Yes, it's time. I've put it off for far too long. What was meant to be the end of the playthrough, ending and all, was put on hold due to... circumstances. But it is time to finally put it to rest. Our HEROES will finally put an end to Kefka's reign of terror once and for all.Or, they would, but one among them has decided that this is personal. Kefka WILL fall, and it WILL be by this person's hands alone. The others shall not interfere. The fate of the world will come down to one lone hero seeking closure.
Ah, but who is this brave hero, I hear you ask? Most of them have beef with Kefka, of course. Who among them could possibly get it in their head to challenge Kefka and all his power by their lonesome?
The battle begins. Is this challenger among them?
Kefka's monstrosity attacks. The party is quickly wiped out... save for one.
That's right. SOOGA shall be taking on Kefka and his minions all by himself.Truth be told, without this specific setup, this would be close to impossible barring insane luck. SOOGA will be utilizing the Merit Award so as to be able to equip the fabled Illumina, which along with some other equipment allows him to reach max MBlock, thus allowing him to evade almost every attack that will be thrown his way. The Paladin Shield gives him complete defense to every element, the Red Cap gives him enough HP to survive the few attacks that WILL hit him, and not shown is the White Cape, which is necessary to reach the MBlock stat shown here. I'd have loved to give him Marvel Shoes instead, but at his current level (29), that would require sacrificing the Red Cap for a Bard's Hat, and that makes him a lot more vulnerable to Kefka's attacks later on due to lack of HP. I could've grinded a few levels, of course, but I wanted to use the exact same character I had when I last played.
So, what will SOOGA's battle strategy be here?Well, he has some options. He could opt for just smacking the enemies over and over with Illumina, doing decent damage, though this is slow and gradually withers his MP away.
Or... he could just spam the broken blue dome of death and destruction known as Ultima, doing similar damage but to every enemy at once.
Did I say similar? I meant better. Yeah, you know a spell is overpowered when a physical fighter, who has been up to this point built to optimize physical attacks, does better damage with a spell than attacking with a legendary weapon that does double damage.
Of course, Ultima is expensive MP-wise, so very soon SOOGA will run out of MP. Nothing a casting of Osmose can't fix.
First tier fell without much incidence. Let's now tackle the second. More friends show up, but once again, they shall do absolutely nothing.
First order of business: cast Doom on the middle enemy, also known as Tools. It's vulnerable to Instant Death, so that's one fucker down.
Second order of business: cast Mute on this faggot on the left, known as Magic. It casts a lot of annoying spells, so best to shut its ass up.
After a ton of Ultima spamming, we're up to the third tier. Here we actually have to start being a little careful, and taking certain precautions, as these abominations have some tricks up their sleeves that can fuck SOOGA's shit up if we're not cautious.
This is the biggest problem with this fight. Sleep casts Condemned, which puts a timer on SOOGA until he dies. As he is, he has no defense against this other than casting Life 3, which he does. Repeatedly. Killing Girl pretty much also necessitates a double whammy of Quick AND Ultima to get the damage out so that she cannot just heal it all up with Pearl Wind.
Anyway, after a bunch of deaths due to Condemned (you REALLY have to be on top of casting Life 3 to survive, if you forget about it once, you're toast), Sleep eventually starts casting only Meteo, but SOOGA just blocks it all. A few hits later, and we're off to the final battle...
There he is. The mad god himself.SLAVE and HUNTER are present, but once again, they shall cede to SOOGA's wish to settle things with Kefka for good.
The first phase of this fight isn't too bad. While he opens with Fallen One, Kefka doesn't do anything that can actually kill SOOGA outright just yet, so we should take advantage and get the damage out.
Let's Quick first, and try this shit out.
About a thousand damage per hit. Not too shabby, and since we're only spending 99 MP on Quick, we can do this twice, and then a few more times after, before needing to use Osmose.
Ah shit, here we go again.
This fucking spell never ceases to fill me with dread, despite its otherwise pitiful damage. They at least got the visuals right.
That said, it still did a fair bit, due to the fact that Goner does twice as much damage as usual when there's only a single party member standing. And it should be mentioned the ONLY reason he survived is due to the Red Cap's HP boost and the Shell status. Without one or the other, he gets fucked.
