Destroy, Rebuild, Live Anew | FFVI Retrospective [Playing Every Final Fantasy, Kinda]

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  • Опубліковано 21 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 67

  • @posindustries
    @posindustries 2 місяці тому +10

    This is the single greatest video ever made about the single greatest video game ever made.

  • @hereticalramza
    @hereticalramza Місяць тому +2

    Listening to you talk about this game actually raised the game up quite a few notches in my view! I like all the FF games, but I've been kind of so-so on FF6 (compared to the others) for a while. This made me appreciate it a heck of a lot more, so well done!

  • @Doniellhall
    @Doniellhall 24 дні тому +1

    FF6 was my first rpg, and i played it right after it came out in the US, and it will always stick with me as one of my favorite games of all time. I really enjoyed your video describing your experiences with it, even if you played it later in life. Keep up the excellent work!

  • @danielbeckstrand2992
    @danielbeckstrand2992 Місяць тому +2

    FFVI is my favorite game of all time and this is one of THE best video essays I have seen on it. Great work. 👏🏼

  • @Rude.E
    @Rude.E 3 дні тому +1

    this was all really so well done, thanks for working so hard and giving us a great video bud

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  3 дні тому

      my pleasure, thank you for watching!

  • @ShaneMcPartlin
    @ShaneMcPartlin 2 місяці тому +4

    I can’t possibly sum my thoughts up in a single comment. Cinema. Pure cinema. The only reason I wouldn’t direct somebody to do it immediately is so they can experience the game for themselves.

  • @RabbitEarsCh
    @RabbitEarsCh Місяць тому +2

    Thank you so much for this. I saw firsthand how FF6 was the underlying fabric of the internet in the early 2000s - heck, a competing website to the one I was a Big Poster on was Moogle Cavern, featuring Mog on the banner - and yet somehow through the vicissitudes of time, I never played it. I got to like, the first Esper and dropped it. I got to the end of Chrono Trigger, of SMRPG, but never FF6, and man, I can see why this hooked an entire generation of people. That "hole" filled in that review was one that I bet thousands of Americans didn't know they had, and playing would inspire them to ever greater heights. You drove it home time after time, your writing is more fire than it's ever been, and your deep love for this game shines through.
    Maybe I wouldn't have gotten it as a kid; lord knows I forgot most of Chrono Trigger on the way to today. But there's something truly and profoundly special here that grips you, and I think that it's emblematic of something we just don't see anymore. At the time, even up through about 2004, Square seemed completely unstoppable, like anything they put out, even their B teams, was just going to be an absolute banger that you had to have. They were the kings of video game quality, with banger after banger after banger that you couldn't go wrong. And looking back from today, it seems so strange when so much has gone wrong with the series. From XIII's hallway simulator, to XIV's disastrous launch, to whatever the fuck that Chaos episode was, to XVI being so forgettable I haven't heard a peep about it since...I can't tell you if it's the Enix merger, or a culture thing, or something else for sure. But my gut tells me that the reason why Square could do so well during that point is that it used to be that to sell a lot of copies you either licensed something famous or you put out the biggest banger man has ever seen in a cartridge/CD, and the landscape has shifted so dramatically that barely anyone is aiming for that anymore. Plus with team sizes being as big as they are, you lose the vision.
    FF6 stands as a towering achievement of that specific era, and the incredible SNES works that follow it (Chrono Trigger, SMRPG) drive that in further. That triad may not have hit as hard at home, but over here in the US it changed everyone, and that should be celebrated. I hope in these shareholder-driven development live service hellscape times, that teams out there can survive by remembering that if you gather up a bunch of experts and let them tell the best story they've ever done, you can fundamentally change global culture.

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      It has been really depressing to be playing games of this vintage (read as: 90s) and see so many companies that used to be standards for quality. Booting up a game and seeing Square, Namco, Konami, etc was something to get excited about. Nowadays whatever is left of these companies in name association brings up primarily distrust and depression (my heart goes out to any Konami fans).
      I've done enough pre-research on the merger to get a pretty good idea that the problems began there, but I wont know for certain until the timeline gets a little closer. I dont ever want to come off like some nostalgia trad hack, but I think with hindsight it becomes important to highlight just how good we had it in the 90s and early 2000s. The fact that these companies could release full ass inspirationally designed games with dev times of roughly a year is something that we should celebrate as a peak point in this genre's history.

  • @paulshkreli3891
    @paulshkreli3891 Місяць тому +1

    I love this video so much. I am sorry it took me so long to finish and comment. Love the editing, production, so enjoyable. Thank you for this.

