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     Final Fantasy Legend III was released a few years after FFL as the third instalment of the Saga series for the Game boy handheld.  The game offers some new features and the storyline starts off in an increased sense of urgency and desperation.  The game now takes into account in relation with what the player actually does over the course of the game, past, present and future.  The game manages to build on some of the elements that Chrono Trigger later took on.  The game is a departure from the previous two titles in the series as the game doesn’t concentrate on levelling up, unlike in the past couple of games.  Some new quirks are existent in this game, including the use of magic stones to learn new magic spells.  Nevertheless, while not as good as FFLII was, FFLIII had enough new elements to provide gamers with an interesting title.

     The game opens with a very dramatic tone.  It so happens that the Pureland Water Entity has caused a very great flood that has engulfed the world into total disaster.  The powers of this Entity are so powerful that the powers have also managed to reach into both the past and the future.  This Entity drew the monsters to the world and as the waters begin to rise, the citizens went into a state of fear and panic and the great cities lay into desertation and it is being abandoned.  Thus, it is left up to the heroes of the game, sent from the future to stop this Entity from destruction as well as collecting the remaining piece of the great ship Talon in the past, present and future to finally defeat the Entity once and for all and bring all the worlds together in harmony and peace.  Thus, our heroes go through a dramatic adventure which takes them through several eras of time travel to bring about a peaceful world and a better future.

     They are pretty good for a Game Boy title during the time when it was made but the undeniable fact is that the overall graphics are not a great jump from what we have seen in FFLII.  The floor patterns are only slightly better and still give that very boring and generic look.  The monsters are a bit more detailed this time around but even then, it is hardly noticeable, although, the actual menu graphics look a bit sharper this time around.  It’s too bad that the graphics didn’t improve all that much from the game’s predecessor, Final Fantasy Legends II.  Otherwise, they are still pretty good, though they do suffer from age and you might expect a little bit better, considering the game was made a couple of years after FFLII.

     With many new changes this time around, the gameplay of this title has undergone a serious overhaul.  Now with such important factors as decision-making and the fact that everything you do will have profound implications down the road, every choice you make is now critical and adds to a sense of urgency to the game.  Character classes are back as usual but one noticeable change is that stuff you get from defeated enemies can now enable you to change into robots and monsters, creating a very interesting way to make up your entire party.  Perhaps the biggest change was with the magic system.  Your characters now can equip magic stones after buying them to learn new spells.  And once equipped, you will learn the magic and it cannot be un-equipped.  This is a much better system overall and it is not nearly as tedious and frustrating as the use of magic books that wear out quickly in the past couple of games.  Unfortunately, the equipment screen has some flaws, such as equipment keeping their prefix only, instead of their full name which makes it a guessing game to determine which item is which.  This is a pretty big flaw and distinguishing items is almost impossible.

     In short, the storyline is pretty good and offers something new from other RPG games.  The beginning is very well done and it does set up a climatic struggle to defeat the evil that plagues the world and fight for peace again, not only in the present day, but in the past and ultimately, the future as well.  The concept of time travel was quite new during the time and it probably had some influence in the development of Chrono Trigger, one of the best RPG games of the 1990’s.  The fact that some things you do manage to directly affect the outcome of what happens next in the game is a nice quirk and the character development is solid as usual.

     Sadly, this game manages to set it apart from the excellent score found in Final Fantasy Legend II.  While it is still pretty good compared to most Game Boy titles, it is nowhere near as good as the music found in FFLII and that is indeed very unfortunate as that game had a brilliant score, to say the least.  The soundtrack devolved quite a bit from the apex reached in FFLII and as a result, the scores are much less dramatic, not very emotional at all this time around and finally, to say the least, it is much less effective for the situation, in comparison to FFLII.  Considering how great FFLII was in terms of the soundtrack, this game is quite a disappointment and a real departure from that in itself.

     If you are looking for something a bit different from the previous two games in the Legend series, then this game is pretty good for you.  The magic system is much less frustrating and easier to use this time around.  The storyline is pretty interesting and the fact is that the game is quite fun, providing that you are looking for something a bit different from the previous games.

Overall

     To sum it all up, FFLIII stands out as a very unique and different instalment in the FFL series.  It is a fairly deep and complex RPG game that is also pretty friendly to relatively novice gamers as well as the RPG fanatics.  However, the game’s drawbacks are indeed fairly severe and do not go unnoticed in an otherwise pretty decent game.  The soundtrack in this game is a departure from the epic and emotional music score found in the previous game and happens to be a downer.  It’s not bad but not nearly as impressive as you would expect.  Finally, while the magic system is indeed much better this time around, the equipment screen menus are bland and the fact is that the poorly designed equipment screens makes equipping items and stuff a total nightmare. 

Ratings (Compare w/ other games)

GRAPHICS:	7/10	7	Solid for a Game Boy title, regardless but it still has more than can be desired.  The improvement over FFLII is minimal at best and you would expect more, the monsters are a bit more detailed but the improvements are hardly noticeable.
GAMEPLAY:	13/20	6.5	Even with some new stuff put into the game, the biggest flaw is that the equipment menu screen is dull and has some real issues, such as keeping the prefix of the weapon or item only, which makes it a guessing game to determine which item is which.  That flaw really drags the gameplay down, sadly.
STORYLINE:	17/20	8.5	This game seems influential to what Chrono Trigger was to become in the future, as it involves time travel and some of the concepts behind it.  The opening is nice and dramatic and the character development is solid as usual.
SOUND:	5.5/10	5.5	The soundtrack is nowhere near as good as what FFLII ever was and the music in this game is a departure from the epic and emotional score that we saw in the previous game.  The music is not that great and is quite a disappointment and letdown, if you compare it to what we have heard in the past couple of FFL games.
FUN FACTOR:	8/10	8	Pretty fun game, with a lot of new features and other stuff added into it.  The storyline is interesting enough to keep gamers hooked and if you are looking for something a bit different from either Final Fantasy Legend or Final Fantasy Legend 2, then check out this game.
OVERALL:	50.5/70	7.2	This game was on the verge of being just as good, if not better than FFLII but the obvious flaws behind it are not unnoticeable and really do stand out.  From the equipment screen to equipping items and weapons in general, the whole equipping system is a total nightmare and it is indeed frustrating.  The music is a let-down and not nearly as good as before, otherwise, this is still an interesting game to say the least with the storyline and the magic system.