Final Fantasy III

About

"Final Fantasy III" is a remodeled 2D game with improved ease of play, featuring the original's timeless story and charming retro graphics. Players can experience the iconic job changing system, switching between classes like Warrior, Monk, and Mage, and utilizing various abilities. The game's graphics and sound have been beautifully revived with new pixel designs and updated sound, enhancing the overall experience for fans and newcomers alike.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,864 reviews

story178 positive mentions

grinding299 negative mentions

The job system allows for a lot of customization and experimentation with character classes.
The graphics and music are charming, providing a nostalgic experience for fans of the series.
The game offers a straightforward and enjoyable gameplay experience, making it accessible for newcomers.

The save system is frustrating, as players can only save on the world map, leading to potential loss of progress in dungeons.
There are significant difficulty spikes, particularly in the final dungeon, which can be punishing without adequate grinding.
The game suffers from various bugs, including a game-breaking issue that can prevent players from changing jobs or progressing in the story.

story
748 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
70%
6%
The story of Final Fantasy III is often described as simplistic and formulaic, revolving around the classic "warriors of light" trope tasked with saving the world from darkness. While the narrative lacks depth and complexity, the 3D remake introduces named characters with backstories, enhancing the overall experience compared to the original. Despite its clichés and occasional lack of direction, many players find the charm and nostalgia of the story enjoyable, especially for fans of classic JRPGs.
- “The enhanced job system, improved storytelling, and charming presentation make it a must-play for any RPG fan, especially those who, like me, have a soft spot for the classics.”
- “The story of the four warriors of light is beautifully told and the boss fights are challenging, but not too difficult with training.”
- “With updated graphics, improved gameplay mechanics, and a captivating story, Square Enix has successfully revitalized the third installment of the legendary Final Fantasy series.”
- “The story in FF3 is almost non-existent; the bad guy is bad and has four crystals, and from what I've heard, FF1 and FF2 are essentially the same.”
- “The story is very simple, not in a bad way, but you are not going to be able to dig into the lore of some cool universe here.”
- “The story is incredibly weak, but that's not why you're here.”
graphics
314 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
62%
6%
The graphics of the game, a remake of a classic title, have received mixed reviews. While some players appreciate the charming chibi art style and the nostalgic low-poly 3D visuals, others criticize them as outdated and reminiscent of early handheld graphics, particularly from the Nintendo DS era. Overall, the graphics are seen as serviceable but not groundbreaking, with many reviewers suggesting that they may not appeal to those accustomed to modern high-fidelity visuals.
- “The transition from the original 2D sprites to 3D graphics breathes new life into the game, immersing players in a vibrant and visually captivating world.”
- “One of the standout features of the 3D remake is the beautifully reimagined visuals.”
- “The graphics are very well done for being an older game and it has every great feature that made it one of the best FF games of the franchise.”
- “I absolutely hated N64 style graphics when this came out as they simply feel too dated to enjoy for the majority of games out there.”
- “The graphics are terrible, the gameplay and storyline are completely lacking any heart or substance, and the 3D element is horrible!”
- “Sadly, it often looks like they took the graphics from three different games and just threw them together without thought for the overall look of the game (battle environments are especially bad).”
grinding
303 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
99%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting it as excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring upwards of 80 hours to achieve full completion. While some appreciate the auto-battle feature that alleviates the monotony, others feel that the grinding is a necessary evil to progress, especially for job leveling and achieving 100% completion. Overall, the game is characterized by a significant amount of grinding, which can detract from the enjoyment for those not accustomed to the genre's traditional mechanics.
- “When you aren't grinding for hours, you'll be taking part in this game's story.”
- “If you play your cards right, it also requires no grinding whatsoever, which is always appreciated.”
- “The game is paced very well, with almost no grinding required whatsoever, which is rare for this genre, especially during the time this title was released prior to the remake.”
- “80+ hours of grinding is simply too much, especially when the entire game takes around 20 hours to finish… but of course that’s only a 'problem' if you want all achievements.”
- “The grind is monotonous and you'll spend hours in the same cave grinding jobs then hours in a different cave grinding levels.”
- “The grinding can mostly happen naturally if you explore everywhere, but you're still going to have to manually grind at certain points, particularly if you change jobs often.”
gameplay
303 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
69%
6%
