Final Fantasy Adventure
Encyclopedia
Final Fantasy Adventure, known as Mystic Quest in Europe and as in Japan, is a Final Fantasy
spinoff
and the first game in the Mana series. Published by Square
in 1991
on the original Game Boy
, it later saw a North American re-release by Sunsoft in April 1998. Its gameplay is roughly similar to that of the original The Legend of Zelda game, but with the addition of role-playing video game
statistical elements. Along with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
, Final Fantasy Adventure was the first Final Fantasy game to be released in Europe. A remake, Sword of Mana
, was released in 2003.
The story follows the hero and the young heroine as they attempt to thwart the Dark Lord of Glaive (Shadow Knight in the Japanese version) and his sorcerer assistant Julius from destroying the Tree of Mana and dooming their world. The game was met with generally positive reviews, noting its strong story but faulting its shaky dialogue, possibly due to the English translation.
: the world is viewed from a top-down camera angle, it is divided up into many different squares that can fit on the screen, and the main character can move up, down, left, and right across the screen. The player can interact with individuals within towns by gathering information and buying or selling items and equipment. A variety of enemies can be battled on a field screen to gain experience, GP, and items. Within dungeon areas a number of puzzles may be present and required to be solved in order for the player to advance. The player can also save
at any point.
In standard role-playing game fare the main character possesses several statistics
, including hit points, power, and stamina, which can all increase upon gaining an experience level. Magic spells, which expend the character's MP, can be used to heal oneself or damage enemies. These spells can only be found in certain locations or obtained from other characters at specific plot intervals. In addition the protagonist has a power gauge that affects his attack strength—the higher the gauge, the stronger his attack will be. The speed at which it fills is directly affected by the character's will
level. The gauge will slowly fill up over time but once the main character attacks the gauge is emptied. When the gauge is completely filled up and the main character attacks with a weapon he will perform a special attack. This system is used in many other later Mana titles.
One additional, non-controllable character
may occasionally accompany the main character in the story and can perform different activities to aid the main character in his quest. The game also introduced the ability to kill townspeople, something that most role-playing video game
s still lack today.
to rule supreme over the land. At his side is a mysterious wizard named Julius, who has secret motives. The hero (named Sumo in the original Japanese version), a gladiator
whose parents were killed by the Dark Lord, is imprisoned by him and forced to fight daily for the Dark Lord's personal entertainment. One day, the hero escapes and by chance overhears the Dark Lord and Julius in their plans to seize the power of mana. When they discover his escape, they chase and throw him over a waterfall to what they thought was his death.
Having survived the fall, the hero then saves a mysterious young woman (named Fuji in the original Japanese version) from monsters, and attempts to find the magical objects needed to defeat the evil massing against the Mana Tree, the world's source of mana. After defeating Julius and the Dark Lord, the Mana Tree dies. The heroine sacrifices herself to become the Mana Tree and preserve the world. The hero then becomes her Gemma knight and guardian.
. According to early advertisements, the game would consist of an unprecedented five floppy disk
s, making it one of the largest titles developed for the Famicom up until that point. Although Square solicited pre-order
s for the game, Kaoru Moriyama, a former Square employee, affirms that management canceled the ambitious project before it advanced beyond the early planning stages. In October 1987, customers who had placed orders were sent a letter informing them of the cancellation and had their purchases refunded. The letter also suggested to consider placing an order on another upcoming Square role-playing game in a similar vein: Final Fantasy
.
Four years later, Square developed the Game Boy game under the working title Gemma Knights, and then revived the trademarked name and released the game as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden. It was later released in Europe as Mystic Quest. The game's scenario was written by Yoshinori Kitase
, based on a story idea by Koichi Ishii
. Ishii designed all of the characters himself, while Kitase and Goro Ohashi were responsible for the development of the game system.
In 1998, Sunsoft obtained the license for it and re-released it along with the Final Fantasy Legend games, only replacing the title screen. The game later received a remake
for the Game Boy Advance
called Sword of Mana
in 2003. Finally, revealed during Square Enix's E3 2006
press conference, the game received an updated port for mobile phone
s in Japan. The gameplay of the port is more like the original game, but it does feature updated graphics and sound, an improved world map, and other minor changes.
. At least two novel
s have been released based on the game as well.
, while track 16, "Chocobo Tanjou (Chocobo's Birth)," is credited to renowned Square composer Nobuo Uematsu
. Seiken Densetsu: Omoi wa Shirabe ni Nosete (Let Thoughts Ride On Knowledge), a set of arranged
tracks was also released the same year. Both albums were compiled into Final Fantasy Gaiden: Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections, originally released in 1995
.
gave the game a score of 9.0/10, noting its strong story, graphics, and music, but cited weak dialogue. They additionally praised the game's puzzle elements as innovative and drew comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
, though noted that its role-playing gameplay did not blend well with its action oriented nature.
