III NES Playthrough

[Elpizo]

No kidding. Especially since you can't save after the Syrcus Tower and have to do the World of Darkness straight after, with 6 of the toughest bosses in the whole game, no save-points or well-springs... Huh, I just realised how hard this game was on the famicom. Still, it's tough as nails but not so far as to be unfair. Gaining a few levels will always work wonders if you're ever stuck.

It's still a playable (and enjoyable) experience to go through, even with the difficulty, something that (IMHO) can't be said of the other two famicom Final Fantasy games. (No auto-retargetting and no damage-on-enemy-display seriously smurf FF I and II up to unplayable levels.)

[Alpha2099]

No kidding. Especially since you can't save after the Syrcus Tower and have to do the World of Darkness straight after, with 6 of the toughest bosses in the whole game, no save-points or well-springs... Huh, I just realised how hard this game was on the famicom.

Yeah, thank god for savestates. Even with that, it still took me about 3 hours to go through that end of the game. It's such a grind. By the time I was finished, I was thinking, "Please let this be over so I can play something else." I'm glad I've played and beaten it, but honestly I think this is the only FF that I didn't like on the grounds of not having fun.

[Elpizo]

It's a matter of taste, I guess. I greatly enjoyed this game, even on the famicom, and it's my favourite FF. I think it's because of how well it's aged. Difficulty aside, the famicom version is still very playable, and it still looks quite good as well (kinda like IV but in 8-bit ). Quite a pleasant musical score for a famicom game as well. Still, I agree that the last hours of the game are exhausting and merciless. It's even harder when you do it without Ninjas and Sages. I used a team of Mystic Knight, Summoner, Devout and Knight, all lvl 60 (or more) and I barely made it. Xande and the 4 Dark Crystal bosses went okay, but it's the final boss that nearly did me in. She simply did more damage than I could ever heal with just one healer. That's one of the few things that truly bug me about the famicom version: it's how weak healing spells are when you spread them over your entire party. At lvl 60, Cure4 will only heal about 700hp each when spread out. Not very great against a boss that does 1500 damage to the whole party every turn...

[Depression Moon]

Do y'all think it's worth getting Odin? I think I'm supposed to be going to the last dungeon now. I just fought Dorga and Unne. I got Leviathan and Bahamut yesterday.

[Alpha2099]

If you already have Leviathan and Bahamut, I don't think you'll need Odin. As I recall, I used Odin when I was fighting Bahamut because of his Reflect spell, but if you got Bahamut without that, then you don't need Odin. You'll be spamming Leviathan and Bahamut for the rest of the game now.

[Wolf Kanno]

Might as well. Just for completion sake. I mean if you got Bahamut, you should wipe the floor with Odin. Besides, FFIII is his debut title.

[Depression Moon]

Odin was easy. The monsters in the dungeon were harder than him. Just only tried him once so far and his atk failed against the enemies in the labyrinth. Is this the end of the game now? If so I seem to be missing some spells for my Warlock and Shaman. I'm guessing it's Flare and Meteor for the Warlock and Life2 and Holy for the Shaman.

[Wolf Kanno]

You'll find them in the Forbidden Land of Eureka. Its a place accessible in the first floor of the final dungeon by the key Unne and Doga gave you.

[Alpha2099]

Those spells come at the very end when you're getting your final job classes and beating all the nasty-tough bosses. For what it's worth, don't bother with any of those spells. You need to save your money as much as you can.

It's probably no secret to you that at the end of the game you'll earn the Ninja and Sage jobs, which are virtually essential to beating the game. In order to get through the Dark World and defeat the Cloud at the end, it helps to have shurikens for your Ninjas, and those cost a lot of money. I think the guide I read says you need 35-40 of them, and obviously more is better. And as I said before, you'll be spamming Bahamut and Leviathan for all they're worth, so don't worry about Flare, Meteor, and those other spells.

[Elpizo]

Or be a man and do it without Ninja's and Sages! It saves you farming the money for shurikens, and it's kinda boring to use that team anyway. I did it with a M.Knight, Summoner, Shaman and Knight, all lv 60, and I managed, though it got a bit tight with the Cloud. Lv 65 to 70 probably would have been better for me.

[Depression Moon]

Those genies always show up in the exact same damn place. Instant bringers of death. Also will there be an inn coming up soon? I'm afraid I'll run out of MP before I get to the end.

[Wolf Kanno]

There are no inns in the Crystal Tower, just another dungeon, The World of Darkness. You should have some items that cast magic, you will most likely need to rely on them to survive and conserve your MP for the boss battles.

[Depression Moon]

smurf, I'm about to run out already and you say I'll get new jobs soon. Doesn't switching jobs reset my mp?

This game is beyond cruel.

[Wolf Kanno]

Elpizo will have to answer that I'm afraid. I never played the original Famicom version but the DS version never reset your MP, and that game is kinder to you from what I've heard. Ninja and Sage are at the bottom floor of Eureka, which the entrance to is located on the first floor of the Crystal Tower. You will also find shops for the last sets of spells and summons you might have missed, as well as the games Ultimate Weapons barring the Onion Gear in Eureka as well.

[Alpha2099]

I believe switching jobs only resets MP if you go from a magic job to a non-magic job and then back again (i.e. Black Mage to Fighter to Black Mage). Magic to magic shouldn't affect anything.

And oh, BTW, good luck. You'll need it.