Final Fantasy Legend III

Battles from the Game Boy original (top) and the Nintendo DS remake (bottom). Final Fantasy Legend III , known in Japan as SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha , is a role-playing video game set in a science fiction -based world where players take on the role of a four-person party as they travel between environments in different time periods. The party explores different environments from a top-down perspective, talking with characters to advance the narrative, using shops to buy and sell items and equipment, and entering battles during exploration. Players choose their basic characters from two different races, humans and mutants, who have different ways they can raise their experience levels.

Travel between eras is carried out using the airship Talon , which is upgraded during the campaign to reach new areas. Battles play out using a turn-based combat system, where party members attack enemies using their equipped weapons or magic spells. Humans raise their level using experience points in battle, while mutants raise their attributes and skills based on usage in battles. Humans and mutants can evolve into monster or robot character classes using items gained from enemies; meat triggers evolution into beasts, then monsters, while mechanical parts transform characters into cyborgs, then robots.

Characters are further customized by equipping magic stones, gaining access to new abilities. Dying in battle forces the player to reload a previous saved game. The Nintendo DS remake retains the original story, but removes the experience point-based leveling while incorporating mechanics established in earlier and later SaGa titles. These include skill learning and statistic leveling based on player actions in battles, nonlinear storytelling and exploration through the "Free Scenario System", and upgrades to the party's ship.

The graphics were also changed, shifting from 2D top-down to an angled 3D presentation. A new mechanic is "Time Gear", a special ability which stops time in field environments, freezing enemies and disrupting environmental effects which can halt the party.