Final Fantasy III (DS)

Final Fantasy III
Matrix/Square-Enix

Lauren: I had never played the original Final Fantasy III, so I began the DS remake with few expectations. That was probably the best way to go about it. In short, I didn't love the beginning, then had fun with the middle, but a lot of the fun-factor faded toward the end.

The FMV introduction was very pretty and up to Square-Enix's usual CG standards. The 3D transition was mostly successful in the game itself, though the character models did look a bit blocky at times. The many brown dungeons throughout the game could have at least had some graphical variation among them.

SE made a good effort at localizing FF3 and throwing in self-references - I was amused by NPC lines such as "Rally-ho! Oops, I mean... lali-ho!" Unfortunately, I didn't find myself caring much about the characters or plot. Apparently I was supposed to be sad when certain things happened to certain characters, but it's hard to be attached when I just met them mere minutes ago. I suppose it meant more back in the day when such plot devices were a new concept. The ending was not very satisfying, either, with lots of repetition and forced "cuteness."

The job system, however, was quite fun. In fact, it's probably the only reason I continued playing. While nothing was particularly original about the gameplay by today's standards, it was still fun to pick different jobs, try them out, and level them up. I actually spent a lot of time in the middle of the game exp-grinding to power up several interesting jobs.

Sadly, the job classes got a lot less exciting once I reached the point where just about any melee job will serve the same purpose. The damage caps at 9999 relatively early on in mid-to-late-game levelling, therefore providing no reason to use a job that would exploit enemy weaknesses or use any real strategy whatsoever. It's the same result in any case, and there is little genuine challenge to be found toward the end of the game.

I was especially annoyed to see that in order to participate in some end-game sidequests, such as getting the best weapons or unlocking the final job quest, I'd have to hassle someone else to dust off their cartridge, register me, and deal with me spamming them with a message every hour, seven times total. I fail to see the point in this when it has nothing to do with the actual sidequests. You have to message characters in the game after that, but having to do something so arbitrary first simply seems like an excuse to say that they included "wi-fi features" in the game. Not everyone has wireless internet or wants to bug someone else to help them with a single-player game. And even so, Anthony used this "feature" when he played, and encountered many connectivity and registration difficulties in the process. That's not a feature - that's an annoyance. It's just plain silly to withhold the best things in a game from anyone who wants to play a single-player RPG solo.

The "zoom" feature was another unnecessary addition. For those who don't know, the only way to find hidden items is to zoom in on areas with the shoulder buttons in order to find sparkling spots that contain treasure. However, there's no pattern to where these items are placed, and you don't know if an item is there unless you happen to hit the shoulder button at the right spot by some random luck. Or you can run around for the whole game with the camera zoomed in, which is incredibly awkward. Yet another annoyance masquerading as a feature. The many caves that require you to be in Mini-mode were a little unnecessary as well. I got the point after the first one.

It also bears mentioning that old-school games like this can be a bit unforgiving at times. As in, "Hey look, an area on the world map that's accessible currently and relatively close to where I'm supposed to go!" Yeah, the enemies there will hit you for more than your max HP. If you don't mind situations like that, it shouldn't be a problem.

I want to give it a bit of a free pass because I realize that it's an old game at the core, but I can't help wondering how much more replay value or strategic gameplay they could have put into it instead of that gorgeous but unnecessary CG intro. And something - anything but blackness - would have been nice to have on the other screen. That sort of thing is just about inexcusable these days, considering the capabilities of the DS.

If you liked FFV's job system or other old-school RPGs, you'll probably enjoy this one. FFXI fans will also be happy to see references like the familiar Provoke and Boost animations. As an RPG on it own, it holds up fairly well, but don't go into it expecting too much.

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Anthony: Ah, FF3. Well, I got you as a gift pretty much just because I wanted to say I’d played or beaten all FF games (only haven’t beaten 10, woe). And should you have come out in this day and age, you probably would’ve been staring at a nice score of say, 4 or so for your very simplistic story, gameplay and terrible use of the DS hardware.

I have to be fair though, it’s a remake of a very old game... so yes, the story will be cliché and utterly meaningless by today’s standards. Scenes have no emotional impact that I’m sure were supposed to be epic... but I just don’t care too much about those squat, chubby sprites. The job system was a very nice addition that built on what FF1 started. It’s just not special by today’s standards, and even a little weak perhaps.

In a certain sense, FF3 is an achievement, in that they took an old game and fully realized it in 3D. But this is hardly the first time it’s been done, and actually they made some pretty horrible choices in doing so. The blank bottom screen for battles is inexcusable. I don’t care if you have memory restrictions – take out the pointless but pretty intro, shrink areas, take out the retarded Mognet system, or hell, skip the 3D element and make a beautiful 2D rendition of the game if it takes that to use that incredibly basic element of the DS.

The only other thing I want to nitpick is that SE’s asking price of $40 was ridiculous. Granted, that seems par for their course now, but this is a very flawed, very basic remake of a very old game. Pricing that significantly above the average price point is a joke, when in reality it should’ve been even lower. I almost want to bash it more, but the truth is, it’s an otherwise solid remake of a game that was pretty darn good for its time. It’s just utterly forgettable.