There are two very distinct groups of people when it comes to the Final Fantasy fanbase. One sect believes that the series' radical change in the seventh iteration was for the worst, preferring the more fantastical tales predating it. Others enjoy the overdriven storylines and cutscenes found in the modern Final Fantasy franchise. Admittedly, I'm strongly set in the former group. As such, having the classic Final Fantasy III finally translated into English and redone in beautiful 3D was a dream come true.

Final Fantasy III is a natural evolution from Final Fantasy I, taking the party-of-four choose-a-class system and expanding it outwardly a bit. In the beginning, your party consists of but a single boy. Soon you meet up with others, all members of the Freelancer class. They're essentially average in every respect, with no real benefits. After touching a crystal, the game opens up, allowing you to choose from a pool of talent.

Mages, martial artists, warriors and thieves; no matter who you put in what role, everyone has an equal opportunity to grow and get better at the beginning. With the ability to play with a handful of classes and build a party instead of having a group of characters that are in set skillsets, Final Fantasy III keeps the role-playing in the RPG genre. Later on in the game, you can learn other jobs--although job skills cannot be combined. The experience and stat bonuses do stay however, so every fight counts towards making a better party member.

Now, presentation-wise, you won't see all the polish the series has been known for since the PSX era. Cutscenes aplenty are not in the game, dialogue is kept down to a minimum, and the graphics and score are rather low-key when compared to the more known recent titles. The game stays in key as a Fantasy though, as the combination of Hiromichi Tanaka's design, Akihiko Yoshida's art, and Nobuo Uematsu's compositions make you feel like you're looking into a mythical land of fancy where ninjas, djinns, and vikings coexist.

This newest journey into a world of darkness and light also includes some online functionality. Through a mail system called Mognet, players can send messages to friends and characters in-game. Although this seems a bit silly, doing so unlocks weapons and other related secrets within the game.

If anything, the only complaint I can register against Final Fantasy III is that it feels like a sixteen year-old game. Even past the enhanced visuals, added classes, and rebalanced game system, the game feels like it could have had more added. Old-school RPG fans will still dig it, RPG newbies will too--but for the people wanting an epic adventure with an ornate battle system... They'll be sorely disappointed.

As it stands, Final Fantasy III is one of the finest RPG titles released in the past decade, and is a crucial game to grab for the Nintendo DS.