Final Fantasy III (DS)

Reviewed by Kit

This is the only FF game that has never been officially released on this side of the world. For the release, SE improved the graphics and decided to port it to the DS system. Let's see how it rates.

Story: The world is out of balance. The forces of darkness have grown more powerful, and so four warriors of light are chosen to restore balance to the world. It's a rather generic plot. This remake attempted to add some character development, but it's nothing deep or moving. The main character is brave and friendly. His best friend is kind-hearted but cowardly. The female character is pushy but cute. And the oldest looking character, though he is the same age I believe, is noble and a little stuffy. It's not a great story, and it's not the driving force of the game. 3/5

Graphics: As with the story, the graphcis have been altered and improved for this remake. They're not outstanding, but they're cute and suit the game. You are able to zoom the camera in and out at parts, which is used to find hidden items. The opening movie is impressively beautiful. 3/5

Audio: The music is probably the greatest part of the game. As with many Final Fantasy games, it is absolutely beautiful. 5/5

Gameplay: You can use the stylus or the buttons for this game. Battles are turn based with actions planned before each turn. The key importance of this game is the job system. As you find the four elemental crystals, you'll be able to change what job your character is. Switching jobs requires you to take a stat penality for X number of battles. As you use that job, it will level up which will give you stronger attacks and magic. Unfortunately, though the game talks about how you can use so many jobs, quite often you will find that you are almsot required to be a particular job to pass through a dungeon or beat a boss. For example, the first few dungeons require you to be mini. Weapons do no damage when you're small, but magic does. Guess what job classes you will have to be to succeed. Other than that, things are simple and have no problems. 4/5

Replay: There is no real reason for replaying the game. You might try doing it as a challenge, beat the game with all white mages or something, but it's not necessary. 2/5

Overall: The game itself is entertaining and fun. It's not the greatest game out there, but it isn't bad. If you want to complete your FF collection, pick it up. If not, then I'd wait a few months for the price to go down. 3/5