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      Glad you loved it, bud

  • @ChumsKnifeblade
    @ChumsKnifeblade 2 місяці тому +2

    absolutely a beautiful love letter to one of the best rpgs ever made, absolute cinema, thank you jay

  • @DirectorHatman
    @DirectorHatman 2 місяці тому +5

    Feisty shitbag (affectionate) is how I would describe Relm too, and she's probably my favorite child character in all of Final Fantasy. Also, Relm: Red bandana in sprite, Blue in artwork, PINK WITH RED HIGHLIGHTS IN THE DISSIDIA MOBILE GAME.
    To me this is the peak of Squaresoft, and not 7. 7 is good, but Kitase obviously had a massive problem with ensemble casts. Half of that cast didn't really... do much outside of Midgar, 7's songs might be great compositions, but Uematsu wasn't fully utilizing the fact they were on a CD, etc.
    Plus, considering what happens with Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga at Square... her working on this game (and also making a Figaro bros. doujin) is just that much more significant.
    EDIT: I just got to the Doma part. So, other stuff that Jay will not mention because he will, for good reason of not having the time, not touch FF14, Doma and Cyan are a big part of the Stormblood expansion, as one of the Othard nations is named Doma with its leader in exile being named Hien. Hien's name isn't really a callback, but his childhood name, Shun, is Owain's name in Japanese. To further hammer the point, Hien's now deceased father is named Kaien (say it out loud and you understand immediately) and just to make sure you don't miss the point, his theme (and Doma's as a whole) is a Soken remix of Cyan's Theme.

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  2 місяці тому +1

      I like 7 plenty, but I have a bunch of misgivings about that game im excited to fire off. its one of the most important games in history, but its not cracking the top spot for best FF

    • @Postumeartist
      @Postumeartist Місяць тому

      It’s nice to think that they succeeded in making a game where anybody could be the main character… but the first half really is Terra. If Terra were not in the story than I’d say you could argue Celes, Locke, Edgar, Sabin etc… the second half is more open that way for sure. It would actually be a neat concept to redo the game and choose who you start with as the second half between several characters. But it’s a near impossible thing to do. You could remake any of them, but 6 would be very difficult. There’s a lot of flaws to correct, but when you’re a young kid, those flaws don’t matter at all, but now that I’m older, I can admit it’s actually flawed in a lot of small ways that can distract from the story.
      Don’t get me wrong, 6 will always be my favourite no matter what. Though I want it to be remade, a lot would have to change.

  • @jamilp2869
    @jamilp2869 Місяць тому +1

    My absolute favorite game. Thank you.

  • @llamaclipz
    @llamaclipz Місяць тому +2

    Awesome job dude. Can't wait to see your take on 7-10

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      7-10 is gonna be The Fun Zone and the stretch I am the most excited about doing. Especially since I have some bonuses scheduled within that timeframe.

  • @Dank_Engine
    @Dank_Engine Місяць тому +11

    FF6 is the type of game we’ll never see again because artists no longer run the industry, marketing people do.

  • @RedMufflerMan
    @RedMufflerMan Місяць тому +1

    Half way in and this is such a good video holy shit

  • @rezterralico4369
    @rezterralico4369 26 днів тому +1

    Good on you for the NES version of FF1. That life spell is valuable. I remember beating kari after the ice cavern.

  • @Rinato
    @Rinato 2 місяці тому +1

    I know this series was kinda supposed to be what led up to FF7, but for me, I had been waiting the whole time for THIS video- the peak before the bonafide, objective mainstream success story.
    This video is the peak of that peak.

  • @ChrisC-ui1re
    @ChrisC-ui1re 2 місяці тому +1

    The big reveal at the end got a massive pop from me

  • @mysticjuicer01
    @mysticjuicer01 2 місяці тому +1

    The original FF6 music for the SNES is a straight shot through my heart and my brain. No symphonic cover quite hits like it does. That opening cinematic goes absolutely fucking bonkers.

  • @HeadmasterAutobot
    @HeadmasterAutobot Місяць тому +1

    For my brother, his "inflection point" on emulation and engaging with classic games was FFIV; for me, that game was VI. I'd put it right beside DQV as perhaps one of the most significant pieces in its genre, if not the medium. No notes.
    However, much like you, I never went all the way--I've played it many times, appreciated it often, and referenced its approaches more times than I can count. But soon it'll be time to follow through: my girlfriend, hearing the praise for it (she grew up exclusively on FFX and Kingdom Hearts 1-2) and curious where Setzer came from, has been giving it a go. Somehow she managed a Phantom Train battle where everyone got out-sped, confused and imped, and shadow wound up autoattacking the train to death with multiple Interceptor saves. She never got a single input in, I've never seen anything like it.
    She's almost at the World of Ruin now. It was, and is, going to be great...!

