Nintendo DS Review: Final Fantasy III

Ah, Final Fantasy III. The FF game hardly anyone talks about and is ignored for the slightly inferior FFV. And I don't see why, since FFIII (both versions, but DS version is slightly better than Famicom version) Is an excellent Final Fantasy game.

Graphics (3/5 DS version): The graphics aren't bad per say, but it looks like the quality of graphics you would find on a Playstation one game. However, the opening is pretty neat and the artwork by both Yoshitaka Amano and Akihiko Yoshida are pretty on the eyes as well. Then again, I'm probably biased due to those two artists being my favorite VG artists.

Sound (4/5 DS version): The soundtrack is mostly good. The music is not too shabby and there are some tunes that are pretty memorable (eg. Overworld theme, the ultimate airship theme). There's no voice overs, but it's okay. Sometimes, voice overs don't always help a game at times.

Gameplay (5/5 DS version): Here's where FFIII shines. The gameplay introduces us to the job system. The job system is where you get to change what your character does (eg. Ninja and Dragoon are weapon based jobs while Summoner and Magus are magic based jobs). The class system seems more cleaned up in the DS version and the Dark Knight job is a blessing for the more tougher battles.

The thing is with FFIII is that you have to plan your class usage right, since in some dungeons, some classes work better than others. So stradegy is used here.

FFIII has probably the best gameplay in the FF series.

Story and Characters (4/5 DS version): IMO, the plot in the DS version is a big improvement over the Famicom version. There is more character development and there is some subplots between the four leads and the characters that temporarily join your party. Yes, there is some romance, but that takes the back seat when it comes to the main focus of the plot, which is re-awakening the world below and prevent eternal darkness from consuming the world. And I think that is a lot better than some cliched and contrieved love story being the main focus.

Replay (4/5 DS version): This one is worth replaying because of the job system. And in the DS version, there are some unlockable content in there as well.

Overall (4 1/2 out of 5 DS version): Final Fantasy III is one of the best of the first three games, but the remake is even better. Sadly, such a great game is so underrated for no real reason what so ever. If you ever find this game, give it a shot. It's worth it.

I know FFIII is worth it to me anyways.