Final Fantasy 3
Final Fantasy 3 is the only FF game never released in english, it was first a NES game, now revamped with 3d graphics and an expanded storyline with some gameplay changes to challenge you on the Nintendo DS.
Presentation/graphics 9
Expect the same quality of Mario Hoops, since they´re both Square-Enix work, the 3d engine runs smooth and very detailed, all characters are 3d but some of the backgrounds are pre rendered, like Diablo 2, but you can only notice it if you´re looking after it.
FF presentation is alway first class, a gorgeous FMV at the beginning and a lot of ingame, engine rendered cutscenes throughout the entire game, special effects at all times, polish, polish, polish...
It should have more FMV cutscenes though.
Music/sound effects 8
The sound effects are fitting but sometimes lackluster for i like my magic to be loud and impressive, however all different kinds of weapons have their own sounds, chocobos have their squeaks and all, good, just not impressive.
The music is a different beast, very beautiful and mood setting.
Gameplay 8
Look, you heard it all around, it is hard, old school hard, so get over it, OK?
FF3 comes to remount an age of giants, like Ninja Gaiden, Megaman and Mario, games at that time were hard, we had no infinite continues or saving, the enemies were vicious as they were numerous and DS´s FF3 is a callback to that era, but not as much as you may think.
Here´s the deal, you start as Luneth in a cave where he finds a crystal that asks for his help to save the world (what a mind job!), next thing you know you have a party of four together with the same purpose, the heroes now have some background story and the game has way more dialogue than the NES version but the story is still clichéd for the current time.
You also start with them all being freelancers, the best thing for a kid their age, and later you will receive jobs that dictate their abilities, magic and equipment, you may change jobs all the time but the more you keep a job, more proficient at it you become and that´s the key of it, levelling up.
If you think of it, an epic RPG is not the best genre for a handheld system for it´s length, but this is the beauty of FF3, it requires you to level up so much for it´s difficulty and the jobs having a separate level count that you will see yourself doing short bursts of gameplay to level up. At the bus stop, fear not, level up a bit your Dragoon and be ready to face Garuda later at home, in my opinion that´s the gameplay mechanic that most ppl are missing.
Besides all that, it is RPG 101, potions, phoenix downs, being kinda lost, talking to vilaggers and broadening your notion of the world, just to go save the damn thing.
DS factor 3
Besides the 3d engine, it uses the WiFi connection to unlock some things and using buttons is way better than trying to tap those small words, oh, the top screen is hardly used, it stays black for most of the time, it should have it´s light turned out for energy saving though.
Learning curve 6
It may take you a full hour to realize that you gotta level up and all your idle hours thinking about that one character you could not find a suitable job.
Lasting appeal/game modes 7
The game is big, there´s only the main campaign, but it can last you till christmas if you want them all to hit 9999 at all times.
Final considerations
It is old school RPG updated to today´s standards and a wonderful game even if it requires some dedication of us, it is not a game that you´ll want to miss so i say go buy it.
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Gallery
Linear Mode
