Final Fantasy III

Definitely the best Final Fantasy so far, although I do have a sweet spot for the simplicity of I. Thematically, III is very similar to I - Crystals, Heroes of Light, jobs, with a big difference - now you can change your jobs at any time, and unlock more of them as you progress, which in practice allows for more customization than II's stat system. I liked playing a Bard and casting Paeon every turn for free healing, and dealing big damage with my Dark Knights. The world is also the biggest so far I think, or at least it feels so because of the inclusion of effectively two worlds - the main world and the floating continent. The story is not as dark as in II, but also not as plain as I. So yeah, if you're interested in early FFs, this one is good!

This is a continuation of my progress playing the first 7 final fantasy games.

Final Fantasy 3 is definitely a combination of the first 2 games mushed togheter into so far the most inoffensive game in the series. Concluding the original NES trilogy i hope the Snes games brought new light into the franchise and expanded on the gameplay mechanics of these 3 games.

Now originally i wanted to play this game on a console like i did with 1-2 on the ps1 but since ff3 never got a port on the ps1 or even a european port for that matter on the nes i had to buy the pixel remastered version on steam. In my other reviews i wrote how there is a huge difference between playing on pc and playing on console and whilst i had never tried pc up until that point, i can safely say i was right. This might have been the easiest game in the original trilogy simply because i was playing on pc. The loading times are so much better it literally changes how you play the game. This is also most likely the shortest game in the first 7 only taking me about 22 hours to complete whilst 3-4 hours was back tracking and deaths which i will talk about more later.

Since i played ff1 and ff2 on the ps1 the game save file i have says i beat those games in 25 hours and 26 hours respectibly but that save file doesnt take into account back tracking, deaths and so on. So it would be more accurate to add about 5-10 hours onto that save file. Since i played it on steam my save file counts 17 hours yet steam counts 22 hours so about 5 hours of backtracking and deaths.

They finally removed the bullshit mechanics of ff2 and re added the better ones from ff1, old mp system and none of that proggresive xp system. Which is a very welcome change however the new job system i felt was a little dumb at times. Having a job level and a normal level was a little confusing at first but late game it wasnt too much of a problem.

At this point im not that mad at the game design, its about what i expect from a FF game at this point. Sure there were some bullshit moments where my characters would just get 1 shot but overall pretty mild experience compared to the first 2 games. This one never made me as mad as the other 2 but personally i still like the first game a lot more. This game is just very very inoffensive as i stated above, it got rid of the bullshit in ff2 and it rebalanced the game so its not highly unfair like in ff1. It was a lot easier to get a 100% tho i only got about 95% of the stuff in the game, for the most part i completed it fully.


The only thing i found a bit negative was the grinding in this game. I spent a majority of the game trying to grind my characters to a high enough level so i wouldnt die in 2 shots by most enemies. This was probably the worst thing i can say about the game because if it wasnt for the grinding, the game would be about 10 hours long. I never kept track but im sure i spent around 7 hours just walking around in circles trying to level up. In the end game i got to level 58 with all my characters which is very high considering in ff1 i finished the game at somewhere around level 30-35. Since ff2 doesnt have that leveling system i cant exactly compare it but that game never required as much grinding as this.

At the last stretch of the game il admit, i fucked up. I was around level 42-43 something like that and when i entered the glass whatever tower i never went downstairs, so i never got any of the best items in the game which screwed me over as i couldnt beat the final boss. I had no idea the items were downstairs so i had to load an older save and lost 1 hour and 30 minutes of progress. After that i grinded for 3 hours and beat the boss in about 2-3 mins. Tedious but doable.


The game has some replay value since you can switch jobs with your characters and even tho im probably not replaying this any time soon its a nice added bonus that you can play the game again with vastly different characters.


This game is very average, i still think final fantasy 1 is the best game so far but that might change, still ff1 is the best out of the original nes trilogy. The only thing they drastically changed on was the jobs system, almost everything else is the same which is why its so inoffensive. It didnt get my blood boiling and i wasnt even addicted to the game, i took a break for a whole week because i just didnt feel like playing. Probably one of the most average games out there.

Much like the rest of the FF NES trilogy, Final Fantasy III had little more than ideas to offer, of which its varied job class system stood out. Evolving from FFI's selectable party, it gives players free reign to customize the roles of its faceless playable cast at any time. The problem lies in its botched application - quickly turning it into a linear, mix-n-match method of solving dungeon challenges that largely stifles any potential creativity. Apart from the fragmented world and the field/battle dual-effect of status ailments, the lengthy, monotonous, uneventful gameplay can cure insomnia.