  • @strepsilsaregood4u
    @strepsilsaregood4u 2 місяці тому +1

    Another banger. Thank you Jay!

  • @anthonyjackson9654
    @anthonyjackson9654 Місяць тому +1

    Welcome to the FF6 club buddy. Earned a sub. Great video homie 👍

  • @omgthedonny
    @omgthedonny Місяць тому +1

    LOL the message about Terra's hair not being blond had me dead

  • @SpaceCat1111
    @SpaceCat1111 Місяць тому +1

    Yeah, totally dropped the ball on not calling it "Boss Battle Books." That alliteration... *chef's kiss*

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      i think Boss Fight Books still rolls off the tongue nicely, just like a different type of nicely that is second place to Boss Battle Books.

    • @SpaceCat1111
      @SpaceCat1111 Місяць тому +1

      @@IdolismJ It's a cool name regardless. An aside though, my compliments to the chef. I will happily continue to let you cook. My love of the series began with the original on the NES when I was 7 (thankfully introduced and explained by my awesome gamer uncle). I was then 10 the Christmas that I received FFVI and a strategy guide in my stocking. I was ecstatic and my joy was not surpassed until I got Chrono Trigger for my birthday several months later. FFVI has consistently remained my favorite of the series, never completely dethroned by any game after it, until a certain controversial number came along. I know I'm in a very, very small group here, but XIII was the game that finally surpassed VI for me. Difficult to explain, and I realize most fans could never fathom such a blasphemy. Regardless, VI will always be one of the two shining pinnacles of my childhood. Thanks for the hard work on your video, I appreciate you.

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      I have a good friend who has XIII as his favorite and im fascinated to get there. I'm almost certain I will have no grey area on that game, ill either love it or hate it.

  • @studlytheknight
    @studlytheknight Місяць тому +2

    I don't understand how the Setzer mistranslation is a problem. In my opinion it makes his character even better. When he said that the empire made him a wealthy man and he was willing to give all of that up over a bet to get a woman says more about his character and thought processes than if he goes with them and also hates the empire because of "capitalism".

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      I agree that it isn't particularly a "problem" in the sense that it unjustly warps his character, its a "problem" in the literal sense that your translator is overworked and made an honest mistake in properly aligning his backstory.

  • @tnurg_
    @tnurg_ 2 місяці тому +2

    When i saw the pendulum swing, I stood up and clapped

  • @superspartan127
    @superspartan127 Місяць тому +1

    Finally got around to watching this. Good movie 👏 (this is Spirit my UA-cam name is from 2006 lmao)

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      Thanks for watching, Spirit!

  • @jordanresin9226
    @jordanresin9226 2 місяці тому +1

    3:25:29 Dude, I screamed. Beautiful work.

  • @Tootbook
    @Tootbook Місяць тому +1

    This video needs more than 11k views

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      It's doing its lil best, ill take what I can get

    • @Tootbook
      @Tootbook Місяць тому +1

      @IdolismJ for sure. I really dig your style. Its inspired me to replay these games. I used to make ff6 animations on newgrounds. I even got some awards and featured on the front page, you made me remember why i love ff6 so much, and seltzer especially 💖.

  • @arne0107
    @arne0107 Місяць тому +1

    56:13 is peak Final Fantasy.

  • @sophiepruitt8455
    @sophiepruitt8455 Місяць тому +1

    I was going to sleep but
    Now im going to watch this ❤

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому

      sorry to your sleep schedule

  • @GooeyFame
    @GooeyFame 2 місяці тому +1

    very cool shirt 😮
    even cooler vid

  • @primesc5838
    @primesc5838 18 днів тому +1

    I just finished ff6 i wouldnt say its the best i think the best one ive played is crisis core and type 0 but this game is amazing 😊

  • @jaxxh6529
    @jaxxh6529 Місяць тому +1

    ff vi advance on the game boy advance was released in europe in 2007 that was the first time that i played it. and maaaaaaan

  • @isotera_
    @isotera_ 2 місяці тому

    57:22 this whole video felt very Tim Rogers, and I'm absolutely here for it.

