Final Fantasy 3

Now a forefront in Japanese gaming, Square continued its successful Final Fantasy Series with the release of Final Fantasy III in 1990. This project would be among the largest to be released on a Nintendo system at the time. The game combined elements from the first two titles, as well as introduced many new things.

Final Fantasy III was the first game in the series to grant the player the ability to change character jobs at whim. This system quickly became famous within the series and would later be adapted in games to come, especially in Final Fantasy V. Players could switch classes at any time, but would need to develop and assign these classes such as thief and mage to characters early on in order for them to grow. Final Fantasy III also introduced job specific commands such as Steal, Jump, and Summon, which would in later games be fleshed out even more.

The story of Final Fantasy III was remarkable in that era. Four young orphans come across a Crystal that grants them a mysterious power and instructs them to stop a reckless darkness and restore balance in their world. The young orphans set off on an adventure searching for other crystals and combating the darkness that threatens their world as Warriors of Light.

Final Fantasy III would not reach North America until over a decade later on the Nintendo DS. This remake included enhanced graphics and features such as Mognet, which gave the player the ability to communicate with others around the world through Nintendo Wifi Connection. It also gave each of the main heroes a distinctive personality, something the characters in the original lacked.