Final Fantasy III

THE BAD:
Well, there are a few scratches with this one. Although they don't really have an effect on my love for the game, it may effect yours. Although the game is only a remake and it is on the DS, there are only a few bad points here:
*Music gets repetitive
*Guys look like girls
*Most of the monsters are the same
*Textures kinda look bad
*Can only save on the world map and not in dungeons

SUMMARY:
Well, I played the first, second, third, tenth, twelfth final fantasy games and I would have to say, this is the best one. With amazing 3-D graphics and a nice story line its hard to argue.The whole game had an awesome makeover and its really nice to see how a re-make can get on into a whole franchise.I'm going to give separate reviews for this one so lets get it on:

Graphics
Score: 8/10
Reason: The 3-D graphics are something to look in awe about. Compared to the first final fantasy 3 game these ones are simply amazing. They really took their time to make sure that this game would be a great one. Sometimes they can look dumb, like when you turn Arc into a warrior, he looks even more girlish.

Story
Score: 10/10
Reason: There are many reasons for giving this a 10/10. The first and most valuable one is the long story mode. We RPG fans love games that keep us going for a long time and on that is worth our money. This game delivers a perfect example, with hard bosses, nice level ups, and new features. There is no reason why if your a final fantasy fan, not to pick this one up.

Characters
Score: 6/10
Reason: Oh no! The only major flaw in this game is in this section. The male characters look like women! One even twists like one and dresses like one. Yes, I'm talking about you Arc. Thats the only real problem with the game. It may take you a while to get used to it but, like I said, it's an awesome game. Some people might also take in offense by only one female main character.

Overall: 24/30
Well, as you can see, this game kicks ass. This WILL keep you busy for a long time. It is taking me a very hard time to fight bosses, and thats what I like. Although all the claims that the graphics on the DS sucks, this one smacks them back in the face.

THE BAD:
Sound quality isn't full-quality, you can't really turn the camera around, only to zoom in and out. The opening movie is a little grainy, which could be blamed for the DS card only being able to use up to 128 Megabytes of data, and the lower resolution. Mognet is quite annoying since you need another player to unlock the side-quests with it.

SUMMARY:
This is, overall, an excellent remake of the NES installment. I spent over 60 hours training, and after around 41 hours I initially defeated the last boss. I also spent a hell of a time filling up my Bestiary, but, to my great sorrow I overwrote my saved game, even though I still had to fight the extra boss. I enjoyed the battle system, yet it might not be recommended for those seeking real-time hack-'n-slashers. I would refer to Monster Hunter: Freedom or other action role-playing games. No, the battles are turn-based, which gives you enough time to ponder about whatever decision you make, like 'Should I use a Potion on my mate or should I cast Blizzard on that fire monster?', such things like that. Nevertheless, the game itself keeps up a good pace, and I only needed five weeks to beat it; but I did spend a LOT of time on it every day, and I was kind of addicted; it IS an addicting game if you like such games as I do. The Wi-Fi Connection could be used if you want to unlock side quests like unlocking weapons and bosses, but it isn't necessary; you can do this with other FFIII owners nearby. You do this through Mognet, in which you can send messages to other players with the same game or people within the game world. It can, however take a long time, because it has a one-mail-per hour limit, one for the Nearby Friends, and one for the FFIII NPCs, so that'll be a careful pick. However, this feature isn't necessary to enjoy the game.
Now, the Job system that has been discussed so many times? It's pretty simple. After you collect all three other party members and kill the second boss, you gain the ability to change between Jobs, on that moment ranging from Freelancer to White Mage, Black Mage, Thief, Monk, Warrior, Red Mage and such others... After you select one of those jobs you must re-equip the character and make sure that the equipment can be equipped for it. Like a White Mage, do you see it carrying two Broadswords? Probably not. The best weapon for that would be a staff or something in the sorts. And specialties? Well, Freelancers can use magic up to Level 1, isn't that much. However they can equip just about anything in the game. Monks can use Retaliate, which if used, will cause the Monk to counterattack when taking a blow from an enemy. Warriors have Advance, in which they boost their attack power, but also do lower their own defence for that turn. The Mages...speaks for themselves. Thieves, they steal, yada yada, you get it, right? You can train all these Jobs up to level 99, and these aren't the only ones in the game. It can take a long time before all those Jobs are trained up, which adds alot to the game's length itself. If you don't do that, however the game can be alot shorter.
Overall, I found this an excellent game to have played and worth replaying. I hope those who read it feel the same.

