FF III, IV and VI rereleases

[Tayste]

I was wondering, are the 3d re releases of final fantasy III and IV on the Ninteno DS worth playing? Has anyone played the originals and the 3d versions to do a comparison?

In the Gameboy Advance version of FFVI, how is the additional content? Is there a lot?

[Enkidoh]

I haven't played the GBA version of FFVI so I can't make a true opinion on it sorry, however I do know it was essentially the same game with slightly tweaked graphics, and some extra Espers and equipment (most notably, Leviathan and Gilgamesh).

As for the DS remakes of FFIII and IV, well, I have them and have played both extensively, and must say, although not unplayable, they've lost something in the upgrade. The 3D graphics are nice and somewhat reminiscent of FFVII, but FFIII especially seems to have been changed so radically that it seems like a totally different game from the original Famicom/NES version.

The main change is the original 'Onion Kids' of the NES version have been given individual names, appearances and personalities (including amongst other things, what could only be described as a clone of Ramza from FF Tactics, and a token 'girl-next-door' character). However, don't get too excited - these new 'characters' are not truly fleshed out and are essentially little more than cardboard cutouts tacked onto the original generics. The storyline is still pretty much the same traditional 'save the crystals' idea with some slight alterations in pacing over the original. But really, it's pretty much still just an NES game remade in polygons. It's still worth getting if you've never played the NES original (which most people haven't). But if you have, then, I don't know, if you see it cheaply then you could do much worse than play it. But it's no must-buy.

As for FFIV DS, it is rubbish. Pure and simple. They took what was probably one of the greatest FF games, and took a hatchet to it with typical next-gen insensitivity (my most pet peeve is that the summon monsters of FFIV, which originally were just called 'Summons' in the original SNES version, were given FFIX's summon name of Eidolons in the DS version. There was absolutely no reason for this change, other than perhaps to try and retcon it to FFIX - not a bad thing, but still completely unnecessary in my opinion).

The voice acting is terrible as can be expected, and the re translated script completely drags the whole thing down into utter farce. The reworked battle system doesn't help - special 'add ons' were included which basically allow you to give one character another character's special ability (like, White Magic to Kain for instance). This might seem awesome, but it kind of ruins the whole flow of the battle system in that the game's pacing was originally designed to compensate for each character's strengths and weaknesses. Being able to equip another character with someone elses' abilities only upsets the applecart.

However, as a bonus, Edward is no longer the useless twit he once was - he was remade into a psuedo-Chemist with a special 'Item-All' ability allowing the player to use an item on characters in the party, which redeems him of his past sins. But he's still easily the worst character in the game.

Really, it's best to just ignore this version completely and play the GBA version instead - it was the version featured in the recent FFIV - The Complete Collection on the PSP with The After Years sequel bundled in - an almost tacit admission that the DS version was a failure. Hell, the fact that in Dissidia FFIII's character reverted to the original NES appearance of 'Onion Knight', rather than the stupid DS 'Lunneth' only served to prove that even SE regards the DS versions with disdain.

Anyway, if you can, give them a play and find out for yourself, as my opinions tend to be rather unique. But for me, my opinion is this, avoid the DS versions and play the SNES/NES originals if you can (or, alternatively, the GBA release of FFIV), as they are far superior to these out-sourced hack-jobs.

[Tayste]

Thanks Enkidoh I am planning on playing the old Final Fantasy games that I never played before. Your opinions here make a lot of sense! I probably won't complete them all but I just want to play them all so those were the 3 questions I had. I'm playing I and II on the GBA, III on the NES and IV on the GBA. I won't be playing FFVI on GBA though, I got it and V on the playstation store. I'd have got them all on the Playstation store but they only have V, VI, VII, VIII and IX. Shame I miss out on some extras from getting VI on PS3 but I'm more after the 'experience' anyway so it's no big deal

[The Shade]

I just recently finished playing FF3 on the DS. As my first FF game ever, I liked it. The story kept me entertained, and the music provided a good mood. The graphics looked as good as they could on the DS. If there is one complaint I would have, it's the level up grinding I had to go through in order to make sure I could defeat the bosses. All in all, I would recommend it to nubies (like myself) as a good introductory, but not too complicated, title to the series.