VGBA 10 - Quite Operational

- Quite Operational -

Chiptunes + Synth + Awesome = THIS!

*Apologies for the SLIGHT nudity, but this is the worst you'll ever see on here.*

Artist - Monomer.
Sites - Bandcamp. Soundcloud. Facebook. Album.
Type of Album - Original Chiptunes/Synth mixture.
Genres - Chiptunes, Synth, and Electronica.
Favorite Song - Temple

Review - It's been some time since my last review, and I felt that was terrible! I started writing this review a while back, but then I decided to wait... and then I ended up waiting too late. Enough excuses though, let's get down into it.

Here we have Quite Operational by Monomer. Honestly? This is the first I've heard from this artist, but I sure hope it isn't the last! This album is a fantastic mixture of three kinda related yet very different types of music: Chiptunes, Synth, and Electronica.

Now, to most people, those three are probably the exact same things when they hear it. Well, not to be rude, but they very much aren't. To summarize them in a terrible way, chiptunes tend to sound like old video game sounds, synth is more like smooth wavy dance music, and electronica is somewhere inbetween those two. With that in mind, you probably think the combination of the three styles wouldn't fit... right?

WRONG! It's actually a pretty amazing experience. From the first song to the last song, each one just has an amazing beat and flow. Each song has this fantastic sound that you want to keep listening to as it takes you deep down into its very own tale. As each story ends, another one begins. When the final song ends, you suddenly remember that all of these stories were but a single album.

Okay, that was a bit over dramatic, but you get my point. It's a great collection of songs were each one feels clearly different without just going OUT there. It's an enjoyable album, and it can be yours for the low, low price of $5!

So to reiterate, if you like chiptunes, synth, or electronica in general, you should give this album a try. It's free to listen to it on the bandcamp site, and it's a great album.

Pros - It's a great hybrid between chiptunes, synth, and electronica. Has a great flow and beat to it. Each song feels clearly different.
Cons - The album cover has nudity for realistically no reason, but it's not like horribly offensive so whatevas.
Rating - 5 out of 5.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Dragon Warrior I (GBC) - Final Thoughts

Now, I've really taken my time to beat this game and get the post all said and done. That fact combined with it being a pretty short game means I'm not going to dedicated a whole massive and complex review. Instead, I'm just going to type up a quick "Final Thoughts" kinda like I did with the first couple of Final Fantasy games. There's really not enough game here to warrant a massive in-depth review so... Let's get to it!

Dragon Warrior I - Final Thoughts

Now... What did I truly think of Dragon Warrior I?

I had fun! It's nice to get back to the basics of RPG. It keeps to a very simple set of core elements. You've got basic stats, HP and MP, and a level system that stops at level 30. Battles are all one-on-one since you only have the one character. Your spells are limited to just a few very simple ones like fireball, sleep, heal, a few utility, and a couple upgraded spells. All in all, it's a pretty simple game, but that doesn't hold it back any!

Although that might be a bit simple for some, it felt like a breath of fresh air for me. This came especially nice after all those later, more complex FF titles. As you can see below, it really doesn't look too bad for 2D if you ask me.

Game Boy Remake.

Original NES version.

It's hard to say if the original NES version or the remake for the GBC looks better though... They both have their own flair to them, but the GBC one has a few improved game elements to it, so I went with that one. (Also I actually own a copy of it although I used an emulator... JUST GO WITH IT!) The graphics might be a bit dated, but I feel they still look good. It's the classic, the original, the...greatest!

Dragon Warrior I offers two really great elements that have disappeared in most new RPGs. True open exploration and non-linear gameplay. From the very beginning, you are free to travel wherever you want. You are limited by stronger enemies in different areas, but that doesn't mean you are not allowed to try! Minus the final series of events to reach Dracolord's Castle, you can collect the items in any order you wish.

If you really think about it, most RPGs (even earlier ones) didn't give you that much freedom. Heck, even the first Final Fantasy had to be done in a precise order, or you couldn't move on to the next part. Of course, at the same time, that gives you very little story because you can't make a story that works in a random order very easily. That brings me into the story.

Comparative to most... It's pretty weak. You're a descendant of the legendary hero Loto, and you are here to restore the Ball of Light and grant peace to the world. You save the Lady Lora along the way and gain her love, but otherwise, there's not much more story to it. It's not bad by any means, but it's not much depth to it either.

