Final Fantasy III's recent update is nice, but there's one problem

Earlier this week, Square Enix released an update for the (rather inelegant to say) port of the remake of Final Fantasy III for Steam, Android, and iOS. The original remake (also inelegant) released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS and has since found it’s way to many platforms including… Ouya. On Steam, it’s been out for six years — which makes an update now rather notable.

Checking out the Steam version, I found the update to be quite nice! It adds a much-needed auto-battle feature that also speeds the game up. This eliminates manual menuing during menial battles – a boon to anyone prone to a spot of grinding.

The UI and controller support are cleaner. Plugging in a DualShock 4 and switching between keyboard and mouse-only smartphone-like control is effortless, no need to restart with your preferred modus operandi. The game supports a 21:9 aspect ratio on Steam, which makes the low-poly style of the game look quite nice. A gallery of the game’s artwork has been added to the title menu. Support for traditional and simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai languages have also been added.

However, there’s one problem…

Much of the text in the game overflows its container, causing some words to be completely cut off. Square Enix is aware of the issue, sharing that they’re currently “looking in to this.”

Hopefully a fix will come soon. Despite this setback, it’s been very encouraging to see Square Enix update their ports, even if it’s been years after launch. We chronicled Chrono Trigger’s months’ long journey from it’s much-maligned Steam release to its much-improved current state. Even little things like Final Fantasy IX‘s update to condense the space the battle menu used on screen are nice.

Perhaps it’s need to parse through patch notes in Final Fantasy XIV or scour free updates to Final Fantasy XV that has instilled a sense of pleasure in seeing incremental updates.

Final Fantasy III’s remake is now available on Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Steam, iOS, Android, and Ouya.


About the Author

Tony Garsow Tony joined Nova Crystallis in 2015, and has spent more than a decade writing in the Final Fantasy community. He also contributes to the Nova Crystallis Twitch and YouTube channels, where you can watch select gameplay highlights, previews, and streams.

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