This is more of an advice rather than a review.
Since this is basically the iOS version GET THE 'A WORLD REBORN' MOD. It's a mod that changes everything bad about this port (reworks all the sprites, changes the backgrounds, replaces the soundtrack for an orchestrated version, removes all the mobile clutter, and so on), although I would personally not recommend installing the Reshade that comes with it, only the mod. Once you do get ready to play the definitive version of one of the greatest RPGs ever.

Final Fantasy VI is not only one of the best JRPG's of the 16-Bit Era, but is still one of the best JRPGs of all time. Unfortunately, the PC/iOS port is a subpar effort in bringing this timeless classic into the modern age. The UI is at best, uninspired and at worst, atrocious. While the monster sprites are quite good, the main characters and NPCs feel bland and ugly compared to the originals. Although it may seem shallow and petty, FFVI spent years in my Steam library unplayed because of the poor design choices and graphics that had been implemented.

However, with a few mods, including a recently released sprite mod that replaces all of the game's player sprites and NPC's, the game is finally worth playing and in some cases, even outshines the original. While there are still a few technical hiccups holding it back such as poorly implemented 3D town models on the world map, slight framerate drops when using the airship and subpar resolution options, the good finally outweighs the bad in this troubled port.

To make Final Fantasy VI on PC a worthy experience I recommend the following mods:

-cvg_esn23's sprite mod (They're absolutely beautiful and are based on the original concept art)
-Vibrant Reshade & Border Fix (Brings out the colors and stretches the image to fill your screen)
-My Original Font Mod (A shameless plug, but trust me - you'll love it. Chicago style :P)

Final Fantasy VI is a staple of JRPG history with a lot to love; even if like most relationships, it takes a little work to get it there with this particular version.

EDIT: For those who are put off by the battle HUD as I was, there is an option in the Config menu to change your Battle Window. By changing it from default to Tab (Left) you can get rid of the rising bars in place of a fixed position HUD. It's not the original HUD, but it is far more desirable than the rising bars.

I can recommend this game with a MAJOR caveat. That you play it with the Relm Reborn Mod. It removes the crappy mobile game control overlay and changes the sprites to better reflect the original artwork as well as changing the music to orchestral arrangements that make a huge difference I think it also touches up some of the dialog to a better translation. The only downside is Sabin's Blitz's when doing the input you need to press each direction singularly I.E. his aura cannon move you need to press left then down left THEN down THEN "A" or "X" depending on your controller of choice. if you do the command in a fluid motion the game wont register it. All of this adds up to a great way to enjoy the game despite it being a mobile game clone.

First of all, if anyone is planing to play this port, ''World Reborn'' mod is a mandatory for the ugly interface and sprites.
Remastered music is also another beautiful part of it.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/final-fantasy-vi-a-world-reborn
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This game is beautiful. Characters are unique and fun to play with. Composer is Nobuo Uematsu no need to say anything else. Easy to grind but hard to adapt. Gameplay is a classic.
By far its the darkest FF game. Villian is definetly far from cringe unlike Exdeath. (Still luv u XD)

In the end FF6 is a must play game for JRPG lovers.

After 57 hours of play, I highly recommend getting this version of Final Fantasy VI. As other reviewers have pointed out, the "A World Reborn" mod is highly recommended to improve the music, interface, and art style of the game.

"A World Reborn" can be found at this link: https://www.moddb.com/mods/final-fantasy-vi-a-world-reborn

As for the game itself, the story and music have held up great, even 25 years after initial release. You will meet a large cast of incredible characters and learn their backstories. You will share in their triumphs and defeats.

Combat holds up well all of these years later. Expect a turn based RPG feel with carefully crafted sprite art.

This version of the game also includes the bonus content from the Gameboy Advance release. Extra weapons and challenges await you.

Any chance to adventure with Edgar, Terra, Shadow, and others is a good one. Take that chance!

