What can I say, Final Fantasy 6 really is a work of art. I admit that I grew up in the 80's and as a console gaming kid just getting into and becoming obsessed with RPG's at the time of its release, I have a lot of personal attachment to this game. It's not perfect, but there really isn't anything bad I can say about it. The whole soundtrack is superbly amazing, the story is engrossing the whole way, it has beautiful artwork, and is full of little Easter eggs and things to find.

There's just so much I love about this game, but there's just so much to get into for now. There is a very good article that takes an in-depth view and analysis on what makes the game interesting and special, especially for the time of it it's release. I really recommend giving it a look, even if you grew up with this game like me and feel like you already know tons about the game. =) The author has also done other good articles, covering most numbered Final Fantasy games and the Chrono series.

It was a huge surprise when I first learned that you were able to make choices that would actually affect some things later in-game, specifically saving Shadow from the crumbling island and saving Cid. The choices you made determined whether characters lived or died, but they weren't text choices with obvious outcomes, they were choices that you made simply by your in-game actions; an element still pretty rare in modern games. Playing the game for the first time, I don't think many people were thinking much about shadow while escaping the island other than to get the heck off of it. As a kid, I wouldn't be surprised if I even thought something like "Hey, Shadow's a cool ninja. He'll probably find his own ninja-esque way to escape. =3" In the case of finding fish for Cid, I didn't even notice that the fish swam at two different speeds; even if I did, I wouldn't have thought that it would actually matter.

I happily saved Cid's life on my second play through, but was very disappointed that the following scenes that progressed the plot couldn't even compare to the dramatic scene that left me crying when he died. It wasn't Cid's death that made the scene so emotionally touching; it was how Celes deals with the loss, her rebound, and her finding a symbol of what's important to her which is once again presented in the ending.

You might think that if you saved Cid, he might at least say something interesting if you talk to him later, but alas he doesn't. I feel bad about letting Cid die, but it just isn't worth keeping him alive. XD;;; What can you do? Humans are naturally drawn to drama, right? -same can be said about Breath of Fire 2's good-bad ending decision. Orzlll