Final Fantasy IV vs. Final Fantasy VI

[Lirael]

Final Fantasy IV and VI are considered two of the classics and are furthermore likely to appear on a number of 'top Final Fantasy games' lists. But which of these two do you prefer and why?

Do you prefer the battle system in one but the story of another?

Which contains your favourite hero? your favourite villain?

Do you prefer the relationships between characters in IV or VI?

Did you find one world more exciting than the other?

Did Nobuo Uematsu produce a greater OST for IV or VI?

I'm very interested in hearing everyone's answers. These are two well-liked FF games; most fans of the series will feel strongly about at least one of them.

Hopefully, this thread will also be helpful for those who haven't yet delved into the earlier games and are looking for the best place to start!

 

[Grimer]

I like the characters better. Celes is one of my favorite protagonists, and Kefka is more interesting then that alien thing from IV. Also VI had better character development, while IV focused mainly on Cecil with drops of info given about his supporting cast.

There was more to do in VI, especially in the latter part of the game. I havnt played either in awhile, but it seems like VI had more side stuff and secrets to find.


Music is my favorite part of the series, i enjoy the soundtracks more than the games. I have to say VI is my favorite soundtrack out of all the FF series. IV is nice but short and seems a little bit more simple than VI's. VI had some of my favorite tracks such as Celes Theme, Terras Theme, Omen, and of course Dancing Mad.


http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoBn04lcNmo


Story- IV seemed more simple. and i wasnt a fan of the whole space alien plot twist at the end. VI covered more ground such as suicide, genocide, etc. plus Kekfa succeeding with destroying the world was not expected from me, and i enjoy a bittersweet ending. The game also had some dark humor plugged in here and there, while IV was more cut and dry. Kefka has many funny quotables while with IV i can hardly remember the dialogue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siuWZxDMGnk


The End.

 

[Starships]

Final Fantasy 6.

I did like Final Fantasy 4, but not so much anymore. It's not as good as FF 5 or FF4 to me.

FF5 has a awesome battle system- the Job class and FF6 has a amazing set of characters and plotwists and good music to boot and FF4 just has a few good character and a story that feels like it's been done before. Okay maybe in 91 or 90 when FF 4 first came out it was creative, though it doesn't really stand up in today's world.

FF6 and FF5 however are standing the test of time. So, to me- FF6 is much better than FF4. I'm not calling FF4 a bad game. I like it still, though it's just not as interesting as it used to be. I do think that FF6 has the best soundtrack in the whole entire FF series. FF9 might beat it though, though FF6 has many musical classics like Dancing Mad and Celes's theme which helped create Aeris' theme in FF7.

Also FF6 has Kefka while FF4 has Zeromus. While Zeromus does do some nasty things like controlling Kain and Golbez, he doesn't really stand out because he's always behind the scenes. We basically know nothing about him and he feels dull and makes the final fight almost pointless.

Kefka however we know him. We know that he's a complete psychopath. We know he's mad and enjoys people suffering. We see him do cruel things like burn down Figaro Castle and poison the river of Doma.

Also the heroes. Cecil feels a bit .... dull. While Terra feels unique and you cheer for her when she gets stronger and defeats her fears and inner demons. Cecil however just feels dry and you end up feeling more for Kain and what he goes through instead. Also Kain was the main symbol on FF 4 SNES, so maybe SE felt the same about this.

So when it comes to FF 4 VS FF6. To me FF6 should get the trophy.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

I think I like IV better.

I loved the gameplay of VI and many individual things (the opera house and such), but I didn't like the second half of the game itself, being a "hunt down your buddies with no real motivation or story to help you along..." thing.

IV was just great from start to finish, even if it were on rails a little more. I think it was the characters just felt more "complete" I guess, or at least the story did.

 

[kratoscar2008]

I think I like IV better.

I loved the gameplay of VI and many individual things (the opera house and such), but I didn't like the second half of the game itself, being a "hunt down your buddies with no real motivation or story to help you along..." thing.

IV was just great from start to finish, even if it were on rails a little more. I think it was the characters just felt more "complete" I guess, or at least the story did.

Motivation? are you kidding me?

The world is a mess and as the heroes they are the ones that must save it.

Characters like Cyan, Celes, Terra, Locke, Strago have very detailed story lines (for their time) and motivations to see a restored World.

And 4 at the end is a joke, come on the Moon? who came with that?

I agree that 4 began the whole concept of character development but by no means is the best with it.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

Motivation? are you kidding me?

The world is a mess and as the heroes they are the ones that must save it.

Characters like Cyan, Celes, Terra, Locke, Strago have very detailed story lines (for their time) and motivations to see a restored World.

And 4 at the end is a joke, come on the Moon? who came with that?

I agree that 4 began the whole concept of character development but by no means is the best with it.

Sorry if my opinion offends you. I just found that after the floating continent, the game's story essentially fell apart, especially since VI was so strong up to that point. Whereas 4 was tight the whole way through. Plus I found the characters to be, I don't know, richer? It was just a better feeling towards them, maybe because the story intertwined them better.

Don't get me wrong, I do love VI, but I just liked IV better.

 

[Robbiedbee]

I don't think going to the moon vs a nonlinear plot to end the game is a valid comparison at all. It's like comparing a piece of chocolate cake to the concept of dinner in general.

Personally, I didn't like the way you had to gather your characters at the end, but that's down to the fact I hate the thought of missing anything, but I don't like using guides. It's easier to satisfy both with a more linear style of game. Furthermore I didn't like the huge party, because I always like to give all characters equal amounts of attention where possible. That's just a little quirk of my own, not necessarily a negative on the game.

As I think back to when I played FFIV and FFVI, I have much more fond memories of FFIV, simply because there were so many memorable moments to it, with the sacrifices, the betrayals, the returns and the redemptions.

I always saw FFVI as an attempt to combine the storytelling brilliance of FFIV with the complex game mechanics of FFV; I think it did neither as well as their respective predecessors. The atmosphere and tone of FFVI is head and shoulders above anything up until that point though, and that progress continued into the PSX era.

Both games are really excellent, but I feel FFIV resonates that bit stronger with me.