Collection essentials #60: Final Fantasy III (NES)

Final Fantasy III represents a significant step up for the series. In some ways the game feels like a reimagining of the original, but much improved. The game reverts some of the changes made in Final Fantasy II. We’re back to a more traditional experience point level-up system. The characters are also once again customizable, rather than having predetermined names with a role in the story. 


The original Final Fantasy let you pick the classes of your four characters at the beginning of the game, which was a good idea. But III takes it a step further. What if you could pick what classes you want ALL THE TIME? That’s the big gameplay feature of III, which refers to classes as “jobs” perhaps to distinguish them from the original concept which may be viewed as permanent by default. There are a whole bunch of different jobs that you can assign to your characters as long as you have them unlocked, and the more time a character spends in a job, the more proficient they become using that job’s abilities. There are nearly two dozen jobs available in the game, and this provides for a more fun and dynamic gameplay experience. 


The game is also notable for introducing a race of creatures called Moogles. Picture a white teddy bear with squinted eyes and a pom-pom dangling from an antenna on its head, and little wings on its back (even though they don’t typically fly), and you have a decent mental image of what they look like. Like chocobos introduced in the previous game, Moogles would go on to serve as one of the mascots for the series and go on to appear in pretty much every game in some form. But unlike chocobos, which are normally depicted as animals, Moogles are usually intelligent beings that can speak, and their speech usually involves them randomly saying “Kupo!” at the end of their sentences. 


It was a long wait before Final Fantasy III eventually got an official English release in some form, the longest wait of any other game in the series. The Famicom original came out in 1990, and it wasn’t until a Nintendo DS remake in 2006 that it finally saw an international release. After II saw a remake get released in English in 2003, I remember that three-year period where III was the mysterious entry waiting for its turn in the worldwide sun, and I anticipated that 2006 release quite a bit, and I wasn’t disappointed. Like any RPG from the 8-bit era, Final Fantasy III certainly shows its age, but I think it’s considerably more enjoyable than the first two games. As you may guess from what I’ve already said, though, this is not the best way to experience this game, as there are actually now multiple remakes to enjoy, including the aforementioned remake which came with new 3D graphics and actual named characters, plus there’s also a fairly new “Pixel Remaster” version with enhanced 2D graphics on modern platforms.


There are greater Final Fantasy games to come, but Final Fantasy III is a cool stepping stone on which you can see many of the ideas and features that would be fully refined and fleshed out in future entries. This is the oldest game in the series that I think is genuinely worth playing for pure enjoyment, though I would save that recommendation for those who look for challenging gameplay in an RPG and don’t mind a forgettable story. It’s one of the best RPGs from its time period, and a legitimate essential to my collection.

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