Eventually, Kefka busts out Revenger, which cancels out all your buffs. This is supremely annoying, as you absolutely NEED to have at least Life 3 and Shell on to survive Goner, and Haste is almost just as necessary. This is why I would've loved to have Marvel Shoes on, but alas.
The best time to attack him in this late stage is when he's charging Goner. Outside of that, he counters with either a painful physical (which SOOGA will block), or an insanely powerful HyperDrive, which WILL kill SOOGA unless he has Life 3 on.
And so, after careful management of the battle, taking care not to damage him unless it was absolutely safe...Kefka finally falls.SOOGA has prevailed. This was for his country. His friends. And above all, his family.
Time for the long-awaited ending.After defeating their foe, it looks like not all is well. The tower they stand on looks to be on the brink of falling apart.
As Runie attempts to rally everyone to work together, SLAVE transforms for some reason.
However, SLAVE immediately stumbles. What is going on?
Magicite begin leaving the party, vanishing into thin air. It appears what was feared to happen has come to happen at last. With Kefka gone, Magic and Magical beings have no anchor left in this world.
The party reaches this conclusion as well. So, what will happen to SLAVE?
Well, if anything's going to happen to her, it won't be before she accomplishes what she has set her heart out to do. SLAVE leads the way, as the rest of the party tries to make their escape from the collapsing tower.
And so, we come to the ending sequence. We shall here bear witness to scenes involving our party members as they make their escape, and in the process close out their characters.
First up, our VICTORIOUS HERO, who made short work of Kefka himself without any help.
PEDO finds himself in quite the pickle. He has no choice but to ask a favor of SOOGA.
PEDO now probably wishes he had asked someone else.
He does figure it out eventually, though. And that wraps up SOOGA's character arc, I guess.
Next up is SIMP, who did close to fuck all besides provide the airship.
As they're trying to escape, SIMP and a few others turn up at a fork in the road.
Faced with a choice with no clear right way to follow, SIMP throws a coin, which appears to suggest they go left.
However, SIMP suddenly changes his mind, and directs them to go right.
I’m laughing at how Setzer is “Simp”, Edgar is “Pedo”, and Shadow is “Pacman”.
Indeed, the road to the left would've probably killed them.
Rather than gamble his friends' life away, SIMP chose to follow his gut.
And so, he comes to understand his dearest friend a little more.
Time for the brothers to shine.
>>11254836I don't get the Pacman one
They have been with us since near the beginning. They certainly deserve special mention.>>11254847Neither do I lol I did not choose the names.
The brothers and friends attempt to escape, but trouble is always just around the corner.
Using his immense strength, TRAIN catches a girder just in time before it crushes his dear older brother.
And now, a confession.
TRAIN reveals that what looked to be a selfish motive was actually a selfless act all along.
All doubts have been cast aside. Time to use what power has been acquired to do what is necessary.
*Mogs your path*
KEK appears to be in a spot of trouble.
PEDO literally rescues him by the hair on his head.
And KEK finds it terrible.
Then there is SNEEZE.
party not can go
SNEEZE open path
SNEEZE SMASH AND SLAM
SNEEZE GET VAGENE FOR HARD WORK
A mimic? Sure, let's also copy another character's name to confuse the SHIT out of everybody!
In any case, seems like both UMARO and Runie are in a pickle. This will require precise teamwork.
Fortunately, this is right up a Mimic's alley.
Anyway, Mimic sees, Mimic does.
The path opens, but the based retard forgets to stop mimicking.
Gonna be a while before anyone thinks to look for the fucker.
Best boy coming through.
The party is evidently lost. Leave it to MknFuk and his instincts to find a proper path!
MknFuk rides downhill on some rocks, hoping to find a path forward.
They end up... somewhere else. MknFuk insists he will find a shortcut.
And Runie WILL like it.
And now... HUNTER's time to shine.
Runie as well. Two peas in a pod, they are.As they attempt to escape, Runie drops... something, and it seems to be really important.
Runie is warned that the floor is breaking up, but this is important to her, so she goes back to pick it up.
Sure enough, the floor starts falling apart, and soon Runie finds herself hanging on for dear life.
HUNTER comes to the rescue, as any proper HERO would.
Still, HUNTER finds time to chastise Runie.
Anyway, on to our HEROINE.
