to prevent from dying or you'll get a game over and in another (while defending Narshe) you had to prevent Kefka from reaching would be better handled. But the game abruptly X-Zoned him out of the script.

Now, following Spooniest's format...

Celes, Edgar and Setzer sitting in a bar...
What makes them special? If you are up for a CES challenge, these are the only mandatory characters you need to have in order to be able to finish the game. But why these in particular? The reasons for this are quite utilitarian and not related in any way to the story: you need Edgar to dive Figaro Castle in order to get to the town Setzer is in and you need Setzer in order to get the airship so that you can land on Kefka's tower. What about Celes? Oh...no reason really other than there seemed to be a very vocal Team Celes front on the developer team who probably didn't like Terra very much. It could well have been Mog for all we know and it would have been the same. But then, after you beat Kefka, even if you didn't recruit her, Terra joins anyway showing that she is essential in some way, so why not structure the WoR in such a way that you need to get her in the party before heading to Kefka's tower? Especially given the dilemma of what would happen to her (being half esper) if magic were to disappear.

The above relates to what is perhaps may main beef with the game. The lack of a clear central character or set of characters amidst the large cast in this game is, as I see it, the result of an inconsistent narrative. It is as if the writers were pulling the plot in opposite directions and the end result was a mixed bag. While a common criticism about VI is that the story basically comes to a halt once you are in the WoR, I think the head scratchers start showing themselves early on in the WoB.

Let's neutralize your pow...you know what? Let's not
Before ascending to godlike status Kefka is seen easily neutralizing the powers of several espers at once and making short work of them. But for some reason when he is far more powerful than he was back then and after he had become the source of magic himself, Kefka seems unable or unwilling to neutralize the powers of the party. His dungeon doesn't even features something to that effect like, for example, how the Fanatic's Tower forces you to use only magic or how in FF VIII your powers are sealed by Ultimecia in her castle and you have to fight your way to get them back.

That was Magic! M...A...G...I...C!!!
After you get out of Narshe and are on your way to Figaro Castle with Terra and Locke you can use Terra's magic during fights but for some reason Locke doesn't seems to mind. Have Edgar join your team and he along with Edgar will go nuts about it.

So I got these Magicite things...
How are they used again? While the game goes out of it's way to explain the mechanics behind Gau's Rage, Multi Party battles and the like, for some reason it glosses over the mechanics of the Espers and learning Magic from them. That is, of course, unless you happen to talk to that very missable ghost at the entrance of Zozo or in the training building later on in Narshe. Odd that such an important mechanic of the game was given this treatment.

[VG Old School]

How is that purple calamari Ultros able to get on land and airborne?

And are Leafers the cockroaches of the world? They do live past the ruining of the world.