Final Fantasy III coming to the Virtual Console this month (in Japan)

by David Hinkle { Jul 9th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Square Enix continues its assault on the Virtual Console in Japan with the third installment in the Final Fantasy series. Game Watch is reporting FInal Fantasy III will be available on the Virtual Console for 500 Wii Points some time this month. We'd be super excited about this, if not for the DS remake that had already released, which gave those of us in the West our first taste of this game. Would you prefer to play the original instead?

[Thanks, Justin!]

Tags: final-fantasy, final-fantasy-iii, japan, square-enix, virtual-console

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Jul 9th 2009 11:31AM

if this comes to the US I will get it. I missed out on a LOT of games back in the day

nintendo1889 @ Jul 9th 2009 11:40AM

They need to bring the FF3 and FF6 to the US! Since when did Squeenix decide to bring this to the VC anyways?

Kevin @ Jul 13th 2009 4:15PM

FF3 and 6 have come to America. Well the first one sorta. The only form of 3 we got was released on DS, which is a rather long time. We got 6 as our FF3 and it got rereleased under it's proper name FFVI for GBA.

Dreganfyre @ Jul 9th 2009 11:50AM

I'm one who would rather play the original than an enhanced remake :) It would be pretty sweet to be able to play the original FFII and FFIII on a North American console with a fresh English translation...

Cody @ Jul 9th 2009 12:03PM

How about bringing Final Fantasy 6 to the SNES VC, then I'll be excited.

Kyle Nichol @ Jul 9th 2009 12:05PM

Didn't Square Enix announce they're bringing all the FF's released outside of Japan to Virtual Console?

Kevin @ Jul 9th 2009 12:22PM

This was the first FF game I played (the DS version) and I'm half way through FFIV. Can someone please tell me why the FF games are so amazing, because I can't stand them.

Evil Bastard @ Jul 9th 2009 1:30PM

If you can't stand them, then why are you playing them. Something about FFIII must have intrigued you to play FFIV.

Marrvia @ Jul 9th 2009 9:45PM

@Kevin

Because you are playing 20 year old games. They were amazing when they were first released, but times have changed in a big way. Those games are all about nostalgia now. If you are a fan now, you want to play those to see how the series started. But if you want to play these games to become a fan, you can't start with the really old ones. But play FF6 if you want an old school Final Fantasy that really still holds up, and if you don't like it, just give up, because it doesn't get any better than FF6.

MRLN @ Jul 9th 2009 1:19PM

How about Final Fantasy VII? They could say it was the PC version that they ported to avoid Sony lawsuits!

Viney @ Jul 9th 2009 4:07PM

A 1.32GB download on the virtual console?! HA! That'd be the day. It wouldn't even fit on the Wii's memory.

Maxx the Slash @ Jul 9th 2009 1:42PM

I have the DS version, but I'd consider getting the original version of FFIII, only if they translate it. If it were released in America's VC, it would be considered an "Import", and most import games we recieve over the VC aren't translated. A text-heavy game like FFIII needs a heavy-duty translation. And it needs to be better than the trans job than that what that jerk who translated the rom did. He made characters say the dumbest things, like a freaking 8 year old translated it.

Maxx the Slash @ Jul 9th 2009 1:51PM

That's what I keep saying Microsoft should do. I've seen the PC version of FFVII being played on YouTube, and I know from experience with the PSX version and know the translation isn't majorly different. Characters say generally the same things, but in different ways. Microsoft should just port the PC version onto the Xbox 360 (I don't know if it would fit XBLA with it's size, but maybe a retail disc would work).

It's a pretty fair trade-off: the PS3 get's the better music quality and awful out-of-battle 3D models for characters found in the PSX version, and the 360 could get the poor MIDI soundtrack, but the better out-of-battle character models in the PC version (in the PC version, the characters walking around the field look exactly the same as those found in the battles, and Cloud even runs around the field with his Buster Sword strapped to his back so he doesn't pull it out of thin air like in the PSX version).

And it works out too. The PC version's translation was done by Eidos Interactive, and Square-Enix now owns Eidos (as of April 22nd of 2009), so now Square-Enix now owns the rights to the PC translation that has less grammar and translation errors. And since the PC version ran on a Microsoft opperating system, why the hell not?

