Just started and have some questions

[TheSpoonyBard]

I've just started to play FFVI as I need something to do during the Christmas holidays and I have a few questions regarding the game.

1) Who is the main character, Locke or Terra? Or does this game not have a main character?
2) Which characters should I focus on leveling up? I looked the manual and saw them all and I was quite taken aback by the sheer number of characters in this game. Surely not all of them are worth training all the way?
3) How do Limit Breaks work on this game? I assume they go under a different name, but I'm sure you'll know what I mean.
4) How long will I have to wait before I obtain my first Esper?

Please keep spoilers to a minimum, or mark them. I want to be able to play the game through at least once without having anything spoilt. Thanks.

[theundeadhero]

1. Multiple choice. Pick your favorite.
2. Your favorites.
3. When your really low on HP, theres a random chance they'll do a special attack.
4 Can't say. Depends on how fast you get to the point. Assume ?7? hours.

[Remnant]

Re: limit breaks

Just be aware that they are exceedingly rare. Your hit points must be critically low, and then you must use the normal attack command, not any of the special moves you would otherwise almost always use. There is a small chance to get one, far less than that in FF8, and you won't know until they do it.

[Danger]

Critical Attacks won't work if you're using the gengi glove or the offering acessories either. Just has to be a normal fight command. I'm not sure about the gauntlet (I never use them). I've played through the game at least 4-6 times and I don't think I've seen all of the critical attacks... in other words do not rely on them.

The main character in the story is debatable, every character is developped fairly significantly and many of their stories are intertwined. Like it was stated before, pick your favorite characters and use them. There are points in the game where having a certain character in your party will trigger a special event, so if you play with your favorite characters they will be developped more.

You need to form three parties for the final bosses lair, usually 12 characters, so develop the ones you like the most (you can get 14). I tried to answer your questions without giving much away from the game.

[thornwithin]

arguably the main character is Terra cuz she is directly linked to some major plot elements. but it really could be anyone.

You won't have to worry too much about choosing a party for the first 1/3 of the game or so, as the plot is fairly linear. Once you get a choice, just figure out which guys have abilities that you like, and use them. There are a few points where 1-2 party members are "forced" but you can just fill the remaining slots with your favorites and you'll be fine.

First esper, it kinda depends how fast you play but it's after about 8-10 major plot elements so perhaps 6-8 hours (maybe).

[Martyr]

Every character is failry well developed. Maybe there's an exception or two. But even still, the game has lots of plots for each character.
I'd consider the main character either Terra, Locke, Celes, Edgar, Sabin, Cyan, The Old Man, his daughter, Shadow, Setzer, the kid, or maybe Mog. But it might be somebody else.
Maybe the main character is Kefka.

Limit breaks are a rare treat. Nothing you should try to create though. I went through the game and only saw it once or twice.

Level up your favorite characters. It's more fun that way. But the game will put you into multiple party situations. So you can't just have 4 ultra strong dudes. Otherwise, when you have 3 parties in a dungeon, it's hard to decide which of the four characters has to stay with which of the 8 crappy ones.
I have a feeling that you'll find it perfectly enjoyable to play with and level nearly all of your dudes.

[Remnant]

I'm going to advise you to level up more than just your favorites. There are certain points in the game where you are literally using several parties at once, and if most of the characters are at least at some kind of decent level, it goes a little easier.

Also, Umaro is cool. Throwing children at things is cool. That is all.

[TheSpoonyBard]

Thanks for your help. Something else just sprang to mind - which characters do you use the most? Everyone has said I should use my favourites and I want to find out if there are any common favourites that everyone uses.

[theundeadhero]

Except for Gau and Mog, I use the characters evenly throughout the game. I use the lowerst leveled person to keep a balance.

[nik0tine]

My favorite Characters are Terra and Celes.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I'll do a quick run-through of the characters. The order is somewhat by appearance, somewhat being as memory serves.

