Part 46: Final Chapter: Let us give thanks

Final Chapter: Let us give thanks

Music: Ending Theme, Part 1 (see if you can catch every character's theme)



We open on a book, its pages blowing in the wind.



We then focus on each character in turn, starting with Cyan.



Well, he better, or Edgar is going to fall.

: Machines...I hate machines!



Cyan nonetheless circles the button warily, and with a large force of will...



Activates the SHIT out of it, extending a platform for Edgar to stand on.

: You just have to show technology who's boss!

Whatever you say, you crazy man.





With Setzer in the lead, the group comes to a decision between two doors.





: Let's go that way instead. Sometimes in life you have to FEEL your way through a situation.



Not too bad a thing. Anyway, who's next?





Ooh! A doubleheader!



Don't be surprised to see Setzer, Celes and Edgar in these little scenes. They are, after all, the only mandatory characters.



As Edgar tries to force the door open, Sabin catches a loose beam that was about to fall on his brother's head.

: I didn't turn my back on the kingdom, Big Brother! I knew you'd be a better king! I trained hard, knowing I might have to help you some day! That's why I've got these stupid muscles!

Well said. If you didn't recruit Sabin, you'll get a different dialogue with just Edgar.

: Where's Sabin when you need him? Oh well, ladies first!



Mog didn't get to contribute much to the final battle, nor does he contribute to the escape.



Instead, he nearly falls down a pit and has to be rescued.



Specifically, by using a crane to snatch hold of his pom-pom thingie. Ouch.

: The hair! Watch the hair!





Now you might expect, given that it's Umaro's turn and all, that he'd just break the door down, but...



That would be way too simple.

: Ughaaaaa!





In this case, Celes and Gogo get stuck on the opposite side of an unmoving platform. The buttons to activate it are on the other side, but there's a problem.

: The buttons have to be pressed simultaneously...
: Gogo! Watch Celes and do exactly what she does!



And the two quickly become a button mashing machine.



Too bad that nobody told Gogo that s/he could stop. Don't worry, Gogo shows up later, unlike certain members.





We once again find Gau acting as the one-upper, as his method of "finding shortcut" involves...



Grabbing a piece of rubble and riding it across an entire pile like a surfboard.



But worry not, he's also willing to let other people try the trick out as well.



And Celes Chere as well, but this time the object doesn't change.



Darn it, Celes! Now is not the time to be freakin' Cinderella!



But she goes back for the bandana, and the plate she's standing on begins to fall.



: I will not let go...



Smooth as always, I see. Oh well, he'll learn eventually. If Locke isn't in the party, Celes will go back for the bandana still, but Setzer will stand in for Locke.

Incidentally, how did Celes get that bandana anyway? The bird only shows up if Cid dies. Oh well...





Maduin: Terra...we must part now. We Espers will disappear from this world...forever. But if the human part of you is very strongly attached to something or someone... You will probably be able to remain in this world as a human being...

And then Maduin shatters too, having said what he needs to say.





Relm and Strago are trying to go the opposite way up a conveyer belt, but Strago is losing ground.

: Grandpa! Stop goofing around!!
: Sorry, dear...
: If I hear even a peep out of you, I'm gonna draw your portrait!
: No! Anything but that!



: Relm! How can you be thinking about pictures at a time like this?!

If Relm is in the party, but Strago isn't, she's on a conveyer belt headed for a pit and threatens to paint the party's picture if they leave her behind. Not nearly as entertaining.





Shadow's escape is a little different from most.



To be more specific, he doesn't want to escape, and we don't see him on the Falcon later, so we can assume that he didn't make it out.





And finally, in Strago's segment, he's trying to grab onto the hook dangling from the Falcon, but he can't reach.

: No...NO!! A "kid" like me doesn't know the meaning of defeat!



Once Strago's got the hook, he lowers it down so Relm can latch on as well. That would account for everyone, but there is one last person the game wants to acknowledge.



That's so sweet I could puke.

Music: Ending Theme, Part 2 (listen for the series' main theme near the end)



Terra's flying out ahead of the airship, guiding it away from the Tower, when suddenly...



: Terra, it's okay! Your power! It's fading...



Sure enough, Terra begins to plummet, and the Falcon goes into a dive in response.



On a nearby cliff, a couple of kids from Mobliz are watching this event carry on.



In the town itself, the entire village has assembled to watch a lady give birth. Yeah, that's...

Duane: Gotta hang in there...





: Thank you, Setzer!
: Didn't I say it before?! This is the world's fastest ship!



And...roll credits, interspersed over shots of the Falcon flying majestically through the clouds.

I must say that this has been a fun project. Final Fantasy VI is a game that flows nicely, and with a couple exceptions, I don't recall a point where the game became tedious.



Sure, the programming's buggy, the game's full of glitches, and so on. Frankly, I'm surprised that the game works at all at points, but for some reason, that makes the game more entertaining for me. Sometimes, when I'm bored, I'll purposely do the Sketch bug just to see what happens (backing up my save first, of course).



You can't deny that the game's beautiful. If you've ever looked at those backdrops for the battles, you can see so many details, and the monster designs are absolutely top-notch. It's probably one of the prettiest games on the Super Nintendo by far. The music is just as good, thanks to the contributions of Nobuo Uematsu.



Obviously, Ted Woolsey's translation isn't perfect. I could name at least a dozen instances of grammar problems, spelling errors, typos and mistranslations, but for some reason, I still find it entertaining. I can't really explain it, but its quirkiness is somehow quite compelling.



Anyway, back to the plot for a second. While the group's been flying along, Katarin has finally given birth.



The burned down house in Thamasa is finally being rebuilt.



And plants are beginning to spring back to life as well.



To conclude, we pan over the dungeons that we visited before. Some that I liked...



Some that I hated...



And with one final shot of the Falcon flying off to further adventures, we close.

Music: The Prelude



But what is there left to do? If this was the GBA version, we'd have the option of saving at this point and taking on bonus dungeons, but here, we're pretty much done. All that's left is to load an old save, Warp out of Kefka's Tower, and take on the Coliseum.

Next Time: The closest thing this game has to a bonus boss: Sigfried.

No, really.