Final Fantasy III DS

[Gerudo]

suprised there aren't any topics about this yet.

we all know it's a 3D remake and whatnot, and i am loving it so far. (i hadn't played the original).

anyone else pick this up?

[Warlock]

Picked it up last night and played it for a couple hours:

Pros:
-Extremely hard, which I think is good. They did not puss out and water it down to match modern FF games. I mean, I actually died really early in the game for exploring an area I shouldn't have. Items are 100% necessary. It actually takes some skill to play this game and you have to think your moves ahead. I like that
-Job system = always good. I don't fully understand how leveling works (it's not as strait-forward as FFV) but I like it so far.
-Reminds me of what a FF game on the N64 would have probably looked like if they didn't jump ship for PSX
-Awesome FMVs

Cons:
-Extra screen is not used very well. IGN complained about this in their review. I sort of agree, but at the same time I sort of disagree. For the map, I really like it. But personally I really think they should have used it for at least a status screen - to see your current HP (and MP perhaps?), job, xp, etc. The blank screen in some areas doesn't really bother me (saves batteries I guess) but it seems like they could have at least found something to do with it.
-For a game that doesn't really use the touch screen (you *can* use it but you don't have to), I wish there was an option to swap screens. I'd rather have most of the action on the top screen. It's easier to see (and this is where my GBA titles go )
-Menu is accessed via R button instead of Start.. WTF? This is annoyingly unnecessary and at the very least I'd have liked an option to setup my controls so I could assign it to Start. Or it should have been both - Start does *nothing*.
-Pace is a little slow.. and by that I mean, there is no ATB system first off. So you assign the turns of all four guys. Then you watch them play out in whatever order the game decides they are supposed to be in. Then once you win, you have to sit through one of those slow victory cheering things while it tabulates your XP, Gil, level-ups, etc. And there's no way to button press your way through that fast, which is why it slows down a bit.
-I don't really like the L-button camera zoom, if only because it's forced upon you. There are little sparkles that mean there's an item in a pot, or there s a switch that opens a secret passage. These only show up when you zoom in all the way (and it's annoying to move around zoomed in). So you have to constantly do it whenever you think there *might* be sparkles in a room. It's tedium that's not needed. At least *show* the sparkles zoomed-out and rely on my eagle eye to spot them.. don't force me to zoom in every two seconds.
-Graphics are a little underwhelming. I can't tell if it's so much of a hardware issue or what. I realize it's basically N64 hardware, so I don't fault it for that. But textures seem incredibly pixelated. When you zoom in especially, it looks like they almost use 2d sprites for a lot of stuff (think trees in Mario Kart 64) and when you do a zoom on those they get SUPER pixelated. The main character (first one you get) also has like a retarded grin on his face all the time when they show him up close. He looks kind of stupid

Anyways, those are my impressions. Don't let all the negatives fool you though, the game is awesome. A lot of those are nitpicky things that bugged me. But they won't stop me from enjoying the game.

[ZTC]

I'm thinking of buying a DS and FFIII this weekend just for that game. I want to see how different it is from the translated Famicom version, too. ^_^;

[gdorf]

I am picking it up tonight, I can't wait.

This is my first experience with the game.

[*b*]

I got it yesterday, and I love it. It's so much better than the other games for the GBA (FFI&II, IV, haven't tried V yet) with the menu systems. They're so smooth, and it's actually pretty quick with loading areas and battles, which is good

I also like how they made all the enemies in 3D, as well as the characters. Also that they gave different models for each job for each character. That rocks

And Warlock, pretty much everything IS 2D. The only things I noticed that aren't, so far, is the ground, characters, enemies, and walls. Even the houses in towns are 2D, which suprised me, but the 2D objects are very convincing as far as I'm concerned

[Daarkseid]

I also like how they made all the enemies in 3D, as well as the characters. Also that they gave different models for each job for each character. That rocks

Whats really cool about the enemies in 3D, is that their models are directly based on the 2d, 8-bit enemies in the famicom version. The carbuncles, eye fangs and wisps look exactly as they did in the Famicom version, except now animated and 3d. Very cool indeed.

[KJAZZ]

I bought this recently, but haven't really gotten a chance to play it yet. Been playing Super Robot Taisen OG2, and I plan to play this right after I finish that. I think it's a bit much for me to play FF5 and then launch right into another FF that involves the job system...

[Daarkseid]

I don't really like the L-button camera zoom, if only because it's forced upon you. There are little sparkles that mean there's an item in a pot, or there s a switch that opens a secret passage. These only show up when you zoom in all the way (and it's annoying to move around zoomed in). So you have to constantly do it whenever you think there *might* be sparkles in a room. It's tedium that's not needed. At least *show* the sparkles zoomed-out and rely on my eagle eye to spot them.. don't force me to zoom in every two seconds.

So far, this feature seems to be implemented as a replacement from the original version, where hidden items were found either by pressing A repeatedly when searching pots, or in the case of items hidden in grass, the telltale obstruction of your character's movement onto a grass square tips the player off.

As for other things like hidden switches, there were either NO signs of where they were or you had to go off an NPC's explanation of the switches location.

The zoom in feature I guess is a replacement of the tedious method of pressing A repeatedly on various objects, with the tedious method of zooming in.

EDIT: Hah hah! I'm loving this!

Spoiler: show

The ghosts in Kazus are flat outlines of people, just like in the original.

EDIT.. again: X seems to activate the menu, just as it does in FFIV-VI for the SNES.

[gdorf]

Has anyone else noticed the insane difficulty in this game? Sofar, I've done each dungeon twice: one time to build my levels and the second time to fight the boss. I'm really enjoying the game, I was just surpirised at the difficulty compared to the other FF games I've played.

[Anthus]

If I had $10 more, I would have gotten it instead of Metroid Prime Hunters... Damn. I do want it though. I played the original "de-japed" NES ROM.