As they move forward, a Magicite leaves SLAVE, which she identifies as her father, Maduin.
Maduin delivers the harsh truth. He and the other Espers are not long for this world.
However, he also offers words of hope.
There may yet be a place in this world for SLAVE.Maduin then vanishes into the ether. SLAVE can only ponder upon his words...
ToT
uWu and KALIVA are trying to escape, but the old fuck seems to be having trouble.
That oughta light a fire on his ass.
TOO CUTE
Shit taste confirmed
And now... we say goodbye.
As the party escapes, PACMAN hesitates... something's up.
He breaks away. Interceptor, ever the loyal companion, follows, but PACMAN, for once, will not have it. He orders him to go with the others.
PACMAN says goodbye to Interceptor. It seems he has made up his mind about something.
And that something is... fulfilling a vow to Baram to stop running, and... starting all over again?Wat.This is, of course, the last example of blatant censorship in this game. Shadow is essentially committing suicide here by going down together with Kefka's Tower. One could interpret this decision with him finally deciding he has done his job in making the world a peaceful place, yet knowing he has no place in it as an assassin and low-life who went so far as to betray his only friend, so all that's left is to join him in death. Still, some find this ending unsatisfactory, considering the fact that he has living family he could connect with. For what it's worth, T-Edition makes it so at while he considers going through with this plan, at the last minute he changes his mind and joins up with the others, realizing that there may yet be a reason for him to go on living, and that Baram can wait.
Finally, our man KALIVA.
The geezer tries to reach the hook that would let them onto the airship, but of course he's not able to. Boomer coping ensues.
Still, he doesn't give up, and with a bit of help from uWu, he manages to do it. We're out of here.
Yes, that means (You). (You) made this possible. Thank you all for sticking around.
But enough of that. We gotta GO GO GO
As SLAVE leads them out, the last piece of Magicite disappears. Magic is all but gone from this world... SLAVE may be in danger.
Runie senses it. SLAVE may be acting unwise here.
The Falcon manages to escape the tower. They ought to be home free now.
The Falcon soars up above the clouds. They've escaped successfully.
But not all is well. SLAVE's power is fading away. Indeed, she cannot keep this up, and she begins to fall.
SIMP makes the Falcon dive down below the clouds in a desperate attempt to catch SLAVE.
Meanwhile, elsewhere... children catch a glimpse of the Falcon.
Of course, they're the children of Mobliz. What is happening there that has them in such a hurry?
Ah, yes, teen pregnancy. That's a thing in this game, and the babby's about to pop out.
Meanwhile, back at the Falcon, everyone's knocked the fuck out from that little stunt SIMP just pulled.
The fuck does this mean?
Good fucking question.
There she is!
Shit, you owe him a bit more than just thanks now. Motherfucker nearly killed everyone just to save you.
And here we have the last spoken line in the game. Neat.
And so we come to the credits. Guess I'll use this space to talk about my history with this game.I first played it when I was around 7 or 8, back when it was pretty much brand new. My brother borrowed it from one of his friends. It was my first RPG, and I first played using my brother's friend's completed save file, which was at Kefka's Tower, so pretty much my first exposure to the game was fighting the final battle, and not knowing what the fuck was going on, but it was fucking AWESOME nonetheless. I had never seen a game that looked or sounded like this.
My brother had played it somewhat before me at his friend's house, so he knew a bit more about how to play it. I distinctly remember him teaching me how to do certain things during battle, such as pressing L or R to make certain spells target more than one enemy or party member. Of course, even then I knew bigger numbers were better, and I quickly caught on to the fact that all I wanted to be doing was spamming Ultima.
A bit later on, I actually tried my hand at creating a new file and playing through the game from the beginning. I must admit, at first it was a bit tough, since I was used to having all the crazy spells and abilities and such, but I did eventually go through it with some patience. I did, of course, have access to a certain Nintendo magazine that had tips for this game, and I made heavy use of it, particularly for finding all the Magicite as I went through the game>inb4 you didn't beat the game
We ended up moving to another city later on around 1997, and we lost access to the game. However, my brother then discovered the magic of emulation, and some time later, I played through the game with what must've been ZSNES, if my memory serves me right. However, even then my autism was out in full force, and I noticed so many things wrong with the emulation then, such as missing transparencies, shit sound effects (anyone remember how the wind used to sound like on those old emulators?), missing graphical effects, etc. All those things drove me up the wall, even as I played through the game. It is for that reason that when I got a PS1, and I found out about FF Anthology, I quickly snatched it up, hoping that it would be a more genuine experience. Indeed, in many ways it was, though those loading times really didn't do it any favors. I still played through it, though.
