Final Fantasy 3 - Final Stats
Hours Played - 45-1/2 hours*
Final Party Levels and Classes
- Luneth - Level 58 - Ninja Level 41
- Arc - Level 58 - Summoner Level 40
- Refia - Level 58 - Devout Level 33
- Ingus - Level 58 - Knight Level 30
Now...for my final thoughts on Final Fantasy 3.
Overall, despite my wanting to beat it sooner and faster, I enjoyed the overall experience. It had plenty of character and story while also allowing for a fully customize-able party. Would I play it again right now? No. Would I aim for the crazyness of a perfect game like the guide went over? Heeeeell no. I'm not a perfect game kind of person. If I were to make one comment, it would be the following. They must have programmed to the MAX to fit this entirety of a game on the FamiCom (Family Computer...Japanese equivalent to the Nintendo). They did pretty well for what they were limited to back then. It seems like programmers now can't get shit done like they used to...enough about that. Now...on to my thoughts!
Overall, despite my wanting to beat it sooner and faster, I enjoyed the overall experience. It had plenty of character and story while also allowing for a fully customize-able party. Would I play it again right now? No. Would I aim for the crazyness of a perfect game like the guide went over? Heeeeell no. I'm not a perfect game kind of person. If I were to make one comment, it would be the following. They must have programmed to the MAX to fit this entirety of a game on the FamiCom (Family Computer...Japanese equivalent to the Nintendo). They did pretty well for what they were limited to back then. It seems like programmers now can't get shit done like they used to...enough about that. Now...on to my thoughts!
First and foremost, I want to talk about the gameplay of this title. They went ahead and went back to experience over leveling up everything like in Final Fantasy 2 (THANK GOD). They also took a page from Final Fantasy 1's class idea and expanded on it! That idea gave birth to...the Job System. There are some very interesting things about the job system as well. The first thing I'd mention is how at least half of the jobs (if not more) are based on or straight rip offs of classes from Dungeons and Dragons. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is kind of funny. The next thing I'd mention is how the Job System (and jobs contained in) drastically affected later Final Fantasy titles. As far as the rest of the titles go, each character is a set class and can't be changed. Cecil (main guy in FF4) is a Dark Knight, and on top of that, he works JUST like the Dark Knight in 3. Later games do the same bit to the letter. In possibly my favorite Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Tactics, the entirety of game play is based on the Job System. It contains around 20+ jobs that are almost exactly like but slightly different from those in 3. This basically makes the game incredibly awesome and what RPGs should be. You can fully customize your party to however you want it. You can have a pile of warriors OR a pile of mages for all that it matters. Sure, you will have a rough time if you go all one way or the other, but the freedom to do so is nice. The only flaw in that is that certain portions of the game requires you to have a mage so as to pass a certain point (the use of Mini and such). You will easily get past that of course. The battles were basically just battles. It's your basic turn based system with attack, magic, items, and such. They kept the front and back rows like Final Fantasy 2 did, but there's nothing really special to that. Put the strong in the front and the weak in the back.
The only true complaint I'd have about the job system...is magic. They eliminated the magic capacity in favor of having simply so many points per level. Basically, you have X points for level 1, X points for level 2, and so on. What this means is rather than each spell having a cost, all spells cost 1 point. In theory, this is really cool and makes it simple. However, it can be really annoying to lose the ability to cast higher versions of Cure because you only had 5 points to spend in its level. I NEED CURA, NOT CURE! On top of being limited by points, you only have so many points depending on your current job AND what level that job is. This makes switching jobs for magic people a bitch. If you switch your mage over to a slightly different mage, you have to reassign spells and start all over. It was mostly un-fun when I went from White Mage to Devout with Refia. I lost a lot of Level 1 spells in favor of a larger balance (nearly 10 per category if not more) over having more spells at lower levels and less at higher. All in all, it ends up working out but can be annoying. The Job Levels enhance this by making your spell casting level availability as well as magic points completely dependent on said Job Levels. It mostly sucks because the physical based classes do have bonuses from having higher levels in the Job, but they aren't as hindered as magic users can be. That's all I got so.../end rant. Overall, I still REALLY like the openness and tactical allowance given to you by the Job System. There is plenty of Job variety, classic jobs with improvement, and easily all options that you could want are available before the game finishes. I'd pick it over the default character class that you can't pick ANY DAY! Now...onward to story!
Final Fantasy 3 went straight up and picked the same classic route. A band of misfits (in this case orphans) find out they are the sacred Warriors of Light and must come together to save the world as we know it. Your first basic task mimics the Final Fantasy 1 in that you have to go find the crystals and obtain their power. However, I guess there is nothing completely wrong with mimicking something that works. You do find out later on that there are two versions of the world...a Dark World and a Light World. You spend the majority of the adventure in the Light World trying to find the Light Crystals. I don't want to explain the fully story or give it all away...so moving on. It gives you a decent plot overall. The characters don't always jump out at you, but you do see a lot of death and destruction along the way. Plenty of people die in the line of saving the world. Outside of the main quest, there is plenty to do and see. There's even a secret side quest to get the fabled Onion Knight job, but apparently that is impossible without the use of the in-game Moogle mail system that requires another person with a copy of the game...so screw that. Err...back to the story. There is a lot of people and places to see. Each area is not just involved in the story but has its own story. Aside from the crystals, you do quite a bit that has NOTHING to do with the crystals. It means they didn't just make it all about the crystals! That's nice. It's not necessarily the deepest story or the most inspirational/exciting characters, but there is still plenty to enjoy.
Great job system, average battles, average story and characters...I'd say it's definitely worth a try if you have a NDS or 3DS, and you also want to play an RPG! The only true problem for most would be that your choice of play is indeed limited to...the Nintendo DS. Either way, I'd say give it a shot. You might just learn something and become a fan of the Job System like me. Final Fantasy 3...I enjoy the time we had, but now it is time...to move on to Final Fantasy 4!
Side Note -I shall begin my playing of Final Fantasy 4 this weekend! For aesthetics and such, I have chosen to play Final Fantasy 4 on my PSP. I only hope my PSP doesn't decide to crap out on me. Anyways~
I'd like to say thanks for reading and stay tuned for my dive into...Final Fantasy 4!!!
I'd like to say thanks for reading and stay tuned for my dive into...Final Fantasy 4!!!
*Side Note 2 - Holy crap, I can't wait to finally add up all the hours I've played for all these titles. I bet the total time will be INSANE!
~May the Crystals Guide Me~
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