  • @ichigoshinobia.k.alitshino9781
    @ichigoshinobia.k.alitshino9781 Місяць тому +1

    🎉🎉🎉🎉

  • @the-NightStar
    @the-NightStar 27 днів тому

    "The Pixel Remaster can't compare to VI"
    Actually, yes it can..... if you mod it. There are a LOT of very extensive mods for the Pixel Remaster of VI that drastically transform, yet also beautifully retain and backport ALL the best aspects of the SNES original and then some. So actually you were very very much missing out by not using the Pixel Remaster for this game, and modding it with 20 of the best mods that make it, BY FAR, the definitive experience in every way.
    In-window character portraits? There's a mod for that, Yes.
    Drastically improved backgrounds, or even just backporting the original SNES backgrounds, adjusted for widescreen? Yes.
    Retaining the original deep and rich colors of the SNES version? Yup, there's a mod for that too.
    Enriching the colors of all the sprites in the entire game based on the original SNES sprites with some optional enhancements and better color shading or color depth? Yes.
    Drastically fixing the UI and retaining the original nostalgic FF6 font? Yes.
    Revamping the entire soundtrack or merely just replacing it with the clearest and most pristine resample of the soundtrack from the very source of the original keyboard samples used for the SNES version? Yupppers.
    A huge ton of bug fixes for both the original and new versions, tightened up? That too.
    A mod incorporating the best re-translation of the game humanly possible and ever written? Well, technically yes, but I made that mod myself over a period of 6 months of continuous hard work then declined to release it to the public, giving it to only a good friend of mine to make a youtube playthrough of. But someone else backported the GBA script so that's almost somewhat as good.
    And there's so many more mods for Pixel Remaster 6 that improve it even FAR FAR FAR beyond what you played here, even if you just want a purist experience, you could have had a game modded to be as faithful to the SNES version as possible while still having framerate and widescreen experience fixes. You kinda should have looked those up before moving forward with this, honestly. Pixel Remaster WITH Mods would have DRASTICALLY improved your experience twentyfold.

  • @francie3169
    @francie3169 2 місяці тому

    Oh hey I know that thing from Final Fantasy XIV
    I say having said the exact same thing 30 seconds ago for 3 hours 34 minutes and 29 seconds

