Well we’ve played Mystic Quest.
Yep.
That was a thing we played.
Indeed it was!
I hate to say it- Do you really hate to say it though?
I really wanted to like it but that was crap.
Crap is such a strong word though.
I could use stronger- but why did we have to play Mystic Quest?
In the end, it’s a game that wasn’t really made for people like us.
And does it even belong in the Game Collection?
That’s a tough call.
Luckily I’m your show today, so I don’t technically have to make that decision.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ve all realized by now that this video is a bit different from
my usual format.
And those of you rock dwellers who don’t recognize my guest, this is Super Derek from
The Game Collection.
Who has to be the one RPG-centric YouTuber even more obsessive than myself.
Say hi Derek.
Hiya!
We recently did a joint review on the original Shining Force for the Sega Genesis, which
you can find by heading on over to Derek’s channel and checking that out.
I’ll include the card link to that right about – here.
Your other hand Derek.
Oh right.
And we thought, for some reason, that Mystic Quest would be the perfect follow up for that
video.
We were wrong.
Well, mostly wrong.
Mystic Quest is notorious for being Square’s experimental introduction to RPG gaming.
Picture a 15 hour Final Fantasy tutorial.
Only somehow weirder and more terrible than you’d expect.
Ironically Derek and I both embarked on this disappointing journey expecting to uncover
an unappreciated gem.
Instead we discovered that all the negative hype that surrounds this particular title
is totally justified.
But that’s not to say that the game is all bad.
Of course it wasn’t all bad; there were
a lot of really neat things this game did ahead of its time.
Like being able to see enemies in dungeons in lieu of random encounters, so you can clear
out a dungeon if you feel like it, and if you end up having to backtrack during dungeons
you aren’t punished heavily for it because you already made a clear path.
That’s like exclaiming: “Oh goodie!
No punishment!” after already having had your finger nails torn off.
The battles in the game are excruciatingly dull.
And yes, there are visible enemies on the map but their placement is downright dickish.
The game lines up the baddies in tight unavoidable corridors, and heaps them on top of treasure
cheats.
In fact there’s little reason to ever go after the brown chests in the game because
you’ll use up more resources fighting their guardians than you’ll ever recoup from the
loot.
As painful as they could be, the dungeon designs were pretty clever overall though.
And adding random encounters would have made them unbearable, so fixed enemy positions
were definitely the right choice.
They each had themes that made sense for the crystals we recovered.
The dungeons almost felt like a Zelda-type of dungeon that used things like bombs and
a hook-shot to traverse.
No argument here.
I loved the dungeon layouts- although I could argue that for a quote unquote beginner’s
RPG they were surprisingly complex.
Often the labyrinths begin with a fork, and keep on forking until you find yourself back
tracking to the beginning to flip the switch needed to progress to the end.
It’s easy to miss the desirable red chest equipment and event items without a guide,
especially if you play like me, and are doing your damnedest to avoid unnecessary combat.
But I think what we’re kind of not seeing here is that this isn’t made for us JRPG
veterans.
This was designed to be an introduction for western audiences not familiar with JRPG mechanics.
In fact it was called Final Fantasy USA in Japan.
The game tries to prepare new players for future games by first of course decreasing
how punishing failure can be.
If you die in the game-- --when you die.
Uh, yeah, when you die in the game, you can restart the battle immediately without consequence.
The game hints at enemy weaknesses to elemental and weapon types, like trees are weak to axes,
undead are weak to cure magic, that sort of thing.
The game even introduced invisible enemies at one point, to help prep people for quote
unquote “real RPGs” with random encounters.
I’m all for the RPG on training wheels approach, but did Square have to be so mean about it?
Deaths are so cheap; mid game enemies and onward spam status effects like petrification
-which Final Fantasy fans know equate to one hit kills.
While player magic is always weaker than physical attacks UNLESS the enemy has a hidden weakness
which can only be discovered through trial and error.
Really.
The game gives few verbal clues and leaves the rest up to chance player discovery.
Oh yeah like how the end boss can be KO’d by the cure spell?
Exactly just like- wait what?
You didn’t discover that?
Yeah he’s really easy, kind of an anticlimactic ending actually.
What?
No.
He was a total asshole that kept slaughtering my party with one hit smack downs.
I had to fight him like five times before I started save scumming just to end my misery.
Wow!
