Final Fantasy III DS, play session 1

This post contains mild spoilers for Final Fantasy III DS. You have been warned.

I beat today the fourth boss of FF III DS, Medusa. When i faced her, i think i was maybe a bit under-levelled, since my weakest character (Arc) was lvl 13 while my strongest (Luneth and Ingus) were lvl 15. Nevertheless, i managed to beat this boss quite easily.

I thought she'd be tougher, since the previous boss, the rat, kicked my ass about 3 or 4 times in a row, until i decided it's time to level-up a bit. Even after a lvl-up session, i still found it a bit difficult to beat it. The problem with the rat boss is that you have to fight it while being 'mini'. So that leaves you relying on magic. Which my characters didn't quite mastered.

The whole preceding paragraph, brings me to another point. FF III DS is incredibly...old school. As in hard. Level up or, as a friend used to say, "walk, find boss.. die painfully". I wouldn't say it's unbalanced (though maybe it is), but i would say it relies on grinding a little bit too much. Old school gameplay: lvl-up to be able to beat boss. I got too used to FF X where i had to use a strategy for every boss. Some may argue that a strategic element is present in FF III DS too (point in case, boss fight no.3 - the rat - where you need to make use of magic in order to win), but the way i see it, unless you level-up a few hours no strategy can help you. And that's just wrong... it's for a Nintendo handheld. I'm sure kids will play it but i'm not sure if they'll put up with the grinding. I know two people that gave up on it because it requires grinding even in the beginning of the game. On the other hand, Final Fantasy veterans that grew up with FF IV hard type, will probably enjoy this grinding feast.

That being said, this first article is over. Happy grinding, everyone!