It’s been a very long time since I completed Final Fantasy II. Finally it was time to get back in there for the third game. This one changes some things up with the mechanics and it’s pretty interesting how each of the first 3 games have had something experimental going on. I wonder if that will keep going with each title or if it’ll eventually settle into what I consider to be the classic RPG type.

The story starts with a vague message about light and darkness as we then cut to the main characters who are about to be tasked with saving the world. We’ve got a fairly varied crew here with a princess who is being a bit of a rebel, a classic hero type, a body guard, and other colorful characters. They have to bring the light back to the world and it turns out there are two worlds around as well. As you go to each land you learn more about the people and the troubles befalling them. The game’s early enough where I wouldn’t say the story is particularly deep but it is definitely there throughout compared to the first two games where often times there wasn’t really much dialogue happening at all.

Additionally a big change is that the main character himself can actually talk here. Trust me that’s a big change from the first two games where he was completely silent. I wouldn’t say that any of the characters particularly stand out though so that will be a job for the 4th game or maybe the installments after that. For now that just hasn’t happened yet and I would say the same is true of the villains. So that’s also part of why you won’t remember the story too clearly by the end either. You’re really here for the gameplay more than anything else so lets jump into that.

This game uses a classic level up system. You fight enemies in turn based combat and get stronger. One big change though is instead of an MP system you have magic divided into levels and none are learned as you level up. You have to buy each spell and then equip into the level slots for each character. Whether the character can actually use the spell will ultimately come down to which class you have equipped. Some classes simply can’t learn any spells and others can learn some but not others.

Aside from leveling up your own level you also level up the class that you have equipped as you go through the game. Everyone starts off with a standard class and then as the game goes on you can go into other ones. Ultimately I would say to leave Standard as soon as possible since it won’t help at all in the end. Also the reason you want to switch sooner than later is each class starts back at level 1 which lowers your attack power by a whole lot. For example if you’re level 70 but with a level 1 class then you’ll be hitting so weak that you may get folded by a level 40 opponent. Your equipment still comes into play as well but it can be tough enough to find strong weapons as it is.

I changed my class several times during the game which isn’t optimal so find your favorite one soon. I recommend one top tier healer class, 2 attacking ones, and then a dark mage. With that squad you will be well equipped to take on just about every challenge. I’m not going to say it is literally unbeatable or anything like that but it will be a very strong squad that is hard to stop. I was finally able to beat the game after getting everyone to level 75 and it still wasn’t what I would call easy so keep that in mind.

The final level is a boss rush of around 10 bosses which is really hard to deal with. You do get healed after 5 of those fights at least so you should plan them out well. In general this is one of my issues with the game though which is that you can only save outside of a dungeon. Some of these dungeons are fairly long so going all the way through one and then dying is rough. I lost to the final boss several times and it would always take around an hour to get back to where I was. It did help inflate the play time to over 40 hours but I think the game could have been a little more user friendly in that respect.

Meanwhile I also think the equipment could be a little less fussy. When you change classes all of your equipment is taken off because different classes accept different things. So often times you would have to go find a shop to get some equipment but most of the time the shop wouldn’t have all of the options. This then takes you back to square 1 which isn’t easy. Mix that in with a lack of a good map and that could make things tricky as well. Some of these issues really just come down to the game’s age but others are just game design choices that I would say did not work particularly well.

The graphics look pretty solid though and the soundtrack is on point. I would say the technical aspects are on point and of course I really can’t complain about the length. Being over 40 hours is really fantastic so I can’t possibly fault that. I don’t think you’re going to get much better than that in any RPG when going through the story since that’s not even counting the post game. There’s definitely a lot to do here so you’re getting a ton of bang for your buck. While it will take you a while to beat the game, there is always a lot of hope due to the nature of a level up system like this. For example if I had still been stuck I could have tried switching classes again, hard grinding to level 80, etc.

Now there is one huge pro tip I would mention now since I didn’t learn about this until the final boss. You can use any kind of spell on all allies at once by pressing the right arrow on your D Pad. Why? Who knows, but it’s a really good hidden feature. I started using the heal on everyone at once which was a massive game changer. I can tell you now that I would not have been able to defeat the final boss without that. Honestly I wonder if I could have beaten him at a lower level if I’d known about it sooner. So yeah this is a tip I recommend you really take to heart.

Overall, Final Fantasy III is a pretty fun game. The gameplay is fun and the overall experience is solid. I had some problems with a few of the gameplay mechanics here and there but in the end you’ll spend dozens of hours here and will be glad that you did. Final Fantasy is always the first title you think of when discussing long RPGs and the length here certainly lives up to it. You have to put in a lot of work to get to the end of the game but it’s all worth it and you will feel a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment.

Overall 7/10