Classic gameplay with a fresh coat of paint. Casual gamers need not apply.
All is not lost, however. For those who were groomed on such games, and for the younger set looking for a unique challenge in a piece of history, this can be a fantastic ride through an old familiar world. The diamond here comes in the form of the job system-- a flexible multi-classing tool that allows your characters to switch roles at any time during gameplay. As you invest more time in the various roles, characters advance in each one individually. Over time this provides a unique level of flexibility with echos of modern RPG mechanics. This is where the job system developed however, and it is definitely in it's infancy here. The recently released (for GBA) Final Fantasy V has a much evolved version, with greater flexibility, and a complex intermixing of class attributes that provides a much deeper experience than the one found in Final Fantasy III (DS).
That said, the job system, even in this rudimentary form, is still entertaining and interesting. For those players who are okay with lots of leveling up, this can lead to experimentation to find the best combination of magic and melee classes. The classes themselves range from the relatively mundane, like the warrior, to the unusual, like the geomancer. Each class brings a special ability (or two), and the whole system provides enough variation to remain interesting throughout the entire (70+ hours) of gameplay.
The stunning graphical treatment might lead some to think that the game is not the curmudgeonly old man that it is. The graphical upgrade is fantastic, and tops all other DS games in quality visuals. From the fantastic opening movie to the many dozens of in-engine cutscenes, the game renders the world beautifully. The audio is typical Final Fantasy (of old), and many songs will be familiar to FF fans. Aside from the sweeping opening number, the music is of the classic midi style. Sound effects are minimal, but perfectly fitting for such a game. Overall, the presentation is fantastic, as one would expect from a Square(Enix) title. My only complaint about the upgrade is the limited use of the second display. It is black for the majority of the game, which is unfortunate. Given the lengths to which they produced such a stunning visual upgrade one has to wonder why they didn't include statistical data about the characters, or a simple dungeon mapping system, or even concept art, to fill the black void in the top screen. It has been suggested that this was by design, as those elements might have taken something away from the spirit of the original. I can certainly sympathize when it comes to things like maps, but character stats? The missing data would have reduced the amount of menu diving a player would endure, in an already menu-intensive game. This is clearly a nit-pick, though. The game plays perfectly well with the minimal top-screen usage we get. And when it is used in shops and for the overland map, we are glad to have it.
It is important to be clear that despite the updated graphics the gameplay is pure Final Fantasy III. Ultimately the game plays like Final Fantasy III, not like the modern RPG it appears to be. In fact, the graphical upgrade can make some of the rough edges in the gameplay stand out even more. For example, battles take substantially longer with the new 3D engine. They've added the requisite camera pans and zooms, which serve to prolong the battle experience. It looks great, but after 1,000 battles you really wish they had put in an option to do away with some of the graphical flair in the interest of expeditious leveling.
In the end, this game will appeal to a specific segment of the current gaming public. It goes without saying that if you are expecting a Final Fantasy experience akin to the modern console generation you will likely find nothing but frustration here. For those of you who seek a challenging RPG, one with excellent lineage, then it just might hit the sweet spot for you.
About my personal experience: I am an old-school gamer fan in my 30s. I grew up on old console RPGs, and I fell right into old patterns when I started playing FFIII. The job system was innovative at the time, and remains interesting compared to the relatively ridged systems we find in modern games, though class-depth has been tackled in other ways in modern RPGs (skill trees and the like). I thoroughly enjoyed the game from start to finish, though there were some particularly frustrating moments. With no in-dungeon saves, some of the later dungeons become nail-biting hit-or-miss events. Since the random battles are ... well, random ... you never know how many fights you will have to endure before the big bad guy at the end. It is not uncommon to get wiped out before you even meet the boss, losing as much as an hour of real-time. The difficulty of some dungeons and bosses are only revealed once you've played through them. So you might spend 40 minutes in a dungeon only to get wiped out by the boss. Only then do you realize that your party is underpowered and you have not only lost 40 minutes of progress, but now you will spend another 30 minutes building up your characters to try it again. Lots of trial and error like this.
But in the end, this game delivered for me. I was deeply concerned about the difficulty, about the random battles and the rusty gameplay mechanics. I questioned whether it would feel like a waste of time, or be so frustrating that I would regret having spent $40 on it. But neither happened. I was pleasantly surprised that it felt so familiar. My only hope is that SquareEnix performs the same upgrade to some of it's other classic RPG titles. How about it, guys? Chrono Trigger (DS) anyone?