Jeremy Gallen's Game Reviews

The Light Warriors' Last Crusade

The absence of English versions for the second and third mainline entries of the fabled Final Fantasy franchise resulted in off-numbering for the series in North America, players at the time oblivious to Japanese video game releases. The former would initially release in North America as part of the PlayStation Final Fantasy Origins collection, with the latter debuting outside Japan in its 3-D remake form on the Nintendo DS. Well over a decade later, the first six Final Fantasies would see further remakes as part of Square-Enix’s Pixel Remaster collection, with the Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster finally debuting legally in two dimensions for gamers worldwide.

The 2-D remake of the third entry follows the plot of the original Famicom version, with four orphans whom the player names, after an earthquake, exploring a cavern that opens as a result and finding a crystal of light, which grants them its power and tells them to restore the world’s balance. A handful of guest characters with their substories briefly join the player’s party, whose characters are largely interchangeable and lack meaningful backstory. However, the mythos is moderately intricate, and there are some decent twists for those absent knowledge of previous versions.

The translation is top-notch, with no spelling or grammar errors of which to speak, alongside reasonable in-game explanations as to the effects of items and magic spells. While the naming conventions are consistent, there are some unoriginal identifiers like Ur and Wheel of Time, not to mention an occasional anachronism such as the use of “Geronimo!” in a universe that lacks Indigenous Americans.

The four playable protagonists start as Onion Knights, which have no special abilities, but as the player revitalizes the world’s four elemental crystals, they can change to different classes, the earliest of which include Warrior, Monk, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, and Thief, each with its perks, and players will recall are the default vocations of the original Final Fantasy. The 2-D remake uses its 3-D precursor’s job-level development system, minus “crystal sickness” (a penalty for switching classes that lasted for a few battles), where the more often characters fight in specific vocations, the more they become proficient in them, with offensive allies able to deal more damage, for example.

In this case, it isn't a hallucination.

The structure of battles mimics that of the first two Pixel Remasters, where the player selects commands for their characters, after which they and the enemy exchange commands in a round. Little telling exists of who will go when, and the typical Japanese RPG cliché of foes being able to beat party members to healing recurs. The Boost system added to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions of the remake allows for as much as quadrupling experience and money gains from combat also returns, which can shave significant old-school brutality and allow most audiences to appreciate the mechanics at whatever difficulty they desire.

Akin to its Pixel Remaster predecessors, the third one includes numerous quality-of-life features such as autosaving when transitioning between the overworld to a dungeon or town or vice versa or going to a different floor or chamber in dungeons; a suspend save outside combat for whenever real life calls; autodashing, though movement on the overworld remains slower and fixed; and detailed dungeon maps that are incredibly helpful. Granted, players without prior knowledge of previous iterations of the third entry may find themselves lost at times, and the menu option for optimizing equipment isn’t always foolproof; still, the game interacts well with those who play it.

As with the first two Final Fantasies, Nobuo Uematsu composed the soundtrack, which is undoubtedly one of his best compositions for the franchise. Just about every track is solid, including “Eternal Wind,” the overworld theme that evokes a feeling of adventure; “The Altar Cave,” which gives a sensation of mystery; and both variations of the standard battle theme, one for regular battles and the other whenever the player’s characters have the miniature status ailment. There are occasional silent moments during cutscenes, but the sound effects, many of which carry on from the original 8-bit version, fit the milieu well, accounting for an excellent-sounding game.

The latest iteration of the third Final Fantasy utilizes the remastered visual style of its precursors, an upscaled version of that from the original Famicom version, with nice colors, pretty environments, good character sprites that are larger in battle, and decent enemy designs, with pixilation, as to the remake collection’s name, being readily apparent and evoking the feel of the game’s initial incarnation. Granted, reskins of enemies, even among the bosses, abound, along with inanimate enemies and the player’s characters telekinetically attacking foes without contacting them with their weapons, but the graphics certainly have their charms.

Lightning can strike the same place multiple times.

Finally, depending upon whether the player uses Boosts for the sake of challenge, high or low, one can cheese through the remaster in a little over six hours, though not using them can easily result in extensive playtime, maybe up to twenty-four hours. Lasting appeal exists with PlayStation Trophies, the adjustable difficulty, grinding to the maximum, filling the bestiary, and the game’s brevity. The only major strike in this area is the lack of narrative variation, even with different character classes.

In summation, the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy III proves a better remake than its 3-D Nintendo DS counterpart, given its accommodating game mechanisms, smooth control with plenty of quality-of-life features, solid audiovisual presentation, and above-average lasting appeal. However, while the narrative proved decent when the original was released, it has aged poorly, and though the translation is a great effort, it also has some lingering issues. Regardless, I enjoyed my time with the remake, given it puts quality well above quantity. Thus, I would easily recommend it to those who appreciated the previous Pixel Remasters and newcomers to Final Fantasy.

This review is based on a playthrough of the digital version downloaded to the reviewer's PlayStation 4 will all Boosts set to their maximum benefits.