GameDaily
named it alongside the related Game Boy Final Fantasy titles as definitive games for the system, describing it as providing "hours of role-playing excitement, whether you were waiting in a dentist's office or on the way to Grandma's house." The sentiment was shared by gaming magazine Pocket Games, which ranked the titles together 8th out of the Top 50 games for the Game Boy, stating "every game in the series is a sprawling classic with well written scripts and solid characters."
RPGamer
reported in July 2004 that Square was polling die-hard customers, testing the feasibility of porting Final Fantasy Adventure to the Nintendo DS
. GamesRadar
listed Final Fantasy Adventure as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console
.
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
spinoff
Gaiden
is a Japanese-language word meaning "side story" or "tale", used to refer to an anecdote or supplementary biography of a person. This use of gaiden is commonly used in popular Japanese fiction to refer to a spin-off of a previously published work that is neither officially considered a sequel nor...
and the first game in the Mana series. Published by Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
in 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
on the original Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, it later saw a North American re-release by Sunsoft in April 1998. Its gameplay is roughly similar to that of the original The Legend of Zelda game, but with the addition of role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
statistical elements. Along with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, released as Mystic Quest Legend in PAL regions and as in Japan, is a role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was released as a spin-off to Square's popular Final Fantasy series of video games...
, Final Fantasy Adventure was the first Final Fantasy game to be released in Europe. A remake, Sword of Mana
Sword of Mana
is an enhanced remake of the original Game Boy game Seiken Densetsu, which was released as Final Fantasy Adventure in North America and Mystic Quest in Europe. This remake was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003.-Gameplay:...
, was released in 2003.
The story follows the hero and the young heroine as they attempt to thwart the Dark Lord of Glaive (Shadow Knight in the Japanese version) and his sorcerer assistant Julius from destroying the Tree of Mana and dooming their world. The game was met with generally positive reviews, noting its strong story but faulting its shaky dialogue, possibly due to the English translation.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the original Legend of Zelda for the NESNintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
: the world is viewed from a top-down camera angle, it is divided up into many different squares that can fit on the screen, and the main character can move up, down, left, and right across the screen. The player can interact with individuals within towns by gathering information and buying or selling items and equipment. A variety of enemies can be battled on a field screen to gain experience, GP, and items. Within dungeon areas a number of puzzles may be present and required to be solved in order for the player to advance. The player can also save
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
at any point.
In standard role-playing game fare the main character possesses several statistics
Attribute (role-playing games)
An attribute is a piece of data that describes to what extent a fictional character in a role-playing game possesses a specific natural, in-born characteristic common to all characters in the game. That piece of data is usually an abstract number or, in some cases, a set of dice...
, including hit points, power, and stamina, which can all increase upon gaining an experience level. Magic spells, which expend the character's MP, can be used to heal oneself or damage enemies. These spells can only be found in certain locations or obtained from other characters at specific plot intervals. In addition the protagonist has a power gauge that affects his attack strength—the higher the gauge, the stronger his attack will be. The speed at which it fills is directly affected by the character's will
Will (philosophy)
Will, in philosophical discussions, consonant with a common English usage, refers to a property of the mind, and an attribute of acts intentionally performed. Actions made according to a person's will are called "willing" or "voluntary" and sometimes pejoratively "willful"...
level. The gauge will slowly fill up over time but once the main character attacks the gauge is emptied. When the gauge is completely filled up and the main character attacks with a weapon he will perform a special attack. This system is used in many other later Mana titles.
One additional, non-controllable character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
may occasionally accompany the main character in the story and can perform different activities to aid the main character in his quest. The game also introduced the ability to kill townspeople, something that most role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s still lack today.
Plot and setting
The world is threatened by a "Dark Lord" who conquests for manaMana
Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....
to rule supreme over the land. At his side is a mysterious wizard named Julius, who has secret motives. The hero (named Sumo in the original Japanese version), a gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
whose parents were killed by the Dark Lord, is imprisoned by him and forced to fight daily for the Dark Lord's personal entertainment. One day, the hero escapes and by chance overhears the Dark Lord and Julius in their plans to seize the power of mana. When they discover his escape, they chase and throw him over a waterfall to what they thought was his death.
Having survived the fall, the hero then saves a mysterious young woman (named Fuji in the original Japanese version) from monsters, and attempts to find the magical objects needed to defeat the evil massing against the Mana Tree, the world's source of mana. After defeating Julius and the Dark Lord, the Mana Tree dies. The heroine sacrifices herself to become the Mana Tree and preserve the world. The hero then becomes her Gemma knight and guardian.
