Cognition Dissemination: Final Fantasy VI Deserves Better from Square Enix

Final Fantasy VI is frequently referred to as of the best RPGs in Square Enix’s (and, before the merger, Squaresoft’s) history and among best in the genre, for good reason. The game had an entertaining and briskly-paced story with memorable characters, enjoyable turn-based gameplay and exploration, beautiful sprite-work that still makes it look good to this day, and a great soundtrack. It was Squaresoft’s first shot at making a cinematic Final Fantasy experience before they obtained the technology to go further with Final Fantasy VII, with a story that took itself more seriously than previous installments. There’s a good reason why its achievements are still touted by people today.

It’s just a shame that Square Enix doesn’t feel as proud of it these days.

Case in point: FFVI recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary, to commemorate the game’s original release on Super Famicom in Japan on April 2, 1994.  (The Super Famicom was the Japanese version of the Super Nintendo, in case you weren’t aware.) It didn’t take long for several gaming communities around the internet to discuss their memories of the game and how much they enjoyed it, regardless of when and where they played it.

In fact, communities and the press made this anniversary more special than those before it. They didn’t simply discuss their memories of the game (which I could have joined them in posting about if I hadn’t forgotten), as they also posted about several little-known facts about its development. For instance, the cover the US received for the SNES version (where it was known as Final Fantasy III after Squaresoft skipped localizing some games) was originally a little different. The cover designers were apparently dead-set on giving us art with a Moogle brandishing a sword, but his original pose was comparatively relaxed. They realized this was the US in the mid-90s, when people liked more in-your-face content, so he was given a more dynamic pose.

But the real treasure trove came from Famitsu magazine, which released a new issue containing a multi-page feature on the game’s development. The feature opens with a spread depicting a key scene from the intro, with Terra, Biggs, and Wedge in Magitek armors marching towards Narshe in the snow, which is mesmerizing enough. The real highlight was the interview with key development staffers from the original game, helpfully translated by One Million Power. It specifically involved producer and co-writer (and overall Final Fantasy franchise creator) Hironobu Sakaguchi, co-director and co-writer Yoshinori Kitase, sound engineer Eiji Nakamura, pixel artist Kazuko Shibuya, and sound programmer Mitsuo Akao. Of them, Kitase and Shibuya still work at Square Enix, and Kitase assembled the team for the feature.

The entire interview is worth reading for insight on how FFIV’s gameplay elements came together and how the development staff got along while creating it. But there are two particularly good highlights. One big revelation is how the World of Ruin wasn’t initially planned to be in the game at all, and was instead added after its development ran ahead of schedule. This is evident through how few character interactions there are among the main party in this part of the game, even after they’re all reassembled, though the segment doesn’t feel out of place. It’s also mind-blowing to think about how the development of some games could actually run ahead of schedule at one point in time, which is unheard of these days.

It’s also incredible to hear that the game was developed over the span of one year, which the team started on right after Final Fantasy V released. Sakaguchi discussed how one of the biggest motivators involved the desire to make a game that surpassed Dragon Quest, which Kitase acknowledged. This makes sense considering the rivalry that existed between Squaresoft and Enix at the time, which just makes it funny to see how things eventually turned out.

It’s great that Famitsu provided a big feature for a retro game, the kind I miss seeing in western magazines (though Edge still provides smaller features like this one). But here’s a question: Why couldn’t Square Enix do something like this? It’s the anniversary of a beloved installment in their biggest franchise, so it would have been a nice gesture if they assembled several of the original development staffers for a roundtable interview officially translated for all territories.

Funnily enough, the company just posted a 21-minute video retrospective for… Final Fantasy VII. Close, but not quite, guys.

What’s even worse from Square Enix is how difficult it is to buy a good version of the game. The only port that’s easy to purchase is the mobile version, subsequently ported to Steam, which contains one of the worst filters I’ve ever seen on sprites. It’s jarringly ugly compared to the original SNES version, the Game Boy Advance port, and even the original PSOne version.

This is why it’s a shame there’s no way to buy the original ports officially. The SNES version was rereleased on the Wii Virtual Console and included on the SNES Classic Edition, the former of which was recently closed while the latter is out of print. The PSOne version is available as a PSOne Classic, which isn’t playable on Sony’s current PlayStation 4 console. The GBA version was never rereleased. Your best bet to play it is through emulation, making this another example showing how poorly companies archive their classic games.

Of course, a remake would also be nice. It’s not too late for them to remake this (and FFV) before the Final Fantasy VII Remake series fully arrives.

I previously lamented Square Enix’s treatment of Final Fantasy VI just before the 20th anniversary, which was predated by the aforementioned mobile release. Outside the SNES Classic releasing with the original FFVI on it, nothing has changed since then, so I don’t have any hope that the company’s treatment of it will improve. But it would be nice if it did, because the game deserves better.