Re: Bravo Figaro

[rynling]

I returned to the Final Fantasy VI pixel remaster on Nintendo Switch, and it's a difficult transition to make after Disco Elysium. I'd forgotten how basic the writing of FFVI is. You'll talk to any given NPC, and they'll be like: "Figaro is no longer allied with the Empire" or "There's an Opera House to the south."

It's funny. I've spent so much time reading fanfic and dōjinshi that the world of FFVI is rich and complicated and multilayered in my mind, so it's something of a culture shock to go back to the actual game. The gameplay is super basic as well, with frequent random encounters that you just have to watch play out on autobattle.

To be fair, I guess this was exactly the story and level of difficulty I needed when I was ten years old, especially since there wasn't a lot of teen-targeted media (that wasn't for little kids but wasn't quite for adults) at the time. Looking back on 1996, it's really no wonder that the entire Millennial generation grew up on anime.

Comments

[runicmagitek]

I swear every time I replay FFVII, I'm punched in the face with how bare bones everything is. I imagine some of it has to do with hardware limitations for the SNES - can only cram so much stuff into that poor cartridge. And bless all the fans who have shared their own thoughts to fill in the holes, you included!! I also miss some of the campy moments from the earlier FF games. Not everything needs to be super serious in order to be good or whatever - sometimes you need to stop a talking octopus from hijacking a opera that YOU are also hijacking.

[rynling]

I agree wholeheartedly about the campiness! Still, the lack of depth can be disconcerting.

For example, after hijacking the opera, Setzer tosses Celes to the side and dismisses her with a brusque, "I'll deal with you later." With no contextualization, it's difficult to read this as anything other than Setzer treating Celes/Maria as an object.

As I watched this scene, and my first and only response was: He would not fucking do that.

There's a lot I love about FFVI, but I also think it would have benefited from the same sort of script expansion that FFIV got for its DS remake. I've gradually given up hope on such a remake for FFVI ever being made, but who knows? Maybe for the 30th anniversary...?