The Ruler of Time and Space! Let’s Play Final Fantasy Legend 3

In case my suggestion doesn't count as a vote, Team Marvel.

Although... MODOK isn't a robot. He's a cyborg. It's right there in the name: Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing.

Instead, how about [omitted because I just noticed the name entries don't have numbers. But it was X-51, aka Machine Man.]?

I was going to suggest a Teen Titans theme, but it broke down when I remembered

A) Cyborg is a cyborg
B) Beast Boy works better as monster than beastman
C) Everyone else is kind of unequivocally human
D) There are too many of them anyway

Well, X-51 was just his designation anyway, dudes name was Aaron Stack.

And he is full of useful devices.

Team Mixed-Metaphor for me, what with originally suggesting it and all.

Anyway, Bob Sapp kinda gets around. But I seriously don't see how people could possibly not name their monster Cookie.

I do have to give big props for this; it is the best of all possible names.

Megaman! Since I adopted it and all.


Also, I am eagerly awaiting this LP. I know nothing about the SaGa games, and any time I've ever tried playing any of them, I end up just quitting for no real reason at all pretty early on. It'll be cool seeing someone who knows what they're doing do something.

Yeah but this is the least SaGa game of them all!

And also the best!

Go, Team Venture Marvel!

The more I see Team Mixed Metaphor the more I like it.

You know what? I'm taking the high road.

We trade confusing growth systems (mostly) for a constantly upgraded airship of doom.

Since TEAM MEGAMAN is clearly not taking the vote, I think I'll switch to TEAM BEST METAPHOR.

This is like a mafia post, but I'll do the same. Mixed metaphor it is.

I say if a line of text is not interesting or important enough to get a screenshot, it should be omitted completely. How much garbage RPG filler dialogue have you read in your life?

Mixed Metaphors I guess!

Aww, I missed the window to suggest names (I was thinking robot: Data, cyborg: Geordi, beast: Worf and monster: Wesley). That being the case, I vote mixed metaphor.

Seconding this. Giant posts that are nothing more than text are even more boring in an LP than they are in the game!

Cut out stuff that doesn't matter and then summarize where you can.

I don't like any of the other sets so I'm voting for this one even though it's not on the list.

It's called Let's Play not Let's Summarize. What is even the point if you don't obsessively chronicle every last detail. WHAT IS EVEN THE POINT

Well, the real issue, if I recall, is that the stuff that does matter is all in the form of like, 10-20 consecutive tiny text boxes. So I'm cool with transcription.

Part #3: The Water Entity

The votes are in! 2nd place to Team Marvel (5), 3rd to Team Megaman (2), honorable mention to Team Star Trek (1), and the winner is…Team Mixed-Metaphor! (7)


In an alternate future, Kilroy was a rock and roll performer who was placed in a futuristic prison for "rock and roll misfits" by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for Musical Morality. He escaped by disguising himself as Mr. Roboto.


Had the world not flooded, Darth would have used his psychic powers to help his master win a war, though at the cost of most of his limbs, his wife, and his best friend. He subsequently would become one of the most powerful men in the galaxy. When he discovered he had children, his first impulse would be to share all of his wealth and power with them.


BobSap would become a well-known football player, professional wrestler, kickboxer and mixed martial artist; and known in Bobu Sappu in Japan. But he would also be lonely. Right now, he’s still just a little girl with psychic powers and a startling lack of personality.


Cookie is the Elder’s granddaughter. She likes cookies, but acknowledges that they are a sometimes food.



Welcome to the world of Final Fantasy Legend 3. It’s not actually a very nice place: Not only is it slowly drowning, but as far as we can tell, it’s destined to be completely destroyed.

Also, it was only years later, when I say art for the remake, that I realized that the Water Entity was supposed to look like a jar. (It’s an overgrown Decanter of Endless Water.) In my youth, I saw it as a face with water pouring out of the mouth.


The game opens with a battle. It’s fairly straightforward, and at this point you don’t really have any options other than attacking, and neither do these monsters. (Sprites use Dive, Diviners use Kick. Both of those are low-power physical Talents.)


Myron: Guess that might be the last time we all use the simulator. I'll say goodbye right now.
Kilroy: Ok... see you.


