Unlike other early Final Fantasy titles which were ported to alternative gaming systems in subsequent years (Final Fantasy II reached American audiences via the Game Boy Advance in the “Dawn of Souls” cartridge and Final Fantasy V and VI were released for the GBA each on their own) Final Fantasy III remained exclusive to the Famicom and to its Japanese localized version until a North American version was released for the Nintendo DS handheld game system in 2006 (several months after the remake was released in Japan.)

When playing FF3 it is important to keep in mind its 8-bit console roots.  Gameplay is shallow and much grinding is necessary.  Characters are flat and uninteresting but this is how jRPGs were in 1990.  When the era is taken into consideration FF3 turns out to be rather mammoth and much more deep and immersive than almost any other game of the era.  The DS port includes some interface tweaks, balance changes and updated sound and graphics including 3D rendered fight scenes and dungeons but mostly the game remains rooted in the 8-bit era.

Considering the age of FF3, who is going to be interested in playing it?  Anyone nostalgic for the 8-bit era (if you loved Final Fantasy 1 or the original Dragon Warrior games on the NES) then this game is definitely for you.  Or, if you are like me, and a big fan of the Final Fantasy series in general and want to play the series in its entirety now that it is officially available outside of Japan then you definitely need to play.  If you are looking for a modern, cutting edge RPG honed by decades of genre maturation then you will want to look elsewhere.  In FF3 the world plays like a transparent image of a real world being displayed for the benefit of the observer.  The shallow emptiness of early RPG games.

Graphically Final Fantasy III is a great improvement on the DS over its Famicom (NES) original.  The world map is updated to look a little better than it used to and looks, more or less, like an FF game of the 16-bit SNES era.  Once in a town or in a dungeon the game switches to a simple three dimensional style that works moderately well.  It is nothing too impressive but this is due more to the DS’s limitations than to the game’s design.  The new graphics work well and do not distract from the game.  Playing FF3 on the DS is likely far more enjoyable than it was on the Famicom eighteen years ago.

I am very happy to report that Square Enix did not add any unnecessary touch-screen controls to FF3 which so often happens with games when they appear on the Nintendo DS (or Wii.)  The mere existance of the interface so often prompts its use no matter how inappropriate it is for a given task but not so here.  There are some elements which can be controlled from the touch screen but nothing that requires its use.  The game can easily be played completely through intuitive and simple standard controls.

FF3’s gameplay is updated somewhat for the Nintendo DS to improve the original Famicom version.  Most of the changes, according to Wikipedia, are balance related to make the game work more smoothly.  There is a tiny bit of new material added to enlarge the game but only slightly.  The remake is very true to the original.

One new feature of FF3 on the DS is the addition of the Mognet system which is used to send “email” via WiFi connection to other FF3 players or to send pretend email to characters within the game.  Yes, this feature is as strange as it sounds and does distract from the game to some degree.  I doubt that anyone will actually enjoy spending the time to email each other through the game in this day and age of ubiquitous email communications but, unfortunately, some of the additional sidequests and special features are available only through this system and it ends up acting like a “cheats” input that is used for no other reason that to unlock hidden areas in the game.

One of the most interesting features of FF3 is the “jobs” system which is analogous to Dungeons and Dragons classes.  In FF3 you start out with a basic job (called Freelancer which is very general purpose allowing your character to do a little bit of everything.)  As you progress through the game new jobs will become available.  You can switch between jobs at any time but you must gain experience in the job that you wish to use in addition to your regular experience so changing often is not a useful strategy.

Final Fantasy III is the first Final Fantasy title to include the jobs system which became popular staples of the Final Fantasy series.  Unlike Final Fantasy itself (FF1) in which you could select a class at the beginning of the game you have more flexibility in the later titles which also allows for the addition of special, more powerful jobs that only become available later in the game such as FF3’s Geomancer job.

The concept of class changing was not new to Final Fantasy III, of course, and was a popular component of the RPG classic The Bard’s Tale which released in 1985.  In The Bard’s Tale only certain classes could switch mid-game and they likewise took penalties for doing so and needed to gain experience again in the new class in order to be effective with it.