Hah, well that kinda sucks…
But hey, on the bright side you experienced the final boss the way I think it was actually
intended.
This final boss weakness only exists in the US version, and didn’t make it into the
European and Japanese versions of the game.
So…
Lucky you?
Yay.
Lucky me.
*sigh* Yeah, look, I get it.
The game had some really rough points that I can’t ignore, even for being an RPG for
beginners.
I mean, RPGs were, and still are, renowned for their stories.
And what did we get with Mystic Quest?
Plot devices so thin and Characters so insufferable you’d swear the writers went on to create
Peppa Pig.
They even threw in these stupid shrugging animations to show how little they cared about
the story.
It’s like the writers are actually looking at the player and shrugging as if to say,
you brought this upon yourself for not buying more copies of Final Fantasy IV, there’s
nothing we can do to save you now.
Wow.
I’m not sure which part of that statement offends me more: the slight towards Peppa
Pig with her charmingly dry British humor or your total immunity to Mystic Quest’s
goofy charm.
Ok the story isn’t unique, but it’s not meant to be.
It’s almost a JRPG parody tailored to clue in a new audience on the tropes and clichés
that Square had become known for at the time.
You’re the chosen hero (kinda) and you’re suddenly dropped into this globetrotting quest
to save the world from really bad things by uniting the very important elemental crystals.
This is clearly Square making fun of themselves, and it’s one of the few things that I think
Mystic Quest did brilliantly.
From the unhelpful old man that drops in to leave cryptic instructions, to the ridiculous
way that the hero is obviously this underpowered dork that manages to save the world simply
by showing up to the fight.
It’s no accident that all the companions are stronger than the hero, he is literally
just some dude picked at random to carry out the prophecy.
The entire plot is one slow burn joke that delivers the punchline at the final battle.
I loved it.
Wait a second…
You loved that piece of crap?
Well yeah.
And those animations?
They aren’t stupid.
They’re cartoonish and very appropriate to the over the top ridiculous tone of the
story.
I for one am absolutely in love with the funky jig the hero does when he wakes up at the
inn.
He’s chipper and eager to embark on more adventure.
I wish I had that kind of optimism for the journey.
And while we’re on the topic of things Mystic Quest did right, can I say how much every
RPG needs a jump button?
Stubborn NPC blocking the path?
No matter!
Jump over them!
Like why didn’t square incorporate this feature into all their games?
It’s revolutionary!
Be all of that as it may, it was frustrating to be that normal dude who doing his best
could barely keep up with the damage output of his companions.
The people who join Benjamin on his quest easily outclass him at every step, 1-hit KOing
every enemy while Benjamin takes two to three hits to tear asunder.
And don’t even bother trying to grind him into usefulness.
I cleared every single battlefield throughout the game, and the level-ups don’t seem to
have much of an effect on his damage output.
Not only are experience points pointless, but so is the in-game currency.
What good is gold in the land of plenty?
Where treasure brown chests replenish each time you leave an area?
There’s no need to buy anything except for the rare occasion when you can buy equipment,
and even then the cost is a pittance.
These brown chests are everywhere!
And there’s never any danger of running out of anything.
Even Seeds, this games version of Ether, can be purchased by the handful after a single
enemy encounter.
Yeah but on the other hand- free loot!
Mystic Quest encourages the player to use up their items.
Remember everything exists in this world only to teach players RPG mechanics and strategies,
not to establish a working economy.
And as to your other point, Benjamin (I didn’t even know that was his name but ok) is no
hero.
He’s your average kid, just like the intended player of the game, Square crafted this silly
adventure where the player is the protagonist of their own Final Fantasy quest.
I think that’s cute.
And besides?
Those over powered companions?
Hell yeah, more RPGs could benefit from crazy strong ax ladies.
That’s awesome.
So yeah, okay I guess you were right.
Mystic Quest isn’t crap.
In fact I’d probably be in love with it if the battles didn’t suck so much butt.
Yeah, this game has a lot of the trappings of a great game.
But in attempting to make the game accessible, they made the game too easy.
Instead of teaching players how to overcome challenges, it simply overcame those challenges
for you by stuffing your inventory full of items, and stuffing your party full of god-tier
companions.
So after all this, do you think this is a good introduction to JRPGs?
Oh god no.
I still argue that the best way to jump into RPGs is by falling madly in love with one
that’s both fun and tells an engaging story.
So something like Shining Force right?
Hell yeah!