Kilroy: Cookie!
Cookie: Kilroy! Are you really leaving?
Kilroy: Yeah, but I'll be back.
Cookie: ….
Kilroy: Don’t worry. You’ll see me off tomorrow, right? I've got to go now.
Cookie: I’ll miss you….

In a normal game, this is pretty much all the personality Cookie gets. Darth and BobSap don’t even get this. Kilroy will do 99% of the speaking for the party, and have 100% of the noteworthy plot bits. As par for the era, PC characterization isn’t a bit priority.


Kilroy: We’re all ready now.
Elder: Good.
Kilroy: Where's Cookie?
Elder: I guess it’s too hard on her to see you off.
Kilroy: I'll miss her...
Elder: Let me tell you about Borgin, the man who sent you back to me.


Dion: Borgin! Where are the kids going?
Borgin: To the Past!
Dion: Past!? Quacer's time machine isn't finished yet!
Borgin: I've no choice! Changing the past is the only way to save the world from sinking!
Dion: You’re mad!
Elder: Borgin’s plan won’t work if the future's already destroyed. Still wish to go?
Kilroy: Yes. We 3 decided that we can't close our eyes to our own future.
Elder: Well said! Then see this. Come!

This flash-back (relatively speaking—it’s the future of the world, but the past for the PCs) introduces several very important NPCs and outlines your basic quest: Change the past so that whatever Borgin’s plan in the future is, it has a chance to succeed.


Faye: Don’t go!
Dion: Monsters are going to get you!
Kilroy: We’re making it safe so you can play outside! Be good. We’ll see you later.
Faye: Really?
Kilroy: I promise!
Elder: Ready?
Kilroy: Yes! Let’s go.

Spoiler: Yes, that’s the same Dion.


Myron: Elder! Wait.
Elder: Myron, Cookie, I told you not to leave the city.
Myron: I know, but we're worried. We all grew up together! And Cookie’s...
Cookie: Stop! Elder knows what he’s doing.
Myron: But…
Cookie: ….
Myron: I’ll guard the city! At least let her go.
Elder: Hmm, alright. You should both go.
Myron: You won't regret this!
Cookie: Thank you, Elder!
Cookie joined. Myron joined.
Elder: Ready? Let’s go back there.

Kilroy: What the…
Elder: It’s the Talon, A fighter that can travel through time.
Kilroy: Then, we’re off to the future?
Elder: No, it's useless now. Take this to Cronos in Elan. He knows a lot about Talon.
Received Radar.
Kilroy: What's this?
Elder: Borgin had it. It might be a missing Unit. Let Cronos see it.
Kilroy: Right!
Myron: Hey, the ocean's between here and Elan.
Elder: Find oFloat in North Tower. You can fly then. Monsters lurk there, so be careful.
Kilroy: OK!


This is the Talon, our time-travelling space-fighter from the future. Which is currently broken as shit. The first two FFL games displayed a blend of medieval culture and magic and random high technology, and this one leans more on the “high-tech” side of things. In fact, except for the swords we use as weapons, most signs point to this being a very technologically advanced world to begin with, albeit one that’s slowly drowning.


The first thing I do is hit the magic shop and buy Cure1 for Darth and BobSap (I’ll buy one for Cookie as soon as I get more money, but Kilroy will lose his ability to do magic when he becomes a robot.) I trade BobSap’s Bronze Cane to Darth, because my handy chart says it increases Cyborg HP by more. In the armor store, Kilroy and Darth need hats and shoes; BobSap needs a hat and armor, and Darth gets two belts. (That’ll be worth 40 MP when he becomes a Cyborg.) Cookie gets no new equipment, because as a monster, it won’t matter.


Magic in this game is purchased or found as items, and then equipped on characters. (There doesn’t seem to be any limit to how much magic you can equip.) The Cure line of spells are percentage-based, with Cure1 always restoring 30% of your HP, which means they’re useful on all of your characters and for the length of the game.


Then we hit the classic Grinding On The Simulator section. If I recall correctly, this course of action was suggested by both the manual and Nintendo Power. Apparently, this simulator is realistic enough to dispense actual gold to you. Hooligans and F-Drakes aren’t particularly threatening, and Myron can one-hit anything the simulator can produce.


The standard rpg Trauma Inn restores all HP and MP, for the cost of one GP per point restored. Savvy players heal with magic before staying.



