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The original version ofFinal Fantasy 3didn’t release in the United States when it came out on the NES, so players now have a way to play this classic through the Final Fantasy 3 Pixel Remaster. Since the game does its best to preserve the original experience, it can be challenging for new players.
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As you go through the game, you can use beginner tips to help you understand the mechanics and strengthen your heroes. Doing so will take time and preparation, but you can get through the game and make the experience easier for yourself.
Balance Your Party
Final Fantasy 3 Pixel Remaster gives you four characters at the start, incorporating a class system. As you continue through the game, you’ll unlock more classes by going to the different crystals. Each class offers pros and cons to help you through the game, sobalance your party to help you cover your basesand protect your party.
If you don’t know how to balance your party, you should dedicate each character to a specific role and choose your classes accordingly.
Example Classes
Physical Damage
This character will pick classes that boost their damage andfocuses on non-stop attacks. They’ll help you get through most random encounters.
Warrior, Monk
Healer
You need a character who canheal your party and remove status ailments, so always have a healer ready.
White Mage, Red Mage
Magic Damage
Being able to take advantage of elemental weaknesses is fantastic. You can alsouse magic to hit multiple enemies simultaneously, so always have someone who can cast black magic.
Black Mage, Red Mage
At the start of the game, your magic users may not hit hard enough or have enough magic slots to be effective. If you want to boost your physical damage while having a jack-of-all-trades,swap the healer or magic damage character with a Red Mageat the start of the game. You should still have them focus on one magic type, but their versatility can help early on.
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Talk With Everyone In Town
The game doesn’t spell out what to do when reaching a new area. You must go through the town andtalk with everyone you see. Go up to each character and see what they say since they usually hint at what you must do to help the town or progress through the game.
For example, when you first enter Kazus, you’ll notice the town has ghosts. As you approach each character, most of them say the same phrase. However, if youtalk with a specific ghost in the bar, he’ll introduce himself as Cid and lend you his airship to free the town’s residence of the curse. You wouldn’t gain access to the airship without talking with him, so remain thorough while you visit towns.
Start by talking with everyone outside. Then, go through the town visiting every building until you get all the information you need. Some characters can even give hints about dealing with different enemies, so don’t speed through the text and pay attention to the NPCs.
You should alsolook for fountains with symbols above them. Some will restore your HP and MP, while others will revive your teammates.
Pay Attention To The Town’s Music
Speaking of towns, you should listen to the music whenever you enter one. While it may seem unimportant initially, you’ll quickly pick up ontwo songs that play as you explore the game. The first song sounds ominous and plays in a minor key, while the second plays in a major key and sounds triumphant.
If you hear the first song, that means the town has an issue that you must solve. You’ll then apply the above tip to figure out the problem, so you’ll know what to do.Once you help the town, the music will swap to the second one, letting you know you completed the task.
However, you shouldn’t leave the town just because you hear that music. You may need to talk to some essential NPCs in the area and get an item or access to another location. For example, when you free Sasune Castle from the curse, you musttalk with the king to get a canoe, so you’ll reach the Airship. While you could move on to the next location, you may want to talk with people and cover your bases, so you won’t have to backtrack.
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Save Your Phoenix Downs And Buy Plenty Of Items
You’ll get Phoenix Downs as you travel through towns and dungeons while opening chests.Phoenix Downs are some of the most important items in the gamesince they allow you to revive characters. However, you’re able to’t purchase them from shops in Final Fantasy 3, so you have a limited number to use.
Until you unlock the Raise spell, you have no other ways to revive characters unless yougo to towns and use the fountains. With that in mind, you won’t want to waste your Phoenix Downs early on, but you don’t need to hold onto them for too long.
Speaking of items, buy as many items as you want,especially status ailment restoration items. They’re all cheaper compared to how much money you get in the game, so stock up on items since status ailments can be a major hindrance during your playthrough.
If you go to an item shop, and they offer new items for different status ailments, you’ll most likelyencounter that ailment in the upcoming dungeon. If you want a safe number, carry ten of each item before going to any dungeons.
Use The Quick Save Feature And Other Modern Features
Since Final Fantasy 3 is unforgiving, you’ll want to use the quick save feature frequently. In the game’s original version, you couldonly save while on the World Map, but the Pixel Remaster version adds quick saves to the game. You need to open your menu, click quick save, and you’ll create a point you can continue from later on.
However, it doesn’t function like quick save in older games where you use it, get kicked to the menu, and must delete it once you load the file. Instead, you may keep playing once you create a quick save point, so you can return to that point if you die during a dungeon. You cancreate a quick save as you travel through a dungeonor use it right before a boss fight to reload the fight if you lose.
Speaking of quick saves, you should look through the other added features available in the console versions to make the game easier or to save you some time. For example, if you need to grind, you can use the boosts to increase your experience or money gain. That way, you canturn a few hours of grinding into a few minutes.
You can alsodeactivate random encountersif you’re low on resources in the middle of a dungeon. Doing so will let you run out safely, return to town, and not deal with running away from encounters, saving you some time.
