FFIII - Worth Getting?

Aztec Triogal

Aztec Triogal

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Since this topic crops up so much, I figured I'd make a topic and sticky it.

Is this game worth getting? Please post your replies so that people who cannot decide can read this to make their decisions.
 
Meh. its got a good story for an old game and all but...its a tad hard. You can't buy items like Phoenix downs and I hate Job systems.

so IMO this games only worth getting if you want a really challenging game.
 
The DS remake is pretty good imo.
The story is not as good as 2's and it's really just a revamped version of 1.
It has a simple Job system which really sucks becuase you can only have 1 Ability at a time.

It's worth a shot if you want a nice Portable RPG.
 
My Review, so far:

Really, really long post ahead.

Some SPOILERS (blacked out) ahead too.

-------------------------------------------

It's a very challenging game, which is something the other FF games lack. You can't buy Phoenix Downs. The only way to revive people is buy finding PDs, go to a revivication well, or use "Raise", a level 5 White Magic spell. (I still prefer "Life" ¬_¬)

The magic system is difficult too. It is like the original FFI's, where you don't have MP, but you have charges. You can only use so many spells per spell level.

Example:
Level 1 = 24 - Sleep, Fire, Blizzard
Level 2 = 11 - Thunder, Blind
Level 3 = 9 - Thundara, Fira, Blizzara
Level 4 = 5 - Blizzaga
Level 5 = 2 - Thungaga

That's roughly what my Black Mage can use. So that means I can only use 2 Thundaga's before my Level 5 Black Magic runs out and I cannot use it anymore. Challenging to say the least. But, to make up for that, Black Mages have been given an increase in Physical strength. Arc can do 300+ damage with a bow and arrow as a Black Mage.

The Battle system is the same as FFI and FFII, where you input each character's command, and then the game randomly chooses which character attacks after another. This can make white magic a waste sometimes. If you're on full health but you expect to get hit hard next turn and you use Cura, there's a chance the White Mage will go first and waste that charge.

Bosses also get 2 turns per round, which makes it difficult if they hit hard physically or magically. Their second attack is straight after their first one, which makes it impossible to stop or prepare against.

I'm only just getting into the plot. The majority is just a bunch of mini-plots that may bounce off of each other, but still revolve around saving the Crystals. But, I'm liking how
Xande, the main antagonist, has two other equals, one of them who helps you with KICK ASS magic. This being Doga. They were all apprentice's of the most powerful magi in history, Noah, who mastered Black, White and Summoning magic. Xande was pissed of because he received the "lesser" gift from his mentor: Morality (or was it mortality? I forgot). Anywho, he is plotting his revenge, probably to prove how is worthy of "better", more powerful gifts, such as the gifts Doga and Unei received from their dying mentor. Xande is using magic probably more powerful than Doga's, because he successfully (but temporarily) stopped the flow of time across the entire world by using the Crystal of Water. As a cool bonus, one of the Four Fiends, Kraken, worked for him.

The party only consists of four members. Refia, Ingus, Arc and Luneth. Luneth is arguably the main character, since he's the first person you control. The four do have some backstory, albeit it is short and simple. Refia doesn't really seem to have a personality,
apart from her little rebellion against her father
. Ingus has the warrior/tactical thing goin on, which suits him, plus he's uber hot :P Luneth is kinda bland. He does have emotion though. He was worried about Arc when he was being bullied, and was agry about what happened to Aria, but I dunno ...

Arc is my favourite character. He's shy and reserved and used to get bullied a lot by other kids in the town. He can relate to Alus and really comes through for him, and even in that very, very short time, he acts like an older brother to Alus, breaking out of his reserved shell ^_^

The party line-up is kind of lackluster in comparison to other games, since it only as 4 playable characters, but the Job system makes up for it. I know I've complained about the lack of pre-set jobs on characters before, but I have pre-set two of my characters, Arc and Refia, to one job. Arc is a Black Mage (so cute in that hat! Reminds me of Vivi ^_^) and Refia as a White Mage. I'll only change them when I can upgrade them to a Magus and a Devout. The only characters whose jobs I change are Luneth and Ingus, because they're fighters. So, as more fighting classes are gained, I try them out. Luneth kicks ass as a Dragoon. Dark Knight is a little lackluster, as there's no Dark Knight-specific equipment so far ... but, Souleater (Dark) makes up for it.

There are also guest members of the party, kinda like FFXII, but this system isn't NEARLY as advanced. The member randomly comes into the battle and acts, either casting magic or dealing physical damage to the enemy. But, it is COMPLETELY random. Some battles they may not even be in the battle at all.

