26th February 2007, 7:55 PM
Review: Final Fantasy VI Advance
Platform: Game Boy Advance
Rating: 9.5/10[indent]Final Fantasy VI Advance is the latest in a series of GBA ports based upon the classic series. Fans of the series are usually divided into one of two massive camps. One considers Final Fantasy VI to be the pinnicle of the franchise, and the rest consider Final Fantasy VII worthy of that honor. Those of the former category will be thrilled to see their choice finally get some attention after the much-hyped Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
Final Fantasy VI is the tale of a world on the brink of repeating a cataclysmic disaster. Magic is a force that once scoured the world of much life and civilization, after which it nearly vanished. Now, an ambitious emperor seeks to find this power and harness it as a weapon in order to subjugate the world. A large cast of disparate heroes must band together and stand against the emperor before his greed and avarice threaten the very fabric of the world.
Since this is a port, and of a game I have reviewed previously, this review will focus more on the port, than the game from which it was ported.
[/indent]
Graphics: 8.5
[indent]Practically identical. The only changes are in the text appearance and menu fonts, which are all more streamlined. It also helps that the GBA screen is sharper than a television, and that helped the appearance some. Overall, if you liked it before, no reason not to now. The screen resolution is of course decreased but you probably wouldn't pay attention if I didn't tell you that.
[/indent]
Audio: 7.0
[indent]This is where the most complaining comes, from the old-school fans, and it's certainly the only justified complaining. Some of the songs just plain sound funny (Searching for Friends has this weird clicking beat) and some of the sound effects are odd, but not to any real extent. Overall, the quality dropped, though I don't weigh this very heavily because there was no avoiding it, and it could have been handled a lot worse. The music we all knew and loved is still intact.[/indent]
Gameplay: 10.0
[indent]The gameplay has been, more or less, left intact. If you played it thirteen years ago, you'll have no trouble with it now. There are a few, very, very minor slowdown issues, mostly noticed when a large, graphically-complex spell is cast. There is also, allegedly, slowdown when using a chocobo or one of the two airships, but I honestly did not notice it at all. Those sequences seemed just as fluid to me as I remember.
[/indent]Translation: 10.0[indent]Oh boy. If you've ever seen other reviews of this game, you'll have seen no shortage of mincing over the new translation. Well, allow me to editorialize for a moment:
Pity them, laugh at them, but don't take them seriously. Not for one second.
The original Ted Woolsey translation was, to be fair regarding his constraints, unimpressive, and the game screamed for someone to do a decent job. The dialogue now is much, much more coherent and in many cases fleshes the storyline a bit more. Better still, the new translation clarifies several plot points that were confusing and incoherent before. We now, for instance, know that a certain mother was not an idiot who hands over her baby willingly only to regret it five seconds later, but rather the victim of child-snatching, for starters. Can't say too much without ruining things, but you get the idea. In this area, the translation was vital and extremely welcome. The original is a joke in comparison.
Spell names, item names, Monster and Esper names and the like have all been updated either through the original translation or to be more consistent with the ongoing Final Fantasy saga. Some veterans will suffer some momentary confusion, but if you've played the game before, you'll know what the stuff is, and everything has a description to help. Newcomers, of course, won't have any such problems.
Overall, this was the major selling point for me, and I'm incredibly impressed with the results. If one appreciates quality and coherence over silly nostalgia, one too will be impressed.
[/indent]Final Word
[indent]This game has long been one of the games by which an entire franchise, to say nothing of an entire genre, has drawn comparison and with good reason. Anyone who appreciates a good RPG, especially a good RPG made much better, owes it to themselves to hook a copy of this game.[/indent][indent]
[size=6]9.5
[/size][/indent]
Platform: Game Boy Advance
Rating: 9.5/10[indent]Final Fantasy VI Advance is the latest in a series of GBA ports based upon the classic series. Fans of the series are usually divided into one of two massive camps. One considers Final Fantasy VI to be the pinnicle of the franchise, and the rest consider Final Fantasy VII worthy of that honor. Those of the former category will be thrilled to see their choice finally get some attention after the much-hyped Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
Final Fantasy VI is the tale of a world on the brink of repeating a cataclysmic disaster. Magic is a force that once scoured the world of much life and civilization, after which it nearly vanished. Now, an ambitious emperor seeks to find this power and harness it as a weapon in order to subjugate the world. A large cast of disparate heroes must band together and stand against the emperor before his greed and avarice threaten the very fabric of the world.
Since this is a port, and of a game I have reviewed previously, this review will focus more on the port, than the game from which it was ported.
[/indent]
Graphics: 8.5
[indent]Practically identical. The only changes are in the text appearance and menu fonts, which are all more streamlined. It also helps that the GBA screen is sharper than a television, and that helped the appearance some. Overall, if you liked it before, no reason not to now. The screen resolution is of course decreased but you probably wouldn't pay attention if I didn't tell you that.
[/indent]
Audio: 7.0
[indent]This is where the most complaining comes, from the old-school fans, and it's certainly the only justified complaining. Some of the songs just plain sound funny (Searching for Friends has this weird clicking beat) and some of the sound effects are odd, but not to any real extent. Overall, the quality dropped, though I don't weigh this very heavily because there was no avoiding it, and it could have been handled a lot worse. The music we all knew and loved is still intact.[/indent]
Gameplay: 10.0
[indent]The gameplay has been, more or less, left intact. If you played it thirteen years ago, you'll have no trouble with it now. There are a few, very, very minor slowdown issues, mostly noticed when a large, graphically-complex spell is cast. There is also, allegedly, slowdown when using a chocobo or one of the two airships, but I honestly did not notice it at all. Those sequences seemed just as fluid to me as I remember.
[/indent]Translation: 10.0[indent]Oh boy. If you've ever seen other reviews of this game, you'll have seen no shortage of mincing over the new translation. Well, allow me to editorialize for a moment:
Pity them, laugh at them, but don't take them seriously. Not for one second.
The original Ted Woolsey translation was, to be fair regarding his constraints, unimpressive, and the game screamed for someone to do a decent job. The dialogue now is much, much more coherent and in many cases fleshes the storyline a bit more. Better still, the new translation clarifies several plot points that were confusing and incoherent before. We now, for instance, know that a certain mother was not an idiot who hands over her baby willingly only to regret it five seconds later, but rather the victim of child-snatching, for starters. Can't say too much without ruining things, but you get the idea. In this area, the translation was vital and extremely welcome. The original is a joke in comparison.
Spell names, item names, Monster and Esper names and the like have all been updated either through the original translation or to be more consistent with the ongoing Final Fantasy saga. Some veterans will suffer some momentary confusion, but if you've played the game before, you'll know what the stuff is, and everything has a description to help. Newcomers, of course, won't have any such problems.
Overall, this was the major selling point for me, and I'm incredibly impressed with the results. If one appreciates quality and coherence over silly nostalgia, one too will be impressed.
[/indent]Final Word
[indent]This game has long been one of the games by which an entire franchise, to say nothing of an entire genre, has drawn comparison and with good reason. Anyone who appreciates a good RPG, especially a good RPG made much better, owes it to themselves to hook a copy of this game.[/indent][indent]
[size=6]9.5
[/size][/indent]
YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER
WE STAND AT THE DOOR
WE STAND AT THE DOOR