Final Fantasy VI is widely ranked the best game in its series, with a darker story than earlier entries

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Final Fantasy VI is widely ranked the best game in its series, with a darker story than earlier entries

the gist

Final Fantasy VI, released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo, was developed by Square and directed by Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito, the first entry not directed by series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. Its setting resembles the Second Industrial Revolution and its story has fourteen permanent playable characters. Themes include rebellion against a military dictatorship, a magical arms race, chemical warfare and personal redemption, which made it darker than earlier entries. Its score by Nobuo Uematsu and its critical acclaim helped define the role-playing genre.

so what

The game's mature storytelling helped establish what role-playing games could do as narrative art. It remains one of the most influential titles in the genre.

fun fact

The game was released in North America as Final Fantasy III, because the actual Final Fantasy II, III and V had not yet come out outside Japan.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