*Play with either the ATMA or “A World Reborn” mod. This review assumes that you are.*

While it may not be among the most-played games in the franchise, “Final Fantasy VI” is revered among fans as one of the defining entries. From its opening title screen with the thunderclouds and ominous organ music, the sense of wonder is raw and promises a grand, sweeping, unforgettable adventure. The game delivers that promise in spades, so much so that, except for “Final Fantasy IX,” it is my favorite entry of the series that I’ve played thus far.

Among “Final Fantasy VI’s” most notable contributions is the esper system. Certain items in the game, called magicite, can be equipped to party members in order to help them learn magic. By grinding in random encounters and getting AP, your character will eventually master the magicite and thus no longer need it equipped for those spells. One can easily see how “Final Fantasy VII’s” materia system drew inspiration from this, with the obvious difference that you still need to hold onto materia to use its spells even after fully mastering them.

Where “Final Fantasy VI” additionally differs is that, while each magicite has a summon associated with it, you can only use that summon once per battle, no matter how much AP you grind. Some magicites also come with level-up bonuses for the equipped character. For example, Ifrit will always give a +1 strength boost when leveling up. Plus, many summons do not inflict damage, instead offering defense increases or other effects. This gives the esper system a lot of versatility in how they may be used both in actual battle and how you want your characters stats to be effected. Worth mentioning however is that summons cannot be learned like other spells; when the magicite is unequipped, the character cannot summon that esper. Since each character can only be given one magicite, choosing which magicites to bring to a battle can be critical.

As far as your actual party is concerned, there is no job system like “Final Fantasy III” or “V,” but the characters you can use have numerous options available. Edgar can use tools to mess with enemies in various ways, Mog can dance to use the battlefield as a weapon, Relm’s Sketch can borrow abilities from enemies, Strago can learn Blue Magic, Shadow can throw weapons and scrolls for major damage, and the list goes on. You’ll often find yourself in a position to tailor-make your party to fit the play style you like, and with so many abilities to choose from, exploring what everyone can do is fun. With the way the game progresses, you’re incentivized to do so. By the time you get to the end, you’ll feel that you’ve either mastered or gotten a handle on everyone.

For the first real time in the series, a darker, more mature outing was executed brilliantly. From the beginning at Narshe to the assault on the final dungeon, the story succeeds in telling something nuanced and epic – a story about loss and hope. The opera house scene especially has so much subtext underneath the surface that one can feel the power of what’s being sung. Along with “the cataclysm,” moments story-wise will shock and fill with awe, even if you know about them well in advance. The humor never overstays its welcome, and comes at times where it feel appropriate to take a break from the seriousness. I have to give special mention here to when Edgar and Locke flat-out stop a battle for awhile because they're freaking out about Terra.

The cast of characters is also a great strength of the game…albeit with some caveats. There are, all told, fourteen characters you can have in your collective party, but they are not all given their just due when it comes to storytelling. Characters like Terra, Locke, Cyan, and Celes are given plenty of development, while others like Mog, Gau, Umaro, and Gogo are given little to nothing. To be fair, even some of the later entries in the franchise struggle with this, even when their party rosters are smaller.

The villains also get time to shine. Emperor Gestahl’s ruthlessness and lust for power are on full display in the atrocities he commits, the words he says, and the plans he wrought. Most of all, there is Kefka, easily one of the greatest—and most entertaining—villains in gaming history. Much like Pokey from “EarthBound,” he will drive you insane in the best way possible. You are always left eagerly anticipating his next move, and wondering what comedic shenanigans, or devastating destruction, he’s got on the horizon. Between Gestahl and Kefka, the villainy shows itself firsthand rather than through assumption or mythology.

Audio-wise, “Final Fantasy VI” excels. Especially with the mods I mention above, Uematsu’s score shimmers. Just about every single piece on the soundtrack is a delight. The Magitek Factory, the boss theme, the final dungeon, "Dancing Mad," and the numerous character themes are all ear candy. Graphically, the mods also do a great job of cleaning up the Steam version’s awkward-looking sprites. The enemy designs are wonderfully detailed, even if they do get reskinned a few times too many.