Years later, the GBA version came out, and of course I went and got that, too. I think it's a decent version of the game, but it definitely has its problems, namely the lag, the screen crunch, and the shitty sound quality. Some of that is fixable through patches, but not completely. As for the extra content, I played through it all, and I have to say it's kind of pointless, though I suppose the super bosses are good as an extra challenge.
Years later, I found out about ROM hacks that purported to "fix" the game, such as Ted Woolsey Uncensored. I ended up playing through the game using an early version of TWUE, and it was... fine? At least at the time I didn't see much of anything to complain about, though now I am aware the dude behind it knows not a lick of nip and was taking from all kinds of sources without knowing for sure if the line was correct or not. Eh.
Fast forward some more time, and the pandemic hits. Bored and with nothing to do, I ended up taking a deep dive into FF6's mechanics and various strategies for playing it optimally. I ended up dicking around so much with the algorithms that I outright memorized the formulas for calculating damage. I looked into optimal setups for characters that I could use in future playthroughs so as to utterly dominate the game without needing to level up much. This is how I realized that the game is most rewarding not through grinding levels, but by mastering the way it works.
Before I decided to put all my research into practice, however, a mod caught my eye: people were talking about a "T-Edition" that overhauled the game and made it a lot tougher. Intrigued, I gave it a go, and while at first I didn't see that much of a difference, the changes eventually became much more apparent, and I fell in love. Yes, it's much harder at points, but the changes it makes are almost always for the better. But the content it adds... my god, it's insane how much they added to the game, and how well almost all of it fits. I really cannot recommend it enough. If you've played FF6 to death and wanna try something new and challenging, this is where you want to look.
Anyway, time to see how everything ends. SLAVE looks down at the world below.
So THAT'S how babby is born.Hol up, though. Who delivered, exactly?
The kids go outside to see their Mama flying overhead.
SLAVE will be all too happy to get back to the kids. Meanwhile, uWu seems happy to see another place.
The Falcon flies over Thamasa, where it looks like they've decided to rebuild the burnt-down house.
Runie goes over to look down herself. It is here that PEDO decides to make his move. Will he succeed?
You thought it was Runie, BUT IT WAS ME, uWu!!!
The party flies over Kohlingen, where new life is finally beginning to grow.
PEDO puts his failure aside. He and TRAIN set their sights elsewhere.
The kingdom of Figaro awaits its triumphant kings.
Having set all things right, SLAVE motions toward the front of the ship.
In an act symbolizing their newfound freedom, SLAVE takes off her hairband, and lets the wind do what it will.
From the highest mountain peaks...
To raging waterfalls...
Traversing dangerous rapids...
And going through mysterious forests...
At each point, our HEROES have prevailed.
The journey was long. The cost was high. Even so, they persevered, and managed to achieve the long-sought peace they had been fighting for.
So upwards they flight, triumphant. They fly...
...toward the future they helped secure.
And so ends this playthrough of FF6.I want to say thanks to all those who stuck around, wondering if I would ever finish it. I really was ready to just drop it after what happened in the last thread, but the few of you who mentioned it even as the months rolled on made me realize that, even if just a little bit, it meant something. Of course, this was largely done for fun, though there was some attempt at educating as well in regards to how to play the game, as well as dispelling certain myths about it (YOU HAVE TO GRIND EVERY PARTY MEMBER FOR THE LAST DUNGEON, for example). In any case, I'm just happy to have finally ended this as I ought to have, for the most part. To the two or three of you who still gave a shit, once again, thank you.
Gonna bump only once.
SPECIAL THANKS: AND OPSeriously, thanks dude. This was a hell of a ride, and I enjoyed it to the end. Glad you decided to finish it out
>>11255097>I really was ready to just drop it after what happened in the last threadIf I'd known I would've never. Thanks for sticking around OP, you did good.