In general, Final Fantasy III is an impressive game considering its age and the era from which it came.  I cannot say that all is rosey, however.  When I reached the end of the game what I found is that the very last portion of the game, that which exists after the player believes that the game has been won, is disproportionately hard and confusing leaving the player in a multi-hour long ending without opportunity to save that relies upon the old tradition of being frustrating and obtuse rather than clever and challenging like modern games.

I must confess that after dying from unbalanced battles, spending approximately five hours grinding to prepare myself for the game ending and then getting stuck wandering aimlessly and pointlessly around a “final” dungeon without any clear direction or purpose I deemed the game not worth finishing.  After forty hours of investment it was not worth my time to even attempt the final battle because I could not determine if there was one, what it was or if I was even supposed to do anything in particular.

It is unfortunate that a game that does so well for its era ends on such a sour note leaving players who have been willing to put in the time necessary to reach the end with a bad taste and poor memories of the game.  Only the most dedicated historians of the JRPG genre should put time into this title.

References:

Final Fantasy III on Wikipedia

What Fable 2 does incredibly well is blending the storytelling common to linear console RPGs with the freedom and openness of true RPGs.  One aspect of Fable 2 which I did not like and detracted from the openness is that the “open areas” between game regions are only theoretical – you “warp” from region to region and within each region there are carefully designed “paths” so that you cannot just wander and explore unimpeded.  You are stuck within one of thirteen pre-defined regions and within each of those you are blocked and barricades from being able to wander completely freely.  This limits your freedom in the game as you must discover a path leading from each region to the next.  This also cuts down game play time.

Fable 2 does a great job of taking a primary storyline which is mostly linear and weaving it into a player-chosen course of events that allows the player a great amount of freedom within the game while allowing for a strong storyline.  As a player in Fable 2 you get to make a lot of decisions about how your character is going to behave and these decisions not only effect the way in which other characters will react to you but also your appearance (and your dog’s appearance as well.)

The game itself lies almost entirely in the side quests and free play and not within the primary quest.  If you only want to complete the game as quickly as possible you can but if you want to spend a lot of time exploring Albion, the Fable gameworld, finding every hidden treasure and completely all of the extra quests then you are free to do so.  The game really gives you a great degree of latitude.

My Fable 2 experience lasted approximately 38 hours.  I tend to be a slow player taking the time to explore, take in the view, interact with the locals and to complete as much of the “side” game as possible.  In 38 hours I completed the main quest and all quests that were completable (some always remain open for you to do again and some reoccur from time to time) and that were not evil (I was playing a “good” character.)  I even completed the entire gargoyle quest which is rather time consuming.

One of the complaints that I have heard about Fable 2 is that it is very short and in truth, it is.  The main storyline could be rushed through and the side quests ignored so that the game could most likely be completed in around ten to twelve hours.  Even with extensive time spent doing all possible quests, jobs and more it is hard to imagine that the game would ever be stretched to more than fifty hours at the most and that is a very high number for this game.  The upside is that there is some replay value in the game because of the variety of choices that you get to make as you play.  My wife watched me play the majority of the game and is still interested in playing it herself with a very different character making completely different choices.

The graphics is Fable 2 are very good and really take advantage of the XBOX 360.  However, because of the limited draw distance and the large amount of “backdrop” versus true, far off locations to which you can walk I found that this game was much less likely to find me walking to a great vantage point and staring off into the distance exploring the landscape and enjoying the view which I often do in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Dragon Quest VIII.  But the graphics were still very good and enjoyable and did a great job of pulling you into the game.

One of my favourite aspects of Fable 2’s extensive gameplay is the option to invest in real estate.  This is an aspect of the game that I expect is ignored or partially ignored by most people who play the game but I found it to be very enjoyable.  You are able to save up and buy houses and businesses.  A house you may choose to rent out to earn some money or you can leave the house empty and move into it yourself.  You can keep a single house for yourself or have several all over Albion.  Sleeping in different houses provide different bonuses to your character so they can be used strategically as well.  Some quests only become available when the player owns certain properties and others can be simplified by owning the right house or business.  Some properties only become available to buy (or only exist at all) after certain quests have been completed (or possibly completed in a certain way since there are multiple outcomes in the game.)

