The 2D artwork in Final Fantasy 6 is amazing and still looks great, to this today. The character designs, the background art, the enemy and boss designs all look spectacular. I think, compared to 3D, 2D games just age much better.
I also believe the artwork is one of the main reasons why I can still go back and replay the game. Take Final Fantasy 7. While a truly great game it looks like crap now.
Don’t get me wrong, I owned and played the shit out of the game, but the idea of going back and trying to play it now…I really don’t know if I could, it looks very, very bad. And I’m not so in to graphics that I will judge a game solely by how it looks, but if the game’s graphics take away from the experience (which, in 7’s case, they do now) then I feel it’s legitimate criticism to have. The characters don’t have as much character, the bosses don’t intimidate, everything lacks detail, is boring. Just compare the two final bosses, Kefka and Sephiroth:
I’d take the first, any day. Obviously, comparing Final Fantasy 6 to 7 is the most extreme example possible. Final Fantasy 13 looks great, now. My argument is that, in 20 years, 13 might look just as silly as 7 looks now while 6 will remain the same.
Some more random favorites:
People even love the sprites so much they’ve imported them into Minecraft!
I’ve been replaying Final Fantasy III (VI) on the SNES and have decided to document 100 different ways how VI is better than any of the Final Fantasys released in recent years. I think I can come up with 100. If not, I’ll just unceremoniously end this segment.
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