Final Fantasy Legend III, known in Japan as SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The third entry in the SaGa series, it was released in Japan in 1991 and in North America in 1993. A later edition released in North America in 1998 through Sunsoft. A remake for the Nintendo DS was released in 2011 by Square Enix, remaining exclusive to Japan. The Game Boy version was later ported to the Nintendo Switch and released worldwide by Square Enix in 2020, with later ports to Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows in 2021.
The game's narrative follows a group of warriors as they fight a god-like being in the past, present, and future. During gameplay, players explore the different time periods, fighting in turn-based battles and raising character power through a combination of experience points, skill leveling, and material-based character classes.
Production began in 1990 in parallel with the development of Romancing SaGa for the Super Famicom. Series creator Akitoshi Kawazu did not take part in the original production due to his work on Romancing SaGa, and development was instead handled by Square's newly-established Osaka studio. It was the final SaGa title developed for the Game Boy. Upon release, the game saw praise from Japanese and Western critics, with praise going to its graphics and narrative. As of 2002, the game had sold around 650,000 in Japan. It was the last Western SaGa release until SaGa Frontier for the PlayStation in 1998.
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.
