Final Fantasy III
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| Final Fantasy III | |
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| Developer(s) | Square |
| Publisher(s) | Square |
| Designer(s) | Hironobu Sakaguchi (director) Masafumi Miyamoto (producer) Kenji Terada (scenario writer) Hiromichi Tanaka (designer) Kazuhiko Aoki (designer) Yoshitaka Amano (character designer) Nobuo Uematsu (composer) |
| Series | Final Fantasy |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Family Computer, Nintendo DS |
| Release date | JP April 27, 1990 |
| Genre(s) | Console role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media | 4 megabit cartridge |
| Input methods | Game controller |
Final Fantasy III (ファイナルファンタジーIII Fainaru Fantajī Surī?) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) in 1990 for the Nintendo Family Computer as the third installment in the Final Fantasy series. It is the first numbered Final Fantasy game to feature the job-change system, and was one of the largest role-playing games created for Nintendo's console.
The story involves four orphaned youths who come across a crystal, which grants them a portion of its power and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Shocked but heartened, the four inform their adoptive family of their mission and set out to explore and bring back balance to the world.
Until an enhanced remake was released on the Nintendo DS on August 24, 2006, the game had never been released outside of Japan, at the time making it the only Final Fantasy game not released in North America and Europe.[1] There had been earlier plans to remake the game for Bandai's WonderSwan Color handheld (as had been done with the first two installments and the fourth game), but the game faced several delays and was eventually cancelled after the premature death of the platform.
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[edit] Gameplay
The gameplay of Final Fantasy III combines elements of the first two Final Fantasy games with new features. The turn-based combat system remains in place from the first two games, but hit points are now shown on top of the target when attacked or healed, rather than captioned as in the original versions of the previous two games. Auto-targeting for physical attacks after a friendly or enemy unit is killed is also featured for the first time.
The experience point system featured in Final Fantasy makes a return following its absence from Final Fantasy II. A class system is also featured; however, unlike in Final Fantasy I, where the player chooses each character's class alignment at the start of the game, and Final Fantasy II, where there are no specific classes, Final Fantasy III introduces the "job system" for which the series would become famous. Jobs themselves are basically interchangeable classes: In the original version of the game, all four characters start out as "Onion Knights," but before long the player is given the option to have them switch to a variety of other classes. Final Fantasy III is the first game in the series to feature special battle commands such as "Steal" or "Jump," each of which is associated with a particular job ("Steal" being the Thief's specialty, while "Jump" is the Dragoon's forte). It is also the first game in the series to feature summoned creatures and called with the "Summon" skill. Several classes were altered (such as additional abilities) in the Nintendo DS version to improve balance.
[edit] Plot
[edit] Setting
One thousand years before the game, on a floating continent hovering high above the surface of an unnamed planet, a technologically advanced civilization sought to harness the power of the four elemental crystals of light. They did not realize that they could not control such fundamental forces of nature. This power of light would have consumed the world itself had the light crystals not had their natural counterparts: the four dark elemental crystals. Disturbed by the sudden interruption of the careful balance of the light and the dark, four warriors were granted the power of the dark crystals to recontain the power of the light crystals. These so-called Dark Warriors succeeded in their quest, and restored harmony to the world. But their victory came too late to save the doomed civilization. Their culture was reduced to ruin, though their floating continent remained. On that continent, the circle of Gulgans, a race of blind soothsayers and fortune-tellers, predicts that events will ultimately repeat. The power of darkness can be just as abused as the power of light; when it occurs, then the crystals of the light will need to call forth their own warriors to restore balance.
[edit] Characters
Final Fantasy III features four orphans, two of which- Luneth and Arc are raised at the remote village of Ur by the priest, Topapa. When the Wind Crystal sinks to the earth due to an earthquake one day, the four characters go to investigate. They manage to get lost, but eventually stumble upon the Crystal. The Crystal tells them of Xande's plans to conquer the world using Darkness, which could upset the balance of Light and Dark and lead to detrimental effects. It then proceeds to bestow the first Legendary Job Classes upon the four. From there on, the four become Warriors of the Light, and leave Ur in their quest. Granted the power of the Light, the Warriors begin to combat the darkness that increasingly consumes the world. As the other Crystals they encounter provide them more Jobs, the four Warriors become a formidable party strong enough to save the world from the darkness.
The remake of the game for the Nintendo DS features a new set of party members, each with new backstories and personalities.
[edit] Story
One day, an earthquake opens up a previously hidden cavern in Altar Cave near the village of Ur on the floating continent. Four orphaned youths under the care of Topapa, the village elder, go exploring and come across a crystal of light. The crystal grants them a portion of its power, and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Not knowing what to make of the crystal's pronouncements, but nonetheless recognizing the importance of its words, the four inform their adoptive family of their mission and set out to explore an overworld outside the area in which they were brought up to bring back balance to the world.
Their adventures bring them to discover that there lies a whole world beyond the boundaries of the floating continent upon which they were living. In the world below, they discover a demon named Xande is trying to possess the crystals of light to bring chaos and disorder. The adventures take four warriors eventually to the Crystal Tower where they discover that the Cloud of Darkness has been manipulating the whole situation, in an attempt to bring back a similar situation as the Flood of Light a thousand years earlier, so that they can pull the whole world in the void. The warriors from the light must traverse into the domain of the dark crystals to free the imprisoned dark warriors and defeat the Cloud of Darkness once and for all, therefore restoring the crystals and balance once again.