THE BAD:
Graphics limit on-screen action.
Music can get slightly repitive.
Touch screen controls are completely pointless.
Job system feels slightly shallow compared to other entries in the series.
No permanent saves during dungeons.
A bit on the short side.
Wi-fi could've been used in more intuitive ways.
NDS's unique features (e.g dual screen, microphone etc.) are barely used.
Minimal plot.

SUMMARY:
Graphics (4.2/5):

The game is in "virtual 3D" graphics. Meaning you can't manipulate the camera but the game still allows you to zoom in abd out of the action (outside of battles), for a better view of the gorgeous enviorments.

The art stlye is similar to that FFIX, striking a familiar FF note between the uber-realistic and the bobble-headed cartoony.

Character models for NPCs get somewhat repitive halfway through the game, and alot of enemies are merely pallete-swapped versions of already exsisiting enemies.

And during battles, only a maximum of 3 enemies can be displayed at one time.

However, this (like alot of other shortcomings of this otherwise brilliant game) is probably due to techincal issues with the DS hardware.

Animations are rather good for a DS game, and are kept varied enough to never seem repitive.

The enviorments stay in the short RPG range of 'dungeon - cave - village - castle', but like I've already mentioned; the brillitantly detailed locales in FFIII are something of a miracle to pull off on the DS's wimpy hardware.

Overall, I'm very pleased. Being a fan of the 2 dimensional, I wouldn't have minded scrapping the 3D in favour of something a bit more pracrtical; but the game still works perfectly well none-the-less.

Gameplay (4.9/5):

Like the Famicom origional, the game is a traditonal turn-based, stat-based RPG. There is no ATB (realtime/timelimit gameplay like some other FFs), so you can take your time working out monsters weaknesses and planning your strategy. Battles are initated randomly and I never really had a big problem with that, as the encounter rate seems fair. Fun, but fairly standard stuff.

Magic can be bought and "equipped" to an approptiate charecter and each charecter can equip two different weapons (one for each hand), as well as a myriad of armour and accesories.

What really stands out here, is the acessible yet deep Job/Class system, giving you a pool of 22 different classes to assign to one (of four) of your characters. Anyone of the games four big-headed charecters can be any job you desire.

While you start out with an underpowered, "nobody" class; you unlock more as you proceed through the game. There are four different intervals throughout the adventure where you gain a couple of jobs, 4, 5, or 6 at a time.

This offers some very flexible gameplay. Cave full of monsters weak to magic? Just change your party to magic-casting classes and nuke your way in. Sounds perfect, right?

Well, there IS a catch. When changing from class to another, theres a so-called "Job-adjustment" phase (for example 3 or 4 battles) that will significantly lower your Job's stats.

This was perhaps implemetned to encourage the player to stick to only a couple of classes, and develop your own custom play-style; as opposed to an overpowered party of super-knights and super-mages.

Experience and level gaining is by-the-book Final Fantasy stuff. Each charecter has his or her own job-level for each individual job, as well as a normal-exp level.

Meaning Refia might be a level 13 Black Mage, level 3 Thief and have a normal level of 21; while Ingus might be a levl 67 Thief and a level 27 black mage with a normal level of 30. The level cap is always 99.

