First Impressions (FFIII DS, Day 25)

WiFi enabled. Like the original, right?

This will be my first play through of III, and as the title indicates, I opted for the DS version. It's a nice change to a bigger screen for me because I'm playing it on my 3DS. I'm certain that this version looks nothing like the original with updated graphics and such, but I do appreciate the look and feel of it so far. I also found it a little surprising how you start out with only one playable character. Further research revealed that this was something changed in the remake, and that in the original, the characters all fell into the pit at the start together, and were essentially blank slates. I don't mind the change, because it's nice to have a little more character depth than that. Of course I may have felt differently if I'd ever actually played the original, but as it is, I like this just fine.

You people are sick in the head. I love it.

In any case, I have begun, and true to the poll results, my characters will all be named after Ikea furniture. For the most part, I tried to stick with furniture I either currently own or owned at one time. We actually shop there quite a bit, and at the risk of this sounding like an ad, I do like their stuff, and own quite a few things that came from there. That said, Ikea, if you want to sponsor this blog, I'm not going to complain. Now, I find it a little unfortunate that altering the characters names means I'll have a harder time remembering what their names are supposed to be, but it's all in fun, so I'm not even mad. When you consider the fact that in the original they didn't even have names, I can live with it.

So here is the big reveal. The first character who is officially named Luneth, is now dubbed Ektorp Sofa. I don't have much of an explanation for that choice other than he looked like an Ektorp. Arc, the intelligent and shy bookish type, was the second character I encountered. I decided that it would be somewhat appropriate to name him Hemnes Bookcase. Third, I found the blacksmith's daughter, Refia. I named her after my favorite piece of furniture, which is a very comfortable and unique chair with interchangeable cushions and a stylish ottoman to match. Which makes her name Poäng Chair despite the fact that there is no way to type an umlaut in the game. I got creative with punctuation and made her name Po'Ang. Plus it was the one on my list that sounded the most girly. The fourth and last PC was renamed from Ingus to Lack Sidetable. Like him, the Lack is sturdy, functional, and all business.

Final Fantasy 3 - Living Room Edition.

 

On to my first day of achievements for this one.

That's not... normal...

As I mentioned above, I began with just one character, who promptly began the game by falling into a hole opened up by an earthquake. The title screen made certain that I knew the earthquake was only the beginning. I quickly discovered the rather unforgiving nature of the gameplay. I managed to just make it to the wellspring, and was pleased to discover that my HP could be restored there. It had been a nerve-wracking few minutes until that safety net appeared. I proceeded farther into the cave, and found myself in an underground temple of sorts, and face to face with a Land Turtle. Hoo boy - he hit hard, but thankfully, I had a shield and a slightly better dagger at that point, so I went a few rounds and took it down. Then things got weird, and a crystal started talking to Ektorp, who was understandably a bit shocked at the whole prospect of a sentient rock.

Then, after a brief conversation in which the crystal informed Ektorp that he was a chosen one and he had to go gather the others, he was quickly teleported back to the world map. It's entirely possible he thought there were some toxic fumes in that hole, because he again expressed his incredulity at the whole situation. And yet, when he returned to his village, the elders were completely fine with it. Of course there's a talking crystal. Of course he's the chosen one. After all he was brought to the village as a baby under mysterious circumstances. Because Final Fantasy prefers all of their heroes to be orphans.

That mushroom tasted funny.

At this point, Ektorp was told to strike out and find the other chosen ones, so of course he brings his best friend, Hemnes along with him after learning that he wants to be brave like him. He had run off, and was joined by Ektorp in the next village over. The place has been struck by a Djinn's curse that turned everyone into ghosts - also known as killing them - but apparently this doesn't have to be permanent. So of course, heroes being heroes, Ektorp and Hemnes wants to help if they can. In the inn, Cid gets his first appearance quite early in the game - except he's ethereal at the moment so I'm not entirely sure 'appearance' is the right word to use here.

Cid asks the party to go borrow his airship to find the solution, and they go dig up his airship and encounter Po'Ang for the first time, who insists on joining them. Besides, it wouldn't be hard because the answer to the problem presumably rests with the king. He owns a mythril ring that will lift the curse. It's never that easy though, is it? Upon arriving at the castle, we learn that they're affected by the curse too, and the mythril ring is held by the princess who has very inconveniently gone missing - and assumed captured by the Djinn that cursed them all.

The castle is also where Lack, a royal guardsman, who had been away when the curse struck, decided to aid the party in the quest. Thus, the four heroes were assembled and made their way to the sealed cave to rescue the princess, kill the Djinn, and lift the curse. Unfortunately for me, the difficulty decided to ramp up quite a bit in the cave. It went a little like this. I went into the cave. I walked around for a few steps. I got into a random battle. I ded.

Mummy doesn't love me.

Oh boy. Time for my favorite thing: grinding until I stop dying instantly. We'll see if I'm successful at that this afternoon.