LTTP: Final Fantasy III | Chibis, Chocobos & Moldy Bread

[styl_oh]

Or, getting laid off from the magic firm...

the factory of human pride
the place where i was born
the place where my father died
guided by voices

when you look at me babe
you better look hard and look twice
is that me, baby?
or just a brilliant disguise?
bruce springsteen

she keeps on workin for that minimum
as if a high-school education gave you any other option, you know
against me

how does it feel?
to be on your own?
with no direction home?
bob dylan

Lunex: freelancer. Sounds a little sketchy, but that's what he says. Works import/export but can't quite specify where. Had something of a mid-life crisis and decided to live out his life as a wizard... but being the indecisive type, and not a man to believe in absolutes, he just couldn't ever wrap his head around the idea of being a 'pure' force of good, or of destruction for that matter... and matter of fact he thinks the hat suits him, likes the feather.

Reffie, constantly subject to character assassination, accusations of being a serial orphan, always running away... truth is, she was only sneaking out to steal things; potions, pills, medicines, things more ancient, full of strangeness and charm than her milquetoast suburban family could ever understand... a relentless need to nick, pinch, poach, a compulsion really...

Inguy, halfways the namesake of the legend Guy (who spoke Beaver), and who was absolutely not a Warrior of Light, suffers an ongoing and constant identity crisis... a king's man, if you believe the receipts, but after having pierced his ears and driven his Ferrari up on a mountain to meditate for some years (going celibate and off the coke, cold chocobo), he decided that he truly was a Monk in the old sense, a profession, no, a duty grafted onto his very soul by something higher than himself... he even purchased a headband.

And then there's Arp, music in his name, or more likely programming, protocols... ready to change faces, roles, living quarters at the drop of a pointy hat... never sure who he is or what he's doing here, bullied beyond belief by the freaks, geeks, jocks for being what can only be described as a nerd... but with the living potential to blast back at those stunted, insecure children, destroying them or worse... and he hasn't figured out the roads yet, high or low, to turn the other cheek or come back and beat them with that staff until they just can't walk anymore...

Anyhow, I like this game. It feels incredibly slow compared to the first two, or at least the 3D remake does. I'm still not sure how I feel about 2-3 monsters at a time rather than spreading those hit points across something like 8 or 9. The battles' jerky, slow feel (two camera angles are involved) is really my only complaint thus far... the game is very likeable; towns are, finally, interesting to explore and feature NPCs who don't just repeat the same line. I'm not whether this was added in the remake, but I have to assume that at least some of this flavour stuff was.

And frankly, that's all I have to say about the actual game right now. Mechanically it's very Final Fantasy 1--my brain had to do a quick jacknife turn and get used to the fact that I wasn't levelling up all my skills every round, having just come off of II, and the same goes for reacquainting myself with the DnD/Jack Vance wizardry system. The chibi characters don't bother me as much as I thought they would--except maybe Arc and Ingus--and some of the different jobs have the potential to make a character look actually pretty cool. I pray for the day I can slam a helmet on those latter two though, then I'll be alright. Like paper bag sex except it's more I wanna punch these dorks in the face so I don't have to look at them.

Onward, to the cave of something, wherein I assume I will fight the something of something: no doubt about it! Stay tuned!

Also: Cid looks like Jerry Garcia in this game. If one of the secret treasures isn't his bong stash I'll be sorely disappointed. Hey Amano, is that an erection? Just a pants tent? I love that his wife is Mrs. Cid.

 

[tobascodagama]

I think this is the only FF I've actually completed, specifically the DS remake. I can't say I remember a whole lot about it, but it felt a lot less long-winded to me than other FFs. (I also played IV and VI on the DS around the same time and didn't finish either one.)

 

[styl_oh]

Well, Arp(Arc) has discarded his white robe for black, because it seems like these early bosses are pretty much meant to be defeated with magic... and he really wasn't doing much of anything as a white mage anyhow.

(Medusa kicked my ass the first time.)

 

[TheMink]

It's one of my favorites! I replay it fairly often because it has such a quick intro and fun mechanics.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Underrated soundtrack IMO

 

[Vault]

 

[styl_oh]

Just finished the Fire Crystal quest. I like the Dwarven hollow.

Annnnddd... Job Anxiety! I knew it was coming!!! Ahhhh!!!

I have to admit, I'm absolutely choosing some of these jobs based on how they make certain characters look.

 

[styl_oh]

I'm honestly loving this game's Cid. He's a real trip. Rotund, sunglasses wearing, snowman nose Cid... pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good Cid. Psychedelic boomer Cid.

And he gave me a boat that turns into an airship! Is this in any other Final Fantasy? I love it. Best of both worlds!

