I put up with some crap because my initiation to the Final Fantasy series was with Game: Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation. I just ignore it, but it wasn't until relatively recently that I began to actually get into the previous games in the series. After getting into Final Fantasy III on the DS, I saw this on the shelf and decided to give it a whirl. It's often touted as the greatest Final Fantasy, and by some the greatest RPG, of all time, and while I'm not sure I'd put it up quite that high, it certainly doesn't disappoint.

The first thing one notices about this game isn't the graphics, it's the sounds. FF6 is filled with crisp sound effects that complement everything you see, and the soundtrack creates a picture-perfect backdrop to its expertly-written script. Notable among these is the heavy, thundering miltaristic-sounding theme of the Veldt, a desert-like wasteland. The themes for individual characters and larger factions are all distinctive and recognizable, adding more depth to the game than any other individual element.

Final Fantasy 6 takes place in a world that is something of a departure from your typical fantasy setting. A thousand years before the setting of the plot, a war was fought between major powers on the unnamed planet on which your characters reside. This war was fought on such a scale and was so destructive, magic itself was eradicated from the planet. Over the intervening millennium, an entirely new civilization and society has been built, primarily relying on steam power. Magical beings known as espers, once soldiers in this ancient war, were rendered dormant and inert after its conclusion. Now, shortly before you are dropped into the game, espers have been discovered reawakening. It is into this environment that you arrive, as the authoritarian Gestahlian Empire brings its might down upon the world.

FF6 makes use of the now-familiar Active Time Battle system first introduced in Game: Final Fantasy IV, with added quirks unique to each character. Classes are effectively nonexistant, with the playable characters' classes and roles already fixed, and with these roles often being hybrids of traditional classes. One character's role effectively fits that of a thief, with a Steal skill that can acquire items otherwise beyond the player's reach. Other abilities are more innovative--one character's ability, named Bushido, brings up a scale that slowly fills. Depending on the number the player stops the scale at, it triggers different abilities, perhaps the most effective of which is one that cuts the target's health in half, which is invaluable during boss battles. Other characters have their own repertoire, and can be used to complement one another for powerful combination attacks.

One thing that really adds depth to this is the occasional use of a strategy mini-game. At certain points in the game your group is surrounded by enemies, at which point you divide the characters up into three or four independent groups. You then make use of these groups to run interference, fighting enemies and holding them off, while you make a run for a boss or commander, to end the battle. This happens several times throughout and serves to mix things up nicely. In this vein, at one point all your characters are split up and you must play each group separately, though the truly rewarding part of this experience is seeing fragments of the other groups' plot play out and then actually experiencing them later and finding out how they fit together.

While a Final Fantasy game may not have replay value per se, at least not in the convential sense, their value lies in their immense amount of content to explore, which for some FF games runs into the triple digits in hours. FF6 follows in this tradition with characters, weapons and events that are "optional" (read: if you don't go looking for them, they will never join your party, be usable, or happen). While this may sound unimpressive to the layman, once you actually experience it, it becomes something of an addiction, compelling you to go back and look for the person/item/event you seek.

All in all, Final Fantasy VI is one of the most enjoyable Final Fantasies, nay one of the most enjoyable RPGs, you may ever play. I personally don't nail it to the cross like so many fans seem to do, but it has all the trappings that make a truly great game.