Development
Square trademarked Seiken Densetsu in , intending to use it for a game project subtitled The Emergence of Excalibur, and led by Kazuhiko Aoki for the Famicom Disk SystemFamicom Disk System
The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
. According to early advertisements, the game would consist of an unprecedented five floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s, making it one of the largest titles developed for the Famicom up until that point. Although Square solicited pre-order
Pre-order
A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came when people found it hard to get popular items in stores due to their popularity. Companies were then given the idea to allow people to reserve their own personal copy, before the release, ...
s for the game, Kaoru Moriyama, a former Square employee, affirms that management canceled the ambitious project before it advanced beyond the early planning stages. In October 1987, customers who had placed orders were sent a letter informing them of the cancellation and had their purchases refunded. The letter also suggested to consider placing an order on another upcoming Square role-playing game in a similar vein: Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy (video game)
is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, developed and first published in Japan by Square in 1987. It is the first game in Square's Final Fantasy series...
.
Four years later, Square developed the Game Boy game under the working title Gemma Knights, and then revived the trademarked name and released the game as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden. It was later released in Europe as Mystic Quest. The game's scenario was written by Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game producer and former game director that has been working for Square Enix since April 1, 1990. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and is currently the manager of 1st Production Department....
, based on a story idea by Koichi Ishii
Koichi Ishii
, sometimes credited as Kouichi Ishii, is a video game designer perhaps best known for creating the Mana series . He joined Square in 1987, where he has directed or produced every game released in the Mana series...
. Ishii designed all of the characters himself, while Kitase and Goro Ohashi were responsible for the development of the game system.
In 1998, Sunsoft obtained the license for it and re-released it along with the Final Fantasy Legend games, only replacing the title screen. The game later received a remake
Enhanced remake
A video game remake is a game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game for newer hardware and contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake shares essentially the same title, fundamental gameplay concepts, and story elements of the original game...
for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
called Sword of Mana
Sword of Mana
is an enhanced remake of the original Game Boy game Seiken Densetsu, which was released as Final Fantasy Adventure in North America and Mystic Quest in Europe. This remake was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003.-Gameplay:...
in 2003. Finally, revealed during Square Enix's E3 2006
2006 in video gaming
-Events:* January 26, 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld, the Nintendo DS Lite. The new model is lighter, smaller, has configurable brightness and features an improved user interface.* January 26, 2006 -- Konami Corp...
press conference, the game received an updated port for mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s in Japan. The gameplay of the port is more like the original game, but it does feature updated graphics and sound, an improved world map, and other minor changes.
Merchandise
Two guidebooks have been released in Japan: Seiken Densetsu Basic Knowledge Guide and Seiken Densetsu Advanced Knowledge Guide, each of which contains character illustrations and mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. At least two novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s have been released based on the game as well.
Audio
The Seiken Densetsu Original Sound Version was released in Japan alongside the game. Most of the tracks were composed by Kenji ItoKenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
, while track 16, "Chocobo Tanjou (Chocobo's Birth)," is credited to renowned Square composer Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
. Seiken Densetsu: Omoi wa Shirabe ni Nosete (Let Thoughts Ride On Knowledge), a set of arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
tracks was also released the same year. Both albums were compiled into Final Fantasy Gaiden: Seiken Densetsu Sound Collections, originally released in 1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
.
Reception
Even with its release several years previous, several prominent video game websites still praise the game in retro-reviews. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game a score of 9.0/10, noting its strong story, graphics, and music, but cited weak dialogue. They additionally praised the game's puzzle elements as innovative and drew comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, known as in Japan, is a 1993 action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy...
, though noted that its role-playing gameplay did not blend well with its action oriented nature.
GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
named it alongside the related Game Boy Final Fantasy titles as definitive games for the system, describing it as providing "hours of role-playing excitement, whether you were waiting in a dentist's office or on the way to Grandma's house." The sentiment was shared by gaming magazine Pocket Games, which ranked the titles together 8th out of the Top 50 games for the Game Boy, stating "every game in the series is a sprawling classic with well written scripts and solid characters."
RPGamer
RPGamer
RPGamer is a media and news website dedicated to covering computer and video game RPGs. Its coverage includes North American game news, European game news, Asian game news, gaming industry news, game reviews, game previews, hands-on game impressions, gaming conventions, game merchandise, release...
reported in July 2004 that Square was polling die-hard customers, testing the feasibility of porting Final Fantasy Adventure to the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
listed Final Fantasy Adventure as one of the titles they want in the 3DS Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
.