[edit] Development
Final Fantasy III was thought to be popular in Japan, and an English language release was thought of, but all of Square's resources were being used to work on the game and its sequel, Final Fantasy IV.[2] The game was one of the largest RPGs developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System, filling the cartridge, which also made it difficult to port to other systems.[2] On the fifteenth anniversary of the games release, it was decided that the game should be remade. Originally considered for development on the PlayStation 2, but Nintendo requested that they release the game on their new portable console, the Nintendo DS, and they accepted.[2] It was estimated that completing the game would take 30 hours.[2]
Final Fantasy III was the first game in the series to use summoned monsters, which became a defining part of the Final Fantasy series, and also the first use of the job system where players are allowed to choose a job for their characters to learn, instead of having it chosen for them.[2] Final Fantasy III was noted for its high difficulty, which was later retained for the DS remake.[3]
[edit] Cancelled WonderSwan Color version
Bandai unveiled their WonderSwan Color handheld system in 2000 and had immediately headed up a deal with Square Co. to release enhanced remakes of their first three Final Fantasy titles on the new console.[4] Although Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II were both released within a year of the announcement, Final Fantasy III was ultimately delayed from its late 2001 release date, even after Bandai picked up the game's publishing rights.[5] Although no official cancellation was mentioned by Square, the game's official website was taken down after production of the WonderSwan Color consoles ceased.[6] Instead, a port of Final Fantasy IV was made for the WonderSwan Color. Shortly after Square joined with Enix to form Square Enix in 2003, the company posted assurance that the game's promised remake would not be completely forgotten, and there was speculation that it might find its way to Sony's PlayStation or Nintendo's Game Boy Advance as its predecessors had.[7][8] This would finally come in the form of a Nintendo DS release in 2006. In 2007, producer Hiromichi Tanaka explained in an interview that the WonderSwan Color remake had been abandoned because the structure of the coding of the original NES game was too difficult to recreate on WonderSwan Color.[9]
[edit] Nintendo DS version
The remake of Final Fantasy III was already in development when it was decided, after considering the PlayStation 2 and other consoles, to bring the game to the Nintendo DS, a decision that would later be positively reinforced by the commercial success of the Nintendo DS.[10] The Final Fantasy III remake was first announced to be in development on October 7, 2004, but detailed information did not emerge until a year later. Hiromichi Tanaka, one of the main designers of the Nintendo Famicom version, headed the project as both the executive producer and director. His guidance and supervision were needed because the remake was not a mere graphical update as Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II's remakes were, but a total overhaul using the Nintendo DS's 3D capabilities, which allowed the game to have more than one viewpoint; however, the layout of the dungeons and towns closely matches the original. Along with 3D graphics, a full motion video opening scene has been made for the game, similar to those found in the ports of the 2D Final Fantasy games for the PlayStation. The game also has a Mognet system where players can register other players' friend codes, online using Wi-Fi or the local area network, and trade mail, which is essential in unlocking a secret job, quest, and area. Developer Matrix Software handled the programming of the game.[11]
[edit] Musical score
Final Fantasy III was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, and it is Uematsu's twenty-first work of video game music. Several of the game's songs were used in Chocobo Racing, including the opening theme ("Crystal Cave") and the final battle theme. Final Fantasy III: Yūkyū no Kaze Densetsu, an arranged album by Uematsu featuring vocals by Dido, a Japanese vocal duo of Michiaki Kato and Shizuru Ohtaka, was also released. The score was later arranged by Tsuyoshi Sekito and Keiji Kawamori for the Nintendo DS version as the Final Fantasy III: Original Soundtrack.
[edit] Reception
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Final Fantasy III was thought to be typical of RPGs of its day, consisting of a high degree of difficulty and significant amount of time spent in combat increasing the characters levels in order to advance through the game.[2] It was very influential in the development of the magic system and job systems of Final Fantasy XI.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2004-10-07). Miyamoto Speaks to Final Fantasy Producer. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
- ^ a b c d e f Fahey, Rob (2007-03-13). Fantasy Reborn. Eurogamer. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ a b Nickel, Thomas (2006-01-01). Hiromichi Tanaka — Final Fantasy III. g-wie gorilla. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ Harris, Craig (2000-09-08). Final Fantasy Goes WonderSwan Color. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
- ^ Witham, Joseph (2003). Final Fantasy III Still WonderSwan Bound. RPGamer. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ Eve C. (2002). WSC FFIII Vanishes, FFI-II Remake In The Works. RPGFan. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ Long, Andrew; Kanda, Jesse (2003). Final Fantasy III Finally On Deck. RPGamer. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ Riley, Adam (2006-08-05). Final Fantasy III: Nintendo DS. Cubed3.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ Hartley, Adam (2007-02-01). SPOnG Interview: Square Enix's Senior VP Hiromichi Tanaka. SPOnG. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ Nix (2006-09-24). TGS 2006: Square on Final Fantasy III. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
- ^ "Creator's Voice" - The Final Fantasy III Interview. zgameBrink.com (2006-08-10). Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
[edit] External links
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