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(Important Note: This FFIII section is for the Nintendo DS remake only)
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Release Dates
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Statistics
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- 4 May 2007
- 24 August 2006
- 24 November 2006 |
Title: Final Fantasy III
Developer: Square-Enix
Publisher: Square-Enix
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Our Rating: 8/10 |
FFIII starts with a young orphaned boy named Luneth from
the small village of Ur. An earthquake has just occured on the floating
continent where the beginning of FFII takes place, and Luneth is plunged
into a cave torn open by the tremors in the ground. Inside Altar Cave,
Luneth stumbles across the
sacred Wind Crystal. The crystal gives Luneth some of its power to fulfill
his destiny as a 'light warrior', but this comes at a price, the crystal
also warns Luneth that if he does not find the other three warriors and
together restore balance to the forces of light and dark, the world would
fall into darkness completely.
Thus, Luneth attempts to follow his fate as a light warrior and find the
other crystals. Along his journey he discovers the other three warriors;
Arc, a cowardly, but trusting and friendly boy who grew up in Ur village
with Luneth and quickly became best friends; Refia, a spirited girl who,
bored with her old life as a blacksmith's daughter, flees her hometown
in search for adventure; and Ingus, an honourable soldier of the King
of Sasune who would risk his life for anyone in trouble.
With a party of four warriors, your quest is to travel to distant lands
and bring order to the world once more, it will be no easy task and many
dangers confront Luneth before all the crystals are found: will you make
it in time before the world is lost..?
Review - By IceBreaker
Plot - 7/10
Graphics - 8/10
Music - 9/10
Battle System - 7/10
Gameplay - 7/10
Difficulty - 8/10
Overall - 7/10
Plot - 7/10
The storyline for FFIII is amazing and one that will make you never want
to put the game down. The characters have a mysterious yet intriguing
and unique background while sharing the same purpose. Besides the main
plot Square have also included some fantastic side quests that could keep
anyone playing for hours.
Addition by FFFreak:
In the first ten hours or so, the story events are quite fast-paced, which
tends to lead to rushed story telling and a lack of development. The 'balance
of light and dark' formula is too overused here and the story is very
straight-forward. The characters do not really have any personal motivation
to become light warriors, as if they are just going along for the ride,
and have little development. Fortunately it seems to get better from that
point on, but it's not particularly thought-provoking like other Final
Fantasy's.
Graphics - 8/10
The graphics for FFIII are simply stunning, putting the full capabilities
of the DS handheld to good use. The full-motion videoss (particularly
the opening scene) are beautifully animated and the cutscenes are also
nicely presented.
In-game graphics are very well done, the more 'chibi' style works perfectly
with the game. However, backgrounds and environments are a little repetitive
and more detail and effort could have been put in.
While handheld consoles are limited visually to a lower quality compared
to next generation consoles, the graphics are still there to impress and
overall the game looks fabulous.
Music - 9/10
Again, Square have made one fantastic soundtrack to accompany one amazing
game. All the pieces of music have been taylored to each situation and
environment to really bring the game together; the most memorable theme
by far is 'Memory of the Wind' which could easily fill anyone with emotion.
Personally speaking, this could be one of the best soundtacks ever heard
on a Nintendo DS.
Battle System - 7/10
Thankfully Square stayed true to the old-school Final Fantasy structure
and recreated the turn-based battle system, this means you have as long
as you need to plan your tactics, set your commands and even change your
equipment. The random battle encounters are still included in FFIII, though
fleeing from a battle can be tricky.
While the battle system is fun and enjoyable, it's not very fast-paced
and it's easy to get impatient with it. Another interesting feature is
the ability to use both the stylus and the A and B buttons with the directional
pad to input commands, though unfortunately only the bottom screen of
the DS has been utilised for the battle processes.
All characters begin with the 'job' Freelancer, which is an all-round
kind of warrior who can do a bit of everything. As you progress you get
more jobs, each one is unique with it's own strengths, weaknesses, skills
and choice of equipment. Different combinations of jobs between your characters
can greatly affect battles and it's best to have a well balanced team.
Each job also boosts and decreases a character's statistics as they level
up, so you should keep that in mind and switch jobs quite frequently.
In conclusion, Square has kept many of the features of a classic RPG which
is great for new gamers who want to try an older style of gaming and has
some good nostalgia for the retro gamers.
Gameplay - 8/10
FFIII is an entertaining game and is perfect for playing while on the
move. Battling is extremely fun, while also being frustrating at times,
and mastering the job classes is a definite challenge! Aside from the
main journey, the side quests alone could keep you busy for hours.
It's very easy to get carried away and play for a very long period of
time, especially when the nexus is created between you and the characters.
An unusual change in FFIII is the complete lack of save points, the only
place you can save is on the world map and by using the 'Quick Save' feature
(though that means you can turn your DS off for a while, the next time
you play FFIII you'll need to select 'Continue' to carry on with your
game as choosing New or Load Game would erase the quick save data) which
isn't too much of a bother as you visit the world map a lot, but it's
still pretty inconvenient in dungeons.
There's also the nifty Mognet system which allows you to send and receive
mail using the Nintendo Wi-Fi with your friends!
Difficulty - 8/10
FFIII is unusually difficult for a fairly simple game. The use of specific
strategies and special jobs for most bosses is practically a requirement
and there's an intense amount of levelling up needed to keep up to par
with the next dungeon and earn enough money for weapon upgrades and magic.
Though the bosses and general enemies are fairly easy to defeat at the
beginning of the game, they do become exeedingly difficult as you progress
through the game.
The last half of the game is aimed for more experienced gamers, but if
you memorise the best job combinations you should pick up the relevant
information needed during the first half of the game, which makes the
last half easier.. slightly!
Overall - 7/10
Personally, I feel that FFIII is an absolutely amazing RPG, though I am
a little disappointed that Square didn't make much use of the dual screens,
but apart from that it was designed very well.
The CG cut scenes are phenomenal and the music is surpassing. Realistically,
whatever your age, skill level--even whether you're a huge Final Fantasy
fanatic or not--this game will at least last you 24-30 hours or more.
Definitely one of the best games on the DS so far, a must buy for anybody!
A big thanks to Square-Enix for finally releasing FFIII on western shores
and creating an excellent RPG that appears to do the old NES version justice.
(By IceBreaker)
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