Final Fantasy 3: Just got the Earth Crystal Jobs!
-Ancient Ruins is more annoying than I remember. No, not because of Splitting Enemies in the NES version before you have Dark Swords, that's manage-able if you have a Magic user (I had Conjurer), and are careful. The real reason is because there's a lot of enemies calling support. As in, basically splitting enemies only they do it unprovoked, so you can get into those situations Dragon Quest games love to shove you in of "STOP SUMMONING ALLIES!" DS version caps enemies at 3, so it's less annoying there, at least.
-NES version knew how good the Blood Lance was, and planned the Ancient Ruins around that. Enemies must resist Wind (which is what just about every Dragoon weapon is) because Dragoon does notably less damage than you'd expect, and Dragon Zombies mean you can't use Blood Lance, and dual Wind Lances are just not going to cut it here, since just about every other Job can do more damage over 2 turns than Dragoon's Jump.
-Cave of Shadows in the NES version loves Ambushes and that's a pain in the ass. Also, Conjurer is not enough of a Mage for this area, due to MP reasons. Black Mage is definitely better if only because it'll last much longer in a dungeon like this in terms of resources, and you want more reliable status. In the DS version, while I did see the splitting gimmick, it's honestly pretty mundane because enemies are easily 2HKOed and the clone take the HP AFTER the attack, so it's not too hard to just barrel through things. I used a Dark Knight anyway because I did my first playthrough, and as I said, trying to see how emulating that would go now that I have more knowledge of the game.
-Dark Sword's gimmick in the DS version seems to work against everything the game does otherwise. As in, when you attack with 2 Weapons, the game just lumps it as one attack with the combined power of both, but multiplies it by 0.6 to compensate, and it seems to apply it to elements as well. However, if you hit a Splitting Enemy with a Dark Sword + Non-Dark Sword, the enemy will still split if they don't die. This also applies to Soul Eater, making me respect that move less.
-...also, Soul Eater does really kind of suck. This is not really surprising given as I keep noting FF3DS never has formations greater than 3 (barring the one sewer forced encounter that has 4), so MT damage can only be so much, you're better off just doing the significantly higher ST damage and not taking the physical.
-NES version, Cave of Darkness is as annoying as expected if it wasn't obvious. DS version? It's pretty mundane. With the exception of Vasagos who hit considerably harder than anything else, enemies aren't very threatening so long as you have enough healing, the dungeon is a lot shorter due to less downtime on invisible pathes and the ability to move in diagonals, as well as some rooms being modified (NES version, the last room has a cocktease where an invisible path leads ALMOST to the boss but can't get there, making you have to go the long way. FF3DS, it cuts that out entirely and just has a straight run.) Furthermore, doing the NES version without a Dark Knight, let alone 2 like I was using, is hellish. Sure, a well built Karateka using Build Upx2 can probably OHKO them, at the risk of getting slaughtered, a Dragoon using Jump with some RNG luck can do well (and even without some, he probably hits hard enough that the split isn't too strong), a bunch of mages can help, but that's of work when Dark Knights just rip it apart. On the flipside, you can easily get away without Dark Knights in the DS version. As I said, enemies get 2HKOed on average here (heck, there's a few that have only 1-2k HP), and you have an enemy cap of 3, so splitting enemies aren't really that dangerous. On top of that, Mages have unlimited offensive resources thanks to Item Casting Rods (which use Aras), so that's extra damage allowing to chip around splitting enemies.
-This dungeon made me despise how the NES version handles running and defending. Not being able to use a Defend command on Mages is a pain in the ass when I just want them to not attack, since attacking = splitting enemies. Luckily, you can have them just use a weapon as an item to skip a turn so there's that, but I much prefer Defend just being a common action anyone can use (well, FF3DS Thief can't). More to the point, Running Away is bullshit because DEFENSELESS IS THE DUMBEST IDEA EVER. FF2 already screwed running up a lot with the whole "if enemy is too strong, you can't run, gg!" which I guess is their way of saying "you went to a spot you're not suppose to lol" but kind of falls on it's face against Hill Gigases of Dist. So FF3NES decided to screw it up in a different way with Defenseless. No, Running away should not have a major penalty like that. You're already penalized both in how a failure = a completely wasted turn and the fact that running offers no rewards for the fight.
For the record, FF4's "you lose Gil!" thing was stupid too, albeit, not really worth ranting about since the impact was minor, so just a typical "stupid idea that ultimately didn't hurt the game too much." True, running in the ATB games was easier for a number of reasons (...let alone FF10 where they outright gave you "Get out of combat free!" move on Tidus damn near close to the start), but the fact that you're not getting any sort of rewards for combat in itself is a risk, hence making you want to use it sparingly on it's intrinsic merits. Not to mention some people just use Run because the enemies are fodder and it's faster to skip them then have to go through several actions to wipe them out and see the victory screen.
FF3DS Run seems to suck granted, but more in a success rate kind of way if you aren't using Thief's Escape or getting lucky with the Chocobo Evoker/Sage summon, which ok, I guess that's a thing, but at least FF3DS doesn't do what games like Dragon Quest do where Run is a PARTY action, not a character action, and failing that = entire turn skipped.
-Hekaton sucks in both games. He's better in the DS version since damage is higher and he double acts, but if you so much as cast MT Healing every turn, he can't kill you outside of bad RNG. NES version, he died in like 2-3 turns (I swapped a character back to Knight because might as well get back to that.)
-Titan sucks in NES version. I summoned Odin via Conjurer, got the MT Reflect, watched him hit himself with Flare as we pounded on him. As a reminder, Reflect in FF3 has no negative side effects. Titan in FF3DS? Somewhat harder, but I am sequence breaking. The game has him balanced to assume you've faced Doga/Unei already, and possibly done Leviathan/Bahamut's dungeons (which can be done as soon as you get the Invincible, but I chose not too due to a combination of Evoker/Conjurer's MP not caring about those two until the very end (and even then, just Leviathan) as well as would rather get those Skill Levels on more meaningful jobs, at least for the DS version anyway.) The noteworthy thing he has is Quake and a decent physical, so no one can really tank him well outside of a dual shield Red Mage w/ a White Robe, who completely nullifies Quake and in back row, can take a few hits of his physical. Ultimately, I beat him on my 2nd attempt item casting Defender on him and the Evoker, while my 2 Physical PCs died off from Quake, and the rest of the fight was Ingus (the Red Mage) casting healing while Arc summoned Titan, wondering what will run out first, his HP or my MP (...albeit I had Elixirs so...), turns out his HP went first!
-I spent a little more time after getting jobs prepping for Sage. In DS version, this was done immediately because now that I have Sage, I turned Arc into that since he loses practically nothing compared to Evoker, but now gains a whole bunch of healing and some damage upgrades. Debating if he should use Black Robe for damage or White Robe for the slight MDef Boost (due to Mind); don't think it matters TOO much granted, but will probably have a spare White Robe on hand just in case. If I need an extra dedicated healer, Ingus has every single White Magic spell as is and thus can turn into a Devout if necessary. For the NES version...well, if you don't prep sometime around now, you'll be forced to leave the final dungeon, go through the Labyrinth of Ancients, get all the spells you need and turn around...and seriously, **** that, because that's a boring, dull dungeon with no real worth! Just ask FF14!
-Current teams if you're wondering are Knight/Dark Knight/Shaman/Summoner in NES version, and Dragoon/Dark Knight/Sage/Red Mage in DS version. DS version isn't going to change much, NES version...well...anyone whose played the game knows what's going to happen there. I COULD try to beat the game without doing that, but in a dual playthrough? Probably not wise.