P.S. For years I wondered why people went crazy over Chocobos and Mogs... I have attempted over the course my life to resist all things cute or kawaii, but I confess I've finally succumbed: they're very cute and I love them. かわいいですね？ So far, my favourite village is Gysahl, where the sheep wander free and the Chocobo are raised in comfort.

This is based on having played Final Fantasy 6, 4, 1, 2 and now 3. Maybe this is me becoming a fan of the series in general and its various recurring elements. Is it weird I'm now excited to play the others to see their various incarnations of Cid?

Anyhow, I shall now leave this floating continent behind and see what awaits in the surface world... hey wait a minute, this sounds a lot like Dragon Quest III.

 

[Cromat]

One of the best battle themes ever.

 

[styl_oh]

I just secured what I assume is the final airship, the Invincible, and... I have Decided:

This could be one of the best games in the series. If they changed almost everything about it. What I mean to say is that I think I'd prefer a bunch of monsters onscreen at once rather than 2 or 3, and I'd like for more of your accrued job skills to transfer over when you switch.

In terms of the monster thing, I think I'd enjoy a true remake of the Famicom version more; in terms of jobs, it sounds like the game I'm looking for is Final Fantasy V. In other words I'm now very excited to play Final Fantasy V.

That said, pretty good game. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good. Love what they've done with the place, really. It just feels a bit sterile. Like a hotel. What the hell am I talking about, anyway yeah, pretty good game, not really much to report.

P.S. The Invincible is the best airship ever
P.P.S. I love the Airship Rankings you can find in a library
P.P.P.S. I don't understand why this game is considered so difficult.
P.P.P.P.S. There is a LOT of misinformation online about this game's jobs.
P.P.P.P.P.S. I hate Arc, I hate him so much, I need to punch that kid in the face, I will never change my mind.
PSP Vita: This thread sure isn't popular. Do people hate this game? Probably not. There's just not really that much to talk about.

 

[Anustart]

Dang, making me look bad. Got this game about a year ago on steam and just got the invincible last play session lol.

 

[Josh5890]

I played through and beat the DS game a couple of years back. It is the hardest Final Fantasy game that I have beaten to date. What is a real back breaker is the last dungeon where you have ~1 hour between the last save point and the boss. It took me a couple tries and let me tell you I was jumping for joy when I finished that game. It felt like a real achievement.

 

[styl_oh]

Dang, making me look bad. Got this game about a year ago on steam and just got the invincible last play session lol.

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Isn't it cool? Shops inside! Even the fat moogle. Although I didn't realize it couldn't submerge and had to go find my old one to tie up some loose ends...

I played through and beat the DS game a couple of years back. It is the hardest Final Fantasy game that I have beaten to date. What is a real back breaker is the last dungeon where you have ~1 hour between the last save point and the boss. It took me a couple tries and let me tell you I was jumping for joy when I finished that game. It felt like a real achievement.

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What party did you end up using at the end of the game, if you recall?

I don't really like the magic in this game, so I've just got a white mage for emergency purposes. Other than that, my thief and monk can do like 5k damage and my dragoon too probably, although jumping is hardly worth it random battles cuz they'll just be over.

 

[Ultratech]

What party did you end up using at the end of the game, if you recall?

I don't really like the magic in this game, so I've just got a white mage for emergency purposes. Other than that, my thief and monk can do like 5k damage and my dragoon too probably, although jumping is hardly worth it random battles cuz they'll just be over.

Click to shrink...

Sounds like you've been taking advantage of Job Leveling. That helps quite a lot.
And yeah, Magic kinda gets gimped towards the Endgame.
Like sure you can bust out a Leviathan, Bahamut, Flare, or Meteor...or you could just punch/slash a dude for about the same damage.
Doesn't help that lot of enemies just stop having Elemental weaknesses.

Dragoons are actually really good in this version IIRC. Jump does extra damage against "Wind" weak enemies (re: most anything that flies)
And Thieves get really good after the Water Crystal since you start picking up good knifes for them and they just hack enemies to death.

Think my endgame team the last time I played was Black Belt, Devout, Dark Knight, and Dragoon.
And yeah...prepare for the Final Dungeon because it's pretty infamous and fairly rough.

 

[Josh5890]

Isn't it cool? Shops inside! Even the fat moogle. Although I didn't realize it couldn't submerge and had to go find my old one to tie up some loose ends...

What party did you end up using at the end of the game, if you recall?

I don't really like the magic in this game, so I've just got a white mage for emergency purposes. Other than that, my thief and monk can do like 5k damage and my dragoon too probably, although jumping is hardly worth it random battles cuz they'll just be over.