These members go out of the party when their mini-plot has been fulfilled. I just wished these plots were expanded on. Sara, Desch, Aria and Alus all had their mini-plots, but they were really short. However, Desch's was the longest and most interesting, in my opinion, but it was still rushed.

Sarah
cast magic to help you, I think. I can't remember what she cast though.
Desch
cast Thundara or physically attacked the enemy with a sword
Aria
either cast Protect on your whole party (which also acts as Shell, so it reduced physical and magical damage), or she cast Cura on your whole party
Alus
cast Confuse on all enemies. It was funny, the enemy it hit started self harming XD

The graphics are good for a handheld in my opinion. Sure, all the characters are chibi, but I like that. Arc is so cute ^_^ It's x1000 better than the original :P

There's a lack of FMVs which is disappointing. The opening FMV was in such amazing detail and quality, but it was more like a trailer.

I can't give it a complete score since I haven't finished it yet, but I think I'm about half way through.

Graphics ~ 7/10
Music ~ 10/10
Plot ~ 6/10
Game Play ~ 7/10
Characters ~ 6.5/10
Re-play-ability ~ 8/10

I really like this game. Much better than other FF's I've played. The only downside is that it seems like a revamped FFI. However, it is still a very good and challenging game.

On question ~ Is the box art of Luneth?
 
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I played the DS version of the game and got to about half way through and stopped. The games graphics seemed so childish and I didnt like the characters or job system one bit.
 
Are you kidding???? ok, i was SO into zelda. it was my favorite. then my freind got me ff3 for my ds. Then i became obsessed with final fantasy. i mean, its just a great game, the best ds game easy, and maybe even the best 3rd gen game too. The graphics are very, very, improved, and who says the childish look is bad? it fits the game perfectly. the story was nothing special, but i dont know why everyone knocks it. I mean, rpgs are never great storys. its ok, its just you kind of wonder why your helping out some kid who has amnesia and is weak when you are sopposed to be saving the world.

Now, the job system is pretty fun. i GARUNTEE if you like final fantasy you will stare at the direction book for hours trying to think of effective and cool team possebillities. and it is worth 30$. its orth 50$. hell, its worth 100$ (if i wasnt poor) and the battle sytem is very fun. i mean when you have no phenix downs, no potions, and three guys dead and one guy with 5 hp, you will be suprised the HUGE comeback you can make.




If yu have ds, dont think, only buy.
 
I think I should lend a hand regarding if it's worth getting it. here's my current review

Graphics: 8/10
Let's get this one on the spot, cute graphics. Chibi art is cute and all, but if you see more into the game they actually tried to pull their graphics to a high level. The movie done at the beginning pretty much confused many of the people, but it's still good nonetheless. Each of the characters show expressions and actions (tend to be much the same at times *nod*) but it makes the game look vivid. Also to be noted is that every job of every character tends to dress differently. Only flaw I saw was monster appearances were reduced up to 3 (the DS doesn't stand up much when there's 3, there's even lag at sometimes during battle sequences) and that later on, they're the same monsters but with different color palletes.

Music: 10/10
A perfectly re-arranged score from Uematsu's songs was just what the game needed. All the music in the game sounds better and just doesn't force you to lower the volume. Even if you hear the tunes again going through different levels, you won't get tired of it that easily

Story: 7/10
The story was left the same as the old game but with some new features. To begin, the characters have backgrounds and personalities, as well as cut scenes you can see when others join the party and during dungeons, cities, etc. Apart from that, the whole light/darkness story remains, as well as the crystals. The story itself is more of a classic, so it may not show something new. Still it can stand up for itself

GamePlay: 7/10
The game does give a good meaning to challenging. The RPG is the classic from the first FFs so you'll mostly get the random encounter, town, random encounter, dungeon, random encounter, level up, random encounter, boss, over world, etc..... You can only save on the field, so if you get killed before reaching the final floor of a dungeon, it'll hurt. The essence on the game relies on the job system. Every character can be whichever job and yes, you can beat the game with any of them (due to a "new balance system"), the problem is that some characters look weak because they don't tend to have the best equipment in the game or their jobs are too low so many consider that you only have the option of 4 or 5 jobs out of 32. Still if you have patience and level your characters well, it's very rewarding. The mognet, honestly was a silly attempt to make the game wi-fi-able, probably to make you rest when you get to a city; you'll need it if you want to unlock more stuff on the game (a new job, quest and area)

Replay Value: 8/10
With all those jobs at your disposal, the game stands up to this

Overall: 8/10
The game itself is good, challenging and one of the best RPGs so far on the DS. This game follows very much what the old FFIII did. The story remains the same and such. The improvements done to the game where obviously a complete graphic change and a more balance job system, as well as character backgrounds. It was indeed very well pulled off. So even though it may not be what you expect you can still enjoy it.
 
