People are kind of down on FF3 for not being as good as 5, but I dunno, I get what people who played the Japanese original as kids saw in it. I did try the DS remake back in the day but stopped around the Nepto Dragon dungeon, and I’m glad I gave it another shot in the pixel remaster. It’s got a lot of really cool ideas in it that end up being picked up and refined in later games, and despite its flaws I found myself having a really good time with it. It’s a shame that a lot of the jobs are extremely situational and obsoleted by later jobs, but I saw another review here saying that it was a refinement of the FF1 experience and in that context I think it’s pretty neat.
I think in terms of music and environmental design it’s a great sendoff to the NES era. Obviously I’m playing the pixel remaster rather than the original, but it’s pretty easy to see the scaffolding the prettier graphics were built upon. Leaving the floating continent and seeing the map expand is cool as fuck, and damn. I’m pretty sure the FF14 team made the Crystal Tower raids so important just to be like “hey the ff3 ost rules.” And you know what? They were right. There are SO many absolute bangers in this game. While FF1 and 2 had some great tracks I feel like FF3 is the one where Uematsu really hits his stride and there’s just so much good stuff! Eternal Wind! The Crystal Tower! Eureka! Okay my faves are kind of back loaded but I think the endgame needs to have great music and the final stretch is all killer no filler musically.
I mean the pacing of the Crystal Tower is pretty bad. But like. Quick Saves help. And I do love seeing all my old friends from Alliance Roulette.
Anyway in terms of story and tone it kind of reminds me of Dragon Quest 3 more than anything honestly. There’s an overarching plot that brings in some really neat ideas towards the end, but for the most part you’re kind of on a road trip dealing with local problems and moving on to the next town. The tone is really light and goofy for the most part, and that’s emphasized by the four Warriors of Light being textually kids. I feel like the DS version making them into more individual characters was probably a better decision, but this version lets me give myself psychic damage by looking at the color coded Onion Knights and going “hehehe I know what to name the red, blue, and lighter red ones” because again, I have The MMO Brainrot. It does feel a little like there is a bit of character to whoever you stick in the lead, even if it’s pretty shallow, and you do get fun flavor text for things like examining candles.
I dunno, there are tons of really cute moments in this game. The Cid is a cute little old man. Your characters start off getting booed off the stage when playing the piano, but after you pick up the bard job there’s a piano in the nearest town and you get everyone to do a big old dance number. The battle theme turns into a light woodwind number during the mini dungeons. The Dark Knight’s KO sprite is some empty armor which is sick as hell. It’s great.
The setting also has some pretty neat lore that is unfortunately pretty under-explored. Xande, Doga, and Unei have some weird philosophical shit going on, and I gotta admit I side with Xande there. I know it’s supposed to be some mono no aware shit and immortality sucks but it’s like getting socks for Christmas when your little siblings get a bike and some video games. Like yeah when you’re older you’re gonna love getting socks for Christmas but you’re fucking twelve now. Noah should’ve given him Speak With Animals or something instead of Mortality.
Also the idea of there being too much light that the Warriors of Darkness had to deal with? Cool as fuck. That was a great concept that only really came up at the end. I dunno, they made shit like FFIV: The After Years and Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise, maybe they should’ve made a Final Fantasy III spinoff about the Wrath of Light or whatever. Maybe they could make the protagonist a grizzled thirty-something instead of a cute baby Onion Knight and call it something like. I don’t know. Shadow… bring—hey, wait a sec…
I think in terms of music and environmental design it’s a great sendoff to the NES era. Obviously I’m playing the pixel remaster rather than the original, but it’s pretty easy to see the scaffolding the prettier graphics were built upon. Leaving the floating continent and seeing the map expand is cool as fuck, and damn. I’m pretty sure the FF14 team made the Crystal Tower raids so important just to be like “hey the ff3 ost rules.” And you know what? They were right. There are SO many absolute bangers in this game. While FF1 and 2 had some great tracks I feel like FF3 is the one where Uematsu really hits his stride and there’s just so much good stuff! Eternal Wind! The Crystal Tower! Eureka! Okay my faves are kind of back loaded but I think the endgame needs to have great music and the final stretch is all killer no filler musically.
I mean the pacing of the Crystal Tower is pretty bad. But like. Quick Saves help. And I do love seeing all my old friends from Alliance Roulette.
Anyway in terms of story and tone it kind of reminds me of Dragon Quest 3 more than anything honestly. There’s an overarching plot that brings in some really neat ideas towards the end, but for the most part you’re kind of on a road trip dealing with local problems and moving on to the next town. The tone is really light and goofy for the most part, and that’s emphasized by the four Warriors of Light being textually kids. I feel like the DS version making them into more individual characters was probably a better decision, but this version lets me give myself psychic damage by looking at the color coded Onion Knights and going “hehehe I know what to name the red, blue, and lighter red ones” because again, I have The MMO Brainrot. It does feel a little like there is a bit of character to whoever you stick in the lead, even if it’s pretty shallow, and you do get fun flavor text for things like examining candles.
I dunno, there are tons of really cute moments in this game. The Cid is a cute little old man. Your characters start off getting booed off the stage when playing the piano, but after you pick up the bard job there’s a piano in the nearest town and you get everyone to do a big old dance number. The battle theme turns into a light woodwind number during the mini dungeons. The Dark Knight’s KO sprite is some empty armor which is sick as hell. It’s great.
The setting also has some pretty neat lore that is unfortunately pretty under-explored. Xande, Doga, and Unei have some weird philosophical shit going on, and I gotta admit I side with Xande there. I know it’s supposed to be some mono no aware shit and immortality sucks but it’s like getting socks for Christmas when your little siblings get a bike and some video games. Like yeah when you’re older you’re gonna love getting socks for Christmas but you’re fucking twelve now. Noah should’ve given him Speak With Animals or something instead of Mortality.
Also the idea of there being too much light that the Warriors of Darkness had to deal with? Cool as fuck. That was a great concept that only really came up at the end. I dunno, they made shit like FFIV: The After Years and Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise, maybe they should’ve made a Final Fantasy III spinoff about the Wrath of Light or whatever. Maybe they could make the protagonist a grizzled thirty-something instead of a cute baby Onion Knight and call it something like. I don’t know. Shadow… bring—hey, wait a sec…