Click to shrink...

I just checked my save file. I had double Draoon, Devout, and Ninja at the end. Level 62

 

[Hecht]

It gets a lot of deserved hate (especially with forced mini/frog sections and the like), but I still stand behind the fact that I love FF3.

What I mean to say is that I think I'd prefer a bunch of monsters onscreen at once rather than 2 or 3, and I'd like for more of your accrued job skills to transfer over when you switch.

In terms of the monster thing, I think I'd enjoy a true remake of the Famicom version more; in terms of jobs, it sounds like the game I'm looking for is Final Fantasy V. In other words I'm now very excited to play Final Fantasy V.


P.P.P.S. I don't understand why this game is considered so difficult.

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Yeah, monsters in the Famicom version allowed for up to 9, and was better than the DS version in that respect.
As for difficulty spikes....come back to the thread when you beat the game >_>

 

[shoptroll]

And he gave me a boat that turns into an airship! Is this in any other Final Fantasy? I love it. Best of both worlds!

Click to shrink...

V I think? V in general owes a lot to III but I'm pretty sure the transforming airship is one of the lifts.

In terms of the monster thing, I think I'd enjoy a true remake of the Famicom version more;

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There was a 16-bit remake in the works for the Wonderswan Color but they axed it at some point (possibly due to technical constraints?) before Bandai stopped production of the device. The Final Fantasy I and II 16-bit versions for WSC were later ported to PS1 and then became Dawn of Souls on GBA which is the basis for all the modern re-releases. Unfortunately, no one at Square seemed to be interested in finishing up the 16-bit version of III on a different platform and they opted to instead hand it over to Asano for a 3D remake on DS years later.

P.P.P.S. I don't understand why this game is considered so difficult.

Click to shrink...

The final dungeon has a notoriously high random encounter rate I think is part of it.

 

[Ultratech]

There was a 16-bit remake in the works for the Wonderswan Color but they axed it at some point (possibly due to technical constraints?) before Bandai stopped production of the device. The Final Fantasy I and II 16-bit versions for WSC were later ported to PS1 and then became Dawn of Souls on GBA which is the basis for all the modern re-releases. Unfortunately, no one at Square seemed to be interested in finishing up the 16-bit version of III on a different platform and they opted to instead hand it over to Asano for a 3D remake on DS years later.

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I've read a bunch of stuff throughout the years on why it was supposedly canned, which includes stuff along the lines of "we were missing some of the source code" and of course, the Wonderswan not doing all that great. (Since it stopped production pretty soon after.) I have to imagine it got cancelled pretty early into production since there's never been anything else of it beyond those 2 screenshots.

And then there's this Interview from Eurogamer:

Famously, the game is one of the largest RPGs ever developed for the NES/Famicom platform - and it's this fact, Tanaka claims, which prevented it from being remade for other systems in the intervening years, until a major push was made to bring it up to date in 2005.

"When we developed FF3, the volume of content in the game was so huge that the cartridge was completely full," he says, "and when new platforms emerged, there simply wasn't enough storage space available for an update of FF3, because that would have required new graphics, music and other content. There was also a difficulty with how much manpower it would take to remake all of that content."

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(Which I don't totally buy...plus they could've tried to finish it up when they did the GBA releases.)

Supposedly Square then mulled about doing a 3D remake on PS2, but that didn't pan out for whatever reason, and nothing happened until the DS remake got announced.

 

[styl_oh]

Sounds like you've been taking advantage of Job Leveling. That helps quite a lot.
And yeah, Magic kinda gets gimped towards the Endgame.
Like sure you can bust out a Leviathan, Bahamut, Flare, or Meteor...or you could just punch/slash a dude for about the same damage.
Doesn't help that lot of enemies just stop having Elemental weaknesses.

Dragoons are actually really good in this version IIRC. Jump does extra damage against "Wind" weak enemies (re: most anything that flies)
And Thieves get really good after the Water Crystal since you start picking up good knifes for them and they just hack enemies to death.

Think my endgame team the last time I played was Black Belt, Devout, Dark Knight, and Dragoon.
And yeah...prepare for the Final Dungeon because it's pretty infamous and fairly rough.

Click to shrink...

Believe it or not, I haven't been job level grinding, or grinding at all. Do Thieves just naturally level up faster? At first I assumed it was because I've mostly kept her as a thief, but then I've mostly kept Ing as a monk... and the level difference is staggering: Monk L56, Thief L80.

(My party is level 38-39. I HAVE been following a guide to find all the hidden treasure and optional things, so that surely contributed to more random encounters/levelling.)

