Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)

[GamecubeFreek]

I found a game at a video store called Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest for the SNES. I had never heard of it before, so I checked the online rarity guide, and it lists it as being worth 0 dollars and the rarity rating is ?..... Can someone help me out with this. Is it some sort of special game, or what?

[GamecubeFreek]

Ok never mind. I just tried it again and it worked. STRANGE. it is rarity 2 worth 20 loose. does anyone know if its any good?

[Querjek]

Ok never mind. I just tried it again and it worked. STRANGE. it is rarity 2 worth 20 loose. does anyone know if its any good?
I say don't pay more than $5 for it, $10 i you really want it. It's ok, but it's not the same as any other FF game.

[-hellvin-]

I found it complete a while ago at a pawn shop but I've had no desire to really play it. It's basically a watered down final fantasy rpg that's meant to be easy for people who have never really played rpgs before.

[Rev. Link]

In Japan they called it "FF USA" 'cuz they made for us poor Americans who are too stupid for real FF games. :o

It's actually quite a fun little game, though there's not much to it. Don't pay more than $10 for it, I'd say.

[Lone_Monster]

If you want an easy RPG to beat, this is your game. It's actually pretty good, IMO, and from what I've heard it's not actuially, or wasn't supposed to be, a final fantasy game.

[Griking]

So then why does the rarity guide list it as being worth $20 loose?

Actually I just looked this game up on the DP online game database and it comes up as a non-US release for some reason.

[SoulBlazer]

The story behind this game is kinda weird. Square had just opened it's USA branch in 1992, and their first release (under the new SquareSoft label) was FF2 (which was really FF4) for the brand new SNES in late 1992. The game sold well, but at the time RPG's were still a very niche market in the United States.

Some of the complaints that Square got about the game was that it was too hard, as many people had never played a RPG before. Even though the version of FF4 that was released over here was ALLREADY watered down in difficulty to make it easier. (the re-release of the game on Final Fantasy Chronicles has the original Japanese version of the game.) And even though there were allready quite a number of RPG's that had been released in the States, such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Phantasy Star 1 and 2, and others.

So Square decided to try a new aproach -- have their American team make a RPG 'lite' game that could be played and enjoyed by people who had never played a RPG, and then they would want to go out and buy FF2 and clamor for the new Final Fantasy, number 5, which was being worked on. The idea was sound, but it just did'nt work. True RPG and FF fans felt ripped off when they got this 'lite' game and it was'nt enough for the non-RPG'ers who played it to want to try a harder game. Square recouped their investment by releasing the game in Japan (as Final Fantasy USA) and scrapped plans to release FF5 here in the States (we finally got it officialy on Final Fantasy Anthology for the PSX).

The game itself is fun, and has some nice play elements and lasts for a long time also. Decent music, also, even if the plot and dialogue is rather silly. Square had better success with the converted FF Game Boy games (which are realy SaGa games) and that convienced them to release FF6 (renamed as FF3) for the US market in 1995. They did'nt REALLY hit the mother load until FF7 came out, though, and the rest is history. :D

BTW, I suspect the guide is rarer then the game. The manual for the game had a offer that if you returned the cupon to SquareSoft within a certain period of time you can get a free hint guide. I did, and it's not a bad book. I still have mine, and I have'nt seen that many be sold. The game itself is uncommon at best, though, because many copies were made.

[Rev. Link]

Thank God they decided to release FFVI over here. I still consider it the best FF game, and best RPG ever made. :)

[badinsults]

FFMQ had pretty good music. Other than that, it was far inferior to other Final Fantasy games. It should have been an NES game, the graphics are that bad of quality.

[Gast]

That game also proved how unpopular RPGs were in Europe back in those days - I bought the game Complete for $5 and noone wanted to buy it from me later on, not even for free.