Not perfect, but absolutely the best RPG for the DS thus far, and likely for some time to come.
Oh my.
Graphics are stunning. Stunning. The opening FMV sequence took my breath away. Rivals ANYTHING you've seen on PSP or even PS-II or X-box. I kid you not, it is *that* good.
Unfortunately, that is the only time we are treated to that quality, however the rest of the game, fully rendered 3-D, is still head-and-shoulders better than anything else out there for the DS right now. Some say it slows the gameplay down, and it does a wee bit, but that's the price you pay.
Gameplay is oldschool dungeon crawling. When I say oldschool, I mean several things:
1) no saving while in a dungeon. Saves can only occur on the world map when not in a dungeon or town. There are plenty of times when this is the case, but if you plan on entering a dungeon/mountainside/haunted town to fulfill whatever quest sent you there, you will have no opportunity to save while inside. Some players complain endlessly about this, and if you are one of those people, I have one thing to say:
Stop being a pansy.
They actually DID have the ability to program on-the-fly permanent saves back then. The reason they didn't is exactly the same reason folks complain about it now: it makes it difficult and tense for the player while you are in the dungeon.
The newer RPGs that allow you to save anytime anywhere have sucked all the tension out of questing. You died? No problem, you just saved 30 seconds ago. What fun is that?
On the other hand, when you know you are on your own in the dungeon, with no save backing you up, you play differently....you play cautiously...you take it seriously. Suddenly, winning a tough battle becomes a true reason to celebrate. You begin to really care for your little avatars. Suddenly, the story doesn't matter as much as you making sure your little guys and gals get through it alive.
2) Random Encounters. Lots of them, which in other FF incarnations, get VERY annoying when you need to get from point A to point B quickly (like, before the bus comes to your stop).
Luckily, due to the fact that it is possible to die very easily in this game, the player will, if they actually stop to think about it, come to appreciate the random encounters, to see them as yet another opportunity to beef up the characters for that inevitable boss battle on the way, where death means a re-start from outside the dungeon.
3) Save the world story
OK, with updated graphics, you might have been hoping for an updated story...but if they change the story, it wouldn't have been FF-III, so what would be the point? As a result, we are getting the original 7-year-old story, which was copied shamelessly by RPGs ever since (and was probably stolen from some earlier game...): the 'mana crystal' chooses you, an orphan, to save the world from imminent destruction. Off you go now. Meh. A cliched, weak story, identical to nearly every Japanese fantasy RPG released in the last 15 years. No excuse other than laziness on the part of the writers, who were, at one time, the programmers themselves.
What is it with orphaned main characters anyway? Do the games manufacturers know something about the demogrphic of the game-player the rest of us don't? Anyway. Gameplay is solid if a bit slow. Relax. It's a game. What's your hurry?
Music is sweet; full orchestral scores, a few familiar themes found in all FF releases, nothing bad to report here.
So, for the best rpg offering on the Ds so far, you really need to check this one out. Fantastic graphics, music, and presentation, ok battle-mechanics, outdated but serviceable story, the innovative job system....Magical Starsign will end up on the back shelf, perhaps indefinitely.