Viney @ Jul 9th 2009 4:01PM

The videos of the PC version you saw on Youtube must have been videos of the unofficial fan created mods. Those were not in the retail PC version. The retail PC release had the same exact field models as the PSX version, just a little smoother due to the better rendering of 3D models on a PC.

Kevin @ Jul 13th 2009 4:18PM

Actully the PC version had a better script. Noteable The PS1 version has Elena mistakenly say Tseng died after being attacked by Sepherioth at one point in the game. The PC and orginal script just have her saying he got badly hurt.

Dante G @ Jul 9th 2009 2:08PM

I would have rather payed 5 or 6 bucks for the original in VC than the 20 I payed for the DS remake.

Andy G @ Jul 9th 2009 3:57PM

ff3 was already released in north america for the nes. it was released as final fantasy instead of final fantasy 3 since I&II weren't released in north america but its ff3 i assure you. i also have ff4 for the snes.

Cesaria (seh-sare-ee-ah) @ Jul 9th 2009 4:00PM

No, FF 2, 3, and 5 were never released here until much later. I assure you.

Andy G @ Jul 9th 2009 4:05PM

ok tell that to the cartridges sitting in my room right now. look it up on ebay if you don't believe me.

gohibuki15 @ Jul 15th 2009 12:25PM

We don't. If you're going to tell a lie at least make it a remotely good one.

Viney @ Jul 9th 2009 4:31PM

"Three Final Fantasy installments were released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990. It introduced many concepts to the console RPG genre, and has since been remade on several platforms. Final Fantasy II, released in 1988 in Japan, has been bundled with Final Fantasy in several re-releases. The last of the NES installments, Final Fantasy III, was released in Japan in 1990; however, it was not released elsewhere until a Nintendo DS remake in 2006."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy

TwEE @ Jul 9th 2009 4:38PM

No such animal, there was only one Final Fantasy for the NES in North America

Kevin @ Jul 9th 2009 6:33PM

People tell me that "you have to play FF(x)" it's much better than "FF(x-1)". I played FF3, and was told, "oh, it's not that great, FFIV is much better."

I've also been told that FFIV is not that great, that FFVI is much better, and same for FFVII. As well, in a few cases I've heard that VIII, X, and X-2 are the better ones.

So far I've played 2 different ones and found them both equally frustrating and annoying. Are any of them *actually* better, or is everyone giving me a rose tinted view of the past.

Feba @ Jul 10th 2009 8:03PM

The problem with FF, as a series, is that it's very much not the same. The plot that might appeal to someone in FF7 could turn someone off FF8; the fresh battle system in FF8 could make someone find FF9 boring. It's a very experimental series in a lot of ways, which means that there's very little agreement on which ones are best.

Generally though, yes, 4 is considered better than 3, and 6 is considered better than 4/5. 4, 6, and 7 are the ones that are considered very very excellent. I've not heard too many people sing the praises of the first one. The second one I think is even more of a black sheep, but with an interesting combat system. Three never seemed to be very special to anyone. Four is where they really get a good plot going. Five is a cliche, fun romp, but not a very serious game. Six is possibly the best one, with a superb plot and so on. Seven is also a very good one; the 3D hasn't aged as well as it could've, but it's a beautiful game, with great gameplay, an incredible story, wonderful music, and so on. Eight has a very bad plot and world, and the gameplay is very unpolished, but some people like it for the very experimental and fresh path it took. Nine is like five. Ten has another interesting battle system, and most people seem to either love or hate the plot. Eleven is a great game, but hard to recommend due to the MMO aspect. Twelve is another superb entry, although some people don't like the more active combat.

Your problem might be that you're starting with the NES/SNES ones, which are of course harder than the newer ones (after FF7, the really hard bosses tend to become optional sidequests, and the storyline ones are much simpler). It might be that you just don't like RPGs.

If you do like other RPGs, I'd recommend starting with FF7. The game has held up remarkably well for being as early in the 3D era as it was. It has some of the most distinctive and memorable music in the series, the plot is still a great work of digital, interactive fiction (and is one of the first games that made gamers cry), the battle system is, if not totally unique, very much memorable to anyone who has ever played it (just say Materia. Really.), it has a healthy mix of side quest and main story, tons of minigames and other things to do, and you can pick it up on PSN for only ten bucks. It's probably the cheapest entry in the series to pick up right now, and easily among the best.