Final Fantasy III (DS)

[Altema]

Anyone play this?

Opinions?

Based off what I have played, it started off interesting, but it got repetitive. Go into a dungeon, fight many battles, fight boss, done. Repeat about 400 times and you finish the game. Well, I haven't finished the game, so I can't really say if it changes that much. I'm about half way through it.

The most discouraging aspect of this game is the job system. From what I have read, you get better classes as the game progresses, but you have to start over on your job levels. Job levels move the same for all classes, so its not like the higher level you are, the faster the levels come.

Overall, theres no character development, but then again, all the FF from that long ago really lacked character development.

So what do you guys think?

[Demongod86]

Sounds a lot like FFXII, but with horrible graphics.

[Altema]

Haven't played FFXII, so I wouldn't be able to confirm that .

That's pretty bad if thats the case.

[Lebron]

Originally Posted by Demongod86

Sounds a lot like FFXII, but with horrible graphics.

more like FFXII sounds like this with better graphics. :P

Also, Job levels were the best part of the FF's of old, IMO. It was still pretty basic in FF3 though, they improved on it greatly by FFV. However, FF3 just doesn't stack up to today standards I'm afraid, when compared to more recent FFs(not the ones on the PS2, maybe X). You see it all the time with remakes of games from late 80s early 90s, especially when they don't change much beside graphics here and there. I haven't played the DS version though, but I did play the original SNES Rom way back when. I kind of enjoyed it, but I enjoyed IV and V way more.

[aeriolewinters]

^The best Job-based FF was and still is FFT.

[Altema]

Originally Posted by aeriolewinters

^The best Job-based FF was and still is FFT.

I'd have to agree. At least you can farm job levels in FFT, which means you can actually catch up with your earlier classes.

[Lebron]

Originally Posted by aeriolewinters

^The best Job-based FF was and still is FFT.

I'm not going to argue with you there

[Eichan]

I'm so used to FFXI and Ragnarok Online that it doesn't seem like much of a big deal to me.

At the very least, you still KEEP your levels from previous jobs. Now that would be something to complain about.

[Tommy]

Originally Posted by Altema

Anyone play this?

Opinions?

Based off what I have played, it started off interesting, but it got repetitive. Go into a dungeon, fight many battles, fight boss, done. Repeat about 400 times and you finish the game. Well, I haven't finished the game, so I can't really say if it changes that much. I'm about half way through it.

You pretty much nailed it, of course RPGs of the early days are gonna be extremely repetitive. However I thought the job system was the best part of the game, not that it was perfect by any means but its pretty much the only thing that kept me interested enough to play the game.

[stpehen]

I'm playing through this right now in my quest to beat all the Final Fantasies on GB (DS) and I have to say I don't like it all that much. I can recognize that they put a lot of work into the graphics, but I don't find them particularly attractive, and the game itself is very sluggish. Compare to the GBA version of FF 1-2. Those games I found extremely enjoyable to play because they were very quick; you moved fast on the map, opening menus and changing screens were nearly instant, very little lag in any way. FF3 DS takes much longer to open screens, enter combat, etc. I honestly would have much preferred a simpler and more streamlined version using 16-bit graphics, like the 1-2 remakes.

As for the gameplay itself, I like job systems and in general it seems to be okay.

[Morganchan]

I found I quite enjoyed it, though I seem to have a penchant for early FFs over the later ones (never got into VII, though I liked the more classically styled IX).

I do wish they had fleshed out the story even more. I understand they reworked and added a lot of dialogue compared to the original release, but I would have liked to see the characters developed.

The graphical overhaul was a great choice, I'd say, especially how each job outfit was a little different depending upon the character. That, and I love sharp, colorful graphics Personal preference here.

I only wish the job system offered more rewards! I've got two characters with maxed job levels in the Warrior and Red Mage class, but seems I got squat for it! Bah, jerkfaces!

The most discouraging aspect of this game is the job system. From what I have read, you get better classes as the game progresses, but you have to start over on your job levels. Job levels move the same for all classes, so its not like the higher level you are, the faster the levels come.

No kidding! I really wish your job level grew proportionally to your character's level. I never ever bothered using some of the later jobs because they leveled up slowly.

[Angelic Cross]

Originally Posted by Morganchan

I do wish they had fleshed out the story even more. I understand they reworked and added a lot of dialogue compared to the original release, but I would have liked to see the characters developed.

Considering that in the original, the mains were basically nameless figures who had zero personality and backstory and only differed in their sprites' colors, SE already pulled off more work with Luneth and co. than I expected.

Originally Posted by Morganchan

I only wish the job system offered more rewards! I've got two characters with maxed job levels in the Warrior and Red Mage class, but seems I got squat for it! Bah, jerkfaces!

Maxing out Job levels is required to get the SUPERDUPER-ULTIMATE-DELUXE-ZOMGWTF-MEGAPWN-job exclusive equipment (and a trading card) for each of the classes from the Master Smith. To actually start the quest you need to use the Wi-Fi connection and get mail from other people, so you'd better go get some Friend Codes. (And if you're very, very lucky, someone might give you a trading card for a job, which means you can just go up to the Master Smith and get the SUPERDUPER-ULTIMATE-DELUXE-ZOMGWTF-MEGAPWN-job exclusive equipment without having to max out the Job level for that particular class).

You'll also need the WiFi and Friend Codes to get the Onion Knight Job. And that is one sick, overpowered job class.

EDIT: On a related note, I'm just wondering how many of you all have played the originals of the first FF games. I'm just curious.

As for my own opinion, I'd say SE did a pretty good job with this. I do like the fact that they made the Jobs more balanced than the original, though the game seems easier than the original.

