An opera, a band of rebels, and a world tipping over.

On gut feel, Final Fantasy VI sits ahead of 94% of games, right at the top of the instinctive pick. And several criteria back it up. The soundtrack, iconic, beats more than nine games in ten. The desert island climbs almost as high, and feel with a controller in hand too, ahead of nearly nine titles in ten. But one line stands out: art style drops to the bottom, though that rests on very few votes, so read it carefully. That's the tension of this edition: the game you love and would take without hesitation, yet whose pixel look, even refreshed, doesn't win against today's criteria. Fun stays average, likely held back by the pace of turn-based play.

Among classic Japanese RPGs, it's a cornerstone: an ensemble story, legendary music, a system that has aged with real elegance.

So, who's it for? For you if you love a grand story carried by an unforgettable soundtrack and mechanics that still hold up. Much less if pixel art, however polished, leaves you cold and you judge by the image first.