Review: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest often gets derided as an RPG for beginners, due to its simplistic gameplay and low difficulty. However, those weaknesses can potentially be strengths to newcomers to the genre, and the game has a unique charm of its own that can even appeal to veterans.

Story

I'll be blunt; FFMQ's story is lackluster even by the low standards of the SNES era. The plot basically involves the hero trying to save the crystals in order to help heal the world; for example, recovering the Water Crystal saves Aquaria from an endless winter. Most of the characters have no personality to speak of, save for Tristam being a Han Solo-esque rogue and the Old Man being rather eccentric for the wise old man archetype. The Dark King is probably the most generic and cliched RPG villain I have ever seen outside of parodies, and the fact that he is only introduced just before the final dungeon does not help matters.

Combat

Combat is rather simple. Like other RPGs, you can choose to fight with weapons or magic (the latter of which has a limited number of spell castings for the White, Black and Wizard schools- the former is healing and the latter two are offensive), but most battles can be won by repeated standard attacks.  You can control your partner manually or let the AI control them for you.

One nice feature is how you can choose between several weapons to attack your foes, each with advantages and disadvantages. For example, using an axe will do extra damage to a tree enemy, while the bombs allow you to spread damage across all foes. Each weapon you have available will be upgraded twice over the course of the game, and you generally don't have to go too far out of your way to find upgrades for your armor, although unlike most RPGs, which have dedicated weapon and/or armor shops, you talk to random NPCs to buy your gear when you don't get it from chests or story scenes.

As you damage enemies, you'll notice that they visibly become weaker and visible wounds appear. Most ordinary enemies change once, while bosses change twice, and the major bosses of each region change more often than that.

FFMQ isn't terribly challenging. Part of it is the game's simplicity, and part is due to not requiring level grinding, since you'll be a reasonable level if you keep up with the Battlefields and clear out most of the enemies.

Despite the game being considered to be not very difficult, it's surprisingly easy to die if you're careless or suffer bad luck. Having only two characters in your party can make for a precarious situation, since it can be difficult to recover if one party member is KOed or incapacitated. Should something like that happen, the game allows you to start again from the beginning of the battle you lost, without any strings attached. In fact, if you were ambushed the first time you entered the battle, it's likely that you will be able to start the second attempt at the battle on even footing with the enemy, or possibly get a chance to strike first.

Unlike most RPGs of the time, there are no random encounters Instead, you enter a battle if you interact with monster avatars in the area, which not only ensures that you won't be attacked if you're not looking for a fight, but also gives you some idea of what to expect. If you see a skeleton, you can expect that at least one enemy, if not both or all three(there are a maximum of three enemies per encounter, which is fairly low for the series) is a skeleton of some kind.

On a final note, if you want to grind, you can enter Battlefields, where there are ten monster encounters available. Each encounter starts the moment you enter the Battlefield, and after you win, you can save, heal and/or go elsewhere before you go on to the next battle. If you win all ten battles, you will receive a reward- usually experience or money, but sometimes a magical item.

Dungeon Exploration

The ability to explore indoor spaces is probably one of the best parts of the game.

The player has the ability to jump over small gaps or other obstacles, which is often used to cross stepping stones in the water or pits. Since jumping is done from a standing position and moves Benjamin forward two spaces, crossing over pits or small obstacles in the tile between where he jumps and where he lands, it's simple and doesn't 

The player has the ability to use their weapons in various contexts. The sword can be used to push switches, the axe can fell trees, the bomb can blow up obstacles, and the claw can be used to climb walls or serve as a grappling hook. These abilities, combined with the player being able to push some items, allows for some relatively simple puzzles that give dungeons variety.

Miscellaneous

The game is rather short for an RPG, partly because of how easy it is, and can be completed in a few hours. This brevity will likely be disappointing if you want a game that will last you for a long time, but if you want an RPG that isn't much of a time investment, this will likely appeal to you.

Another convenient feature the game has is the fact that you can save anywhere, unless you're in the middle of combat(non-boss battles generally take less than a minute). Some argue that this makes the game easer due to not punishing you as harshly if you die before you make it to the next checkpoint, but this is more favorable to those who can only play in short sessions or might have to put the game down with little notice.

Conclusion

While Final Fantasy Mystic Quest has many things going against it, from being short and easy to having a simplistic story, these factors can also be potential advantages in that they make it more accessible to casual players. It also has surprisingly innovative features for the time, such as the ability to change between weapons in the middle of battle, the opportunity to save almost anywhere, and a lack of random encounters, making it ahead of its time in some ways. As such, I recommend this game for anyone who wants to get started in the RPG genre or is interested in a game that does things differently.