![]() ![]() Internally the battles are simple affairs - this game was created before Square's trademark Active-Battle system and so is turn-based in the most orthodox sense of the phrase. Character redesigns were handled by Akihiko Yoshida before names (originally the four leads were nameless) and back stories were added to each. Boss fights are generally over-tough and you will need to spend much time simply walking up and down areas fighting identikit battles to upgrade you team's core stats - something which always feels like poor or negligent pacing rather than a conscious and reasonable design decision. This is disingenuous as it forces the player to stay within small areas to level up rather than encouraging gently curved exploration. Wander even slightly off the narrative path (something easy to do as the game's progression is remarkably poorly sign-posted) and the game will punish you mercilessly with powerful enemies far beyond your team's current capacity. In fact, the game's difficulty is a big problem even for veterans. Random battles in late eighties/early nineties RPGs were far more capricious and frequent than the genre's younger fans will be used to. In spending all of their time updating the game's looks, Square have neglected to tweak, balance or update any of these other primitive sins. But, although obviously unfair, you can't escape the fact that the plot is hackneyed and the gameplay formative. ![]() Criticising the game for it's hackneyed storyline (four orphans, four crystals, an airship and mission to save the world) or it's clichéd mechanics (explore the world, fight monsters in random battles, find and upgrade armour and weapons and explore towns and dungeons) is obviously unfair as, when this game was first released in 1990, its storyline was fresh and its gameplay formative. But play for a few hours and the make-up cracks, unable to conceal the antiquated mechanisms and functions it so thickly covers. ![]() A few sub-characters join your team occasionally (usually in order to be escorted) but they are always uncontrollable and pitch in to help your team out randomly.Īll of which can seduce you into thinking this is a fresher game than it really is. Indeed, the graphical overhaul of this ancient RPG is consistently arresting and, while it might not rival the slick curves of the top level PSP output, it's the prettiest and most technically impressive title we've yet played on Nintendo's handheld. Then, as the game plonks your character, the orphaned lead, Luneth, deep in the armpit of a cavernous maze you'll marvel at how remarkably close in quality the character models, textures and environments are to Final Fantasy VII. The game's astonishing introduction sequence is the sweetest of eye candy and you'll gawp as it hopskotches between the DS's top and bottom screens with showboating flair. Initially, you'll be wondering who upgraded your DS with the ability to display PS2-quality full motion video and perform soaring (if tinny) orchestral soundtracks. Similarly, Final Fantasy III DS might always be pretty, but it's rarely beautiful - the potential pitfall being that, if we're honest, boys like us always have a tough time distinguishing the two at first. The transformation is terribly impressive for the cameras and, y'know, you kinda fancy her for it, but still. Her tweed, sensible trousers have been tailored down to rude mini-skirt granny stockings swapped for provocative fishnets and that blue rinse bob repainted blonde, flowing and coyly curled. She's had her face sculpted back to 18-year-old porcelain perfection, skin ironed so as to wipe away the wrinkled scrawl of merciless, advancing years. Excuse the unpleasant analogy but Final Fantasy III DS, which has never previously been released outside Japan, is your grandmother in the aftermath of a miracle TV-makeover. ![]()
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