Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Chapter 1: Entering Benjamin

It's got ads on the opening screen, but it runs pretty well.

A while back I was looking for a game on my playlist that I could run on my mobile phone. I found it in the form of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. FFMQ is an often maligned title. It is so maligned because it was developed in Japan as a "dumbed-down" Final Fantasy for the western audience. RPGs were an immediate national hit in Japan on consoles, and Square (the creator of Final Fantasy) continually tried to figure out why they weren't as big a hit across the water. Specifically garnering hatred, FF fans site FFMQ as the reason we didn't see a localized release of FFV in the US until it's re-release on the Playstation.

In hindsight, I personally think it more likely that the RPGs didn't hit a wide audience in the US simply because of the delays in localization. The Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy games probably looked 2 or 3 years behind the times to the US audience, because, well, they were. The international audience jumped on board with FF7, which was localized in a much more timely fashion. From my perspective, I was hooked immediately by Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, and they were widely available, so I always thought they were popular, but I wasn't looking up sales numbers. I am, somewhat stupidly proud to say I've been a rabid FF fan since the original release of the first game. (I have this same pride with Game of Thrones, but that's... pretty irrelevant, I just wanted to brag)

Dragon Quest for the Japanese Famicom. The US release saw a slight graphical upgrade, and a move from password to battery backup saves.

There's a boat load of conjecture out there about the Japanese RPG versus Western RPG market, a lot of which, like Squaresoft's decision to make FFMQ, is based around cultural differences. I honestly think the issue is not nearly that simple, and has a lot to due with timing of releases and marketing. The funniest thing to me is that Square decided the US wanted an RPG that was easier and more accessible, when the first big RPG in Japan was itself designed to be an easier and more accessible version of the western RPGs (Dungeons and Dragons, and more directly, Ultima and Wizardry)

Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, a 2011 Japanese game, keeps the old school dungeon exploration mechanics of the original. Wizardry Online appears to still be up and running in Japan.

I didn't know I was going down this route until I started writing, but I think now is as good a time as any to say I don't put much stock in the categories of "JRPG" and Western RPG. Games of both supposed styles have been developed and had success in both countries. For example, Dark Souls is about as hardcore as you can get, yet was developed in Japan and is a hit in the US. Wizardy is even bigger in Japan, and has had longer staying power, than in the US. I wish people would stop trying to make the distinction so much about culture or where the games are produced, and talk more directly about the content of the games themselves. 

I for one, always liked FFMQ, but then, I didn't expect anything from it other than what it was (Sorry FF13... If you had been called "Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Ultimate" I probably would have been a lot more forgiving). I had no illusions that MQ would hold up to one of my SNES favorites, FFII. In the end, since FFV is widely available in english, I think it's nice we got this red-headed step child of a Final Fantasy that is Mystic Quest. The soundtrack alone makes it a worthwhile creation.

Talk about the game? Right...

Like many early RPGs, MQ's story is able to be distilled down to three paragraphs in the manual's opening. The Focus Tower (I always thought the names were goofy because the game was made for kids, but it turns out it was also made in Japan) stood at the heart of the world, and was a center for trade and knowledge; where the peoples of the world could meet peacefully. One warm summer day (their words), the tower was suddenly transformed into a symbol of purest evil. On that day, powerful monsters battled their way into the tower, stealing the four Crystals of the Earth, and took off with the magical coins which kept the tower's doors unlocked. The monsters basked in the light of the crystals, becoming stronger and meaner. The more light they took, the more the world darkened. The world was thrown into chaos, something had to be done... Enter Benjamin.

I distinctly remember the line "Enter Benjamin" from when I was a kid. I never said the game was a literary masterpiece...

Artwork of the Focus Tower, from the Final Fantasy Wiki.

Benjamin was a typical youth in his village, who woke up early and took his family's livestock to the upper meadow to graze. Although mature beyond his age, he still dreamed of being more. Little did he know that his dreams were about to be fulfilled, the hard way...

Riveting stuff, right? Okay, so the appeal of the game hasn't got much to do with its story, but neither did Wizardry.

Benjamin was out doing his typical duties tending his family's sheep, when there was a sudden, and alarming, earthquake. A man Benjamin recognized as a village elder appeared, but he was floating on a cloud, strangely. Benjamin felt it wasn't the time to inquire about that oddity, with the ground shaking dangerously.

The elder took Benjamin to the top of the mountain, as the quake subsided, where they could see a massive tower peering through clouds. "Look there," the elder said, "That is the Focus Tower. An old prophecy says the Vile four will steal the power of the crystals, and divide the world behind the tower's four doors. A knight shall come forth, who will defeat the Vile four and reunite the world. That knight, is you."

"Me?" asked Benjamin with skepticism clearly evident in his voice.

"Yes, you Benjamin!" the elder replied, with zeal, "Only you could be the knight spoken of in the prophecy."

Just then, a massive horned beast appeared before them in a cloud of smoke. The truth of Benjamin's worthiness as the knight of legend was to be immediately put to the test. 

Benjamin must use his trusty sword to battle the behemoth. I don't know many shepherds that carry a sword and armor, but the manual did say the world was in chaos and overrun with monsters. In their defense, I also don't know any shepherds at all. This first battle is basic, but is highly lose-able with some bad luck. He almost got me the first time when I missed, and he followed with a critical hit. After Ben defeats the behemoth of a behemoth, the elder gets real.

At least we know the game isn't going to take all of this nonsense about the Focus Tower too seriously.

Benjamin must hurry off the mountain as another quake causes it to begin to collapse, and finds himself in the awesomely named "Level Forest". Nice. And that is where I'll leave off for now.

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