Final Fantasy III (1990)

Final Fantasy 3 was one of the best-if not THE best-RPG for the NES. The story was epic, the characters were endearing, and the game was just plain fun. The only complaint I have is the fact that it was never released in America! But thanks to emulators and a couple of dedicated funs, now everyone of the English-speaking language can enjoy this fantastic RPG.

STORYLINE

The storyline of this game, as I said earlier, is epic. It is set in the medieval period of the series and is heavily involved with the four crystals of the elements: Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. But at heart, the storyline is about greed and power. Zande, a once mighty warrior and follower of the legendary Noah the Archmage, is trying to take control of the four elements in order to obtain the ultimate power-the power of nothingness...the power of the Void. One wanders, what was happened to make a follower of the great Noah to desire this power of magnitude? Well, I let you find out yourself...

- Overall 90% -

GAMEPLAY

The game play is the best feature about this game. Veterans of Final Fantasy 1 and Final Fantasy 5 will have no problems with the gameplay here. It has the class function, like in FF1 where you get to pick your class, but like FF5, you can change your class any time you wish. The only condition, though, is you have to have enough Capacity Points to change. You earn CP after battles, much like exp. and gold. The amount of Capacity Points (CP) varies depending on what class you wish to become and what class you already are: if you're a fighter-type class, it will cost less CP to change into another fighter-type class than it would if you wanted to change to a magic-type class, and vice-versa. Of course, it is also cheaper to change into a lower-level type class than it would be to change into a higher-level class: ex, it is less CP to become a Black Mage than to become a Black Wizard. On top of that, the battles are fun for the most part. The challenge factor is another good thing about this game.

- Overall 100% -

GRAPHICS

Well, the game is ten years old and everything, and it is a Nintendo (not Super Nintendo, not Nintendo 64, but NINTENDO) game. However, the graphics are as good as it's going to get for a Nintendo game. The variation is nice too, sometimes dark and gloomy, other times sunny and bright. The graphics are simple, basic, and outdated, but otherwise nice. Great graphics for the Nintendo...sure, not FF8, but you can deal with it.

MUSIC

The music is very "Nintendo-Final Fantasy 1-ish." Some of the sounds have changed, but it's still the close enough to be called "FF1-ish." There are some new tunes also so it's not just the same things you heard 9 or 10 something odd years ago on your NES. The music, mostly, is upbeat; it reflects a lot on what is happening. So like the graphics, sometimes the music is dark and gloomy, other times bright and sunny. Also the boss fights have their own music too! Those of you who played the first Final Fantasy might have noticed at all battle music -including bosses- is the same, not so here.

- Overall 90% -

REPLAY VALUE

The game has an okay replay value-much higher than FF1's replay value because it has a few side quests here and there (like finding Leviathan and sacking the underwater tomb). But much like the first FF1, there's not a whole lot to do after you beat it (other than replay it again). But heck, the game is fun so replaying it isn't so bad, especially now that you know your way around.

- Overall 80% -

OVERALL

This game is a great one, a lost classic. It has an amazing story, incredibly fun gameplay, catchy music...what's not to like...the outdated graphics for some, but i like those 8-bit Nintendo graphics...they remind me of how classic this game is.

- Overall 97% -

Be sure to check out our complete list of other Final Fantasy Reviews.