Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

The console RPG genre has always been pretty popular Japan, but was not really a common thing in the late 80s/early 90s in the US. The company behind the Final Fantasy series, Square, decided to make an RPG in the early 90s that would be geared more towards the "new" western market. They wanted to create a title that would welcome newcomers to the RPG genre by making it less difficult than previous RPG games and easier to just pick up and play. That game was Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

Unfortunately, what they ended up making was a game that was oversimplified even for RPG newbies.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was released in between Final Fantasy IV (or II US) and Final Fantasy VI (or III US). Although it is considered a spinoff to the Final Fantasy series, it is hard not to compare the title to its predecessors. Square has generally been known for releasing quality games, and that's what you come to expect from them (spinoff or not).

You will immediately notice that everything is pretty mediocre; from the cosmetics to the soundtrack. While nothing could really be considered terrible, none of it stands out either; making the game seem dull right from the very beginning.

Square made the game way too easy thanks to several things. Traditional save points have been removed and you can save anywhere, anytime. About to fight a boss? Save right next to him. While I don't think many people enjoy doing over hours of content due to deaths, a happy medium could have been established rather than making it so easy to start right back where you messed up.

To make things even more simple, you can retry any battle that ends in your defeat; even boss fights. Honestly, you may die a few times, but you are more or less safe (excluding some boss battles) just holding down the attack button. What does all of this do? I think it makes people think it is okay to just steamroll through everything with little to no challenge making it pointless to play the game in the first place. Some may think the story could be its saving grace, but that is probably the crappiest thing about the entire game.

The thing that the majority of people enjoy the most about RPGs are their stories. Many titles do a great job of immersing you into their world and keeping you wanting to learn more about it. Had Mystic Quest had a story/character development that was comparable to previous titles, like FFIV, it could have been much better.

Unfortunately,  this is not the case; in fact the story is pretty much terrible. The main character is lifeless aside from a few weak jokes and is constantly doing stuff "just because". Support characters are equally stupid. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not spend hours in a game where people do things for no reason (unless its funny).

Being a huge supporter of Square, I really hate to say that this game sucks. Unfortunately, there isn't a better way to describe it. It seems that they overshot their original goals for the game and instead made something that's so easy that it really is a chore to play. Had they made the gameplay a little more challenging or beefed up the dialogue some, perhaps it would have been a bit better. Sadly, we'll never know about that.