Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, has an unexpected pick for his favorite game in the franchise – at least when it comes to how he weighs his own achievements. A longtime employee of Square (back before it merged with Enix), he was inspired by Dragon Quest to develop his own RPG. Thus Final Fantasy was born. Although the series has reinvented itself and changed creative hands multiple times over the years, you can still clearly see Sakaguchi’s influence in the kinds of places, ideas, and characters Final Fantasy chooses to portray.

But when it comes to his proudest achievement, Sakaguchi’s answer may surprise you. His favorite Final Fantasy game isn’t the most popular, or even the highest rated. But still, it’s easy to see why Sakaguchi calls this underappreciated Final Fantasy game the “most complete” in the series, especially considering how the final product turned out, and everything that came after.

Sakaguchi Sees FF6 As His Greatest Accomplishment

FF6 Surpasses FF1, & Even FF7

According to an interview published last year in Inverse to discuss the impending release of Fantasian: NEO Dimension, Hironobu Sakaguchi considers Final Fantasy 6 the “most complete” game in the series. Sakaguchi says:

“Final Fantasy I, the moment we completed it and released it to the market, provided myself with a huge sense of accomplishment and achievement. Simply because it was the first game that we didn’t know what we were doing, and how the market would react at the time. In terms of the FF that I think is the ‘most complete’; I believe Final Fantasy VI comes close, and does stand out above the other Final Fantasies, especially because it was the last Final Fantasy to use pixel art in all of its visual expression.”

From context, it sounds like he’s calling it his proudest accomplishment; he immediately juxtaposes it with the first Final Fantasy, which he considers a pretty impressive achievement in its own right. And having spent quite a bit of time with FF6 myself, I get it.

FF6 Is A Monumental Achievement

Why Sakaguchi Is So Prou

It’s hard to argue with him: FF6 might not be the biggest or the most popular game in the series, but its quality is undeniable. From the first time you boot it up, you’re treated to an introductory sequence that’s downright cinematic: the melancholy music, the mechs marching through a field of snow as a town gradually appears over the horizon, the brief but expository dialogue cleverly setting up the story. It’s impossible to resist.

Even after its intro blows you away, though, FF6 gets its hooks in you and hangs on: what follows is a fascinating story with strong characters. It takes you through stunning set piece after stunning set piece, introducing an all-time cast of strong-willed characters, each of whom has a new battle mechanic to make controlling them feel completely different.

Part of what makes FF6 so great is how smartly it uses the technology available to it at the time. Composer Nobuo Uematsu manages to eke out symphony-quality music from the SNES’ rudimentary sound chip. Mode 7 brilliantly creates the illusion of 3D scenery in a 2D game. Yoshitaka Amano’s pixel art character portraits are brilliantly evocative, bringing new depth to its big personalities.

The Series Went In A Different Direction After FF6

FF7’s Differences Make FF6 Stand Out

When discussing the best games in the series, though, FF6 often gets overshadowed by its immediate successor. FF7 is a pretty major step up in a lot of ways: for one thing, it was the first game in the series to use 3D graphics, which were still a novelty at the time. It ramps up the cinematic presentation style that FF6 pioneered, using full-motion cutscenes to portray pivotal story moments and big action sequences. It’s very impressive, and a great game in its own right, but none of it would’ve been possible without FF6‘s accomplishment.

Sakaguchi is aware of this; in the quote above, he even points out that FF6‘s pixel art makes it feel more special in concert with the rest of the series. Art style is far from the only thing that’s changed about it, though – Final Fantasy‘s great strength is its ability to consistently reinvent itself. Still, that sometimes makes its identity as a series a little confusing. On the subject of what makes Final Fantasy Final Fantasy, Sakaguchi says:

“I really think it has turned into something that has a different meaning for everyone. If I had to give some kind of core ingredient, I would say it’s the story and world…I think the world itself needs to have some kind of thematic backbone or message that gives a different perspective, or a thought-provoking prompt for players.”

Sakaguchi went on to work on several FF games, all of which helped reinvent the series without losing that core identity. He eventually founded his own studio after the release of Final Fantasy X-2, where he’s worked on a series of original RPGs including Lost Odyssey, Fantasian, and the criminally underrated Blue Dragon. He still looks back fondly on his legacy as the creator of Final Fantasy, though, and rightfully considers FF6 among his proudest achievements.