The quest for answers...and for love

Recently when I've had spare time I've found myself playing an old game that was ported to my Game Boy Advance SP just last year.

Originally released in America in 1994, Final Fantasy VI was a huge epic game. It was part of a long running successful franchise by a company named Squaresoft. In America it originally debuted as Final Fantasy III, but it was in fact the sixth title of the series.

The story of the game was epic and at the time it was one of the largest games ever made. The story follows 12 characters (unprecedented at the time) and their attempt to fight against a corrupt Empire that is on the verge of repeating a deadly mistake that wiped out the planet 1000 years ago.

As I've played more of this game I've become appreciative of the first character you are introduced to: Terra. Terra has been controlled and enslaved by the Empire most of her life. At the very beginning of the game she is freed, but she remembers nothing about herself. All she knows is that the Empire is after her.

Terra struggles initially with her newfound freedom. As she runs from the Empire, she begins to question who she was and how she should act. She doesn't understand the playful flirtations of Edgar, the King of Figaro castle. She can use magic spells but doesn't understand why she can and others can't. Most importantly, she doesn't understand the concept of love. She desires it but doesn't know what it is.

About halfway through the game all the characters get separated for one year in a dramatic turn of events. When you happen upon Terra again she is changed. In her separate adventure the past year she came to the village of Mobliz. As she got there it was attacked by the antagonist of the game, Kefka. The parents of the village sacrifice themselves to save their children. They were all wiped out but the children survived. Terra decided to stay in the village and raise the children, protecting them from the dangers of the world.

When you find Terra she has been doing this for a year. She understands the concept of love after all the time she has spent defending, protecting and raising the orphans. After you help her drive off the biggest threat (a dangerous monster named Phunbaba) she joins you to help rid the world of Kefka and his evil. She's learned the meaning of love through sacrifice. The sacrifice of the orphan's parents and her sacrifice to protect them.

Sound familiar? While the game isn't really written from a Christian perspective it is still easy to draw a parallel. Terra understands what love is after she learns the meaning of sacrifice. As Christians we live today because of the love of our Father, who gave his son as a sacrifice. His sacrifice is the reason we strive to love others. Christ sacrificed so that we could understand true love. However, Christ's love for us is stronger than any of us (or Terra) can understand.

Still, it's cool to see a popular game wrestling with the concept of sacrifice and love, and it makes for a great opportunity to share the greater love that we have found.