Oh my hero, so far away now. Will I ever see your smile?

Yo, we need to post about the opera. What can we say about the opera?

What can't we say about it? It's probably the first epic cutscene in Final Fantasy history.

I guess. It's hard for me to call it purely a cutscene, because it's so interactive.

It's interactive, in that you have to click a few buttons.

Well, and fight a boss battle.

I don't consider, say, the struggle out of the gas chamber a cutscene, in FFVII. But this is more scene than not.

That's true. Now, why exactly has this particular scene become the definining FF6 scene in the minds of fanboys and -girls like ourselves? Wait, that's a rhetorical question. I have an answer.

I don't know-- maybe it's just that it's got cute opera music.

That's part of it. like, what I said about music and graphics being really important to the game's aesthetic? That's true here.

That's true-- the music is great, and on top of it all, it's a very funny scene too.

That's the nail on the head there. Like, I think you can look at the opera scene as a microcosm of all that's great about FF6. You start it out with this overture, yeah? It's this kind of dramatic prelude, and then this guy promptly takes a pratfall in front of all these chocobos running across the stage. Then Locke goes down into the dressing room to see Celes, and there's this kind of emo yet understated love scene, where neither of them admits that they want to jump the other's bones, but you know it's true. OTP.

Yeah, it's almost very highschool romance. "Tee-hee, you're pretty." "(omg, he thinks I'm pretty!) Uh, we'd better study the score one last time!" "Yeah, that's what my last girlfriend said!"

Oh, there's a tinge more emo to it. She's all like, are you only helping me because I remind you of your dead girlfriend whose corpse is being preserved in an old man's basement on your instructions and whose death you obsess over and feel responsible for? And he's like, um, I like your hair.

I was trying to gloss over all the damn emo.

But like, there's emo AND there's hilarity!

It's like watching Panic! at the Disco fall off stage and hurt themselves!

Yeah! Like, then you have the aria, which is kind of silly and kind of touching at the same time. I mean, when you have to dance with the ghost of Draco? Annoying and hilarious.

The aria is the very essence of FF music to me. That, and by extension, Celes' theme. Those two become the cornerstone of token female lead themes to me.

I agree. I think it's one of the most, if not the most, beautiful melodies Nobuo ever wrote.

I'd have to agree. I can't really think of any other piece that reminds me of future ones to come. Mainly because, while good, most of the other songs aren't very memorable.

I mean, I think the character theme work in FF6 is superb. There are a bunch of characters with really great melodic themes. Should I rattle off a few? Terra. Kefka. Gau.

VI probably has the best musical score ever.

The Figaro boys. Shadow. Relm. etc.

There's not really a bad song in the game.

Well, there's that Locke Throws Up on a Boat music.

I always crack a smile at the colosseum music. You have this very dramatic, serious, and somewhat sad overworld music. And then you step into the colosseum and it's like you walked into Vegas.

Ragtime Vegas.

I'd make a crude joke about now, but that'd be an insult to the opera, so I'll not.

Okay, good; I love the opera. Wait, that's what we were talking about, right?

Originally, I think. The oepra really perfects what is 'good' about FF6, so it's easy to get distracted.

But yeah, you have the kind of poignant aria immediately followed by the silliness of the dance, the duel, and the Ultros fight. My favorite part is how he announces that it will take him five minutes to push a weight onto the stage.

Yeah, and then the clock pops up and you're like, wow, Ultros has mad physics skills. And even the battle with Ultros is ridiculous, because he's pretty much a big purple wuss.

So like, the people who are all "The opera is the best part about FF6 because it is so moving and deep" are wrong. We're right. PS, Matty: FF6 opera original:



or FF6 opera advance?



Original, I'd have to say. Though the advance was interesting in terms of novelty.

It's hard for me to say.

I figured you'd be a purist.

I like the new translation because it fits the lines of the melody, and I like the improved synth voices. But the sound quality in general is so, so, so much better on the SNES. I can't decide. Both have their pros and cons.

That's true-- all other things being equal, you have to defer to the classic. I suppose it's telling they couldn't really make the opera 'better.' And making it 3D, Can you imagine how irritating it'd be to chase that loser dude during the dance?

I'd still play it, though. And you would too. Don't deny it!

Oh, I'd play it. But I'd also show pictures of Celes sneaking up from behind to do the lambada instead of the waltz.

In conclusion, the opera scene is awesome. of course, opera makes everything cooler. Could you imagine this game being made today? Celes would be singing J-pop in booty shorts, and there'd be a remix over the ending credits sung by some helium-voiced Japanese lady.

You know, I bet that, somewhere, there's a remix of the opera done with Yuna in short shorts.

Yuck.