Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest

aka: Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest, Mystic Quest Legend
Moby ID: 7197
SNES Specs
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Description official descriptions

Focus Tower is the center of the world and balances the forces of the world. However 4 monsters have taken the 4 elemental crystals (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind) for their own use, and also taken the 4 keys that for doors inside of Focus Tower. With the balance disrupted, disasters befall the world. A young boy by the name of Benjamin finds his home village destroyed. Meeting a mysterious old man while trying to escape from earthquakes, he soon learns that he is the prophesized hero and the only one who can save the world. Benjamin must recover the 4 crystals, unlock Focus Tower and defeat the ultimate monster before the 5th crystal, the Crystal of Life is corrupted.

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest is an RPG game, shown from an overhead view for movement within areas and using a 3rd person view for battles. The game is divided into "areas" on the world map between which the player can freely jump. These areas are divided into Towns, Dungeons and Battle Areas. Towns feature characters to interact and talk to, Dungeons are mazes filled with monsters and Battle Areas are instant battles with specific monsters, completion of which sometimes awards special items. Inside a Dungeon or Town, the player moves from an overhead view, with he ability to jump, use weapon at whatever is in front of the character, interact with NPCs and attack monsters.

Unlike other Final Fantasy games, there are no random battles, all the enemies are visible to the player (or in specific "Battle Areas"). During battle, the game features turn-based combat (but not the "ATB battle system" used in other Final Fantasy games) where the player chooses from battle commands such as Attack, Defend, Item and Spells.

Also unlike other Final Fantasy games, the player's party only ever consists of two characters: Benjamin and another character who can either by controlled manually or automatically by the AI. Benjamin can collect armor for 4 different parts of the body as well as 4 different kinds of weapons, however the other party member cannot have their equipment changed.

Players can save at any point in the game. If the player is defeated in a battle, the game will let the battle be retried, but any items used will be lost.

Spellings

  • (ファイナルファンタジーUSA ミスティッククエスト - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (SNES version)

35 People (18 developers, 17 thanks) · View all

Story
Director
Monster Design
Map Design
Translation and Storyline
Main and Battle program
Battle Program
Field Program
System Program
  • Itikiti
Sound Program
Map Graphics
Monster Graphics
Animation
Map Characters
Sound Composer
Special Thanks
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 70% (based on 23 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.9 out of 5 (based on 50 ratings with 2 reviews)

It's too easy and simple, but a good choice for those new to the genre.

The Good
FF:MQ is notorious to many RPG fans for numerous reasons. But I'm gonna start with the good parts. If you aren't good at RPGs, and like the genre, by all means play this game. I don't usually enjoy RPGs because they are way too long and hard. Mystic Quest isn't. It's the most simple RPG on the console. And, depending on where your tastes are with games, this can be a hit and miss. I, personally enjoy this game because of it's simple nature, and have finished it in a mere five hours. It's simplicity at it's best.

The Bad
When Square advertised "entry-level RPG" they meant it! This game is EASY! They even added puzzle solving, and it's STILL easy! The game actually equips your items for you, and the treasure chests actually respawn when you come back to that area!

The Bottom Line
Mystic Quest is a Overly-Easy and simple RPG that may only be good for kids, because hardcore gamers need not apply.

Overall: Graphics:7/10 Sound:7/10 Gameplay:6/10 Fun Factor:6/10 Replay value:5/10

THE VERDICT IS: 6 out of 10

SNES · by JohnLennon224 (13) · 2008

Too simple for most, but worth a look for any RPG fan

The Good
Square USA's inaugural effort at game making was ahead of its time in many ways. Weapons can be hot-swapped during battle, you can jump over NPCs that block your way, and (nearly) every battle in the game can be avoided. While the environments are nothing to write home about, the enemy sprites are quite detailed, and almost every single one has at least 2 sprites (they change after they get badly damaged). Weapons can also be used outside of battle which led to far more interesting puzzle opportunities than one was apt to find in other SNES Final Fantasy titles. You didn't need to grind to beat the game, and you could save anywhere you like. For all its flaws, there was plenty to like about FF:MQ.

The Bad
While it broke a lot of ground, and did many things well, Mystic Quest is criminally easy and its story isn't terribly deep. Many of the features above are nice, a few of them add to this, and can be seen as flaws. The avoidable battles are nice, but unlike later games like Earthbound, the enemies just stay in one place and wait for you to engage them. Similarly, the rationing of save points is part of the challenge of a good RPG, and being able to save in dungeons takes away from the difficulty even further. Heck, some folks even like grinding, but I prefer challenges that aren't manufactured, so no points off for that. Taking the simplicity of the game even further, treasure chests respawn in visited areas, so it's a simple matter to keep going back to the first forest and stocking up on potions whenever they're needed. It's not bad, but it's certainly the worst game in the Final Fantasy series to grace the SNES.

The Bottom Line
Mystic Quest is a game that I feel would make a great research study. It did many things well -- in fact, there were actually quite a few mechanics in MQ that I wish had made their way in to more RPGs from the time -- but didn't deliver quite the experience fans of the series were looking for. At the same time, it wasn't nearly exciting enough to bring new fans to the genre. I can see why it's gotten its "hall of shame" status in the minds of most gamers, but I think the more ravenous of us can be a bit harsh.

Is Mystic Quest great? Absolutely not. But it isn't half bad. It doesn't take particularly long to beat either, so really, what have you got to lose?

SNES · by Nick Rycar (155) · 2007

Trivia

Glitch

Apparently, there is a bug in some copies that only occurs in certain Super NES control decks. This bug can be found in the area Falls Basin, as well as any other area that shares the same music. If the game is saved and resumed from these spots, the music will trail off into silence after about 30 seconds, and the game will freeze altogether if any action is performed during this time.

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Related Sites +

  • FF-Fan
    A fansite that offers all kinds of information on the entire Final Fantasy franchise, including walkthroughs, game media, discussion boards and fan art.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 7197
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Unicorn Lynx.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Wii added by CrankyStorming.

Additional contributors: chirinea, Exodia85, Silverfish, Lunarian, —-, Patrick Bregger.

Game added September 6, 2002. Last modified March 24, 2024.