Final Fantasy III for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

Since its humble beginnings back on the original NES, Final Fantasy has been widely known as the definitive role-playing experience. Here in America, the release of the series has been a bit spotty, as Square began its RPG rebirth primarily in Japan, with English speaking gamers playing second seat. As the years have passed, gaming coverage has smoothed out between the regions, as Square merged with Enix Software and began maximizing the Final Fantasy franchise. Games like Final Fantasy Origins, Chronicles, and Anthology ensured that nearly every game in the series was able to be played on PSX. In the meantime, the Game Boy Advance is seeing a steady stream of retro love with its own release of the Final Fantasy franchise, including even the world renowned Final Fantasy Tactics. Within the next year or so, each of the original six Final Fantasy games (spanning the original NES and Super NES) will be playable on either GBA or Nintendo DS, and of them all there's none as anticipated as Final Fantasy III. Now that it's ready to hit here in America for the first time, however, can a game nearly two decades old still make a splash?



During the mixed up time of the Super NES, Final Fantasy went through an odd name change which split the series into two parts for Japan and America. Final Fantasy VI, widely known as the strongest in the 2D series, took the place of Final Fantasy III here in America. Now that the franchise is setting itself straight across the board, the true Japan-only Final Fantasy III is now making its debut on the DS. Rather than bringing a straight port of the game over to the states and calling it a done deal, however, Square Enix instead opted to remake the game. Obviously this is a great achievement on the graphical front, giving the game an awesome stylized look, but there are still areas of the game that simply shouldn't have been changed. Team that with an already very difficult overall mechanic, and you've got a game that - while legendary for hardcore gamers - may be amazingly frustrating for the now mainstream Final Fantasy fan.



As its primary hook, Final Fantasy III works with a (at the time) unique job system which allows players to fully customize their team of four fighters. While the main story is somewhat intriguing, it is definitely very thin compared to modern day Final Fantasy titles, and basically revolves around four heroes that are out to restore balance to the world. Rather than spoiling the game, we'll leave it at that. What really matters is how you as the player interact with the job system provided.



The game kicks off in classic RPG form, as you control a lone hero that quickly assembles his team. As the adventure continues you'll earn the ability to switch between over 20 different jobs, each giving off unique abilities and attributes to the characters. Soldiers, for example, are adept at physical attacks and can use the "advance" skill to decimate enemies up close. On the other hand, the Red Mage class will have your character using a mix of light and dark spells in addition to light weaponry. How you go about the game is entirely up to you, and the game allows for class switching at any time. Every battle you play through will add to each of the character's job level though, so you'll want to use strategy in building not only your characters main level, but also their job proficiency as well.



Aside from the main job switching ability, Final Fantasy III can actually be a surprisingly monotonous and clich? game, but it's still entertaining. You'll explore the lands, find hidden treasures, man a boat, airship, and chocobo, and participate in the classic anti-villainy antics of any token adventure game. The problem with the design - if it can really be called a problem - is that the game was created in a time where something as unique as a job class simply blew gamers' minds. Compare that to the license board alone in a game like FFXII and it's literally no contest.



In fact, the redesign - while beautiful - actually hurts the flow of the game a bit, as battles take longer to play through, and an overall "natural" polish has been given to the game. Rather than sliding around the map a la the other original Final Fantasy games, FFIII has a more realistic feel, which actually ends up slowing the game down a ton. Battles that used to take mere seconds to scroll through are now lengthened to nearly a minute, and while it gives the game a more modern feel, we were constantly feeling that we wanted to move faster than the adventure allowed.





Even still, the changes in the overall pacing in the game is something we can get over. What we simply can't tolerate, however, is the laziness in the game's presentation. On a system like DS you've got two major changes to the hardware: Dual screens, and touch control. One of those aspects - touch control - has been used in a very simplistic way, but it's still available. At any time players can switch freely between button and touch control, and any task done in the game can be preformed both ways. We personally don't see gamers holding their system in one hand and trying to use a stylus for upwards of 50 hours, but if you want to do it, it's there. What totally boggles our mind, however, is the utter disregard for the second screen.



When previously playing FFIII at events and preview sessions, we assumed the usage of the top screen would be added in before the final version. Call it wishful thinking on our end, but the fact that the top screen is inactive for nearly 75% of the game seemed too poor to be true, and we just assumed it was going to be changed. Instead, all the action takes place on the bottom screen to allow for touch control, but the top screen is used only when on an overworld map, or in menus. Seriously, why in the Sam hell is the top screen inactive when exploring towns, navigating dungeons, and in freaking battles? It really makes absolutely no sense.



It isn't as if you ruin an experience from having the general player stat screen hovering above you when in battle, or even plugging the extra space with some slick Final Fantasy art as a stylized (yet still pretty useless) last resort. But actually using the screen for nothing? That's basic DS 101, and the name Final Fantasy doesn't make up for the fact that dual screen presentation was poorly planned and insultingly executed. Does it ruin the entire experience? No, but it's hard to not realize the amount of wasted potential. Hell even Lunar: Dragon Song - a game that scored entirely mediocre marks throughout - had the presence of mind to make boss battles take up two full screens. This game was built from the ground up for DS… why does it only partially feel like it?



Moving away from the main presentation in the game, there's still every reason in the world to pick up Final Fantasy III if you're a diehard RPG fan. The game is amazingly difficult, takes some serious strategy, and played the old Final Fantasy rules that had grown men throwing their controllers, and if you fit within that hardcore/masochistic group of gamers, don't pass Final Fantasy III up. Aside from the odd DS presentation issues, the game is graphically phenomenal and is set to a simply beautiful musical score. The game's visuals are nearly unparalleled on the system trumped only by Mario Basketball 3 on 3 (another Square Enix title though, so nobody can complain on that one), and the game truly is a better experience in 3D. Obviously we have issues with the pacing and general feel of world navigation (invisible walls a plenty, and that's a shame), but if you're asking whether or not 3D was truly a good call for Final Fantasy III, we'd still answer with a resounding yes. The world is beautiful, the character models have a great style, and the added FMV adds the amazing Square feel to the game.



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