Final Fantasy Legend III
Encyclopedia
Final Fantasy Legend III, originally released in Japan as , is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Co.
for the Game Boy
handheld system as the third game of their SaGa series. Initially released for Japanese audiences in December 1991, the game was made available in North America nearly two years later in September 1993. While the title retains many similarities to its predecessors in terms of style and gameplay, the game's development was headed by series newcomer Chihiro Fujioka
, who also served as composer alongside Ryuji Sasai
. The North American version of the game saw a re-release alongside the two other Final Fantasy Legend titles in July 1998 courtesy of Sunsoft. In 2010, an enhanced remake of the game was announced for the Nintendo DS titled , featuring three-dimensional graphics, new story elements, and an arranged soundtrack.
The story of Final Fantasy Legend III combines fantasy
and sci-fi elements, with the player assuming the role of three characters who were sent back in time to prevent a massive global flood caused by a being known as the Pureland Water Entity from destroying the world. To accomplish their mission, the three heroes, along with companions aiding them on their journey, must travel through time by augmenting their flying time ship, the Talon, with 13 upgrade units from the past and future.
Interface for the game is a basic menu system. Players can view status and information from a character menu pressing Start. During combat, the player gives battle orders with menu's for each character in turn. The directional pad moves an image of a character representing the party while not in combat. Information is learned by talking to people and monsters. Final Fantasy Legend III differs from the previous two games in the SaGa series in the fact that instead of choosing character classes at the start of the game, a character's class may change by eating the meat of monsters and beasts, or installing the parts of cyborgs and robots after they are defeated in battle. Doing so will immediately effect a change in the character's class.
Each character starts at their default class (human or mutant depending on the character), and when fed meat will transform into a beast (if fed any kind of meat), and then a monster (if fed monster meat). When parts are installed into a character he/she will become a cyborg (by installing any kind of parts), and then a robot (by installing robot parts). Meat and parts counter each other: if a Beast has parts installed, he will revert to the default class; likewise, if a cyborg eats meat, he/she will also revert to the default class. Each class also has specific weak and strong points.
Curtis – A mutant who was sent along with Arthur from the future. He is proficient in casting black magic.
Gloria – A mutant who was sent along with Curtis and Arthur from the future. She is an able healer and a skilled user of white magic.
Sharon – The granddaughter of the Elder of Dharm in the present. She is raised by her grandfather, along with the three youths sent from the future. She starts out as a human fighter who appears to have a minor crush on Arthur.
Borgin- An influential leader in the future, Borgin masterminds the plan to combat Pureland by sending Arthur and the youths back in time, to the present.
Myron- A powerful human warrior who grows up with and trains the party.
Dion- A small boy of Dharm (possibly a relation to the Elder) who later grows up to be a rebel leader in the future.
Faye- A small girl of Dharm (possibly Dion's sister) who later grows up as a powerful warrior and the only person who can take Xcalibur from Zhaakal.
Lara- A young girl raised by Granny of Elan. She is brainwashed by Dogra, but Arthur eventually saves her.
development department, who were later responsible for production of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
. Producer Chihiro Fujioka
noted that in addition to creating the game, they were also establishing themselves as a department, and as a result a great deal of effort was put into the game. The team decided to overcome the Game Boy's limitations by leaving some aspects to the player's imagination instead. In the case of graphics, this meant establishing first an object, then its shadows, allowing the player to visualize the missing colors themselves; a similar concept was applied to the game's music to overcome the limitation of working with only three notes for composition.
As Fujioka worked on the game's programming, composer Ryuji Sasai
stated he would handle the game's music, though a musician himself Fujioka opted to contribute additional songs to the game. Sasai compared the limitations with the audio to a guitar capable of only six tones, though the cartridge capacity for the Game Boy at the time provided some difficulty. As a result, they concentrated on smaller songs, reducing the length of the tracks until they felt the music gave the proper impression.
