Final Fantasy III (DS) (Nintendo DS) Preview

The way the story goes is that Nintendo desperately wanted Square Enix to resurrect Final Fantasy III for the GBA originally, but the company stone-walled Nintendo saying that it wanted to put out Final Fantasy I & II on the handheld first and would only then consider remaking the never-before-Westernised NES game. Of course what has happened now is that the two companies have become so close that we have already seen Final Fantasy IV revived on the GBA (due in June across Europe) and will be getting updated ports of FFV and VI as well for the 32-bit portable. As for Final Fantasy III, it has now become more of a priority for Square Enix, not only moving to the Nintendo DS, but becoming more important for the time being than its other DS Final Fantasy, the Wi-Fi enabled Crystal Chronicles.

In fact, so important is Final Fantasy III that it demanded a full-blown remake, rather than minor update, which is why the DS platform was selected. Gone are the flat, personality-lacking sprites of the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System original and in their place are solid three-dimensional characters that easily match, if not even surpass in places, those of the legendary Final Fantasy VII from the PSone! Who would have believed it? After the first generation of DS titles, not many that is for sure...But along with Tales of the Tempest from Namco's Tales Studio and Nintendo's own Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the DS is really showing why it was originally touted as being more powerful than the Nintendo 64.

So, let us start at the beginning, shall we? The storyline has always been an integral part of the Final Fantasy experience, driving the games into the hearts of gamers around the world and whilst the tale for Final Fantasy III may seem slightly basic in comparison to the vast, winding yarns that are weaved nowadays, there is still definitely enough to keep you gripped throughout this epic journey. Plus, each of the characters' backgrounds and personalities have been developed to deepen the sense of immersion even further. But the main point to focus on is that the original tale has not been tinkered with, and the general 'feel' of FFIII on the NES has not been messed around with. So FF purists can straight away breathe a sigh of relief...If anything, it has been ADDED to in order to help build upon the greatness already present. Therefore, via new episodes and events will be used as platforms to develop the characters and their background stories. So we will definitely get to know the three main men and leading lady that form your main party of four!

But what can we expect from the only Final Fantasy game in the main series to have not been localised for the Western world? Square Enix clearly wanted to do something special with it, so what have we been treated to? Well, for this third instalment, praised by the Japanese as being one of THE finest in the entire series, the Nintendo DS is being pushed much harder than anyone else, bar NST/Retro/Nintendo for Metroid Prime Hunters, has managed to do so far. Originally when FFIII was announced, Square Enix went on record to say that the graphical style would be similar to the revamped GBA ports, which made so many of us nearly break down and cry. Thankfully, though, it turned out that SEx was merely filling our behinds with smoke. Looking at the final result from the direct feed shots that recently emanated from Japan, the game is looking as hot, if not hotter, than the PSone's classic Final Fantasy VII. Cast your minds back to when the concept renders of FFVII were released for the proposed N64 version (before Sony 'stole' the game)...they looked quite amazing, right? Well, that is the level of quality we are getting here on the DS.

Square Enix treated gamers to wonderful FMV footage in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories on the humble Game Boy Advance and now it is set to push the envelope even further as it turns up the heat on the Nintendo DS. This version of FFIII has been confirmed as being fully three dimensional, complete with a moveable camera that activates during events (inside buildings, with a static zoom in / zoom out for in towns), and it will take full advantage of both screens of the DS. The bottom screen will be the one where all the main action takes place, mainly because Square Enix wanted to ensure touch-screen capabilities were incorporated to the fullest extent possible. Gamers will be able to select items, navigate the various menu systems, select various battle commands and so on, all with just the simple touch of the stylus. It has also been stated that whilst in the midst of dungeons, we will not have the benefit of having a map on display, in order to make exploration much more interesting.

The Producer of Final Fantasy III, Hiromichi Tanaka, recently told Japanese publication Famitsu that the work going into this new project is so different to the GBA FF ports due to the effort being poured into it to make the experience the best possible for us all. He stated that the original NES game was a technical wonder back when released and only now with the power of the DS can justice be done with an update. If players want to play through using just the touch screen they can, and now the even the job system has been reworked for our benefit. There will be twenty-three job classes for the characters to gain, with more balancing in place. For example, in his interview he specifically fingered the role of Viking as being an unpopular choice back in the original. So this time round more thought has gone into how it works. For instance, there will be capacity points that are required to change to certain jobs.

And of final note is that gamers can now save anywhere they want because of its portable nature, and there are plans to incorporate wireless features, even using Nintendo's online Wi-Fi Connection service, although details of the plans are currently unknown.