The simulator doesn’t give me any meat or parts, so I end up moving to the North Tower (which I’ll talk about more next time) to grind for them. Cookie eats some Worm meat and becomes a Beast: Fighter (and the difference in the damage she deals with weapons is immediately evident), then eats a Turtle’s meat and takes on a proper Monster form: Whisper. (Her only attack is Flame, but it’s very effective. I actually turned down a chance to change her to a different monster because I didn’t want to lose that attack for the first dungeon. It’s effective at one-shotting most creatures here, despite the Whisper being a level 3-4 monster.) Darth installs some parts and becomes a Cyborg: Stranger. Kilroy installs some parts and becomes a Cyborg: Headless (then gets killed, but death wears off after battle, so no big deal).



BobSap finds some meat and become a Beast: Mad Boar, then changes to a Thoth on level-up. As we move through classes, I already notice a difference in difficulty from having two humans at this point, because the difference from standard human weapon damage is significant. After a gap, BobSap becomes a Beast: Familiar, and a Beast: Mustang almost immediately thereafter from a level-up.


Observation: Beasts change at level-up, but no other classes do. Which means that BobSap is becoming more badass as I fight, but the two cyborgs aren’t (Headless and Stranger are the level 5-6 cyborg choices, despite the characters now being at level 7). By the time everyone has hit level 7, my reserves are low and my patience is waning, so I head back to town. With an all-human party, I could break the tower over my knee at level 7. As it is, the two cyborgs are loadstones until I find some more parts.

Next time, I’ll properly tackle the North Tower (and hopefully find more parts), we’ll see some more plot and meet a few important NPCs, and maybe even travel through time!

I'm not sure this is true. It's been awhile and I didn't read too carefully to begin with, but I think each element combination has a fixed form that depends on level. So if Cookie is fire-aligned (I don't remember which character has which element) and she eats a water-aligned monster, then the game checks what the monster form is for fire+water at level 5, which may or may not be the same as the form for level 4. Same for beastmen, cyborgs, and robots.

I might be way off here, but that's what I remember.

You know, you almost can't tell this is a Kawazu game, except for the little detail that it is practically a mirror image of Final Fantasy II in so many respects. Even a major character (Borgin) is clearly derived from a throwaway villain from its predecessor (Borghen), if in name only.

Hope your Kawazu Cred's up to snuff, 'cause you're in for a real headache if it's not...

Fun Fact, Kawazu was only tangentially involved in making this one, as most of the crew involved in this game were in fact behind Mystic Quest. I believe the Big K was busy making Romancing SaGa at the time.

No, switching forms (I thought staying with their element, but apparently it cycles?) as they level up is the special snowflake quirk of beasts. For everyone else, you only change when you install parts/eat meat, at which point you immediately become whatever is appropriate for your new resulting combination of critter type, level range, and element (there's kind of a paper-rock-scissors-rutabaga deal with each combination of your old element+monster's element=new element that makes no sense whatsoever beyond how x+x=x).

This is actually kind of a drawback to beasts, because you have no way of sticking with what's working out. There's some really handy forms you'd potentially want to stick with the whole game that are only available at low levels, which the other 3 can (hopefully) attain and stick with, but beasts are always in a state of flux.

Fun fact: Years after I'd finished a friend's copy of this, I got my own, when the Sunsoft reprints of the 4 Game Boy "FF" games came out. This version did not include the gigantic chart that broke down all the crazy critter alchemy, and GameFAQs was not yet a thing. I stand by my decision to return it.

I mean, it's not even just not being able to work out what exact form you're getting. It's often really hard to tell if what you're looking at is beast meat or monster meat, and getting that wrong can SERIOUSLY screw a character up.

That said, I'd love to replay this some time and just leave all meat and parts to rot, playing all the way through with two humans and two mutants... in some alternate universe where that wouldn't just mean I was in for a horrendously dull grindfest.

How do humans work in this one again? Do they still guzzle potions?

No, humans/mutants just get stronger on level ups but they also have better stats on average plus they are quite capable at using weapons (humans) and magic (mutants). If you just want to play a nice breezy standard JRPG, you don't have to screw around with the mutation system at all. Using the mutation system at all is basically playing the game in "hard" mode at least until you get people with stone talents although some of the crazier gray magics are just as powerful.