Terra: Terra is an exceptional fighter and magic user, and one of the two who can use magic early on. Later on she gains the ability to Morph, which can increase the power of her spells. She, too, can equip the ultimate weapons, and is an all-around good character to use.
Locke: Special ability is stealing from enemies, which can be useful. This can be upgraded to capture, where he steals and attacks. Locke is a fun character with quite a bit of a backstory. He is one of the four characters who can use the ultimate weapons, and is a pretty good fighter.
Edgar: Edgar is a good character early on because of his "Tools" command. He can use his tools to inflict heavy damage on either a group of enemies, or on one enemy at a time. Edgar can also equip the ultimate weapons, but I tend to be less inclined to give them to him as I prefer to use his tools instead and let someone else take the weapons.
Sabin: Sabin is an interesting character. He is a strong fighter, and his special ability is "Blitz", which allows you to unleash a special attack if you imput the right button combination. If you are skilled at using his Blitzes, Sabin is a good character to use, although his single-attack Blitzes target randomly which might make him seem somewhat less useful.
Celes: The forth character to be able to use the Ultimate weapons and the other character that can use magic at the beginning of the game, Celes, like Terra, has good statistics all around. Her special ability is Runic, which allows her to absorb magic attacks and gain MP based on the cost of the magic spell that was used, but she must have a sword equipped to use this ability.
Shadow: Shadow is a ninja, with good power behind his attacks and two rather interesting abilities. One ability is a completely random effect, his dog, Interceptor, will block an attack that targets Shadow, and then come out and attack an enemy for a good amount of damage. Shadow's actual ability is to throw items, there are several special "throwable" items that you can purchase, and just about any weapon you have can be thrown. Shadow can do a great deal of damage, so long as you can afford to purchase the materials for him to throw.
Cyan: Cyan is a Knight who can employ the Swordtech ability. A bar much akin to the ATB will begin to charge and depending on the number, Cyan will unleash a certain attack. As with Sabin, the target of the attack is completely randomized. Cyan has good physical strength behind him, but his attacks can be somewhat time-consuming.
Gau: Gau is an interesting character. He can "leap" onto certain enemies while in the Veldt. When he returns, he learns their abilities. In battle, Gau cannot employ normal attacks, he instead chooses a "Rage", in which he mimics the attacks of a certain enemy. Gau attacks randomly and automatically, when Raging you have no control over Gau.
Setzer: Setzer is a gambling man, and as such his special ability should come as no surprise. Setzer's "Slots" ability allows him to unleash several different attacks, depending on the result of the slot. Some of Setzer's attacks can be quite powerful, and some mimic the attacks of an esper. Setzer's slot has one fatal combination that is all but unheard of, but if you do happen to get it, you will lose immediately. It is an extremely rare occurence, however, and is not something to worry about. There is an item that allows Setzer to throw Gil instead of using his slots, and the damage dealt is the amount of Gil lost.
Mog: Mog is a moogle that has somehow learned to communicate with humans. His special ability is to Dance. Mog learns a dance by fighting within different parts of the map. When Mog begins to dance, he will act randomly and automatically, much like Gau while Raging. Mog's dances are all terrain-based, if you try to use a dance on a terrain other than the one that Mog is on there is a chance that he will stumble and fail to begin the dance. Dancing always works on the proper terrain. If Mog successfully uses a dance of a different terrain, the background terrain will change for that battle.
Strago: Strago is a crotchety old man who can master the attacks of monsters and use them with his "Lore" ability. If Strago sees an attack, he will learn it after the battle, though I believe he may need to be alive at the end to use it, someone else can correct me on this. Strago is good with Magic, and certain Lores, like the infamous Grand Train, are quite useful.
Relm: Relm is a young girl with the ability to cause her paintings to come to life. Relm can use her Sketch ability to sketch a monster of your choice. If the Sketch succeeds, Relm will mimic one of the monster's attacks. An item will allow Relm to take control of a monster instead of Sketch it. Relm tends to work well with Strago because she can sketch or control a monster and make it use an attack that Strago can learn. Relm's Sketch has been known to glitch, which makes some people disinclined to use her. Speaking from firsthand experience here, when I attempted to sketch the Red Dragon in the Phoenix Cave while it was invisible I suddenly received insane amounts of Dirks, 75 Illuminas, about 100 Paladin Shields, 8 Atma Weapons, and a large assortment of other useful items. This was on a cartridge game and attempting to duplicating it might not be the best of ideas, but be forwarned that the game can become messed up through the use of sketch.
Umaro: Umaro is a massive sasquatch that acts fully autonomously at all times. He is strong, he doesn't use magic, and there are two items that can add more attacks to his repetoire, but all of his attacks are random.
Gogo: Gogo is a rather interesting character. He has the ability to Mimic people, copying the attack that was performed before his. The interesting thing about him, however, is the fact that, by going into his status menu, you can give him any special ability that another of your characters possesses, which gives him a great deal of versatility. If you give him the magic ability, he will have the combined spells of the other three members of your party, but he cannot equip Espers which means he will not get the stat bonuses other members do.

Hope that helps!

[Doomgaze]

I tend not to use Gau, Umaro, and Mog, because I don't like berserkers. However, I don't take Umaro and Gogo to the final dungeon because they don't add anything to the plot there (everyone else has a small bit)

You could argue that the first half of the game revolves around Terra, and the second half around Celes.

The odds of getting a limit break while you have low life is 1/32 or so, and they're not powerful enough to justify leaving your characters that weak.

Don't abuse the Relm sketch bug. On the cart, it could just as likely erase your saves and crash your game as give you free items, it's not at all worth it.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Actually, the thing to do with Mog, Gau and Umaro is as follows.

Use them ALL in a party, and put Cyan in. While Cyan charges up for Quadra Slice or whatever move you want, Gau Umaro and Mog wreak havoc upon the enemies.

[Storm]

2) Which characters should I focus on leveling up? I looked the manual and saw them all and I was quite taken aback by the sheer number of characters in this game. Surely not all of them are worth training all the way?

Leveling Celes up will prove quite useful later on in the game.

[Snap Jumper]

I have to argue that Terra is the main character. Her theme plays when roaming the overworld. You start with her and she stays until (SPOILER)the split scenarios. I've also heard she joins you at the end whether you get her or not. She also triggers much of the story in the first half. Celes could take over in the third quarter, but near the end, you can use anyone. So, Celes is it in the (SPOILER)Opera House and start of the second half. Terra has most of the first half.