Final Fantasy Legend III vs Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Legend III is an RPG game from Square (1991) while Final Fantasy XIII is an action-RPG JRPG game from Square Enix (2009).
Quick answer: Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy XIII are too close, or too thinly reviewed, to separate on the numbers; the table below shows what each holds.
Final Fantasy Legend III
What each one is
Final Fantasy Legend III is filed under RPG. In contrast, Final Fantasy XIII under Action-RPG and JRPG.
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 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.
Final Fantasy XIII is a fantasy RPG in which a band of brave humans struggle against fate in the utopian sky city of Cocoon and the primeval world of Pulse. Follow stylish heroine Lightning's fast paced battles and high adventure in a mysterious new world.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
In the world of SaGa 3 , a non-sentient being called the Water Entity is engulfing the world in a great flood. The Water Entity also summons monsters onto the land and low lying cities are abandoned. As a party of four warriors sets out to confront the entity, several youths from the future arrive to help, and it is realized that the Entity's destruction is occurring across all time periods. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Sales In Japan, SaGa 3 topped the Famitsu sales charts from December 1991 to January 1992 . As of 2002, the game had sold 650,000 units, making it the third best-selling title of the Game Boy SaGa releases, and the lowest-selling original SaGa title as of that time. The DS remake debuted in eighth place in Japanese sales charts, with opening sales of over 27,300 units. (Wikipedia)
Plot
Setting Final Fantasy XIII is set on the futuristic world of Gran Pulse (often simply called Pulse). Central to the story is Cocoon, a massive artificial sphere that floats above Pulse's surface and is ruled by the Sanctum, a theocratic government. The two worlds are controlled by fal'Cie / f æ l ˈ s iː / , mechanical beings with godlike power. (Wikipedia)
Characters
Main article: Characters of the Final Fantasy XIII series The six main playable characters of Final Fantasy XIII are Lightning ( Ali Hillis / Maaya Sakamoto ), the main protagonist of the game, a former soldier and older sister to Serah; Snow Villiers ( Troy Baker / Daisuke Ono ), Serah's fiancé and leader of NORA, a paramilitary group; Oerba Dia Vanille (Georgia van Cuylenburg/ Yukari Fukui ), the game's narrator and an exile who is later revealed to be a… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Final Fantasy XIII received generally positive reviews. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 83/100 based on 83 reviews, the Xbox 360 version 82/100 based on 54 reviews, and the Windows version 65/100 based on 6 reviews. It was rated 39 out of 40 by the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu . (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Final Fantasy Legend III | Final Fantasy XIII | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | — | 6.7/10 |
| Steam rating | — | Mostly Positive (75%, 19,914) |
| Critic aggregate | 70/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | Unknown | $15.99 |
| Install size | — | 60 GB |
| Steam Deck | Untested | playable |
| Released | 1991 | 2009 |
| Developer | Square | Square Enix |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Final Fantasy Legend III vs Final Fantasy XIII, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Final Fantasy Legend IIIRPG gameFinal Fantasy XIIIAction-RPG JRPG gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Final Fantasy Legend IIINo descriptive tagsFinal Fantasy XIIIJRPG, RPG, Female ProtagonistThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Content and scale
Final Fantasy Legend III—Final Fantasy XIII19,914 reviews · 3 add-ons · 60 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Final Fantasy Legend IIIUnknownFinal Fantasy XIII$15.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 0 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
Where they differ
JRPGRPGFemale ProtagonistLinearGreat SoundtrackSingleplayer
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Final Fantasy Legend III is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Final Fantasy XIII is demanding, for players who want a challenge.
System requirements, side by side
| Final Fantasy Legend III | Final Fantasy XIII | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA® Geforce® 8 Series/ ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 series |
| Minimum CPU | — | 2GHz Dual Core CPU |
| Minimum RAM | — | 1 GB |
| Install size | — | 60 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Final Fantasy Legend III · Final Fantasy XIII.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Final Fantasy Legend III and 5 for Final Fantasy XIII. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy XIII in scope?
Final Fantasy Legend III lists little scope data. Final Fantasy XIII has drawn 19,914 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 60 GB.
Is Final Fantasy Legend III or Final Fantasy XIII better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Final Fantasy Legend III or Final Fantasy XIII?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Final Fantasy Legend III or Final Fantasy XIII?
Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy XIII are too close, or too thinly reviewed, to separate on the numbers; the table below shows what each holds. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.