Once again I return to this ongoing series, in which I attempt to play through every game in the Final Fantasy franchise that I can get my hands on, from FF1 through FF13-2, and a variety of the spinoffs and other titles not included in the ‘main series’. This list continues to undergo revision, and for today, Final Fantasy 9 has been removed. Out of spite. Sigh. I know I’ll end up playing it when I get there, though.

Here’s an almost comically thorough recap of my basic premise:

Most people have already played many/most/all of the games that I’m going to write about in this series (weirdly, as I compiled the list of games, I personally have not played a fair number of them). I don’t care. Here are some things I promise I at least thought about when playing through each of these games:

– Some objective data. What version of the game did I play, and why did I select that one. What are the version differences?
– Is the game any good? Seriously! I’m sure some of these games suck! <– So far, they do not, with one notable exception.
– How would I place this game in a historical context? I want to watch the series evolve, devolve, side-volve and revolve as I go.
– Did I enjoy this game? What were the emotions and insane facial expressions I went through while playing it?
– How many times I frantically Googled maps for enormous maze-like dungeons because I no longer have the patience to solve them on my own?
– Was it… challenging? Were these games ever hard? Does the challenge ebb and flow?

I think all of this is extremely important knowledge, and that the human race will be improved by my research. Let's move on! Today's adventure…

The seemingly-but-not-really universally maligned Final Fantasy Mystic Quest! I did some research into this one, because I remember playing it as a kid… and the parts I remember from that experience (full disclosure: did not even come close to completing the game, just played it at a buddy’s house a few times)… were not bad. But it seems like what most people know about this game is that it’s bad. It sucks. It’s awful. Well…. is it? It’s a more complex question than it might appear on the surface. I’ll dive into it in detail, I promise. First though, the basic stuff.

Version played: Original SNES version.

As far as I know, this is the only ‘official’ version. There is a fan remake, “Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Remastered” – for which no current website seems to exist – which I did some research on. Apparently someone enjoyed Mystic Quest enough to go through the difficult process of remaking it on the popular “RPG Maker VX” software. I guess there would be harder games to remake, for what it’s worth!

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest says entry-level right on the NA box, as you can see. And that’s not far off… compared to other Final Fantasy games, the game is very simple. It has a point-by-point world map (ironically, a feature that didn’t become common until games later in the series) instead of an open-world one. The random encounters are gone, replaced with enemies that can all be seen on the screen. You command only two characters at a time, and even then, your second character by default is under ‘Auto’ computer control. Because none of the enemies require a particularly strategic approach, the computer’s auto control isn’t even un-usable: they prioritize healing the player, and never use nonsense attacks that would heal the opponent or be ineffectual. Healing spells and abilities are extremely powerful, items are plentiful. Oh, and instead of a traditional Final Fantasy inventory/equipment system, Mystic Quest’s system much more closely resembles that of a “The Legend of Zelda” title: the menu has a number of icons for your consumable items and equipment, but the best possible equipment is always on your character. The hero can use all of the available weapons in the game, and he always has the best of each one he’s received equipped. Each weapon has a field menu ability, such as the sword’s ability to thrust forward and ‘poke’ buttons, the axe’s ability to cut down trees, and the claw’s ability to (somehow) hookshot you across gaps. In fact, your hero also has a jump ability, so in some ways, this game has an adventure game feel.

Most simple of all? The story, unfortunately. The setup is a familiar one: there are these four elemental crystals. Only, some unpleasant rabble swung in and stole them all. Now the world is all out of whack. Prophecy says that the legendary knight-hero captain awesome will save everyone from disaster. The first character you meet, a bearded geriatric, is pretty sure that the Benjamin (the hero’s default name) really is this prophesized knight. Well, that’s good enough for Benny, who heads off into danger. Although each character in this game is a unique one, with their own skills and abilities, and unique personalities, the limited scope of the storytelling and dialogue doesn’t explore them in much detail. However, they are oddly somewhat less bland than other characters I’ve played with recently… despite that same limited scope. Huh.

