Full Review for Final Fantasy III by Mountrussmore

Introduction

Final Fantasy III was a JRPG that was released on Japan soil only for the NES. Many fans in other regions of the world had never even heard of the game until Square's announcement of remaking the beloved JRPG on the Nintendo DS.

In 2006, all Final Fantasy games had finally reached North American soil, as III was the only one that wasn't released. I was very excited to get a chance to play this game. When I first started it, I loved it. As I delved deeper into it, I grew very frustrated with the cheap antics of the game. Why wouldn't I recommend this game for a new person to the FF series and gave the game a 7/10? Find out below.

Graphics

The graphics are simply stunning and one of the major highlights of Final Fantasy III DS. Monsters, level designs, and character design was done beautifully, animations are fun to look at, and the outside map is just wonderful. You can take in the beauty easily. The DS has managed to take an old game like Final Fantasy III and enhance it with flashy graphics. Even though graphics don't matter to some people, it's usually a plus when the graphics are good. There's not much more to say about their glaring beauty.

Sound

This game has a very good soundtrack. It is one of my favorite soundtracks ever, and some of the songs top my most favorite game of all time. A lot of the themes are very appropriate to the situation or level you are in.

For example, the boss theme is perfect for the boss encounters because it lets on that you are fighting a difficult fight and need to take it seriously. Even the common enemy music fits. It's a little bit more jolly than the boss theme, but it still fits the mood of battle. And finally, we have the genius final boss music. That is, perhaps, the best song in the soundtrack. Beautifully composed and true genius.

Gameplay

And finally, we get to the game itself. Well, it's okay. You basically have a set pattern in a game like this. The Final Fantasy series follows the world map, town, dungeon pattern. That's basically what you do in this game. Some of the levels are poorly designed and very linear. A couple of the major dungeons I've visited were linear towers or caves. There's this one called the Tower of Owen. It is the most linear tower in that game. I know it's your first major dungeon, but it could have been more thoughtful.

Let's move on to the Job System. This was the first Final Fantasy that incorporated the Job System. Using this system, you can customize your characters to your own personal taste. What types of classes do you want in your party? Do you want a more magical team comprised of Black Mages, White Mages, Red Mages, or Scholars? Or, you might want a physical attack approach such as Knights, Dragoons, Vikings, and Warriors. It's totally up to you what you want to do. You have complete freedom and can switch between jobs if you choose.

Leveling up in this game is based on EXP points, where job leveling is based on the number of actions you perform. Every time a character performs six actions in battle, his/her job level will increase. Job level increases allow more swings from a physical attack or more magic damage dealt from a mage. Here's the problem with that. As job levels increase, you become stronger. Some battles won't last long enough for you to get many actions in. It could take several battles for you to level up your jobs, which means you might not have a strong enough character to take on a major boss.

Finally, we have the overall cheap methods. The game throws a lot of unfair deaths at you, which can result in precious lost progress. For example, you aren't told where to go next. So, you would naturally explore till you found somewhere. Well, that can be a problem, especially when there's a bog that sinks you to your death if you walk in it, or when there are statues that shoot you down and cause you to get a game over. The amount of cheapness in this game makes for massive difficulty and, very possibly, a frustrated gamer.

Lastability

I'm going to be perfectly honest. Unless you absolutely loved this game and can overlook the cheap difficulty and have the patience to play through it again, then go for it. For most, however, there's really not much of an appeal to play through the game again. Getting through the game once is an accomplishment in itself.

There is a moogle that allows for Wi-fi, but even that has a flaw. You can only hook up with people in your region. So, someone who lives in NA cannot hook up with someone in Japan. Unless you have IM or stalk your DS 24/7, you aren't going to know when someone's on. This makes the extras you can get from the Wi-fi quest pointless. Other than a couple of summons, there's really not much else except the flawed Wi-fi.

Overall

Well, I would say buy it. It is a Final Fantasy after all, and it's pretty damn impressive. Visually stunning, a challenge for hardcore gamers, and an awesome soundtrack. If you are new to the series, rent first and try before buying. Also, I wouldn't recommend you buy this as your first Final Fantasy because it could possibly turn you off from the series. I would stick to IV, IX, or VI as a first time FF game.

I am giving Final Fantasy III a 7/10. If you want to get technical, I give it a 7.3. Like I said, Final Fantasy III is a great game in many ways; however, the frustration and major flaws are there. It's a shame that a game like Final Fantasy III lacked a story, especially in a series that really emphasizes their stories and usually does an impressive job. Thank you for taking the time to read this review.

Final Score: 74%