In terms of the gameplay, there is a solid balance here. I appreciate that there were a few moments where the game punished me for poor preparation, and how even with lots of planning, some dungeons still posed a fun challenge. The game overall was not hard with a capital H, nor was it easy with a capital E. The sidequests at the end were just as interesting as playing the main story, as many pose their own intriguing challenge. You'll be able to tackle some post-endgame tasks with your save file, too. Much like “Final Fantasy IV,” some of the dungeons are a little cumbersome just because of the lack of differentiation between sections, but this feels less a sticking point than it did for previous entries.

Even with my few complaints, I found “Final Fantasy VI” to be a masterpiece of an RPG. Its story got its hooks in me and never let go, its gameplay was a joy, and its entire presentation blew me away. A thorough, heartfelt recommendation.

**I alluded to this several times, but it’s no secret that the Steam version of “Final Fantasy VI” is ugly in its pure form. Downloading either the AMTA or “A World Reborn” mods are necessary to get the best experience possible. Having played both with and without the mods, the game is still worth giving a try regardless of which version you play, but one method was far more pleasant than the other.**

Score Summary:

Story: 8/10 it's entertaining, accessible, strikes a balance between unique and trope

Characters: 9/10 it's got a great cast but I wish we had more dialogue in the last half

Battles: 7/10 keep in mind this is an old JRPG so I'm comparing to similar games

Art: ?/10 this is highly subjective and I used a mod to enhance the visuals but I love Yoshitaka Amano

Music: 10/10 Role Playing Games tend to be known for their music and this has some of the best of Nobuo Uematsu

Fun Factor: 9/10 :D

My play time: 75 hours

My Thoughts:
I have played this on every system it's been out on, starting in 1996 when I was a kid with an SNES. I've fallen in love with this game, and rightfully so, it's well known as one of the best of Squaresoft's Golden Era. This time around I played together with my 9 year old daughter and we had a blast. We've made our way through FF6 and Chrono Trigger and to say she's enjoyed these games would be an understatement. I think it says a lot about a game that this game appeals to a busy father and a kid that usually spends her time playing Sonic, Mario, Roblox, and Minecraft. At some point I plan to amend this review to include her thoughts as well. I'm sure there's a small niche for reviews written by a millenial dad and a young gamer. If you want to spend quality time with your kid playing games together, experiencing an engrossing story and have reading time with your kid you can't go wrong with this game.

Final Fantasy 6, along with Chrono Trigger, form the ultimate swan song to the 16-bit JRPG, and what an era it was. I played this game twice through over numerous visits to a friends house in the mid 90's, once more at the GBA release, and then walked away from it for over 15 years, spending my JRPG time largely on FF7 since then.

Coming back to it now with an awareness of 2020 game design principals, its fair to argue that its combat and battle frequency are 'dated' in numerous ways. With that said, FF6's combat feels unique when compared to the PS1 era of Final Fantasy games and still stands on its own merits. With a team of four as opposed to three, the game is more willing to 'one shot' a teammate, and the overall gameplay feels significantly more bursty and more reliant on AOE. Its a unique combat feel that only FF6 really has among JRPGs.

Where the game seems truly ahead of its era however is in its scenario and narrative design. Starting the game, its gameplay loop feels very similar to, for the uninitiated, a pokemon game. You quest down the linear path, you pick up new followers, and you level up the ones you like, with 'plot cookies' deposited at the end of dungeons and scenarios.

Then the game flips this format on its head and abandons what many consider to be the 'standard' scenario design for a JRPG after a critical point in the game. Instead, the rest of the game resembles Nintendo's "Breath of the Wild" in its structure. You can attempt to end the game right then and there, but there's a myriad of things to do in a non-linear fashion that permit the player to strengthen their team, find incredible artifacts and spells, learn new layers to the cast of characters, and explore optional corners of the narrative.

