Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Publisher: Square Soft
Developer: Square
Release Date: October 1992

Before Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997, Japanese-style RPGs were almost non-existent in North America. The Super Famicom had possibly the most prolific RPG lineup in gaming history, yet only a tiny fraction of them made it out of Japan. Being a rabid fan of the genre when I was a kid, it was a frustrating task to find games, and when you did, you developed an appreciation for them no matter how terrible they were. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is the kind of game which tests the boundaries of even that fanaticism.

Mystic Quest is a beginner's RPG in every sense of the word, designed specifically with "dumb" western players in mind. Everything about it is agonizingly simplistic, from the linear map screen, to the battle system, to the item management, to the primitive graphics and sound. It holds your hand throughout and altogether reeks of being a low-rent production. Not that the game isn't still soundly assembled, but for the serious RPG fan it is nothing more than a forgettable diversion.

After being hooked on the groundbreaking Final Fantasy II, I was excited to discover Mystic Quest, but was very disappointed once I actually got to play it. Beyond residing in the same genre, the game overall bears minimal resemblance to the franchise it's named for. Of course this was back when Square used to slap the Final Fantasy name on just about everything they released in the US, whether it was a Seiken Densetsu game or a SaGa game, so one shouldn't have been surprised.

Mystic Quest does hold a distinction as being one of the few, if not the only, Japanese-produced, turn-based RPG ever to be released in America first-- it would come to Japan about a year afterward as Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest. This was back when it was considered experimental to bring J-RPGs to the US, and Square probably felt they needed a tool to help ease American gamers into the genre. From that point of view, the game does what it sets out to accomplish. As to whether those new RPG gamers ever actually wanted to play another RPG again afterward is another matter entirely.

B

Arcana

Publisher: Hal America
Developer: Hal Laboratory
Release date: May 1992

This was a rare find on consoles at the time: A Japanese-style RPG with a first-person vantage point. Arcana was one of the final console games released by Hal as an independent publisher before its marriage with Nintendo, and it was a notable effort.

I speak of "Japanese-style RPG" of course in relation to western-style RPGs, which are more common to use the first-person view. Even though Arcana is first-person, it has a linear progression, a developed story, and a set cast of characters with limited customization, essentially like a Japanese RPG. There is no real overworld-- the player chooses from locations on a map. The game is otherwise a dyed-in-the-wool first-person, tile-based dungeon crawler where the player progresses from town to dungeon to a new town to a new dungeon, and so forth.

When I was a kid I was frightened of first-person games, precisely because they were usually of the complex European or American mold with high strategy, customizability and an often creepy atmosphere. For me, Arcana was the first game with this type of viewpoint that I ever felt comfortable playing, precisely because of its accessibility and the cartoony, anime-style art. Japanese RPG fans will definitely find themselves at home here-- the game even features a catchy and full-featured soundtrack, also a common trait of the Japanese style.

So if you're looking for a nice, entry-level Japanese-style RPG that uses a first-person vantage point, you can't go wrong with Arcana. Though it does nothing overly remarkable, it is highly polished and a very enjoyable playthrough.