Final Fantasy 3
Reviewed by Ryan Poirier
Released in the mid-1990s, 1994 I believe, Final Fantasy 3 is in my
opinion the best edition of the Final Fantasy series that exists.
Some may deny this and say that Final Fantasy VII is. In itself, FF7
*is* the best Final Fantasy, looking at story and graphics and so
on. However, I believe the major flaw of the game (and a big flaw
at that) is that it takes WAY TOO LONG to load. This due it's for the
PlayStation and is a CD-based game. CDs take time to load, and a
long time mind you. So that's a down side. As well, the characters
themselves in the game, when viewed really close-up, look
EXTREMELY RIDICULOUS. What's with the blocks for hands? I believe
this was due to save space, which is good, but they could have put a
little more detail, such as FINGERS! Of course, to the people who
are patient and don't mind blocky characters, AND the occasional
choppy animation and music, this game is a definite plus and the
best Final Fantasy game ever made! (Let's hope it gets better when
it's released for the PC! ^_~ ) Okay, now my 2 cents have been said,
let's move on the subject of the matter, Final Fantasy VI! (or Final
Fantasy 3, for the Japanese impaired)
Graphics 4.8 out of 5
EXCELLENT GRAPHICS throughout the entire game! Proof lies in the
opening credits as the three Magitek armors walk toward the village
of Narshe and the scenes of the airships silently approaching the
Empire. The many spells have excellent animation scenes, especially
the esper calls (let's not compare with the FF7 spell calls), although
the more simpler spells such as Fire1 are pretty much too basic. But,
in all, Final Fantasy 3 has supreme graphics that rules over most other
SNES games, not many dare to try to pass...
Music and Sound 5 out of 5
The Music, like Graphics, rise high over the competition. Every single
music piece suits its corresponding scene in the game. The character
music fits in very well with its character, such as Shadow, Setzer,
Terra, Mog (Kawaii!) and most notable, the ever-so tearful Celes. Celes'
theme, heard and remembered most during her performance at the Opera,
is notably the most sad song ever present in Final Fantasy. (Except maybe
for Rosa's and Rydia's in Final Fantasy 2, and even then...) Background music
for the Veldt ranks up there as well for very original.
Game Challenge 4.5 out of 5
Here, I am pretty severe on games. I feel that games should be fairly
easy for the beginner as to not to discourage and depress them, but
also present challenges to the experts. Final Fantasy 3 combines these
perfectly, as the beginner can get pretty far into the game without
taking a nervous breakdown and the expert can go deep into the game's
many hidden quests and try different paths on many occasions. All in
all, there's something for everyone in this GREAT GAME!
Game Play-Fun 5 out of 5
What is there to say? In basic terms: the game is FUN TO PLAY for RPG
fans. 'Nough said.
Frustration
The only frustration this game (And many other RPGs) is that you need
to raise your experience before going anywhere and gets millions of
gold to get the good stuff for everybody. However, this game is fairly
well spread out and you rarely need to spend HOURS raising experience,
although it's never a bad idea.
Replayability 3 out of 5
This is where most RPGs lose points. While the story is excellent,
graphics are superb, music is top-notch and whatever else, if the
player doesn't feel to replay the game, there's something wrong. I
feel this is due to the fact that you have to restart EVERYTHING from
scratch. You have zero gold, zero experience, zero everything. The only
excepting to this rule that I've seen is Chrono Trigger (another GREAT
RPG from SquareSoft) When you beat this game, you have the option of
restarting the game with the same stats as the game you beat it with.
In other words, if you beat the game with a Level 99 Crono, you can
choose to RESTART the game with a Level 99 Crono so you can breeze
through the game again just for the fun of it.
In my opinion, this factor SHOULD be present in EVERY RPG to make it
perfect! (Of course great graphics and everything else helps a GREAT DEAL)
Game Value 5 out of 5
WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! (That is, unless you paid like $200 for it.)
Overall 4.5 out of 5
Great story, great graphics, well-developed characters, everything a
box-office seller should have! GO GET IT!