  • @Kennyko89
    @Kennyko89 Місяць тому +1

    Bro I want a skies of Arcadia re release soo bad

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому

      in my dreams I still see Skies of Arcadia HD

  • @CielBlanche
    @CielBlanche Місяць тому +2

    The pixel remaster graphics aren't enhanced, they're an embarrassment that degrades the dignity of Final Fantasy VI, and also completely whack!
    The colors have been destroyed -- most notably, the world map of this melancholic industrial world now looks like a neon acid bath, but more subtly, in many places such as the interior of Owzer's Manor, the dramatic lighting evoking Caravaggio has inattentively been "remastered" out of existence. Yeah, I just brought up Caravaggio in reference to a Super Nintendo game, I can do whatever I want, mom!!!
    Final Fantasy 6 has a deliberate aesthetic invoking all the arts, from opera (obvious), to ballet (enemy art poses), to renaissance painting (the tenebrism of the color choices in the environment art). It's not an accident. There is an ART GALLERY dungeon in the game. When very smart and skillful people craft a landmark artwork with very specific intent, you should assume that NOTHING is an accident. Which means any change made to any aspect of the work demands rigorous justification. And no justification exists here, not even for the sake of arbitrary computer metrics such as "resolution" or "three dimensional graphics" or "inappropriately appended water shaders".
    Architecture is less detailed and low contrast in places like Daryl's Tomb and on castle brickwork. You might not notice it consciously, but you feel it - this version of FFVI feels lesser, cheaper, undignified.The so-called "HD2D" in the opera sequence neglects the differences between the appearance of tiles in 2D and in 3D -- 3D bears repetition less elegantly -- causing the iconic scene to look like a poorly-mapped Minecraft level. The opacity on the phoenix graphic during the Rachel scene was sloppily set far too high, making the emotionally pivotal scene look like someone sprayed viscous ketchup everywhere. The dialogue boxes lack professional polish and make FFVI look like some kind of early access Steam RPG.
    All respect to Kazuko Shibuya and her original work -- anyone who was on that team is a living legend -- but her revised sprites are full of egregious errors such as rampant color banding, an obvious eyesore regarded as inexcusable by any pixel artist. The new sprites' colors are also low contrast and amateur. Terra has goofy swinging gorilla arms from the back!!! Terra is a purple cat, not a primate!!! The issues with the sprites alone go on and on.
    Even the mine chase sequence, commonly regarded as an unambiguous upgrade, comes across as sparse and low-grade 3D in comparison to the original, which, yes, was low resolution, but an extraordinary feat of art and engineering in its time. They drew every frame of that shit and managed to make them all load in rapid sequence, creating the illusion of a perilous industrial tunnel.
    This tendency to believe that anything that is more advanced in technical sense is inherently better artistically, is a fallacy that leads to this situation where a HIGH-effort production asset is later replaced by a newer, LOW-effort asset, and the difference in quality is evident to anyone not overly preoccupied with meaningless technical specifications. I don't give a shit that the new one is higher resolution! It's remedial budget garbage, and the original was... not! The minecart scenery also (for no reason) scrolls way too slowly in comparison to the frenetic, pixelated original, removing all the urgency from the scene. Cool!
    Perhaps the biggest AFRONT TO HUMANITY(!!!!) is the new music. Revising the greatest and most perfect soundtrack of all time is kind of a stunning act of hubris, whether overseen by the original composer or not, and the result is predictably disappointing. I love Nobuo Uematsu more than anyone in the world. He's my spirit dad, but he doesn't know that. The exacting articulation and mixing required to bring out the intricate rhythmic brilliance of Dancing Mad is replaced with a muddy soup that loses the essence of the composition and thus the cathartic impact at the climactic moment of the story.
    The melancholic original Narshe theme previously flirted with pastiche elements of lounge jazz but elevated itself above them by virtue of its subtlety, where the rearranged version succumbs fully to contextually-inappropriate cheese George Michael would be proud of. I saw a guy on his first playthrough in remaster laugh and shout "sexy cave bats!" when he heard it, and I don't even blame him. Like the remastered sprites, the issues with the music are endless.
    The autotuned English opera performance is the final blow to that formerly beautiful scene. If you think it matters that Celes, the character, isn't a professional soprano, you don't get FF6. Yoshinori Kitase doesn't get FF6. The game doesn't just have an opera in it, the game IS an opera. In this world, Celes can start singing like a professional any time she wants, whether she is or is not, in fact, an "opera floozy".
    This youtube channel has earned my subscription simply for not laying down and unquestioningly accepting anything with the term "remaster" appended to it. That is real respect for humanity's greatest achievement: Final Fantasy VI

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому

      tacking onto this; what in heaven's name happened to Pixel Remaster Celes'/Edgar's walk animations? they have these gigantic stompin' boots when they walk that look super looney tunes.
      I enjoyed using Pixel Remaster for 1-5 and long planned on doing 6 without PR before looking into it, but after the research I will go back and play most those games on their original releases. Just to see if there's anything additional to be gained and to give the original works that respect. Especialy for FF1 as i mentioned, I really think I did that game wrong by playing the PR version.

    • @CielBlanche
      @CielBlanche Місяць тому +1

      @@IdolismJ I actually really like the PSX version of Final Fantasy 1, the visuals are nice and it retains most of its difficulty. The DS remake of 4 has a much more fleshed out script and characterization for the cast, as well as some interesting new game mechanics. Both worth checking out if you haven't!

  • @Mr8BitHero1
    @Mr8BitHero1 Місяць тому +1

    I highly recommend dragon quest XI

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      I plan on doing all Dragon Quest games in some form, either for fun or for videos. I've played 1, 8, and 11

  • @frumiousgaming
    @frumiousgaming 2 місяці тому +1

    Fine. Al fantasy 6

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  2 місяці тому +1

      due to the joy that is the English alphabet I read this first as Artificial Intelligence Fantasy 6 and was thinking "boy, dont give Squeenix any ideas now"

  • @veghesther3204
    @veghesther3204 Місяць тому

    Even at lv 99 Cyan/Umaro still suck.

  • @iknowuskibidi
    @iknowuskibidi 2 місяці тому

    How do i make my skibidi sigma

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  2 місяці тому

      can't help you there, big dog

  • @MiserablePyre
    @MiserablePyre Місяць тому +2

    3:11:10
    I've been saying this for almost 20 years, if ff6 doesn't get remade with the yoshitaka amano watercolour art style in a 3d setting, then I don't want it!!

    • @IdolismJ
      @IdolismJ  Місяць тому +1

      exactly! there are so many different options for remaking FF6 and its really just the idea of doing a FF7R to it that i dislike. Get fun and creative with it! FF6 deserves something artsy!