Final Fantasy III (1990)

Finished the Final Fantasy 3 Pixel Remaster. Loved it. The pacing was great, geomancer was actually useful, and diagonal movement w/ fast forward auto-battle, and maps for every area were game-changers. I kinda prefer it to the 3D version.

There were more enemies on screen versus the three mob limit in the DS version (and subsequent ports). Battles were super speedy, aided by smart auto-battle and fast forward. The job system added tons of variety with many classes to choose from. It was fun to try them all. I was pretty fond of the geomancer, this time around-- a spell caster that would draw power from nature to fell his foes. It actually did damage instead of just releasing pretty sprinkles onto enemies that did nothing but make them look more glamorous. The bard was as useless as ever. I still never figured out how to play more than the one default song that you start with.

There was no extraneous and unnecessary dialogue from the 2D cookie cutter personalities that the 3D remake super-imposed on the main cast retroactively. The story was still pretty balls, even compared to Final Fantasy 2, and even Final Fantasy 1 in some respects. Typical purify/save the crystals kinda theme, with the added twist of another set of dark crystals and a group of heroes of the dark (as opposed to the heroes of light?) that were assumed to be adversaries early on. Pretty bland stuff, but also some enjoyable nuggets like how your character and princess he just met at the beginning of the game fall in love within 10 seconds and she waits for you til the end of the game. Literally right after you aid her. the entire castle is talking about how she misses you and wants to see you before you even leave the castle. Hahaha. Also, the game glosses over it but I do feel that your main guy and a certain prince share a special moment together that is more than meets the eye. Poor princess.

Just saying.

Ok, it might just be me.

No matter, the job system and speedier battles is where it shined the most, and the music was as memorable any other game in the series, especially with the remixes in the pixel remastered version. The story is there to keep you moving forward. I was so addicted by how fast I was able to mow down each new area that it felt like unstoppable beast! It was a non-stop dopamine hit. Really enjoyed this game as something close to its original 2D form and I think Square-Enix did a really good job. On to Final Fantasy 2 Pixel Remaster. Yeah, yeah. I know I'm playing them out of order.

I first played this game on emulator back in the 90s or early 2000s. I got as far as Bahamut before losing interest and giving the game up. Sometime later around 2009 or 2010 I started over again and planned out the jobs that everyone would be.

Character one was strength based. Fighter, knight, Viking, magic Knight and Ninja. Spent a little bit of time as a Red Mage for the mini sections.

Character two was agility based. Monk, Thief, master, ninja. Spent a little time as a Red Mage like number one and as a magic Knight for that one dungeon.

Character 3 was the Healer. White Mage, Archer, back to White Mage, white wizard, Sage.

Character 4 was the nuker. Red Mage for most of the early game, Black Mage, black wizard, Sage.

Did not bother with any other classes though both casters switched to monk or Viking for many level ups for maximum HP gain. By the time they were Sages they both had a mix of white, black and summon Magic.

This is a good game for the NES but does not compare all that well to the later final fantasies. The job system is the highlight of the game and I also really liked some of the set pieces, such as the dungeons you have to do while mini or frog. Other than that the game is fairly generic and a distinct lack of story and personality behind the main characters is a major flaw, especially when compared to what was done with FF2. This game is the best of the NES Trilogy though.

I played and finished the PSP version of this game. To this extent the only thing that mattered in the game was HP and Attack damage.

Story line was very similar to that of 4, You start off in a word with good crystals you go to the bottom word with dark crystals. You enter a dungeon with the 3rd ship and beat the boss.