Final Fantasy 3 Review

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Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS is a remake of the original FFIII, a NES game that was released only in Japan so many years ago. Now they remade it in 3D for the NDS. It was a game that so many DS owners looked forward to playing, and when it actually came out, it turned out to be a good game, but it left much to be desired at the same time.

Gameplay: 9/10

FFIII DS has great gameplay, especially if you're into RPGs that let you customize to the max. It's a turn based RPG like you'd expect from the older Final Fantasy games, but what's so refreshing about it is how many classes you can choose for your characters to be. For example you can make any one of your four characters a knight, monk, wizard, ninja, dragoon, viking and so many more. No really, like a whole lot more. And what's even better is that your decisions when choosing classes affect the gameplay dramatically. Will you rely more on the best of equipment, or will you have your party use only their hands in combat? Will you upgrade your character to a similar but higher end class, or do you feel he still has an advantage being in the lower class of his type? All of this is up to you, and you will most likely have a quite some fun trying out different classes. Each class has advantages and disadvantages, and there are some that are clearly better than others, but still, they all shine at some point. Or most of them anyway. Also different classes use different equipment, and it's good to know the right time to switch classes, i.e. when the equipment that class excels with is available. Another really great thing about this game is that the characters change in looks with every class, and you get to see the weapons you have equipped in battle. More about this in the graphics section.

Now back to the actual game. You pretty much have a party of characters, and you explore dungeons and traverse the world map on foot or in the various vehicles or contraptions that become available to you in the course of the adventure. The game is vast, and there is much to be explored, which is also great. As you explore, you get into random battles where the screen switches from the view of you walking around, to battle view where you see your characters facing the enemy and get to control the proceedings (this is the part that is affected 100% by your character class choices). The enemies usually come in the form of monsters, and they can be pretty tough sometimes. This game is not very forgiving; you have to be either really strong, or very clever in your decisions if you want to survive more often than not. This can be frustrating, but at the same time it can be overcome, one way or another.

Graphics and Sound: 9/10

This game has pretty much the best graphics on the Nintendo DS to date. The game looks excellent. It's colors are vibrant, and the 3D look coming from that small screen is a pleasure to look at. It also boasts an impressive introductory cutscene that depicts various events that take place in game, making it interesting to look at over and over as you progress in game. Some of the areas you visit look very grand, and the ones that are not so grand are equally great in just how comfortable they are to be in, thanks to the look and sound of the game.

Another thing is the characters, they change completely in appearance with every class change, and they can look COOL. Sometimes a class can look so awesome on a specific character, you simply do not want to change to another class, even if it's better. Also when you change your equipment, you see the graphical difference in battle, this attention to detail is always appreciated. The baddies look great too. One of the main attractions of entering a new area or dungeon is seeing what the wildlife and local residents look like, I mean the ones you meet in battle. Some of those enemies and bosses look plain magnificent, you'll definitely want to see them all or as much as possible from them.

As for the sound, it too is very well done. It fits the game perfectly, and sets the mood. Especially when you are in a suspenseful situation, you get a tune that is indeed suspenseful, but still light hearted enough to fit with the overall look and feel of the game. The sounds and music in the battles and world map are also very suitable, but they can be a tad repetitive.

Story and characters: 5/10

Ah, so you see, this is where the game suffers the biggest blow. It's one thing to have good gameplay, but RPGs are games that rely on story more than any other genre save point-and-click/text based adventure games. So story is very important. Another thing is character interaction, something that is also equally (if not more) important in RPGs, where much of the enjoyment comes of joining these friends adventuring together.

So lets see. FFIII follows a somewhat episodic way of telling the story, so you'll find yourself traveling with a specific companion who decides to accompany your party for a while until their little story is complete and you are on your own again. This is a neat way of doing things, I'll grant you that.

It's overall storyline is very very standard, as you will inevitably have to save the world, and this being final fantasy, there will be crystals involved. Since this game IS a remake of an older game, and back then they didn't have much story in games (in most games anyway), I can't complain about the overall story.

But then what about character interaction?

Square has added some extra dialog and character interaction that was not available in the original, but here's the biggest problem: There simply isn't enough.

The biggest and most embittering thing about this problem is that what little character interaction that IS there is actually good! So why did square not add more of this good thing? They were adding new stuff anyway, so they could have just added more. People would have been enormously pleased.

All those characters that accompany you and your own party members.. they are a fun bunch when they actually stop and start talking and being themselves. But this rarely happens, very rarely. So rare in fact that when something dramatic takes place, you will find it hard to feel for the characters because you just don't know them good enough. You want to know them, but you don't. They're fun to look at, and what little they say is fun to read, but they do so little of this. It just makes it worse, teasing you with something you just can't get more of.

This game would have been easily the best DS game and the best FF in the series if more went into the the character interaction, and some improvements to the main story (maybe a plot twist or two, etc). It's such a shame, that's all I can say. A platinum opportunity wasted.

Overall: 7/10

Overall, this game is worth owning for any RPG fan who owns a DS. Mainly because of the class system, and how fun it is to see all there is to see in the game. From character appearances, to nice scenery, to cool bad guys, and in colorful 3D graphics. It's a DS game better than many, and sports some good RPG gameplay especially if you're into this sort of thing. It also has replay value, thanks again to the class system and the many different ways of playing the game due to it. But while there is much to be appreciated, the fact remains that if you're more into story and character interaction you will be let down here. Bear this in mind when approaching this game, and it will provide you with an OK RPG experience.