The English translation of Final Fantasy Legend III was the first project of translator Ted Woolsey
at Square, given Final Fantasy IIs translated script as an example and instructed to ensure "there were no ‘repeats’ of that mess".
announced that a remake of Final Fantasy Legend III for the Nintendo DS
was being developed and would feature fully three-dimensional cel-shaded
graphics. It will be released on January 6, 2011.
called it "a good RPG" and "definitely a good buy", citing the game's graphics and story as its high points, giving it a score of 8/10 and giving it an Editor's Choice Gold Award. Nintendo Power
largely agreed, stating that the game had "[e]xcellent game depth and good graphics for a Game Boy RPG", but found the title's story and gameplay to be too similar to previous Final Fantasy Legend games, warning "don't expect anything new in this game", giving the game a score of 3.35 / 5. IGN
called attention to the game's dated graphics and "imperfect" soundtrack, yet still found the game's music to be better than most Game Boy titles. They additionally found fault with the game's "poorly designed" equipment screen, stating it "makes distinguishing equipped items of the same class almost impossible", though declared it to be accessible even to novice players.
GameDaily
named it alongside the related Game Boy Final Fantasy titles as definitive games for the system, describing it as providing "hours of role-playing excitement, whether you were waiting in a dentist's office or on the way to Grandma's house." The sentiment was shared by gaming magazines Electronic Gaming Monthly and Pocket Games, the latter of which ranked the titles together 8th out of the Top 50 games for the Game Boy.
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
handheld system as the third game of their SaGa series. Initially released for Japanese audiences in December 1991, the game was made available in North America nearly two years later in September 1993. While the title retains many similarities to its predecessors in terms of style and gameplay, the game's development was headed by series newcomer Chihiro Fujioka
Chihiro Fujioka
is a video game director at the Nintendo second-party developer AlphaDream. He was previously a composer of several video games, making contributions to the Burai and Final Fantasy Legend series. His directing work includes Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Koto Battle: Tengai no...
, who also served as composer alongside Ryuji Sasai
Ryuji Sasai
is a Japanese former video game composer and bass guitarist. He is best known for his work on Xak, Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Sasai is noted for his rock style. His musical career came about when he was 15 years old and he formed a band...
. The North American version of the game saw a re-release alongside the two other Final Fantasy Legend titles in July 1998 courtesy of Sunsoft. In 2010, an enhanced remake of the game was announced for the Nintendo DS titled , featuring three-dimensional graphics, new story elements, and an arranged soundtrack.
The story of Final Fantasy Legend III combines fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and sci-fi elements, with the player assuming the role of three characters who were sent back in time to prevent a massive global flood caused by a being known as the Pureland Water Entity from destroying the world. To accomplish their mission, the three heroes, along with companions aiding them on their journey, must travel through time by augmenting their flying time ship, the Talon, with 13 upgrade units from the past and future.
Gameplay
Each character starts at their default class (human or mutant depending on the character), and when fed meat will transform into a beast (if fed any kind of meat), and then a monster (if fed monster meat). When parts are installed into a character he/she will become a cyborg (by installing any kind of parts), and then a robot (by installing robot parts). Meat and parts counter each other: if a Beast has parts installed, he will revert to the default class; likewise, if a cyborg eats meat, he/she will also revert to the default class. Each class also has specific weak and strong points.
Plot
A creature known as the Pureland Water Entity engulfed the world in a great flood. The entity drew monsters onto the land and low lying cities have been abandoned. As a party of four warriors sets out to confront the entity, several youths from the future arrive to help, and it is realized that the Entity's destruction is occurring in the past and future as well. The group then collects pieces of the ship Talon in the past, present, and future to defeat the Entity.Characters
Arthur – The main character of the game. He was sent back in time from the future to the present. He starts out as a human fighter.Curtis – A mutant who was sent along with Arthur from the future. He is proficient in casting black magic.
Gloria – A mutant who was sent along with Curtis and Arthur from the future. She is an able healer and a skilled user of white magic.
Sharon – The granddaughter of the Elder of Dharm in the present. She is raised by her grandfather, along with the three youths sent from the future. She starts out as a human fighter who appears to have a minor crush on Arthur.
