One of My First Final Fantasy DS Titles, I Can See It's Appeal In The 90's and Still Enjoyable Even Now
I do however now appreciate some of the best anime themed Japanese RPG games ever made, in particular the Final Fantasy series. The main problem I hit in trying the older classics of the series, was that most were released on the NES and SNES consoles, and the only ports of them were either rare or restricted to certain consoles. So when I bought my 3DS recently, I was made aware that DS games worked on it perfectly and invested mainly in DS titles such as Lost Magic, Pokemon White Version 2, and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fates. One day I came across the DS port of Final Fantasy 3 in my local game store, and found it at a very good price considering how rare some of these Final Fantasy ports are now on the DS.
Immediately as advertised on the back of the DS box, it was clear that the original graphics of the NES release were now replaced with enhanced DS graphics and physics but still held it's main story-line and everything that made the game so original when first released like it's character development, and plot-line. As a newbie to the series, particularly it's original installments I was hit by the simple game play mechanics, and turn-based combat but not in a bad way; I found this almost like paying homage to the original Japanese RPG games in the 1990's again.
The story was deep, and engrossing yet not off-putting in trying to follow it in regards to characters and main plots going on - I could see what made the series so revolutionary even now, as I do have a love for original Japanese RPG games. Combat was easy to get into, understanding the simple mechanics of a turn-based RPG was not new to me, and I immediately got into the hang of using potions, magic attacks and melee attacks with swords. Being turn-based in contrast to Lost Magic, another DS title in real-time helped me as I could make decisions slowly, and not make any drastic choices due to time-constraints or attacking enemies.
Exploration was also enjoyable; traveling from towns to other locations is quite simple, and allows the game to be saved on the world map. I am already over an hour invested into Final Fantasy 3's main story, and thoroughly enjoying it.
The Good:
- A solid port of a classic Japanese RPG game, one of the first titles in the Final Fantasy series; no lag, or bugs as yet to be found.
- Enjoyable story, and plot with memorable characters.
- 3D graphics compliment the game, even though it is replacing it's NES graphic roots.
- Combat is easy to understand and get a handle of, with it's turn-based mechanics.
- An engrossing world to explore, that holds hours and hours of game play.
- Nostalgia of a classic game, pushes you on to explore and discover the purity of the classic game.
The Bad:
- Even though it is a finely produced port of a classic game, the graphics and game play show it's age in comparison to current titles and games already, or due to be released.
All in all, yes Final Fantasy 3 shows it's age at times, but in many ways a classic game would show it's age but also it's roots as a game that revolutionized gaming at the time, and influenced games currently in development or on store shelves. With the game having such an accessible story, and plot with a simple turn-based combat system it all adds up to a game well worth what I paid, and I would even pay more for it.
If all ports of these classics are like this, then I'll happily pay out to get a copy of Final Fantasy 4 also on the DS, from online sources. Well worth trying out, if you're both a hardcore fan of Final Fantasy or a long-time fan of classic, RPG games.