When it was announced that Final Fantasy III was being remade for the Nintendo DS with new 3D character models, I remember thinking "Oh God, here we go." I'd waited years to play the third installment of Square's legendary RPG series, and in light of the way many of the franchise's recent stars had turned out looking, I was worried we'd end up with a bunch of spindly doofuses. Much to my delight, this was not the case.

On the contrary, the job had been tasked to Akihiko Yoshida, and I thusly adored the character art for Final Fantasy III. So much so that when I met with Square-Enix a while back, I couldn't leave without this new 5-piece set of FFIII Trading Arts Mini figures. They've already become some of my favorite denizens of my overcrowded trading figure shelf, and I'll explain why in my full review after the jump.

I've said it before: Square-Enix knows what the hell they're doing when it comes to their merchandise. They've only recently branched out to toys and figures, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the stuff. The quality and attention to detail is that of a company who's been in the business far, far longer, and no one can dare point a finger and accuse them of churning out a mediocre product in order to exploit their loyal fanbase. Square-Enix's toys and collectibles are held to the same high standard as anything else they put out there. 

The first thing you'll notice about one of these figure sets (there's also one for FFVI, FFIV, the list grows), is the packaging. It's nice. Nice as in "I have to be careful opening this so I don't mess up the box." Nice enough that it doesn't seem unreasonable to simply leave the figures as they are and put the whole deal, box and all, right on your toy shelf. The characters are perfectly visible through their packaging, and I'd imagine a lot of collecters are probably going to do just that. Personally, I couldn't resist digging them right out of there (screw it, you can't take 'em with you, right?) and should you decide to go that route, you'll find that care has been taken to design multi-layered casing that really protects its contents. These guys could make it through a storm or two in that box, no problem. 

However, chances are that you don't care as much about the box, so let's get down to business. I'll let the gallery do most of the talking from here out, but the one point I want to make is that these figures are of unquestionably high quality, especially at a measly fifteen bucks for all five. The materials are great, the paints are spot-on, and most importantly, the sculpts are true to the original character art that many FF fans fell in love with when the game was released. 

Yuneth (Original Freelancer garb)

I don't mind so much that Square-Enix opted for Yuneth's standard outfit as opposed to, say, a Magus or something. I always thought he looked kind of cool just the way he was.

Arc as the Red Mage

AKA Pilgrim. I never liked the Red Mage's duds, but somehow it still manages to translate to a cool figure.

Ingus as the Knight

Ingus is a badass. The silvery paint job and the great sculpt on his belt don't hurt a bit, either.

Refia as the Devout White Mage

It's f*cking adorable. That's all I have to say. I loved the way this job class looked in the game, and I love it even more in plastic.

Refia as the Dragoon

Without a doubt my favorite piece in the entire set. That's why I saved the Dragoon for last. Just look at it. Somebody needs to get on a 6" version of this right now. The detail is crazy, and each piece of Refia's metallic, copper-colored armor is distinct; all the way down to the little wings on her back. I want a bigger one, I want it articulated, and I want it now. 

Overall, I cannot recommend this set enough. Its $15 price tag seems like pennies for what fans of this game will get out of it, and Square-Enix's commitment to quality is inherent in every piece, incuding the character-specific (!) figure bases. They can be found among many other delightful things, at the official Square-Enix online shop.