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Final Fantasy Legend III review

Game: Final Fantasy Legend III
Platform: Game Boy
Genre: RPG (Fantasy)
Developer: Square
AKA: SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha (JP)

Reader review by ratking

February 16, 2004

Final Fantasy Legend III was the final game in the trilogy made for Nintendo's gameboy. While there was no storyline connection between the three games, the way fighting worked was similiar throughout them all, and just the pathway through the game had its moments of deja vu. Despite the few similiar inferences though, most of Final Fantasy Legend III is a step in a different direction, and while some of the innovations are positives, many of the others feel unneeded and take away from the entertainment value of the game.

When most gamers hear the phrase ''Final Fantasy'' they immediately think there is some engrossing story that could be novel or even a movie. In the early gameboy games, however, that was not the case. They had enough of a story to justify actions and keep the game interesting, but nothing to overwhelm you. This Final Fantasy story starts by introducing the three protagonists brought back from the future who must save the world. Kinda cliche, doncha think. Anyways, in you will need to find a ship to travel into the future and defeat a great evil; nothing to glamorizing there. While there is no development of the protagonists, there is some character development of individuals along the way, and the story is strong enough to keep you playing the game for the gameplay.

The gameplay is where Final Fantasy Legend III shines. It is a simple turn based RPG where you pcik whether to fight, use magic, items, or run. Nothing too special there... However, there are a few innovations. By defeating certain enemies you are able to gain meat and circuits, and you can use these products to customize your character. You can turn him into a beast giving him powerful magic skills, or a robot giving him the ability to use mechanics. While at times this innovation seems great, in most situations it is best to be either a human or a beast. The others have too many negatives holding you back, giving that customizing a minor negative. Along with the development, you also gain experience and levels like a typical RPG. By leveling up your character, he also can gain class into something more powerful. However, this has all been done before, so lets not get over excited.

The Gameboy was not known for neither graphics nor musical quality, however SQUARE used all of it's capabilities to make Final Fantasy Legend III. The background music is while soft and not as fancy as most modern games, it does have that old gameboy feel (you know what I mean, that magic made up of mostly bleeps). The Graphics are immense, and the world itself does look great, and so do most the characters. There are no battle animations, but they also means that battles move around more rapidly.

The battles are very difficult in Final Fantasy Legend III, making it one of the hardest games in the entire series. However, all three games of the trilogy require alot of skill, so if you have worked your way through the earlier two, you should know what to expect in the third. The bosses will not require strategy, but rather brute force, so be prepared to put your mind aside, and just depending on keeping yourself leveled up at all times.

Speaking of putting your mind aside, there is not much difficulty in Final Fantasy Legend III. It is a straight forward game, which bascially always tells you where to go next. Only at a few occasions would you ever even consider getting confused, but you will never need to get online or anything to beat this game.

Final Fantasy Legend III is a well made game for its time period, and a good conclussion to a great, yet unknown, trilogy. While it isn't as glamorous as modern day RPG's, I do reccomend it to any fan of the genre and the past history of Final Fantasy games. The minor innovations, and the simple gameplay is something that is enjoyable, but not too annoying (as long as you keep leveled up)

Rating: 8.5/10

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