Houses can be increased in value by upgraded furnishing as well (all homes are sold furnihed in Fable 2.)  This adds yet another area of the game in which a player can choose to focus or to completely ignore.

Sidequests vary from the very short and simple (stopping a hand of slavers and freeing some slaves) to extremely long and intertwined with the main storyline (Gargoyles or The Archeologist.)  Some can be played over and over and some can only happen once and may require waiting for the main quest to advance before more parts of them become available.  My favourite quest was Gargoyles which required carefully exploring the realm going into all of the nooks and crannies that might otherwise remain unexplored and forcing you to explore the scenary and to appreciate a lot of the extra work that went into the game that is often missed by people rushing through it.  Gargoyles alone probably took me more time to complete than the main quest did.  It is a very long quest.

Fable 2 also offers a jobs system allowing the character, Sparrow, to earn a living by working as a blacksmith, woodchopper, bartender, bounty hunter, etc.  As you improve in your job you can make more and more money allowing you to buy better equipment, potions, food, books, real estate, etc.   The jobs are basically very simple mini-games that are highly repetitive to make the money earned really feel as if you are earning the money.  They can be quite time consuming and several hours could be added to the game if the player is really dedicated to earning a lot of money in this manner and wants to master several of the jobs.

Fable 2 also includes highly detailed character interactions with just about any person that you will encounter throughout the game.  Depending on what you do throughout the game will change how people perceive you.  You have a range of expressions that you can “perform” to make people like, dislike, fear you, etc.  Make the right people fall in love with you and marriage becomes an option.  Children are also an option.  You can buy your spouse a house and raise children in it for special family bonuses although be prepared as your family will need a generous allowance to be able to live well.

Some characters that you will encounter can be convinced to give you free gifts if they like, fear or respect you enough.  Having characters like you might reduce the price of goods if that characters owns a shop at which you shop.

One of the most interesting aspects of Fable 2 is your trusty dog.  Your dog joins you while on your very first quest component and remains with you throughout your adventure although you will need to take care of him, reward him, play with him, give him treats, etc.  Eventually your dog will aid you in some quests, find you buried treasure, warn you of impending attack, help finish off wounded enemies and more.  No matter how many people like or dislike you, whether you are good or evil, corrupt or pure your dog is always your faithful companion helping and sometimes guiding you along.  Strangers might even walk up to your dog and talk to him.

Like most XBOX 360 games, Fable 2 uses achievements which interact with systems external to the game itself.  Achievements are viewable on your XBOX Live account and add to your overall gamer score.  The achievement system also encourages you to try a lot of tasks within Fable 2 that might easily be ignored otherwise such as attempting a long-distance chicken kick to earn the “Chicken Kicker” achievement.  Attempting to obtain all achievements will definitely increase game play time but generally add relatively little to the game’s enjoyment.

A new feature of Fable 2 that did not exist in the original title is the “golden path” – a sparkly yellow line which appears to help lead you to your next task.  This system works amazingly well.  You use your quest/jobs menu to tell the game which quest or job you would like to currently pursue and the game will guide you to your next location as long as it is in an area or a region in which you have been previously.  This helps speed the game along while reducing pointless wandering but can lead to missing hidden items because it is so easy to ignore anything that is off of the main path.  This feature can be disabled but, overall, is pretty enjoyable.

Action within Fable 2 is simple and straightforward.  Three control buttons are assigned for battle so there is always a dedicated “swing melee weapong”, “fire missile weapon” and “cast readied spell” button available for use.  This makes battles fast and easy and not unnecessarily complicated.  This lowers the barrier of entry as there are many people who find the battle systems in RPGs overly complicated.  Sparrow is updated through the use of better weapons but armor is non-existent in the game which allows for upgrading without the large time spent investigating armor and weapon options common to other RPGs.  Fable 2 really focuses on the gameplay and character interactions and development and minimizes stats and equipment systems making them simple and straightforward.

Stat development in Fable 2 happens through a unique experience gaining system where experience is gained through strength (melee), skill (missile and speed) and will (magic) areas plus a general experience pool.  Then the player can select how experience points will be spend within each area.  It is very easy to learn and get using right away.  I really like the experience system because it allows for a certain amount of player choice in development whenever enough points are accumulated but also skews development towards areas which the player uses in actual combat.  Ergo, if a player always uses their melee weapon then experience will be accumulated in that area primarily.  So to grow in all areas a player needs to utilize different combat methods.