The other two characters have jobs in the level ranges of 25-30 because of their permanent identity crises. Luneth is making a nice dragoon, and I like dragoons so I think I'll keep that. White Mages seem like a necessary evil (I find them so boring) so I turned Arc into a Devout.

So now I'm just wondering... should I even change my thief&monk? I really wanted a blackbelt and a ninja, but I also don't want to job grind. So I dunno how good they'd be 'out of the box' at this point, or if I'd be nerfing my party too much at what seems to be near the end of the game. In that sense, it kinda sucks you get them so late (or that more skills don't transfer).

V I think? V in general owes a lot to III but I'm pretty sure the transforming airship is one of the lifts.



There was a 16-bit remake in the works for the Wonderswan Color but they axed it at some point (possibly due to technical constraints?) before Bandai stopped production of the device. The Final Fantasy I and II 16-bit versions for WSC were later ported to PS1 and then became Dawn of Souls on GBA which is the basis for all the modern re-releases. Unfortunately, no one at Square seemed to be interested in finishing up the 16-bit version of III on a different platform and they opted to instead hand it over to Asano for a 3D remake on DS years later.



The final dungeon has a notoriously high random encounter rate I think is part of it.

Click to shrink...

Oh, V has that? Excellent! Except for the Invincible's 'special ability' to jump over small mountains... it's used once so far for what I could generously describe as a 'puzzle', but it's not fun, just annoying. One of the most pointless, useless game mechanics ever.

And yeah, an Origins with a similar remake of 3 would be the ultimate 'old Final Fantasy' trilogy. Shame it was canned.

 

[tobascodagama]

Believe it or not, I haven't been job level grinding, or grinding at all.

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Yeah, I don't recall having to do much grinding in this game, either, which is a big part of why it became my favourite FF game. 🤣

 

[styl_oh]

I had it.
I fucking had it.

It was in my hand, it was happening, it was really happening, I was going to kill old Cloudy.

I could never do it, of course. I was only level 53. Everyone says that's just a bit too low... but I started to hear rumours, rumblings through the 'vine, some folks had taken her down at 53, maybe even 51, or so they whisper...

Shurikens were being thrown. Bottom tentacle and top are taking heavy unblockable damage, to prevent devastating magic and status effects, respectively.

They'll never do it... no home field advantage, untested quarterback...

Bottom goes down. Snap crackle pop. A few hits are being directed at the main entity.
My Devout is on the top of his game keeping everyone in tip-top shape, even when the first particle beam came ripping through.
This is what he trained for. This is what he was born to be.

This can't be happening. Do you know how much money I have riding on this? They're not SUPPOSED to win! Ref--!

Quarterback, five feet from the touchdown line. That top tentacle is history in five seconds and then we're free, free to attack public enemy no.1...

My ankle twists.
I hit 'guard', pure muscle memory, when I needed to heal the whole team.
I know it's over before it even registers.
My ankle snaps.
The quarterback goes down.
The crowd leave with uncaring faces, telling themselves they knew it'd never happen, the odds were too long... I don't even allow my gut to feel it.

I accept it. I know what happens next. I let it play out.

Everything goes white.

 

[styl_oh]

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is payback time.

 

[butalala]

You are a stronger person than I was. I played the heck out of the ds version when it came out, but I bounced off of the final dungeon once and never tried it again. Godspeed.

 

[styl_oh]

You are a stronger person than I was. I played the heck out of the ds version when it came out, but I bounced off of the final dungeon once and never tried it again. Godspeed.

Click to shrink...

I don't necessarily think the 'one long dungeon with no saves' thing can't be pulled off, but I think the way it's setup here is perhaps a bit cruel.

You can go through the dungeon, thinking you're alright, not having had to grind, with maybe a few of those 4 bosses getting a bit hairy. So, naturally, a person would then think, why not fight the final boss? (Especially since you're trapped in there.)

But anyone who doesn't know in advance how to prepare for it, or what strategies to use, can get killed pretty fast, and then you're left wondering: well, what level SHOULD I have been for that?

It's not so much the difficulty spike, it's that it happens at the very end of a (potentially hours-long) place you're completely trapped in. It's like, 'oh yeah, maybe you should level up, sorry, shoulda told ya earlier'.

 

[styl_oh]

Once more... starting outside the tower at level 50/1 this time. Reckon that way I might hit 55/6 by the end. I did grind a bit. Here we go.

 

[styl_oh]

God, that ending is inane garbage. Not that I expected anything, but it's loooong, a million characters you don't care about or remember going home to be welcomed back and some banal prattle about keeping hope alive. Ughhhh

 

[butalala]

Sounds like something I should look up on youtube. It also sounds about right for this era of Final Fantasy. Good job! Congrats!

