What is "Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster"?

Well, obviously it is the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy VI, or in the United States Final Fantasy III (SNES). This review necessarily has to contain some spoilers, so please just get the game (possibly on a sale) and play it instead. I fully recommend it!

The controls allow you to easily access everything important thanks to the menu system, an idea that originated in Dragon Quest I for the NES and was quickly adapted by nearly all JRPGs. Combats happen in kind of real time, similar to Final Fantasy V. The game also can be played with a keyboard.
You can save at any time in the overworld, or at predetermined save points in dungeons. The Pixel Remaster also added a quicksave functionality that does NOT delete the save upon loading, so you can have one save at any time now in addition to the "hard" saves. Entering any new room also creates an autosave (like the quicksave, the autosave also is always overwritten with the newest one).

During the story you will be able to learn magic with every one of the more than a dozen characters.. The storyline is where the game truly shines. The Empire wants to rule the world, and Emperor Gestahl has devised a plan to control the world with Espers, of which Terra is one. What are Espers? How can Terra overcome the odds and save the world from the Empire? And - if you heard some things about the game before - why does this include a (fully voiced) opera scene? This and much more is figured out by you as you play the game. You start out in a cold city named Narshe, After around an hour or two the game splits into three paths or "scenarios" that you will all have to play out. The story is one of the strong points of the game, as is the gameplay, the music, the... well... everything except part of the menuing and level-up system where you must carefully plan to min-max but can win the game even without that at the time you reach level 50+.

Like almost every Final Fantasy game, there are missables and one-time dungeons, so using a guide is advised for 100 percent completion. The updated map system from the Pixel Remasters allows you to see how many items and treasures are left in a specific location. But some things you can discover in the world would require some exploration skills.

The gameplay is typical Final Fantasy: New ideas meet the solid battle system. This time you have multiple ways of fighting at your disposal, an idea that originated in the job system in Final Fantasy III and was perfected in Final Fantasy V. Here it is more like Final Fantasy IV where the jobs are bound to characters however. For example, you can use tools to inflict damage and even instant death, or do so with "bushido" techniques.

The music, as said before, is again absolutely masterful. Nobuo Uematso by the time of this game had absolutely perfected his skills. As just one example from very early on, Terra's theme is one of the most memorable not only in this game but in video game history.

The graphics are a great update to the SNES graphics while still staying rather true to how the original should have looked like. Final Fantasy VI was the last 2D entry in the series, Takahashi, Shibuya, Sasaki, Inazawa, and Tanaka created a wonderful 2D pixel world that looks even better in the remaster. For more background information - pun intended - you can see this interview: https://web.archive.org/web/20231001175827/https://shmuplations.com/ff6/

The gameplay is what you expect from a Final Fantasy game. You run through the world, gain experience from random battles, level up, and experience a story that you will think about long after playing the game. The Final Fantasy series never spared any of its characters from death, so you'll always be on your toes about if the story will kill off one of your main characters, any NPC that grew on you, etc.
When you are a bit through the game you get to an "auction house" and a "coliseum", minigames needed for 100 percent completion that allow you to get some better items.
Speaking of items, you can equip two relics again, similar to Final Fantasy V. This will lead you to nearly always being able to equip an item that gives you an answer to the task at hand as well as giving your characters a permanent (as long as the relic is equipped) bonus effect (I chose haste).

As you explore the world, conquer dungeons, fill up the bestiary, the gameplay is rather linear, but eventually it will open up and you are in an open world where you can do things in the order you want.

There would be a lot more to talk about that makes this game great, but it would necessarily have to contain big spoilers. Instead, let me just add one last thing for those in the know: Yes, that move still works against that boss in that forest. Some unintended features are so good they are better left unfixed. And thankfully this is one of those occasions.

The length of the game is around 35 to 50 hours if you go for 100 percent completion. I needed almost 41 hours.

Do I recommend the game? Well, the first half of the game was a 12/10 for me. Especially that opera scene. Just that alone is worth playing the game. The second half got worse in my opinion, but was still a solid 8/10. I guess after playing five other Final Fantasy games before the gameplay just wore out on me.

Recommended? Yes, absolutely! My favorite, after all is said and done, among the Pixel Remasters is Final Fantasy V for the gameplay, but Final Fantasy VI for the story and... did I mention the opera scene? I think so. But just in case I forgot my previous mentions: There is an absolutely amazing opera scene. So if you don't have the game, get it on a sale, or the entire Pixel Remaster collection. They are all great, except maybe Final Fantasy III.
And if you have the game, why are you reading this? Install it and play it!