[Morganchan]

Onion Knight? Aha, so THAT'S the job with the strange hat I've seen in the offical artwork. I was wondering how you might get that! Thank you very much! Having that one empty slot on my job selection list was driving me batty!

On a related note, I'm just wondering how many of you all have played the originals of the first FF games. I'm just curious.

I've played the original FF all the way through a few times. An emulated NES version, the Final Fantasy Origins PSX version, and the GBA remake. Haven't really touched FFII, though, perhaps I should get around to that.

I quite like the FF "black sheep", so to speak, of FFTA, FFCC and FFIX, too I guess since I don't conventionally play a whole lot of RPGs, I'm more inclined to try weirder, spin-offy games since I'm not overly attached to what's mainstream.

[DragoonKain3]

The job system was the done very well IMO. Main mistake I see people doing was changing jobs to suit the situation, like for example changing one character to a dragoon just because there's a lot of flying enemies (dragoons do bonus damage to flyers, for those not in the know).

However, what people don't understand is that the system of the game is meant to reward those who stick by their classes. Job level is almost the be all and end all of combat effectiveness. Take the dragoon example I showed above. Those people who have played the game knows that it takes to be about job level 10-20 for a class to be even remotely useful past halfway in the game, since hit rate AND #of attacks are tied to job level. Thus, even if a dragoon is situationally better than say, my thief in that part of the game, if I had the time to get dragoon to lvl 15, it would've been better to just upgrade my thief 15 levels more to get roughly the same effectiveness in the end, but with the thief being more effective AFTER that part of the game where there's flying enemies.

The only time IMO a person should change class is when their final class is available near the end of the game (ninja/summoner/magus/devout/sage/black belt). This is because by this time, thieves would have their job lvl maxed out already and so their job lvl advantage over other characters vanishes (no matter how hard you try, your highest AGI person will have a distinct job level advantage over the others), and casters need the advanced jobs because those jobs focus their mps on the spells that actually matter in the end game.



Basically my party consisted of the classic party; Warrior, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage. Warrior became Knight as soon as I got it since I wanted a tank for my squishies (auto-cover ftw!), but the rest stayed right till the end till they changed to Ninja/Summoner/Devout. Thief 25x hit with behemoth dagger 2/3rds into the game was phenomenal, while my mages we're hitting up to 2k damage with spells cast free from wands. Despite poor equipment (for example, you dont get any upgrades to protective clothing to bm/wm for a LONG time), I breezed through all the encounters I have, and that's without any sort of grinding whatsoever. Heck, even against Goldor (who supposedly has high mag def), my BM was still the one that dealt the most damage to him.



If anything, I found the game too short, as I clocked it in about 20-25 hours (my memory is a bit hazy on this one). I usually don't like extra dungeons thats only available AFTER the end of an RPG, but this game sorely needs one because there's so little time to enjoy the master classes.

[maohayato]

the secret boss can be fought multiple times as he respawns. nice if you like a challenge.

[Js2756]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

The job system was the done very well IMO. Main mistake I see people doing was changing jobs to suit the situation, like for example changing one character to a dragoon just because there's a lot of flying enemies (dragoons do bonus damage to flyers, for those not in the know).

However, what people don't understand is that the system of the game is meant to reward those who stick by their classes. Job level is almost the be all and end all of combat effectiveness. Take the dragoon example I showed above. Those people who have played the game knows that it takes to be about job level 10-20 for a class to be even remotely useful past halfway in the game, since hit rate AND #of attacks are tied to job level. Thus, even if a dragoon is situationally better than say, my thief in that part of the game, if I had the time to get dragoon to lvl 15, it would've been better to just upgrade my thief 15 levels more to get roughly the same effectiveness in the end, but with the thief being more effective AFTER that part of the game where there's flying enemies.

The only time IMO a person should change class is when their final class is available near the end of the game (ninja/summoner/magus/devout/sage/black belt). This is because by this time, thieves would have their job lvl maxed out already and so their job lvl advantage over other characters vanishes (no matter how hard you try, your highest AGI person will have a distinct job level advantage over the others), and casters need the advanced jobs because those jobs focus their mps on the spells that actually matter in the end game.

In all honesty, I found the job system in FF3 to be very poorly implemented for the very same reason that you said. Your best choice of action is to pick jobs at the start of the game and stick with it until the very end, where you change them, effectively negating all that effort throughout the game. The fact that you don't get a lot of classes until later in the game means you take huge penalties for switching classes, even if you're doing it as soon as you get them. Basically, you pretty much have the exact same party makeup for the entire game, which really takes away from the job system. Btw, I played the original NES version, not the GBA remake.

[hamiko_san]

10 things more, you never know.

[Ledgem]

I hate to revive a dead thread, but would anyone who has this mind swapping friend codes? According to one FAQ you need to exchange 7 messages via Mognet with real people in order to unlock some side quests. I'm nearing the end of the game and would like to add a bit on before I finish it.

[AnimeFangirl]

Sorry, I gave my game away. I got to the last boss and died and instead of restarting I thought to myself, "Do I really care how it ends?" Alas the answer was no.

You might have better luck finding friend codes at GameFAQs.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Dorfl

I got to the last boss and died and instead of restarting I thought to myself, "Do I really care how it ends?" Alas the answer was no.

You might have better luck finding friend codes at GameFAQs.

The GameFAQs FFIII board seems to be dead. But as for the final boss, was it the real final boss? There's a part where you're supposed to die, and I did a quick read on a FAQ and found that even in the final dungeon you need to defeat four bosses before you can take on the very last boss.