The gameplay of Final Fantasy III (3D Remake) retains the classic turn-based combat and job system that fans of the series appreciate, offering a nostalgic experience with updated graphics and mechanics. While some players enjoy the strategic depth and character customization, others criticize the gameplay for being simplistic, repetitive, and occasionally unbalanced, with certain mechanics feeling outdated. Overall, it appeals to those seeking a traditional JRPG experience, though it may not satisfy players looking for modern complexity or innovation.
- “With updated graphics, improved gameplay mechanics, and a captivating story, Square Enix has successfully revitalized the third installment of the legendary Final Fantasy series.”
- “The gameplay is so straightforward that it manages to be satisfying.”
- “The job system, a hallmark feature of the game, allows characters to change their classes and develop diverse skill sets, adding depth and strategy to the gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is terribly slow by today's standards, and some jobs are not as balanced as others.”
- “The worst issue with the game is that it really doesn't inform about its mechanics at all, e.g. an item may have more effects than what its description tells you, or the game may only tell the half of a class's abilities.”
- “Its gameplay is where it fails on virtually every level: most of the jobs are useless, half the abilities in the game are bugged and simply don't work, and players will lose hours upon hours of progress due to a complete absence of in-dungeon save points.”
music
233 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
49%
5%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its nostalgic quality and strong compositions, particularly those by Nobuo Uematsu. However, several users noted issues with audio bugs, such as music not playing in certain areas or becoming repetitive over time. Overall, while the soundtrack is generally considered a highlight, it suffers from inconsistencies and a lack of variety in some instances.
- “The music is catchy and nostalgic, and thankfully does not get old during the playthrough despite being a limited soundtrack.”
- “Final Fantasy III (3D remake) features a remastered version of the beloved original soundtrack, which strikes a perfect balance between nostalgia and enhanced audio quality.”
- “The music sets the mood for each scene, evoking a range of emotions from excitement to melancholy.”
- “The final area in the game before the final boss battle had no music, and that was perhaps the biggest letdown for me in terms of the soundtrack.”
- “The variety in the music was limited, and you'd often hear the same songs repeated constantly throughout the entire game.”
- “Even the music is worse than the pixel remasters.”
stability
57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
4%
91%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of game-breaking glitches, freezing issues, and save corruption that render it nearly unplayable for many users. While some players have experienced minimal issues, the overwhelming consensus is that the game is plagued by bugs that disrupt gameplay and diminish the overall experience. Overall, the stability of this title is considered poor, with many recommending caution before purchasing.
- “Runs great on my PC and feels natural being in 3D.”
- “As far as how it handles, Final Fantasy 3 runs great on Steam.”
- “No glitches or anything weird.”
- “The game is also buggy, with quicksave having the potential to corrupt your save data, and glitches like passing through mountains and walking on the ocean while riding a chocobo.”
- “This game unfortunately is so buggy that it is unplayable. After I defeat the djinn, my game reverts back to the beginning of the story and soft locks. I have tried to restart and see if it was a one-off thing, but unfortunately it is not; each time I did this, it always came to the same outcome.”
- “There are so many glitches that are so unforgiving the game is basically unplayable.”
character development
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
Overall, character development in this game is largely criticized as minimal and shallow, with many reviewers noting a lack of depth and complexity in the characters' narratives. While the remakes have introduced some personality to the characters, particularly the onion knights, the development remains simplistic and does not significantly enhance the overall experience. The focus appears to be more on aesthetics and nostalgia rather than meaningful character growth or intricate storytelling.
- “The remakes added personalities to the nameless onion knights of the original, but they're pretty shallow; this is not an RPG with tons of character development and conflict.”
- “Square Enix added a little bit of character development into the reworked version that at least helps to better differentiate the characters from one another.”
- “They really improved the character development of the protagonists though.”
- “All in all, there's basically no story, and no character development.”
- “The narrative and dialogue are fairly simplistic and do little to highlight plot twists or character development.”
- “There really isn't much character development.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, such as slow job leveling impacting gameplay and crashes due to memory usage. While a few users reported no performance problems on lower-end hardware, others noted that the port lacks proper optimization for PC, leading to lag and audio quality issues. The presence of a settings launcher offers some customization options, but many hope for further improvements to achieve smoother performance.
