FFVI Review Post

[Flying Arrow]

It's still not customisation if you're refusing to learn an ability that can be learnt without penalty (time/order not withstanding), it's more like you've simply neglected to maximise that character's abilities.

This right here is my main problem with VI. The game's lack of difficulty is one thing, but the customization system is based entirely on how much time the player has to dedicate to teaching every character every spell. I find that at some point of every playthrough of VI I've done, I've gotten to the point where I just start teaching characters spells they don't have yet, because they have everything else they already need. "Sabin is missing stuff from his spellbook and the game gives way more EXP and AP than I need to win... alright, might as well hook him up with Osmose or Imp."

...I've also equipped Cloud with a fire materia. As long as that materia is equipped, I can't use that same slot for anything else. Additionally, once I remove that materia, Cloud cannot use Fire. Compare to 6, where you have the same system with magicite, sure, until you earn a maximum of 100 ABP, at which point you can remove your magicite and continue to use whichever spell(s) you just learnt at any time without penalty.

This is what makes VII that much more enjoyable for me. Quick, easy customization. The party is just a group of glorified materia combo slots - the real party begins when you start distributing gems and ending up in various types of party builds (of course, VII also suffers from the lack-of-difficulty problem, so.) In VI, you have a dozen characters and two dozen skill-teaching gems which can be equipped on each of the characters in order to make the skills "stick" over time. It's not long after you get your first handful of Magicite that VI's "customization" starts to feel more like admin work with regards to spells and level-up bonuses.

I think there's a lot of misconception over Shadow. I don't even know which of "missable" or "optional" is more appropriate, considering to even use him you have to do something entirely unintuitive and unconventional. I'd imagine that his being killed off is the normal option. Regardless, sure, well call these minor details you'd have to slog through 30 hours of gameplay to see a couple of small changes "replay value."

We'll be fair, here, and throw in the three or so scenes that change depending on what characters you've reunited with at the end of the game. This is barely even worth replaying the entire game for, as you can simply reload a save form before recruiting the relevant character to make the difference. For most characters, though, the endings simply show a portrait of the character you missed and pans some scenery during their unique scenes. That's not replay, that's missed content.

Yes. The Shadow/Floating Continent issue is just pointlessly obtuse. In a situation with such stakes, why should the player be expected to stand around in a hostile zone (where any step can result in a timer-draining encounter) and wait for an NPC to arrive while the airship is plainly in sight. Especially given the fact that in no other area in the 15-hour game up to this point does the game clue the player into this sort of field-gameplay reactivity.

Not only that, but once the player realizes the secret behind the gimmick, there's never a reason to not wait around. Unless of course the player is making an active effort to throw away a potential party member for good - which is not a meaningful choice but a gameplay 'failure' that the player is subjecting himself to for the chance at some miniscule optional story content buried a mile deep into the game's lore and code.