With revamped graphics and a hefty price tag, should iOS gamers stump up the cash for the 50+ hours of playtime that Final Fantasy III provides?
1990 was a strange year. Home Alone made a child star of Macaulay Culkin, Sinead O’Connor’s shiny bonce took the world by storm and in its native Japan, Final Fantasy III became the first in the long-running RPG series to sell over 1 million units. Now, 21 years and a full-priced Nintendo DS port later, the retro classic has arrived on iOS devices.
FFIII however, wasn’t released in the UK or US originally and only received a release upon these shores in May 2007. Thus, the potential of a full Final Fantasy classic on your mobile device is likely to be too much for any series fanboy to resist, particularly as unlike the FF1 and FFII iOS releases, this is no standard port.
For one thing, the iOS version incorporates full retina support, even features new story events and features a graphical overhaul that eclipses it’s DS counterpart.
As is typical of a Final Fantasy title, III follows the plight of four photogenic, silly-haired characters that are thrust into a millennia-old conflict. In this case, said characters are orphans from the remote village of Ur and soon become embroiled in a lengthy campaign that spans 50+ hours.
Not bad for an iOS RPG, particularly when mobile games are under fire from numerous developers for offering little more than ‘disposable’ thrills.
As evidenced above, FFIII’s graphics have been given a fresh coat of paint
Aside from a slick graphical overhaul, FFIII‘s iOS incarnation cleverly utilises touch-screen gestures (selecting monster enemies by pointing on them) and multi-touch to zoom in on your surroundings. Such gameplay additions help modernise the title, which sadly ends up reinforcing the app’s biggest issue – it’s gameplay, which is primitive by today’s modern RPG standards.
Simply put, in an age of Western RPGs such as Mass Effect, Fallout and even modern JRPG’s (Japanese Role-Playing Games) such as Final Fantasy XIII, do gamers still have the patience for countless random battles and time-consuming camera actions within turn-based battles? Probably not.
While Final Fantasy fans won’t need much to convince them to purchase an upgraded, overhauled version of a series milestone, less discerning gamers may baulk at a €12.99 price point for a 21-year-old title.
Ultimately publishers Square Enix are to be commended for putting so much effort behind their latest iOS release, though the sheer length of time that has passed since it’s original launch means that despite their hard work, Final Fantasy III and its hefty price of entry may not appear to little more than its core fanbase.
Final Fantasy III is available to download from the Apple App Store for €12.99.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