 

[styl_oh]

Sounds like something I should look up on youtube. It also sounds about right for this era of Final Fantasy. Good job! Congrats!

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Yeah, it's not terribly out of sync with RPGs of that time, although I'd take FFII's story in a heartbeat even if it's just medieval Star Wars. It left a sour taste, probably just because the game was wearing real thin on me with that final dungeon and I just wanted to get it over with. I can't imagine the Famicom version had anywhere near that amount of cutscenes (if any?) and the remake's added stuff never did much for me anyhow.

Also, thanks!

 

[shoptroll]

Congrats on taking another one down!

 

[Theswweet]

One more for the FFII > FFIII gang! There are dozens of us!

 

[styl_oh]

Congrats on taking another one down!

Click to shrink...

Thank you! Not sure what's next...

One more for the FFII > FFIII gang! There are dozens of us!

Click to shrink...

Absolutely hell yes. I'm not sure if the Famicom version, or a proper remake of this would change my mind, but holy christ. 2 was a million times more fun to play. I am fucking drained.

 

[shoptroll]

Absolutely hell yes. I'm not sure if the Famicom version, or a proper remake of this would change my mind, but holy christ. 2 was a million times more fun to play. I am fucking drained.

Click to shrink...

That might explain why it ranked higher than 3 in that recent Famitsu survey about Famicom era RPGs, much to my chagrin.

 

[butalala]

Yeah, it's not terribly out of sync with RPGs of that time, although I'd take FFII's story in a heartbeat even if it's just medieval Star Wars. It left a sour taste, probably just because the game was wearing real thin on me with that final dungeon and I just wanted to get it over with. I can't imagine the Famicom version had anywhere near that amount of cutscenes (if any?) and the remake's added stuff never did much for me anyhow.

Also, thanks!

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Yeah it seems like the first 6 FF games have an odd/even distinction where the odd-numbered games are character-customization heavy but story-light, while the evens are a bit more story-heavy and customization-light. (I know this isn't a perfect distinction). It takes until FF5 for me to really enjoy one of the story-light games.

One more for the FFII > FFIII gang! There are dozens of us!

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Count me in. II is my favorite of the first three.

 

[saturnineCarrier]

more threads should start by quoting guided by voices

another one down, grats! what's next?

 

[Nali]

III is an important game to the overall legacy of Final Fantasy for solidifying a lot of its tone, themes, and mechanics, but it's definitely still rough in its execution. The XIV team fucking loves it, though.

 

[styl_oh]

more threads should start by quoting guided by voices

another one down, grats! what's next?

Click to shrink...

I keep finding secret GBV fans on this forum! They might be my favourite band. Didn't think in a hundred years anyone would recognize that lyric. (Maybe I should make an OT on EtcetEra and see if anybody shows up.)

Hmm... assuming I keep doing JRPGs, it'd be down to Dragon Quest IV, FFV, FFVII or maybe Chrono Trigger. Leaning towards DQIV for a change of pace.

If not, I'm getting the Yakuza itch so I might continue my file on Yakuza 4... or play a Resident Evil game, or continue Ace Attorney.

 

[saturnineCarrier]

I keep finding secret GBV fans on this forum! They might be my favourite band. Didn't think in a hundred years anyone would recognize that lyric. (Maybe I should make an OT on EtcetEra and see if anybody shows up.)

Hmm... assuming I keep doing JRPGs, it'd be down to Dragon Quest IV, FFV, FFVII or maybe Chrono Trigger. Leaning towards DQIV for a change of pace.

If not, I'm getting the Yakuza itch so I might continue my file on Yakuza 4... or play a Resident Evil game, or continue Ace Attorney.

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Great band yeah! Love their early period. Great blend of creativity and naiveté. Not sure there are enough of us to sustain an OT though haha

That's a nice to do list. I admit I'm invested in your continuous final fantasy investigation, but there ain't a bad choice in this list

 

[Ultratech]

I'm not sure if the Famicom version, or a proper remake of this would change my mind, but holy christ. 2 was a million times more fun to play. I am fucking drained.

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Well...the Final Dungeon is still a grind in the Famicom version.
You really have to prepare for the trip since unlike the remakes, you don't fully recover HP/Spell Charges after every Boss, so the whole trek becomes a resource drain.

You still have to go through the Tower and fight all the bosses (if you don't fight the Crystal Bosses, then the Final Boss gets a big boost in HP).
That said, the Final Boss is a much more mindless fight since all it does is spam Flare Wave every turn, so it basically becomes a matter if you can outlast/outheal the damage being done.