Set in a world with technology resembling the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story follows an expanding cast that includes fourteen permanent playable characters.

The game's themes of a rebellion against an immoral military dictatorship, pursuit of a magical arms race, use of chemical weapons in warfare, depictions of violent and apocalyptic confrontations, several personal redemption arcs, teenage pregnancy, and the renewal of hope and life itself, indicated as a groundbreaking opposite of the entire narrative due to its progressive darker and more mature themes than earlier entries in the franchise.

The menu screen is where the player makes such decisions as which characters will be in the traveling party, which equipment they wield, the magic they learn, and the configuration of the gameplay.

Similar features appear in later Final Fantasy titles under a variety of different names, including Limit Breaks, Trances, and Overdrives.

[4] Characters are rewarded for victorious battles with experience points and money, called gil (Gold Piece (GP) in the original North American localization).

By comparison, Relics have a variety of uses and effects, are almost entirely interchangeable among party members, and are extended in sophistication to alter basic battle commands and exceed normal limitations of the game's systems.

The structure of society is similar to that of the latter half of the 19th century, with opera and the fine arts serving as recurring motifs throughout the game,[6] and a level of technology comparable to that of the Second Industrial Revolution.

An apocalyptic event mid-game transforms the planet into the World of Ruin; its withering landmasses are fractured into numerous islands surrounding a larger continent.

The starting character, Terra Branford, is a reserved half-human, half-esper girl who spent most of her life as a slave to the Empire, thanks to a mind-controlling device, and is unfamiliar with love.

[10] Other primary characters include Locke Cole, a treasure hunter and rebel sympathizer with a powerful impulse to protect women; Celes Chere, a former general of the Empire, who joined the Returners after being jailed for questioning imperial practices; Edgar Roni Figaro, a consummate womanizer and the king of Figaro, who claims allegiance to the Empire while secretly supplying aid to the Returners;[11] Sabin Rene Figaro, Edgar's independent brother, who fled the royal court to hone his martial arts skills; Cyan Garamonde, a loyal knight to the kingdom of Doma who lost his family and friends when Kefka poisoned the kingdom's water supply; Setzer Gabbiani, a habitual gambler, thrill seeker, and owner of the world's only known airship; Shadow, a ninja mercenary who offers his services to both the Empire and the Returners; Relm Arrowny, a young but tough artistic girl with magical powers; Strago Magus, Relm's elderly grandfather and a Blue Mage; Gau, a feral child surviving since infancy on the Veldt; Mog, a pike-toting Moogle from the mines of Narshe; Umaro, a savage but loyal yeti also from Narshe, talked into joining the Returners through Mog's persuasion; and Gogo, a mysterious, fully shrouded master of the art of mimicry.

The clownish Kefka became the first experimental prototype of a line of magically empowered soldiers called Magitek Knights, rendering him insane; his actions throughout the game reflect his demented nature.

Final Fantasy SGI, a short tech demo produced for the Silicon Graphics Onyx workstation, featured polygon-based 3D renderings of Locke, Terra, and Shadow.

She learns that Kefka is using the Warring Triad to rule the world in a tyrannical god-like manner, destroying whole villages who oppose him and causing all life to slowly wither away.

They come to terms with their situation and resolve to confront Kefka and end his reign, with Terra additionally accepting her half-Esper heritage and finding a new purpose in life in fighting for a better future.

However, the group successfully destroys Kefka in battle, at which point magic and Espers disappear from the world; despite this, Terra is able to survive by hanging onto the human half of her existence.

[26] Series creator and director Hironobu Sakaguchi could not be as intimately involved as in previous installments due to his other projects and his promotion to Executive Vice President of the company in 1991.

[25][29] It was Kitase's task to unite the story premise provided by Sakaguchi with all the individual ideas for character episodes to create a cohesive narrative.

[25][30] The scenario of Final Fantasy VI was written by a group of four or five people, among them Kitase who provided key elements of the story, such as the opera scene and Celes' suicide attempt, as well as all of Kefka's appearances.

[33] Regular series character designer Yoshitaka Amano's concept art became the basis for the models in the full motion videos produced for the game's PlayStation re-release.

Similarly, as Magitek soldiers watch Edgar and his guests escape on Chocobos, Kefka swears in Japanese, which was translated by Ted Woolsey as "Son of a submariner!".

Finally, dialogue text files had to be shortened due to the limited data storage space available on the game cartridge's read-only memory.

The score consists of themes for each major character and location, as well as music for standard battles, fights with boss enemies and for special cutscenes.

This version is also found in the ending full motion video of the game's Sony PlayStation re-release, with the same lyrics but a different musical arrangement.

In addition, the album Orchestral Game Concert 4 includes an extended version of the opera arranged and conducted by Kōsuke Onozaki and performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, featuring Wakako Aokimi, Tetsuya Ōno, and Hiroshi Kuroda on vocals.

[53] Nobuo Uematsu's former rock band, The Black Mages, released a progressive metal version of Dancing Mad on their eponymous first album in 2003.

[59] Final Fantasy VI was re-released as a PSone Classic in 2011: in Japan on April 20, in PAL territories on June 2[60] and in North America on December 6.

[111] GamePro rated it 4.5 out of 5 in graphics and a perfect 5.0 in sound, control, and fun factor, stating that "characters, plotlines, and multiple-choice scenarios all combine to form one fantastic game!

[56] IGN described the graphics of the PlayStation re-release as "beautiful and stunning", reflecting that, at the time of its release, "Final Fantasy III... represented everything an RPG should be", inspiring statistic growth systems that would later influence titles like Wild Arms and Suikoden.

[137][138] During early testing on 3D development software, the team rendered a battle involving Final Fantasy VI characters Terra, Locke and Shadow.

[141][142] In 2010, Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto said that the development of a remake of Final Fantasy VI for the Nintendo DS was "undecided" due to "technical issues".