>>11255545>>11255558Glad you enjoyed it. I honestly don't know when I'll do something like this again. It is actually quite a bit of work at times (just this thread took me five hours). I thought about doing FF9, but it's quite a bit longer. Perhaps someday.
>>11254847>>11254850Anon picked it because Clyde>>11254910lol ghosteyes
>>11256450>Anon picked it because Clydelel of course, how could I forget?
>>11255097Man, it sure was a surprise when I saw this thread in the catalog. Good to know you actually gave this the closure you couldn't back then. If you ever decide to give FF9 a shot I'll make sure to be there and see how you are supposed to make Ozma actually beatable
>>11255558Are you the guy who shat up the last thread?
thanks again OP, enjoyed the journey and nice to see u again to say goodbye
>>11257074Ozma is plenty beatable. The problem with it is that it relies way too much on luck. It's possible to beat it with a level 1 party with certain preparations, but there's a high chance of you dying if Ozma doesn't feel like cooperating. Likewise, you could have a fully decked out level 99 party, but if Ozma decides to open with Meteor, there's a chance it will result in a party wipe, and even with Auto-Life on, there's then a chance it will follow with Curse and just end you before you even get a chance to do anything. Basically, all leveling and equipping optimal equipment and abilities does is simply reduce the chances of you losing, but never guarantee it the way you can guarantee a win against, say, the WEAPONs in FF7. You just gotta play patiently and methodically, react optimally to what Ozma does, and hope that he doesn't just flip the table and end you with bad RNG.
>>11254925This right here shows how last-minute saving Cid was, because Celes is only shown picking that up if he dies.>>11254962I like he meant that in a figurative sense, like as in reincarnation, but I know a lot of people took this like literally, like he found another way to escape. I remember there was a fangame sequel in development, I think it was in RPGmaker, that starred an older Relm went on a journey in search of her father. Was obviously gonna go that route, I remember tge site had some OC profiles as well. Think this was older than The After Years? Anyway I don't think it ever came out, because I'm not sure how you realize an entire story out of that premise.>>11254910Oh yeah, some people thought Gogo was left behind too, but he's seen chilling with Umaro and Mog as the screen fades to black. (And Gau has nothing to do in the airship scenes too - maybe he originally joined optionally?)We didn't see Interceptor make it out, did we? Though I guess he could be in a room below deck...>>11255047>>11255097Thank you, OP. This gave me an idea early on to do my own playthrough thread. I have certain ideas in mind. Something shorter..Something will a younger hack scene...But of course, it comes down to the right time.
>>11257918>This right here shows how last-minute saving Cid was, because Celes is only shown picking that up if he dies.You sure about that? I only remember that scene being different if you don't get Locke back in your party. I actually save Cid like every other playthrough, and that scene's always the same.>I like he meant that in a figurative sense, like as in reincarnation, but I know a lot of people took this like literally, like he found another way to escape.Would be nice, except the original line pretty much makes it clear he's going to join Baram in death.
>>11257082Ye
>>11258029I meant the scene where the bandanna has significance to Celes only happens if Cid bites it and she's helped out by his seagull.They SHOULD have had an alternate ending scene if Cid survived and that scene was averted...
>>11255003Needs the ship to hold out for just a little longer so they can escape, or that they only need to go just a little longer.
>>11258114Right, it does seem to presuppose that she went through that scene where she finds Locke's bandana, which she doesn't if you save Cid. I never really thought about that before.
>>11255003I always thought it was supposed to parallel the birth scene, somehow. Maybe it makes more sense in Japanese.
>>11258427>>11260027Perhaps. Guess it's just awkwardly structured.
OP here. So, I've been thinking about the next playthough I would do, if ever I do get around to it, and I wanted to gauge interest. I know I've been saying it would probably be FF9, but something else that comes to mind is FF6 T-Edition. Given the story is unchanged and most of the events are the same, I probably wouldn't do a scene-by-scene, line-by-line commentary the same way I did here save perhaps for pointing out where the newer Slattery script differs from Woolsey, so in many ways the story would be heavily abridged. However, the gameplay changes are quite immense, many bosses are much tougher, and of course there is a FUCKTON of new content to go through, which definitely would warrant plenty of new commentary. There's a shitton of soundtrack additions from other Square games, too, and it'd be cool to post a Youtube link to the new songs whenever they pop up.Anyway, what do you think?
