Overview

Final Fantasy Legend III was the last major RPG for the original Game Boy. For all of the limitations of the system, the graphics are crisp and lively, the story is decent, and the battle system has a classic base with some well-executed new elements thrown in. This is a game for the RPG fan, because every bit of it screams classic. A four-player main party, black and white magic system, and more than enough random encounters both in dungeons and out. However, with its interdimensional plotline and the ability to transform your party members, Final Fantasy Legend III brings a lot of new to the table and executes it well.

Story

Without warning, the Water Entity appeared in the skies of the past and began flooding the world. However, in the present, the Elder of the village, Dharm, has been training four apprentices in hopes that they can find a way to destroy the Water Entity. The Entity cannot be damaged by conventional means, so the only option is to stop it from appearing in the first place. This is made possible by a relic from the future hidden in a nearby shrine: the time-travelling spaceship, Talon. Unfortunately, most of Talon's parts are unusable from its initial flight into the past, so the Elder commands the four heroes to find replacement parts, as Talon is their only hope to keep the world from flooding.

Battle System

The battle system of Final Fantasy Legend III is classic RPG with a dash of new elements. For each character, you have four options:

Weapon: Attack with the weapon in hand
Talent: Use talents if that character is transformed
Magic: Cast any spell that character knows
Item: Use an item or switch out weapons and shields

Weapon, Magic, and Item are pretty standard fare, but Talent revolves around character transformation, which is a new element in the series, and adds a lot of depth and strategy to party creation.

Before you choose to attack, there is an option to set characters to auto-battle. They will choose whatever action and target they think is best, which usually ends up being "attack the first enemy."

Transformations

After being defeated, a monster may drop meat or parts if it is organic or mechanical, respectively. Members of your party who eat or install these will transform into another state. Meat will transfor a Human or Mutant into a Beast, and then a Monster. Parts will transform a Human or Mutant into a Cyborg, and then a Robot. The scale is like this:

Monster <-> Beast <-> Human/Mutant <-> Cyborg <-> Robot

Monsters cannot use weapons, but have high base stats and get powerful talents. Beasts have access to weapons, abilities, and decent stats. Cyborgs start out with weaker base stats, but their stats are increased based on the weapons and armor they have equipped. Robots cannot use magic and start out with low stats, but they can be increased with certain items bought in stores. Humans are perfectly balanced, and Mutants are less skilled with weapons, but are the best spellcasters in the game.

What type of cretaure the character eating or installing actually turns into is dependent on the element both of that character and of the enemy that was defeated.

Since the statistics of a non-human/mutant character are based off of a monster, these are the percentages of that monster's base stats a character will recieve.

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