- “I can't speak much for optimization, but there does seem to be more options to play with in the game's launcher than before... yes, this game also has a launcher to change settings.”
- “I mostly played this on a crappy laptop while traveling, had literally no performance issues.”
- “No performance issues on my i3 Intel HD 4400 potato laptop.”
- “This port is held back by horrible audio quality and terrible performance.”
- “But even worse, because of how slowly the jobs level, and how much the job level impacts performance, you are heavily discouraged from ever switching jobs at all!”
- “I watched my task manager performance, and the game slowly started to eat up more and more RAM, until everything crashed, and everything was gone.”
replayability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
53%
20%
The game's replayability is generally praised due to its extensive job system, allowing for diverse party setups and customization, which encourages multiple playthroughs. However, some players note limitations caused by specific boss mechanics and a lack of freedom in experimenting with job classes, which can hinder replay value. Overall, while the game offers significant replay potential, it may not be as accessible or varied as other RPGs.
- “Almost infinitely replayable.”
- “It has the good old job system that makes it extremely replayable.”
- “The game gets better as it goes along, fortunately, and the vast job system does provide a lot of replay value.”
- “The gameplay is fun, but the replayability is hampered by certain bosses only being defeatable by one specific damage type (melee only or magic only), which limits the overall experience.”
- “These sections also hurt the game's replay value, since even experienced players don't always have total freedom to experiment with the different job classes and set up the party they want to use.”
- “While the characters and story may not be as compelling as other RPGs, for sheer gameplay and replayability, this game wins out over most.”
humor
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of quirky job system mechanics and amusingly mismatched monsters, contributing to a lighthearted experience that is more entertaining than its predecessors. While the storyline is somewhat clichéd, it includes surprising plot twists and humorous moments that enhance the overall enjoyment, despite some hidden comedic elements being sparse. Overall, players find the game to be funny and engaging, making it a worthwhile experience for newcomers to the series.
- “In spite of this, the game is enjoyable and funny.”
- “It's more humorous than FF I & II.”
- “The story is pretty clichéd and bland compared to the later Final Fantasy titles, but it still doesn't fail to entertain as it is filled with many surprises, plot twists, and some humorous moments.”
emotional
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90%
30%
The emotional aspect of the game elicits mixed responses; while some players find it heartwarming and nostalgic, praising its memorable characters and crafted narrative, others criticize it for lacking depth and emotional engagement compared to later entries in the series. The game is noted for its emotional music and moments, but technical issues and bland character development detract from the overall experience for some players.
- “For those like me who played this game as a child, it's a heartwarming experience revisiting this classic.”
- “Embarking on a quest to save the world from darkness, the game takes players on an epic journey filled with memorable characters, surprising plot twists, and heartfelt moments.”
- “Honestly, I feel that I am a better person now because of the emotional effects that some of the tracks have.”
- “Bland characters and a boring story make it hard to feel any emotional connection to the game.”
- “The uninteresting plot and ridiculous grinding detract from any potential emotional impact.”
- “This game suffers from a clunky port, which only adds to the frustration and disconnect from the emotional experience.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
23%
33%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its ability to engage players, with iconic melodies and emotional tunes enhancing the experience. However, some reviews note that the graphics and soundtrack suffer due to its origins as a DS port, leading to a more generic, cartoony feel that may not resonate with all fans of the franchise. Overall, while the atmosphere is a highlight for many, it is somewhat diminished by technical limitations.
- “The steam version is a pimped-up version of the Nintendo DS remake and offers a great atmosphere that encourages you to continue playing.”
- “The iconic melodies and atmospheric tunes perfectly capture the emotions of each moment, enhancing the overall experience and creating a lasting impression.”
- “The chibi style is very good and gives a lot of atmosphere.”
- “You know I love Final Fantasy, and the franchise is known for the deep stories, the characters and their developments, the music, the atmosphere, and the emotions... sadly this game is really subpar in terms of those.”
- “This game, however, goes for a more generic, cartoony atmosphere as part of an appeal to younger and more casual gamers.”
- “I really liked the atmosphere of the game, though the game graphics and soundtrack suffer a bit under being a DS port.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game is criticized as a quick cash grab, with users noting that it feels like a rushed and buggy port rather than a polished product.
- “This is just a buggy, rushed port for a quick cash grab off the PC market.”