Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy III was released in 1990 only in Japan for the Famicom and became the series' last entry on an 8-bit console, before Square moved on to the more powerful Super Famicom for the next installment, leaving the series' 8-bit era behind for good. The story of four orphans who become Warriors of Light and set out to save a world lost between light and darkness expanded the ideas of the first game into a much larger adventure, featuring a floating airship town, a more elaborate world, and a pair of interconnected continents that the player gradually learns to travel between.

The game introduced an elaborate job system in a form that would later influence the entire series and many other JRPGs – players could change characters' jobs at any time as needed, gradually unlock more advanced classes like the Black Mage, Devout, or Summoner, and tailor the party's lineup to specific battles and dungeons. The airship the player obtains later in the game also opens access to previously unreachable parts of the map, giving exploration an entirely different dimension than the more closed-off first game. Because it never released outside Japan in its original 8-bit form, the game long remained a legend to Western players, known mainly through emulation, imported cartridges, and fan translations, until a full remake for the Nintendo DS replaced it sixteen years later. This long unavailability outside Japan only strengthened the game's reputation as the missing puzzle piece between the first game and the famous fourth entry, talked about among fans long before anyone outside Japan could actually play it.

Why play it: For fans of classic JRPGs and series history, it's a glimpse of the moment when Square was still searching for the formula behind its later major entries – best appreciated by those who want to experience the original 8-bit form of the job system, not just its later, far more accessible reworkings.