Between the release of Five Nights at Freddy’s 3 and the news about Nintendo going mobile, March has kept me anchored at the keyboard. I’ve literally written enough to give myself a red-hot case of tendinitis in my left wrist.

So it’s not that I don’t have opinions about Nintendo developing separate games for mobile. I do – and they’re mostly good. But people are still worried, and I guess I don’t blame them. There’s been a lot of discussion about whether or not this partnership  with “Deeena” is a good thing (and I immediately fire back with “It’s pronounced D-N-A,” thus verifying I’ve kind of crossed the line with this whole “mobile games writing” thing, and even though I can check out any time I like, I can never leave). After all, DeNA is a massive corporation that specializes in free-to-play games. Can they do justice to Nintendo’s mascots?

If DeNA’s latest project is any indication, we’re probably all going to be OK. Said project, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, is a mobile RPG that is admittedly powered primarily by nostalgia – but it’s undeniably well put-together and offers tons to do. There’s a stamina system, but refills (and extensions) pop up often enough. The game’s not too stingy with its hard currency (mythril), which makes it possible to outfit your fighters with decent equipment and give them a fighting chance.

And speaking of fighters, there’s a lot of them. I’m a bit of a mobile gaming apologist, but even I’ll admit I was expecting Record Keeper to hide its iconic warriors behind a paywall. Not the case. The very first fighter you get is Cloud, and then everyone else follows without you having to cough up a cent.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper still has free-to-play trappings, and some people have decided those trappings in any form are simply inexcusable. But if you have an open mind about free-to-play games, be assured that Record Keeper is a game that was built, first and foremost, for players to have fun with.

That’s great news for Nintendo, because the Internet is now permitted to dare hope DeNA’s games won’t simply be Candy Crush clones featuring Mario stomping on sweets.

I never expected that to be the case – as I point out in my article for WD Ventito, I think Nintendo’s protective of its franchises and won’t let them near blatant clone trash – but it’s nice to have a little verification.

Now I’m off to see if I can’t clear out the Narshe mines before I do a bit of shopping.