Final Fantasy III (DS) (gamespy)
- gamespy -
While it's not getting as much attention as the recently released Final Fantasy XII, the Nintendo DS is getting its own high-profile RPG from the good folks at Square Enix as Final Fantasy III makes its debut in the United States. While you may have played the game before as an import, there have been substantial changes made to the game, modernizing it for current audiences while retaining the novel game mechanics that made it one of the most influential RPGs of all time.
The visuals have been completely revamped, with 3D character models that have an overly cute yet endearing appearance, wearing exaggerated versions of the traditional garb of their respective classes. The appealing character designs can at least partially be attributed to the inspirational effect of the artwork produced for the game by renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano. The monsters have these new models as well, and some of the bosses are remarkably detailed, making it hard to pine for the 2D sprites of yesteryear. The full-motion-video opening sequence is a stirring piece of artistry, remarkable considering the hardware it's running on, and made especially interesting by its full use of both screens on the handheld. Overall, the in-game graphics are on par with the best-looking RPGs on the platform, while still maintaining a faithful, cohesive look that captures the feel of the original 2D dungeon crawlers that long-time fans of the series have fallen in love with.
Final Fantasy purists who never played the original Japanese release will be able to see the first appearance of moogles in their original form, before FF XII turned them into today's lovable miniature-bunny engineers. Interestingly enough, moogles take on an aspect similar to their role in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Final Fantasy XI, as they are the interface through which you send in-game mail to friends using Nintendo Wi-Fi connection or to characters you encounter in the game. You can unlock special items by making use of the mail system. When we prepare for our review, we'll be sure to check out what sort of content can be unlocked by making use of the game's online features.
While it's not getting as much attention as the recently released Final Fantasy XII, the Nintendo DS is getting its own high-profile RPG from the good folks at Square Enix as Final Fantasy III makes its debut in the United States. While you may have played the game before as an import, there have been substantial changes made to the game, modernizing it for current audiences while retaining the novel game mechanics that made it one of the most influential RPGs of all time.
The visuals have been completely revamped, with 3D character models that have an overly cute yet endearing appearance, wearing exaggerated versions of the traditional garb of their respective classes. The appealing character designs can at least partially be attributed to the inspirational effect of the artwork produced for the game by renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano. The monsters have these new models as well, and some of the bosses are remarkably detailed, making it hard to pine for the 2D sprites of yesteryear. The full-motion-video opening sequence is a stirring piece of artistry, remarkable considering the hardware it's running on, and made especially interesting by its full use of both screens on the handheld. Overall, the in-game graphics are on par with the best-looking RPGs on the platform, while still maintaining a faithful, cohesive look that captures the feel of the original 2D dungeon crawlers that long-time fans of the series have fallen in love with.
Final Fantasy purists who never played the original Japanese release will be able to see the first appearance of moogles in their original form, before FF XII turned them into today's lovable miniature-bunny engineers. Interestingly enough, moogles take on an aspect similar to their role in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Final Fantasy XI, as they are the interface through which you send in-game mail to friends using Nintendo Wi-Fi connection or to characters you encounter in the game. You can unlock special items by making use of the mail system. When we prepare for our review, we'll be sure to check out what sort of content can be unlocked by making use of the game's online features.
 |  | |
Spending time improving your characters will make up a large part of the Final Fantasy III experience. Your four warriors of light will begin their journey as Freelancers, the localized version of the original's basic Onion Knight class, but after a few introductory dungeon sequences, you unlock the game's job class system. This is the first game in the Final Fantasy series to introduce special job abilities, like the Warrior's Advance skill, which is an attack that sacrifices defensive strength for additional damage, and the Thief's staple Steal ability, used to pillage items from enemies in combat. You can pick from Warriors, Thieves, Monks, and Black, White and Red mages, but later on you'll be able to choose from other advanced job classes, like Ninjas, Summoners, Dark Knights, Dragoons and so on.
Including the Freelancer, there are 22 jobs in all and many different ways to approach character development. Your characters have an overall character level, and a job level tied to how much training they have undergone as each job class. You're able to choose from any of your available jobs at any time, although you'll have to undergo what amounts to a cool-down between jobs, as your character adjusts to their new role, which amounts to a few battles of reduced ability. With this system, however, you can easily turn your balanced group of characters into an all Black Mage group, for instance, for tackling magic-based areas, or move to all physical classes to take on foes who are resistant to your spells. The great level of freedom here will bring back fond memories to those who enjoyed the stellar Final Fantasy Tactics.
The music in Final Fantasy III was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and the score includes some very catchy tunes to listen to as you explore the game's cities and towns, with equally enticing compositions setting the scene in the game's dungeons and overworld. Even if this is a game that was originally released in 1990, the enhancements made in this modernization turn it into an audio/visual showcase for Nintendo's handheld. While we will still need to play it quite a bit to make a final verdict, we're very excited about having a lengthy, fulfilling RPG to take with us on those long plane rides and road trips. Stay tuned for our full review when Final Fantasy III ships later this month.
No comments:
Post a Comment