| | I'm going to start out with Mystic Quest because I've heard nothing but crap about it. Even on Game FAQs, it takes a lot of trash, despite many people labelling it as "The beginner's RPG". Perhaps that's what it was meant for? Regardless of whether or not its target player audience was first graders or people who have never experienced the RPG genre, I'm going to do some digging of my own - both as a curious gamer as well as an FF fan.
However, I've been working on the layout of this blog rather than playing it, so I'm not far enough to list more than a few pros/cons I've noticed so far.
First off, the pros:
1. The graphics were somewhat decent, especially for a 16-year-old game. My favorite part, however, is how the enemy sprites change upon having enough damage done to them. To steal a line from Valdronius of www.sydlexia.com, it's nice to be able to tell how close you are to killing something rather than just hacking away at a boss and hoping to God that it dies before your potions run out.
2. The first character you gain in the party - Kaeli. So sue me, I have a bias when it comes to my name. I don't see it often, so when it does come up, and spelt differently at that, I'll take note of it.
3. Being able to save at anytime by simply pressing X. Like many RPG players, I hate having to look for a stupid save point.
4. Speaking of save points, they're not nearly as important as the fact that, if you die during a battle, you will simply be asked to retry. Thus, you start over again from the beginning of the battle. The only irritating thing about this is that, while you start over with the exact same amount of HP, rather than being fully healed again.
5. No random battles. What the hell? Way to take away pretty much one of the key elements of an RPG, Square. Ah well. To me, it's a blessing in disguise. See, you can exit an area, and the enemies will reappear! Plus, you still have the chance of getting first strike.
6. Having the option to have the other member in your "party" either controlled by the AI, or by yourself. I went for the latter option, but if you REALLY don't feel like using your brain or letting the game be more of a challenge, you could always choose Auto rather than Manual.
7. As per usual, Square has cranked out a great game soundtrack, both in-battle and out. Sometimes, when a game supposedly sucks, good music is the one thing that makes playing through it just that much more bearable.
Next, the cons:
1. The opening sequence was a bit weak, and leaves the player wondering a little more about the basis of the game. Basically, all you get is that you're the true knight the old man's been looking for - the knight from the prophecy! As per usual with FF games, there's a prophecy that the main character must fulfill, and crystals he has to collect. Big shocker there.
The game officially starts when the old man jumps off the mountain peak and you haul ass out of there before the entire thing gets destroyed by an earthquake.
2. It's got really weak sound effects, at least in my mind. To sum it up, they sound like old arcade games like Pong and Pac-Man. I suppose that can be considered a weak comparison, mind you, since the true oldies only had one bloody sound that just continued to grate on your nerves and sanity.
3. Other members with you don't level up, which is really stupid. They have a set level for when they join you, and for the most part I'm guessing they don't stay with you for very long. However, they do give you their weapons before they leave, more often than not.
4. Angry Plant attacks with Full Nelson! Can it get any more lame than this? Believe it or not, yes. The first boss of the game, for example, is a giant red T-rex skeleton called Flamerus Rex. Then there's the names of various places - like Level Forest, Foresta, Aquaria... need I say more?
More to come as I progress further into this "entry-level RPG"!
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| | Posted 9/8/2008 5:40 PM - 25 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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