>>11261820Forgot to mention, I have indeed played through it before, but only once, and I only managed to beat I think three of the EX superbosses, since in typical "me" fashion I deliberately tried not to overlevel unless it was absolutely necessary. Yes, I made a tough game even harder for myself on my first playthrough, but it was easily the most satisfying RPG gameplay experience of my life as a result.
>>11261820I would be elated to see a T-Edition run. Your playthrough of vanilla FF6 was extremely informative and entertaining, and I'd love to see your commentary on it that would undoubtedly highlight subtle details we might miss on our own playthroughs. It's got my vote.
>>11261820T-Edition is a great game. Neo-Bahamat drives me mad because you have to figure out the correct way to beat him. If you do something wrong in your process of fighting him it's reset time. It's very frustrating.
>>11261820You do you, man. If anyone can convince that the "culT" might be worthwhile...If you've browsed the FFVI hack scene for a long time, would you by any chance remember a hack apparently dubbed "Un-Woolsey'd" that was a parody of fan-translations? I've been looking high and low, but it seems too internet-ancient, long before FFVI's text-edit boom. Maybe it was around the Whirlpool days? The Super Mario RPG Rebrick retranslation author 'LiThL' made it, though I've got the feeling he went under a different name back then.I tried Divergent Paths on another anon's recommendation, and the changes are pretty seamlessly integrated. It doesn't have that 'hacky' feel that a lot of hacks like Chrono Trigger+ have. Brave New World picked up steam for a while, but I heard it sucked until version 2.0 so I skipped it.Thanks for coming back and giving us the conclusion.
>>11262483Duly noted. I'll take it into consideration.>>11262529I don't remember fighting Neo-Bahamut. Was he added in a later version? I played it back when the English translation first dropped.>>11262576Another one of the ROM hacks could be on the table as well. I also stayed away from BNW due to the bad rap the rewritten script was getting (that bit with Celes on the Floating Continent was pure edgelord cringe lmao), but it seems that had been made optional. Divergent Paths looks less offensive, and from what I know about it, the biggest story change it makes is said to be done quite well. I'll think about it.
>>1126347211262529 here, I'm a complete retarded. I was thinking of Final Fantasy IV ULTIMA. OMG I'm an idiotT-EDITION is fun to play because of General Leo and Terra work together well.
OP I thought you were gonna play IX next
>>11264425kek I did start playing that hack some time ago but I got held up around when it was time to tackle the underground IIRC, and then I lost my save file because of some stupid shit I did so I haven't played it since.>>11264569I still may, but it probably won't be for some time. FF9 is a pretty long game, and I'm much too busy at the moment, though I'll be having plenty of time come December, so maybe around then.
>>11255071Talk about slim pickings. Let's hope he can wait her out.>>11261820Whatever you do next, these threads have been a daily comfort. We believe in you, OP.>>11262576LiThL's "FFIII-as-FFII" trollhack MIGHT have pissed off RPGOne or its ilk, so it could be that "top men" (aka basement-dwelling slug-weebs) made it vanish. Seems he never really got along with the anti-Woolsey train.
>>11255097Thanks OP - I've been following you since the first thread. Really interesting read, I can tell you know pretty much everything about the game; Glad you gave it the ending it deserved. Got me stoked to do another run myself, the T-edition sounds interestingI'm the guy who pitched HUNTERs name; For whatever reason when I stumbled upon your thread, I had Hunter S. Thompson on my mind and just wrote it for the luls
>>11267203He only needs, what, 7 more years? A cunnysieur can wait. Or he could always take another swing at SLAVE, now that she's not as autistic. She does come with baggage now, though.
>>11267217Well, I wouldn't say I know EVERYTHING, but I did go down some deep rabbit holes during the pandemic. There's also some things I haven't actually tried, such as a legit LLG. My best attempt had me finish the game with characters between levels 19 to 22. Even for me, the autism required to finish the game at level 6 or whatever is probably too much for me to have fun with it. I also encountered some situations during this playthrough I never had to deal with before, such at the Fanatics Tower run with fucking Umaro. Proud as I am that I made it through, I still want to strangle the anon who chose that particular party.