Each job also has it's own class-specific command (for example, a Dark Knight can sacrfice some of it's HP for major damge to all enemies) during battle making it better suited for different dungeons and your playstyle. Certain kinds of jobs can also equip only certain types of equippment. There's also a front-row and a back-row during battle. The difference? Characters placed in the fron-row hit harder but take more damege, whereas back-row characters have higher defence but weakened physical attack. All of the above makes for some supremely fun and stratgeic battles.

Outside of battles, you can chat with NPCs, send mail to your friends or other charecters via Nintendo WFC, shop for new equippment and magic or simply explore the vast landscape.

My only complaint here is the save system. You can suspened you game at anytime outside of an event or battle, but this save-file is only temporary, and is deleted once you start playing again.

Permanent saves can only be done on the world map.

The difficulty is also a bit on the unwelcoming side to new-comers.

Otherwise, a brilliantly designed game, with fun, deep gameplay.

Music (4.8/5):

Nobou Uematsu (responsible for the sublime 'One-Winged Angel' of FFVII fame) is piloting the music FFIII.

Excellent, catchy and well-suited for eachg instance it's used, there really isin't much to say about the music.

It can get repitive at time (mostly during battles and dungeons, where you'll be spending most of your time), but that doesn't exactly break the game.

Verdict: What's there is superb, but the variety is sorely lacking.

Plot (3.3/55):

<I'm not going to include any story details here, so rest assured this review is 100% spoiler free.>

The 'plot' is a boring stroll through FF stereotypes and offers nothing new or even faintly intresting. It may be a 20-year old game, but the new parts added to flesh out the story only save the game from being a complete snooze.

Localisation is quite good, and the dialouge can shine when it wants too.

However, if not for the rest of the game's amazing presentation and exceution, a few points would've had to have been deducted.

Overall (4.7/5):

The best RPG avaiable on ANY handheld, unrivaled by even some of it's console counterparts.
"Classic gameplay" is the first phrase that pops to mind when asked why I would reccomend this game to someone. Sure, it's a bit on the short side, but it's a freaking DS game! I constantly have to remind myself that when playing this masterpiece.
A definite must-buy for RPG fans of any caliber.

THE BAD:
- Random battles and not repelling items.
- You can predict what will happen next.
- Can't save when needed.
- Wi-Fi is barely used.

SUMMARY:
This is game is great, but seriously, I expected more of it, it can be dissapointing sometimes.

Graphics (9/10):

The graphics are great, specially at the beginning, where the graphics are very realistic. The backgrounds are very nice and detailed. You can see clearly everything because the graphics are exelent. It is easy to see everything in battle clearly, because everything is well detailed, including the characters and the monsters.

Music (8.0/10):

The music is also good, it is not perfect but is nice enough to keep you awake. The music on the overworld suck, while in the battles, the music is awesome, It suits the background of the battle AND the battle. The music is the same in every cave, which makes the caves annoying, hearing the same music over and over again, considering that the game also has many caves to go through.

Gameplay (8.0/10):

The gameplay is very confrontable depending on your needs. You can do all with the buttons, or using the Stylus, which you can choose to use it with the right hand or the left hand. But when using the stylus, you have to double-click each option you want to select, consuming a bit more of time. Other than that, you can move your character using the stylus without problems, in a confortable way.

Negatives:

The battles are totally random, appear a lot, except in towns. And the worst part is, that if you are in a hurry and you are in cave and have to get out to save, the battles will appear a lot. And there is not a way to skip all the battles.

You can easy tell what will happen at the end of the game. More side-quests would have helped to stop this problem.

You can't save when you NEED to save. That's the worst part of the game. If you have a very important meeting with someone and you have advanced half of a dungeon when needed, you CAN'T. You just can do a Quick-Save. But that don't helps if you lost against the hardest boss of the game. You will have to start the whole place again.

The Wi-Fi is not used to much. Just to send and receive letters. You can unlock somethings doing that, but that will not help to much in the game.