An Introduction
Welcome to this webpage! It's primary purpose is to instigate an all-out effort to re-discover the Lost Secrets of Final Fantasy III - which, in my opinion, is the best SNES RPG ever! In order to accomplish this seemingly impossible task, I need the help of any, and every, FFIII fan who is interested in learning the truth about this mystery.
[Some of you may have responded to the [email protected] in response to letters I had posted on one or two message boards earlier this year or, if you are in the Seattle, WA area, may have read a recent article by Bill Hutchens in the Seattle newspaper which mentions my search for this information. Unfortunately, that E-Mail address caught a virus and had to be deleted with the loss of 3 or 4 replies which I didn't get to read.]
But, I'm getting ahead of myself - there's a story which needs to be told. I purchased FFIII for my SNES the day it was released - which was in late October of 1994. Later that evening, before playing the game (and to avoid starting over to find secrets I might have overlooked), I called the Nintendo Hotline to see if there were any game secrets which were not in the Strategy Guide; I didn't buy the Strategy Guide until after Christmas. As it turned out, The Game Counselor was one whom I had spoken with on numerous occasions during the early months of gaming on the NES and, later, the SNES. As per Nintendo's standards of excellence during that time span, The information given out by the Game Counselors was first rate and, when one asked the right questions - especially concerning codes for extra lives or other programmer's secrets - one was given the answers. This was in addition to providing information to help when one got stuck - which happened to me quite often with some of the NES games and less often in the SNES games.
When I asked John about secrets which were not mentioned in the Strategy Guides - Authorized and unauthorized - it took me over 40 minutes to write down all the information he gave me. In addition to the locations of at least 10 Secret Areas, a bonus Scenario, one or two secret Boss Enemies, and the means of accessing each Secret Area (including who must be in party to access each area), I was also given a Debug Code which made it possible to access the game "glitches" - some of which were quite interesting! One or two of the "glitches" came with the advisory that one ran the risk of messing up saved game file(s) - if one successfully "glitched - I believe this was Relm's Sketch "glitch." [The DEBUG code, by itself, may only access the "glitches"; it may be necessary to use this code in conjunction with the Opera House "glitch," which is discussed later, to achieve the result of playing the version of the game with the Secret Areas, etc.]
During the first couple of weeks, I was able to access all of the secret areas, and play around with the safe "glitches." There was only one of the Game Secrets I was unable to succeed at - the revival of General Leo, which I will discuss later. Another bit of information I was given had to do with Rages: there were some Secret Enemies which could be learned as Rages provided its designated slot on the Rage List was empty. One "glitch" was there were some Rages which,in DEBUG mode, would overwrite a Rage already on the list - this only happened to me once. Since then, in normal gameplay, I have never been able to learn all possible Rages. The best I've been able to accomplish is 3 empty slots which, according to some, are for Allo Ver, Chupon, and Siegfried. It is my belief that it is virtually impossible to fill all 255 slots as whichever 3 enemies are missing are very rarely encountered on the Veldt. It is obvious there are more enemies in the normal game than there are slots on the Rage List. During normal gameplay, I have never encountered Chupon, Siegfried, or Allo Ver on the Veldt. But, while playing in Debug mode, I encountered Ipooh (after battling them, possibly in South Figaro Cave with Gold Bears), Prometheus (learned as Rage), Inferno, Striker, Rough (From Kefka's Tower), Allo Ver, Number 024, and Gold Dragon (not the one from Kefka's Tower, but the one which rarely appears, after many battles, in the forest area where Tyranosaurs and Brachosaurs are encountered. This Rare Enemy resembles the Brachosaur and is gold in color. It is this enemy which, when encountered, will drop the Item (1-in-three chance) necessary to revive General Leo. I believe this is only possible in DEBUG mode! On two separate occasions - while leaping Number 024 and, later, Prometheus - the electricity went off - A good reason not to play during thunderstorms! (Tennessee does get some freaky storms - including tornadoes - during winter months!) Also, during my first time through the game, It was necessary to call the Nintendo Hotline several times to clarify the directions I had been given (I talked with John each time!) and to ask questions which came up; these will be discussed later.
There is one other striking difference I've recently noticed when comparing gameplay (on the Veldt) now against what I remember from those events experienced during the first days of playing FFIII - again, I was not in the normal mode of gameplay at that time: Then - ProtoArmor would be randomly encountered on the Veldt and Gau could leap this Enemy but could not learn it as a Rage. Now - ProtoArmor has never appeared on the Veldt since then!
