Thoughts on the *other* Final Fantasy III...
...namely, the one that really is FF3 and not the original US release of FF6.
Post-FF13, I've been dividing my gaming time primarily between FF13-2 and the DS remake of FF3. My thoughts on FF13-2 may eventually get their own entry (short answer: I'm surprised how much I'm liking the game), but today I'd like to talk about FF3. Now, I'm probably about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through the game, so my opinion may change (and more on that in a bit) but so far it's been quite fun. The game has been very well-balanced, with practically no need for grinding; I'm not sure if that's a feature of the original or if it was rebalanced for the remake. It's been challenging without resorting to being cheap for the most part with the exception of perhaps one boss fight, though I can't really complain too much when the optimal solution is more Dragoons. ;) On a related note, the game has also been good about dropping hints as to which jobs will be coming in handy for particular dungeons and boss fights, which is helpful given the sheer number of jobs available.
Where FF3 suffers is that because it was released in the US after almost every other main series FF game (save 13, 13-2, and 14), it feels rather vanilla in its plot and design. FF3 actually introduced a *ton* of classic FF series elements. This was the first appearance of moogles. The changeable job system and many of the standard FF jobs debuted here: Summoners, Geomancers, Rangers, Bards, Dark Knights, Scholars, and several others. Dragoons, while first appearing in FF2, learned how to jump in FF3. ;) But the "save the crystals, save the world" plot also happened in FF1, and FF5 offers both a more refined version of the job system and a more interesting version of said plot.
The DS remake of FF3 helps by giving the originally generic Onion Kids distinctive names and appearances, and a bit of personality, but it could have gone further. Sure, it's funny when Refia laments the need for another Toad transformation, or sweet when bullying victim Arc comforts the young Prince Argus of Saronia, but frequently the party is just going to a town, solving its problem, and moving on to the next without any sort of commentary at all. Even just a few intra-party discussion cutscenes would have been nice. We can assume that the group is okay with the idea of being Light Warriors and okay with each other, but I wouldn't have minded some elaboration. (Conversations with temporary party members help, but it's easy to miss them given how temporary said membership tends to be.)
What I'm finding most interesting about FF3 is a few very specific design elements that it has in common with FF4. This makes sense, given how close together the two were developed, but a lot of said elements disappear in FF5 and some never return. For example, there's the Fat Chocobo storage system. Also, both FF3 and FF4 have similar ways of hiding items in towns and secret passages. Despite FF3's original release on the NES and FF4's original release on the SNES, I feel like in some ways they might have more visually similar layouts than FF2 and FF3, or FF4 and FF5.
Unfortunately, there's one important design element that wasn't introduced until FF4: dungeon save spots. This hasn't really been a problem so far; most dungeons have been easy to finish in a single play session and feel far less meandering than the ones in FF1 (which also didn't have save spots in the original version). But I've heard I've heard not-so-promising things about the endgame, and given the other adaptations in this remake, just having a quicksave that doesn't erase itself once it's loaded would have been nice. I'll worry about that when I get there, though; right now, I have a lute to find.
Also? The Great Magus Noah is either a total SOB, or he's playing the long game... but is still a SOB.
Post-FF13, I've been dividing my gaming time primarily between FF13-2 and the DS remake of FF3. My thoughts on FF13-2 may eventually get their own entry (short answer: I'm surprised how much I'm liking the game), but today I'd like to talk about FF3. Now, I'm probably about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through the game, so my opinion may change (and more on that in a bit) but so far it's been quite fun. The game has been very well-balanced, with practically no need for grinding; I'm not sure if that's a feature of the original or if it was rebalanced for the remake. It's been challenging without resorting to being cheap for the most part with the exception of perhaps one boss fight, though I can't really complain too much when the optimal solution is more Dragoons. ;) On a related note, the game has also been good about dropping hints as to which jobs will be coming in handy for particular dungeons and boss fights, which is helpful given the sheer number of jobs available.
Where FF3 suffers is that because it was released in the US after almost every other main series FF game (save 13, 13-2, and 14), it feels rather vanilla in its plot and design. FF3 actually introduced a *ton* of classic FF series elements. This was the first appearance of moogles. The changeable job system and many of the standard FF jobs debuted here: Summoners, Geomancers, Rangers, Bards, Dark Knights, Scholars, and several others. Dragoons, while first appearing in FF2, learned how to jump in FF3. ;) But the "save the crystals, save the world" plot also happened in FF1, and FF5 offers both a more refined version of the job system and a more interesting version of said plot.
The DS remake of FF3 helps by giving the originally generic Onion Kids distinctive names and appearances, and a bit of personality, but it could have gone further. Sure, it's funny when Refia laments the need for another Toad transformation, or sweet when bullying victim Arc comforts the young Prince Argus of Saronia, but frequently the party is just going to a town, solving its problem, and moving on to the next without any sort of commentary at all. Even just a few intra-party discussion cutscenes would have been nice. We can assume that the group is okay with the idea of being Light Warriors and okay with each other, but I wouldn't have minded some elaboration. (Conversations with temporary party members help, but it's easy to miss them given how temporary said membership tends to be.)
What I'm finding most interesting about FF3 is a few very specific design elements that it has in common with FF4. This makes sense, given how close together the two were developed, but a lot of said elements disappear in FF5 and some never return. For example, there's the Fat Chocobo storage system. Also, both FF3 and FF4 have similar ways of hiding items in towns and secret passages. Despite FF3's original release on the NES and FF4's original release on the SNES, I feel like in some ways they might have more visually similar layouts than FF2 and FF3, or FF4 and FF5.
Unfortunately, there's one important design element that wasn't introduced until FF4: dungeon save spots. This hasn't really been a problem so far; most dungeons have been easy to finish in a single play session and feel far less meandering than the ones in FF1 (which also didn't have save spots in the original version). But I've heard I've heard not-so-promising things about the endgame, and given the other adaptations in this remake, just having a quicksave that doesn't erase itself once it's loaded would have been nice. I'll worry about that when I get there, though; right now, I have a lute to find.
Also? The Great Magus Noah is either a total SOB, or he's playing the long game... but is still a SOB.