What is "Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster"? Well, obviously it is the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy VI, or in the United States Final Fantasy III (SNES). This review necessarily has to contain some spoilers, so please just get the game (possibly on a sale) and play it instead. I fully recommend it! The controls allow you to easily access everything important thanks to the menu system, an idea that originated in Dragon Quest I for the NES and was quickly adapted by nearly all JRPGs. Combats happen in kind of real time, similar to Final Fantasy V. The game also can be played with a keyboard. You can save at any time in the overworld, or at predetermined save points in dungeons. The Pixel Remaster also added a quicksave functionality that does NOT delete the save upon loading, so you can have one save at any time now in addition to the "hard" saves. Entering any new room also creates an autosave (like the quicksave, the autosave also is always overwritten with the newest one). During the story you will be able to learn magic with every one of the [spoiler]more than a dozen[/spoiler] characters.. The storyline is where the game truly shines. The Empire wants to rule the world, and Emperor Gestahl has devised a plan to control the world with Espers, of which Terra is one. What are Espers? How can Terra overcome the odds and save the world from the Empire? And - if you heard some things about the game before - why does this include [spoiler]a (fully voiced) opera scene[/spoiler]? This and much more is figured out by you as you play the game. You start out in a cold city named Narshe, After around an hour or two the game splits into three paths or "scenarios" that you will all have to play out. The story is one of the strong points of the game, as is the gameplay, the music, the... well... everything except part of the menuing and [spoiler]level-up system where you must carefully plan to min-max but can win the game even without that at the time you reach level 50+[/spoiler]. Like almost every Final Fantasy game, there are missables and one-time dungeons, so using a guide is advised for 100 percent completion. The updated map system from the Pixel Remasters allows you to see how many items and treasures are left in a specific location. But some things you can discover in the world would require some exploration skills. The gameplay is typical Final Fantasy: New ideas meet the solid battle system. This time you have multiple ways of fighting at your disposal, an idea that originated in the job system in Final Fantasy III and was perfected in Final Fantasy V. [spoiler]Here it is more like Final Fantasy IV where the jobs are bound to characters however.[/spoiler] For example, you can use tools to inflict damage and even instant death, or do so with "bushido" techniques. The music, as said before, is again absolutely masterful. Nobuo Uematso by the time of this game had absolutely perfected his skills. As just one example from very early on, Terra's theme is one of the most memorable not only in this game but in video game history. The graphics are a great update to the SNES graphics while still staying rather true to how the original should have looked like. Final Fantasy VI was the last 2D entry in the series, Takahashi, Shibuya, Sasaki, Inazawa, and Tanaka created a wonderful 2D pixel world that looks even better in the remaster. For more background information - pun intended - you can see this interview: https://web.archive.org/web/20231001175827/https://shmuplations.com/ff6/ The gameplay is what you expect from a Final Fantasy game. You run through the world, gain experience from random battles, level up, and experience a story that you will think about long after playing the game. The Final Fantasy series never spared any of its characters from death, so you'll always be on your toes about if the story will kill off one of your main characters, any NPC that grew on you, etc. When you are a bit through the game you get to an "auction house" and a "coliseum", minigames [spoiler]needed for 100 percent completion[/spoiler] that allow you to get some better items. Speaking of items, you can equip two relics again, similar to Final Fantasy V. This will lead you to nearly always being able to equip an item that gives you an answer to the task at hand as well as giving your characters a permanent (as long as the relic is equipped) bonus effect (I chose haste). As you explore the world, conquer dungeons, fill up the bestiary, the gameplay is rather linear, but eventually it will open up and you are in an open world where you can do things in the order you want. There would be a lot more to talk about that makes this game great, but it would necessarily have to contain big spoilers. Instead, let me just add one last thing for those in the know: Yes, that move still works against that boss in that forest. Some unintended features are so good they are better left unfixed. And thankfully this is one of those occasions. The length of the game is around 35 to 50 hours if you go for 100 percent completion. I needed almost 41 hours. Do I recommend the game? Well, the first half of the game was a 12/10 for me. Especially that opera scene. Just that alone is worth playing the game. The second half got worse in my opinion, but was still a solid 8/10. I guess after playing five other Final Fantasy games before the gameplay just wore out on me. Recommended? Yes, absolutely! My favorite, after all is said and done, among the Pixel Remasters is Final Fantasy V for the gameplay, but Final Fantasy VI for the story and... did I mention the opera scene? I think so. But just in case I forgot my previous mentions: There is an absolutely amazing opera scene. So if you don't have the game, get it on a sale, or the entire Pixel Remaster collection. They are all great, except maybe Final Fantasy III. And if you have the game, why are you reading this? Install it and play it!