Borgin- An influential leader in the future, Borgin masterminds the plan to combat Pureland by sending Arthur and the youths back in time, to the present.
Myron- A powerful human warrior who grows up with and trains the party.
Dion- A small boy of Dharm (possibly a relation to the Elder) who later grows up to be a rebel leader in the future.
Faye- A small girl of Dharm (possibly Dion's sister) who later grows up as a powerful warrior and the only person who can take Xcalibur from Zhaakal.
Lara- A young girl raised by Granny of Elan. She is brainwashed by Dogra, but Arthur eventually saves her.
Development
The game was the first project by Square's OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
development department, who were later responsible for production of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, released as Mystic Quest Legend in PAL regions and as in Japan, is a role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released as a spin-off to Square's popular Final Fantasy series of video games...
. Producer Chihiro Fujioka
Chihiro Fujioka
is a video game director at the Nintendo second-party developer AlphaDream. He was previously a composer of several video games, making contributions to the Burai and Final Fantasy Legend series. His directing work includes Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Koto Battle: Tengai no...
noted that in addition to creating the game, they were also establishing themselves as a department, and as a result a great deal of effort was put into the game. The team decided to overcome the Game Boy's limitations by leaving some aspects to the player's imagination instead. In the case of graphics, this meant establishing first an object, then its shadows, allowing the player to visualize the missing colors themselves; a similar concept was applied to the game's music to overcome the limitation of working with only three notes for composition.
As Fujioka worked on the game's programming, composer Ryuji Sasai
Ryuji Sasai
is a Japanese former video game composer and bass guitarist. He is best known for his work on Xak, Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Sasai is noted for his rock style. His musical career came about when he was 15 years old and he formed a band...
stated he would handle the game's music, though a musician himself Fujioka opted to contribute additional songs to the game. Sasai compared the limitations with the audio to a guitar capable of only six tones, though the cartridge capacity for the Game Boy at the time provided some difficulty. As a result, they concentrated on smaller songs, reducing the length of the tracks until they felt the music gave the proper impression.
The English translation of Final Fantasy Legend III was the first project of translator Ted Woolsey
Ted Woolsey
Ted Woolsey is an American video game translator and producer. He had the primary role in the North American production and localization of Square's role-playing games during the SNES era between 1991 and 1996.-Square:...
at Square, given Final Fantasy IIs translated script as an example and instructed to ensure "there were no ‘repeats’ of that mess".
Nintendo DS version
In September 2010, Japanese magazine FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
announced that a remake of Final Fantasy Legend III for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
was being developed and would feature fully three-dimensional cel-shaded
Cel-shaded animation
Cel-shaded animation is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Cel-shading is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a somewhat recent addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in video games...
graphics. It will be released on January 6, 2011.
Reception
Final Fantasy Legend III received mostly positive reviews, maintaining a 75% aggregate score on GameRankings. Electronic Gaming MonthlyElectronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
called it "a good RPG" and "definitely a good buy", citing the game's graphics and story as its high points, giving it a score of 8/10 and giving it an Editor's Choice Gold Award. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
largely agreed, stating that the game had "[e]xcellent game depth and good graphics for a Game Boy RPG", but found the title's story and gameplay to be too similar to previous Final Fantasy Legend games, warning "don't expect anything new in this game", giving the game a score of 3.35 / 5. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
called attention to the game's dated graphics and "imperfect" soundtrack, yet still found the game's music to be better than most Game Boy titles. They additionally found fault with the game's "poorly designed" equipment screen, stating it "makes distinguishing equipped items of the same class almost impossible", though declared it to be accessible even to novice players.
GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
named it alongside the related Game Boy Final Fantasy titles as definitive games for the system, describing it as providing "hours of role-playing excitement, whether you were waiting in a dentist's office or on the way to Grandma's house." The sentiment was shared by gaming magazines Electronic Gaming Monthly and Pocket Games, the latter of which ranked the titles together 8th out of the Top 50 games for the Game Boy.