This is one game that is worth getting.

Pros: Great graphics. Solid Gameplay. A classic RPG that doesnt ruin itself by adding stupid features that change the game from what it should be. Nice graphics and nicely remastered songs. (Chocobo Song!) The Job system rewards you for staying with a Job and not changing constantly. A solid mix of Weapons.

Cons: Some classes have been poorly planned and there is not a balance between them. Black Magic is impracticle for most of the mid-game, as MP is low and you rarely get a chance to refill. Scholar class is a joke.
Characters have minimal personality.

Overall: This is a classic RPG that would be appreciated by any FF or RPG fan.
8.5/10
 
This game has a simple story and simple characters. Despite the fact that the chracters were simple, they had distictive qualities.

Although a few jobs were poorly planned, most classes were fun to play as, such as the Dragoon job and the Dark Knight job. The gameplay was good, and the fact that you could only save your game on the world map contributed to the difficulty of the game. There is a good selection of weapons with unique qualities. The graphics were great, but it depends on whether or not the player enjoys cute chibi-ness. The music was good as well, but the soundtrack was, however, limited and didn't consist of many songs.
 
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I think it's worth getting, it's pretty hard tho, Iv seen the game over screen more times than I care to remember but I love it, it's so cute

I love the story and the characters (even tho i originally thought Luneth was a girl lol)

I think the job classes and all the choice it gives you - Iv chopped and changed so often but I think the flexibility is great & Iv finally got a set up I love

The onlything that annoys me is the frequency of the random battles when Im lost >_< oh that and the lack of ethers/tents

But overall, I really am enjoying it and have almost completed it (I got killed AGAIN in the world of darkness so Im off training again) Im glad it's not too easy tho ^_^
 
I Think FFIII is a great game it's just hard enough to stay challenging, but the enemies need to keep closer to the boss in difficulty because it is too sudden a jump between them. and the yellow dragons are harder than xande.
Also the Dark Cloud is too strong.
 
I'm very nearly at the end of this game now, I just need to level grind a bit, find someone who will add my friend code, and beat the secret boss.

Before I start, on the subject of level grinding, it's a lot easier here than in some other Final Fantasy games. I've found some dungeons seem to have weaker monsters that give out more EXP when killed, and this can be done quickly to get those extra 5 levels to beat the boss. Level grinding puts some people off Final Fantasy, so I thought I'd clear that up.

The graphics are not very good quality, but will please those who believe any form of 3D beats 2D... there is some lag in combo attacks with groups and with larger enemies, but otherwise run smoothly.

The storyline is much like the other original Final Fantasy games, revolving around the elemental crystals the world needs to remain in balance.

After watching some FFIII NES movies on YouTube, I've found that the music hasn't changed too much, but somehow it doesn't quite live up to the original soundtrack... compare the music of the final bosses and you'll see what I mean (I hope).

On difficulty, I found Final Fantasy III to be about on a par with VI... some difficult bits but for the most part quite easy. Some bosses were far too easy, dying in a couple of rounds, with only a few exceptions.

Overall, I think if you are a fan of Final Fantasy and have a DS, you should give this game a go. Otherwise, you can do without it.
 
Just bought this game two days ago and started playing it yesterday and so far I have to say it will definitely be worth it. I mean, years before it was even rumored to be coming to the DS, I was extremely pissed it had yet to come to North American shores. Finally, even though I'm not a big fan of hand-held gaming, I have the opportunity to sit down and play the game formerly known as the "missing game in the franchise". Can't wait until I get far enough into the game to develop my characters further.
 
The original version (you can play it via NES emulation, if you don't read Japanese and own a Famicom) is kinda iffy... but the DS version is great fun... its not worth buying a DS for, but if you have one, you might as well get this game... you likely won't be disappointed... and while you're at it, you might as well buy Dawn of Souls (I & II), IV, V, and VI as they are available for the GameBoy Advance, which is compatible with the DS (duh).
 
It was too hard for me, think I gave up on a boss called garuda?! I didn't give up because it was too hard though, it was because I could not be bothered to do it!
 
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