Trying to place this game in the context of the series is a challenge. It’s definitely a sideways-move from the main series, with many ideas that will never re-appear in any future titles in the franchise (at least, not that I’ve ever heard of!). At a time when the main series is firmly entrenching itself in ATB, this game’s battles actually remind me more of Dragon Quest than anything. While Final Fantasy IV and V have colours of mages all over the place, and codify the mighty summon spells, Benjamin can learn all of the game’s magic, and he does so by finding (or being given) spells as treasure items throughout the game (note, then, that all party members in Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII…, can be as versatile, magically, as you desire…). The point-based navigation of the world, even, is something that we will see later in the series a couple times at least. Obviously, the adventure game elements would never become firmly entrenched in an RPG franchise, but it’s interesting that for a game which is so widely maligned… well, is it, though?

It seems like many people who pan the game haven’t actually bothered to play it. They’ve just ‘heard’ about how dumb it is. Or seen some screenies, read some of the description of the game I gave above, and decided, “that sounds terrible”. And to some extent, you’re right. I would much rather have the vast customisation of Final Fantasy V, mastering jobs and mucking about, and the detailed storytelling that defines many of the series’ games. But Mystic Quest has a few things going for it that many people, and maybe this is a ‘retro’ fad thing, have seemingly come to appreciate over the years:

– A rockin’ soundtrack (not by series stalwart Nobuo Uematsu, but by Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami). Seriously. Give attention to such essential tracks as all of the battle themes (especially Battle 3, the final boss’ music), City of Fireburg, Doom Ca… look, just check it out, okay? Or choose to trust me.

– A nice, tight play time. Even if you wipe out all of the ‘battle locations’ (basically, places with more monsters, in case you somehow aren’t tired of fighting them. You do get some prizes for ‘clearing’ them though), there’s no sidequest padding on this bad boy. I estimate it did not take me any more than twelve hours to complete… and I had no idea what the eff I was doing through the whole affair.

– Surprisingly entertaining gameplay. For all the bells and whistles that Mystic Quest is lacking, I didn’t feel the absence of more than a couple.

Of course, the game has problems. It could never have gotten such an unsavory reputation without them. If you’re looking for a compelling story, deep character motivations, lots of party chatter, or whatever… you’re barking up the wrong tree here. The game also has a wildly uneven difficulty curve, which can be frustrating at times. While for the most part Mystic Quest is not very difficult, some of the enemies have some cheeseball moves or abilities which can decimate your party (though, since you can’t get a Game Over unless you want one, obviously, you can’t really lose to poor luck), but more importantly, some of the boss fights become serious marathons, where your party’s resources simply might not be enough to outlast the boss. The solution, unfortunately, if you can’t fight any smarter, is to level up…

And boy, it is not fun to try and grind levels in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. If you find yourself at an impasse, hope that there’s a nearby battlefield that you haven’t cleared yet… because otherwise, the amount of experience provided by monsters in a given area becomes trivial once you hit a certain point. If you can’t beat the boss at that point, you’ll have to track down and destroy every monster stack in sight. Luckily, this didn’t happen to me often, and it’s far from an unknown in these pre-PSX JRPGs. Final Fantasy VII is the first game in the series where I know before I go in that I’ll feel absolutely confident running straight through with no grinding for levels, spells, job points, or whatever else.

If the game still sounds terrible, then, honestly, don’t play it. It was definitely not the best game in the series, even so far. It’s a better game in virtually all ways than, say, Final Fantasy I, which really is just stumbling blindly by on nostalgia alone… but it doesn’t stack up to games like Final Fantasy IV which have so much to offer the player in terms of silly-but-much-longer stories and guys named Cid. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking this game has no merits at all based on some nebulous negative reactions to it from twenty years ago. There are worse games, even within the series, and yes, I’m looking strongly toward Final Fantasy XII here, though I won’t name any names.