After FF6, Final Fantasy would pay lipservice to this design principal but never truly re-implement it. FF7 has hidden side quests that pop up after certain points, as do FF8 and FF9, but not to the scale and breadth of FF6. And by FF10, this sidequesting and world exploration has since largely been set aside and overstuffed into a 'theme park' like end game area offered to the player usually mere hours before the final dungeon.

And that's why this game has managed to age as much as it has and yet remain timeless. Other Final Fantasy games have more depth to their universe or specific characters or villains, but FF6 blows them all away in terms of its overall breadth. It is a broad, sweeping, multi-toned masterwork that implements design principals that wouldn't even begin to become vogue until GTA III on the PS2, and still manages to offer something impressive even a quarter century after its release.

ADDENDUM: Having said all this, Final Fantasy 6 is a Final Fantasy game with no definitive version to this day, and the Steam release does not assist in this debate. The original American release titled 'FF3' has the core gameplay but a butchered translation, truncated names, and comical 'Nintendo of America' censorship choices. The PS1 version has a sprint button and allows Sprint Shoes, allowing one to either free a relic slot or move at Mach 3 without issue. The GBA version has a far superior translation, but a poor resolution and poor sound which butchers FF6's phenomenal audio. Finally, the Steam version is based off of the mobile version, with fantastic audio, superior translation, phenomenal enemy art and decent environmental art, but poorly implemented character sprites and an unforgivable menu and battle UI. There is a give and take regardless of the choices made. This Steam version is not a deal breaker, and I'm willing to call it FF6 as well as any other version, but someone going into it should know the compromises they're making with it.

I've heard alot of things about FF6. Stuff like "best FF game evar!", "best villain evar!", and other stuff along those lines. But all of this was only hearing, rather than seeing for myself since I never played this when it came out way back in 1994. So only now, after it gets a steam release, do I actually have a chance to play this game that other people say is awesome.

And now, having finished it... I understand.

There is very little I can nitpick about this game. Perhaps the only thing of note are all those "secret passages" where you walk off the map through areas you can't see to eventually come across some special room that usually has goodies in it. I wonder how long it took for people to find all of those...

But that's it. Everything else was if not excellent, then at least solid. Gameplay was what you would expect from an FF game, but also had some nice treats that I really wish FF games kept. Most notably was the speed of the battles, and an almost complete lack of overdone lengthy attack animations. Sure... part of this is because this game is so old it didn't have the tech for that sort of thing back then. But looking at it now, after having played 4 other more modern FF games (7, 8, 10, 13), it's refreshing to not have to sit for 20-30 seconds everytime I want to use a big attack like Ultima. So that was nice. :D

Story and characters were top-tier here also. To a degree it is a bit simple and straight-forward, but it is undeniably effective. Kefka, the talked up super-villain, is easy to understand as yet another homicidal maniac who wants to "kill everything". But it is the way he behaves and the sheer glee that he carries out one atrocity after another that sets him apart. As for the heroes themselves, all of them have their own personalities and side-stories that make them actual characters as opposed to just "the person who uses magic" or "the strong one". People who know me well probably already know who I liked the most... and for those who don't, it was Terra. :o

So after hearing years of praise for this game, I finally got the chance to play it for myself. What I ended up finding was that this game lived up to every expectation I had, and surpassed them in many ways. It is one thing to be told something is great. It is quite another to see it for yourself. I don't know if it unseated 10 to become my favorite FF game, but it certainly is #2 at minimum. I'll have to think about that some more. Maybe i'll just say they are tied for first? XD

But for now... all you need to know is that this is a pretty awesome game. Chances are you have heard this already like I did, but it really is. :D

Download the World Reborn Mod, and the game becomes so much nicer to look at, so you can focus on the great story and fun combat.