
	Platform SNES Genre RPG Publisher Squaresoft Developer Squaresoft ETA 1992
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Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest

Final Fantasy II (technically IV) came out on the SNES, it was all the reason I needed to get that console, and after I finished that game I was very eager to sink my teeth into anything with Final Fantasy in the name. Not too long after that Mystic Quest came out. It was with this game that I learned that all Final Fantasies are not necessarily created equal.

Talk about a mish-mash of events and story elements loosely tied together to barely make an adventure (or should I say quest?). A lot of what went on in that game seemed slapped together willy nilly as one excuse after the next to go fight some monsters. Most of the time you would be controlling your one core hero on this adventure, with an NPC tagging along and leaving at random intervals to help on this or that quest. After playing through a rock solid RPG like FFIV, Mystic Quest’s story felt incredibly weak by comparison.

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On top of this, the gameplay elements were a combination of the ho-hum, and random bits that tried to add some action gaming elements with limited success. Navigating the map was typical RPG exploration fair when in a dungeon, with the added ability to jump and use your weapons to manipulate your surroundings. The

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overworld only allowed players to travel directly to specific destinations without having to walk the whole distance themselves. This was a mixed bag, as it eliminated random encounters, but players still needed to level up to beat bosses. As such, there were battlegrounds one could visit where they could do ten battles to gain experience points, and even win a prize after the area is cleared. The battles themselves were very straightforward, with the usual selection of fighting, magic, using an item, et cetera. About the only nice, innovative thing to come along in Mystic Quest’s gameplay was the ability to see monsters, and as such avoid them. The lack of random encounters every few steps was very refreshing.

The icing on the cake for Mystic Quest was that the graphics weren’t any better for that game than that of FFIV. It’s as if all of the assets were recycled to make this game with a few new character designs tossed in. About the only neat little addition that was made to the visuals was how the monsters would start to look injured as damage was inflicted on them. Even the music was nothing to get excited over. The songs were a lot shorted, and lacked the presence I had come to expect from the Final Fantasy franchise.

Even looking back at the game today, it’s pretty impressive how Mystic Quest has managed to remain a blight on Final Fantasy’s record. There really haven’t been any other games in the franchise that disappointed on the scale of this game. Perhaps this is why we hadn’t seen any other Final Fantasy games use sub-franchises after that game for the better part of a decade. The whole game just came off as a cash cow trying to ride on the coat tails of the series proper’s success.

Mr. Nash
September 29, 2008