While the initial game is rather short with roughly ~40 hours of gameplay depending on play style there is also downloadable content planned for Fable 2 which, at the time of this writing, is due to arrive in January, 2009.  The first bit of downloadable content, the Knothole Island expansion, is expected to add one new region to Albion taking the world from 13 to 14 total regions and adding three additional complete quests to the game along with new characters with whom to interact.  How much extra content will be available in the expansion waits to be seen.  It could be as low as about two hours of extra gameplay or as much as about ten.  I will review the expansion as soon as it is available.  There are rumors that there will be expansions to the Gargoyle quest and Silver keys achievement but nothing has been confirmed.

Hopefully, in the future, additional downloadable areas will become available.  Fable 2 has a lot of potentially to be a great platform for continuing gameplay.

Fable 2 offers so many different ways to enjoy the game that I think that a very wide variety of people will find it a lot of fun even though few people generally enjoy RPGs.

For those wondering, I completed Fable 2 having found all Gargoyles and achieving both Mayor and King.

Fable 2 is a fantasy action console role playing game (Fantasy JRPG) with many aspects brought in from adventure gaming.  The graphics on the 360 are astounding.  Possibly the best of this style that I have yet seen on a console.  Quite impressive.

For my first impression, I manage to play Fable 2 for approximately two hours and made it through the “tutorial” section of the game.  The game does a great job of making the introduction to the game simple and fun and introduces new control concepts in an almost transparent manner so that the game begins immediately and goes straight into the story with the player able to begin taking part right away.

In Fable 2 you choose to play either Sparrow or Rose, who are brother and sister.  Unlike many RPGs, you do not spend a lot of time customizing your character at the beginning of the game.  You simply choose to play the boy or the girl and from there your character is modified by the decisions that you make within the game.  I like this approach as it lends itself to better story telling and makes the growth of your character more natural.

Fable 2 is an action RPG but the action is handled in a very fun, smooth way that I think will appeal to a lot of players.  I really appreciate the ease of having your melee weapon readied under the X button, ranged weapon under the Y and a magic attack under B.  This method is very quick to learn, easy to use under pressure and not so complicated as to make the game not fun for those of us who tend to prefer our RPG’s without an action element while still providing a lot of fun for those who do.  I really like the blend.

Overall, my first two hours with Fable 2 were completely enjoyable.  It is not often that I am this thrilled with a video game the first time that I have played it.  I am very excited to spend some time just exploring the game world, Albion.  The Fable series is known for having a short main plot with extensive potential side quests, missions and projects.  I’m sure that in Fable 2 I will be looking for opportunities to spend as much time in the game world as possible.

One feature that I really appreciate is the integrated “cut scene” system.  I have not yet seen a game using this particular innovation and it is a great way of handling traditional cut scenes.  The way that it works is that the scenes themselves are built into the game world and rendered just like the regular game.  When you approach an area with a “cut scene” you get a little symbol telling you that a “cut scene” is available.  You can choose to watch the scene with the use of one of the left buttons.  As long as you hold the button the camera zooms in on the action in which you should be interested.  As soon as you no longer want to watch simply release the button and the action continues from your normal perspective.  It works beautifully.

In many ways, Fable 2 appears to play a lot like a more traditional adventure game with a strong, integrated plot.  Character development, from a skills and spells perspective, is much less central to the game than in a more traditional RPG.  From my initial perspective, the game seems a lot more focused on real, engaging gameplay than on game mechanics that bog down so many otherwise entertaining titles.  Fable 2 has enough story line and little enough interruption that my wife, Dominica, even enjoys just watching me play.

The voice acting is quite good as well.  Much of the beginning of the game has constant narration which really provides the feeling that you are playing a movie.  The mix of narration, voice acting and the integrated cut scenes really pulls you into the game.

My first impression is that this is an extremely interesting RPG title for the XBOX 360 and has justified the intense anticipation which it has garnered recently.  If you are looking for an innovative and enjoyable RPG on the console platform definitely check out Fable 2.  I hope to review it again when I have completed the game.