14 DAY TRIAL // The renowned Japanese video game maker and publisher Square Enix has announced that the remastered version of Final Fantasy III is now available on Steam.
The game was initially released in Japan in 1990, being the first game in the Final Fantasy series to sell over a million copies, cementing the epic series' position in the game industry.
The game was first released internationally in 2007, when it was remade in 3D and released on the Nintendo DS handheld gaming platform, and when it also managed to sell over a million copies.
Now, the game has been further spruced up for the PC release, with new and improved 3D visuals and story sequences, and it also includes Steam Achievements and Steam Trading Cards, as well as new visual designs for the Job Mastery Cards and quicker browsing through the monster bestiary and other such records.
Final Fantasy III was the first game to introduce the by now iconic job-change system to the Final Fantasy series, a system that is still utilized today, allowing players flexibility in tackling the many challenges in the game.
Up to that point, players chose their class before embarking on the adventure and would be stuck with it for the remainder of the game. The job system allows gamers to change between various duties, as the current situation calls, at the cost of a certain number of capacity points, which are earned through battling.
The storyline follows a group of young orphans that set out to restore balance to the world in the wake of a cataclysmic event.
The world was protected by the corny-dubbed crystals of light, which a great earthquake pulled into the earth, shattering the fragile balance of the once peaceful land.
Fortunately, the Gulgan prophecy foretold that four souls blessed with the light shall restore said balance, and, after coming in contact with a sentient crystal, Luneth embraces his fate and begins the journey to find the other three blessed souls.
The group then begins the quest to fulfill their destiny and make the prophecy come true, exploring the world and searching for the remaining crystals, and along the way becoming champions of light in the fight against darkness.
The 3D remake of Final Fantasy III also solves some of the reported balance issues that the game was plagued by, resulting in some classes being clearly underpowered when compared to the others, in addition to several tweaks to the job-changing system as a whole.
Final Fantasy III is also the game to introduce some of the series' iconic abilities, such as the Thief's Steal and the Dragoon's Jump, as well as summoned creatures and other miscellaneous abilities which were truly innovative at the time.