I seem to have digressed, but I wanted to relate events as they were happening. After beating FFIII the first time - about 80 hours - and accessing the Secret Areas, I shelved FFIII and moved on to other RPGs for the next year. The following winter (early 1996?), I began playing FFIII again with the intent of playing a "perfect game" - all Rages and Lores learned, as well as accessing all Secret Areas and finding all Rare Items, etc. I was shocked to discover that I was unable to access even one of the Secret Areas! After nearly having a nervous breakdown due to extreme frustration, I shelved FFIII until January of 2001.
In January of 2001, I decided to make an all-out effort to systematically play FFIII and figure out why I had failed to access any of the Secret Areas the last time I played FFIII was finally able to do so;. About three weeks later, and after intense frustration, I suddenly remembered the DEBUG code - and my notes! After a lengthy search, I realized that my notes on the Secrets of FFIII were gone. Later, I also discovered the same was true of my notes on the Secrets of FFVII (more on that later). What makes these losses so strange is that I found all my notes on the other SNES and NES games!
I then did something which I had sworn I would never do - I called the 900 numbers at both Nintendo and SquareSoft to see if they had this information. Neither had this information and only had "what is necessary to complete the game." After several attempts to speak with the head of Customer Service at Nintendo, I was told that all information, except what was necessary to complete any game, had been purged from the files of the Game Counselors. I was told this was so that more gamers could get through to Game Counselors with less waiting time. I was also told by one individual that Nintendo never gave out programmer's codes - wanna bet? I was given codes for Legacy of the Wizard (NES) and Super Star Wars (SNES) as well as FFIII. That was one of the reasons I initially subscribed to Nintendo Power! Nintendo used to be an excellent source for game secrets of that caliber for many games! Of course, one had to ask the right questions as this sort of information wasn't usually volunteered! But, it was there for the asking!
Square's Tech Support denied the existence of these game secrets but did comment that "If they were in the game, they were never intended for the gamer." In my attempts to get answers, I learned that neither company will let you talk to anyone at the Management or Executive levels. I wonder why? Also, none of the Editors at Nintendo Power would return my calls despite leaving my name and number on their answering machines!
There have been some who have suggested that I give up this search for the truth - after all, "It's just a game" they say. Yes, it is a game! But, these secrets are just as much a part of the game and, in reality, made the game even more fun! My guess is that accessing the Secret Areas, et.al., added another 15 to 20 hours of gameplay - at least! It is my contention that, since these secrets were programmed into FFIII - whether as "Easter Eggs" or as part of the Beta Testers' version - we have the right to know about them and the means of accessing them!
And that is where I need your help! I can't succeed in this endeavor without the help of other dedicated fans of FFIII! I believe there are individuals in different parts of the country, including a number of employees of Nintendo and Square Electronic Arts Llc. who know these game secrets. I also believe the apparent breach between Square and Nintendo (after Square went to Sony) may have a great deal to do with the "loss" of this information. Although unconfirmed, word has it that Square and Nintendo may be getting back together again!
It has become painfully obvious that the information on these secrets is not in any of the usual places where one would expect to find it on the Internet. Even stranger, there are some websites where the data is gone -erased - and some websites are now inaccessible which just happen to be titled "FFIII SECRETS." I don't think I'm being paranoid, but it appears to me that someone (or several someones!) has gone to a great deal of trouble to see that this information does not appear on the Internet and if/when it does, they hack in and delete it!
If you know anything about these secrets, especially the DEBUG code or anything related to accessing the Secret Areas, please leave your replies on this Webpage. Due to some hostile, and obscene, replies which were made apparent on the FFIII Forum, I must state that if you are skeptical of the existence of these secrets and have no useful information in this matter - It is not necessary for you to leave a message. There are a great may serious FFIII fans who would like to know these things. If you don't want to know the truth, then find another webpage to browse! I know for a fact there are a few individuals who don't want to know the truth because it will mean that they have been proven wrong. Please bear in mind that the purpose of this webpage is not to prove any particular individual wrong - It is to share the truth of these game secrets with any gamer who wants this information.
The sections are listed in the best order read, left to right. Remember, please keep an open mind. Any response is welcome, but please leave any expletives to be said by someone else, dear gamer.
Disclaimers + The Debug Code + The Lost Secrets of Final Fantasy III + Other Important Information + Updates
A completely separate adventure ---> The Lost Secrets of Final Fantasy VII
Tell us what you think! + See what everyone else says!
--->This many
have so far sought the truth