If I had any complaints to voice, I'd probably mention that it's decently hard and generally easy to lose your way. Without a guide, I'd probably never find half the things I did. You have to talk with basically every NPC available in the world to gain the full understanding of where everything is at. Sure, you can put two and two together to learn what needs to be done, but there are some things, like the Rainbow Drop, which aren't nearly as obvious.

The hard isn't really a complaint here so much as a statement in general. It's a fairly tough game, and you'll want to grind a few extra levels here and there when you can. I stated in the post that the game spawns harder enemies as you go further down. It makes sense, and it's a great idea, but it also tends to get you in a bad scenario. You go further and further down and encounter harder odds that you may have not been prepared for. In the end, it's really not a complaint... It's just annoying!

And now for my truly final thought on the game? I had hard times, but I still enjoyed myself. This is my first full playthrough of Dragon Warrior I (and a Dragon Quest game in general!) If the remaining games are even remotely as good as this one, I'm in for a treat.

If any of you out there are considering the game, I'd advise playing either the GBC remake or the SNES remake. The SNES (Super Nintendo) remake is a japanese exclusive, but you can find a translation patch for the rom or a rom that's already been patched. (I'm not linking either one. You can find them if you look around.)

And thus, Dragon Warrior I comes to an end. I used a guide for almost the entire game, but I still liked the adventure that I had. I apologize to anybody who was waiting around all this time. I swear I've been playing the game, but things are going slow now because of the holiday season. I figure to have Dragon Warrior II started fairly soon, and I should have it done before January is over. (If I don't... I am failing.)

SO! Thanks for reading, and thanks to anybody who has stuck around through it all! I'm very much liking the Dragon Quest series, and I look forward to the rest of the titles. I hope you had a great Christmas, a great New Year, and look forward to more to come in the year 2014!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Quest Log 1

Game - Dragon Warrior I, Log 1
Hours Played/Hours Total - I don't know!
     The game didn't record the time, but I think around 8 hours. I took my time.
Starting Point - Beginning of the Game.
Current Goal - Defeat the Dracolord and restore light to the world!

What Happened - And thus it finally begins! Final Fantasy is behind me, and the Dragon Warrior/Quest series is coming up ahead! I'll most likely get tired of typing both the Warrior/Quest part and simply switch to Quest, but I digress. The first game in the series has a couple of different remakes, but I'll be playing the Game Boy remake that features color when played on a Game Boy Color (or a fancy emulator). Without further ado, let's get this party started!
     The game opens up with a nice small scene showing some large dragon stealing an orb from a castle. Monsters come in with it, and then it flies off.

RAWR! I AM THE DRACOLORD AND STEALING THIS ORB!

For ease and my normal naming convention, I called my character Keep. After that, the game fades in, and a random King starts telling me a brief history of the game. My character is a descendant of a great hero named Loto. Long ago, Loto was given a ball of light by god, and he used it to seal way the monsters. However, the Dracolord (Dragon King originally) appeared and shut the ball of light in darkness. It's up to me to defeat the Dracolord and retrieve the ball of light!

Hey King. What's up?

     The King offers a few chests to help me along the way. I get... a torch, a key, and 120 GP. That is some cheap King for you. Don't even get starting equipment, and you have to immediately use the key to open a door so you can leave the dang room! I chat up a few NPCs for more information before I leave. The only important detail that I learn is that the princess of the kingdom, Lady Lora, was kidnapped by monsters. I leave the castle and get my first glimpse of the world map.

Tantegel Castle and nearby village of Tantegel.

     There's not a lot to see around here, but the first town is just right there! The castle didn't seem to have any shops, so I guess that's where I should go first. The measly amount of start up funds affords me some leather armor and a club. With the amount of gold you have, you can really only choose one of two starting setups that equals out to stronger attack or stronger defense. Not like I plan to go far at this point though! I need to get in some battles for experience and money. Also... I don't know where I need to go.
     As it turns out, there's a lot of NPCs to talk with, and they're fairly important for learning where you need to go. (THAT'S RIGHT! NPCs HAVE A PURPOSE HERE!) Like I said before, I heard that Lady Lora is missing, and so I figure that could be my first goal here maybe. She was kidnapped by monsters, so I just have to find out where she was taken to. Exploring the map, I head Northwest because I played this long ago and remember a town up there. That town... is Garinham, the town of folklore!

Here's Garinham!

     This town is pretty close to home, and it's already got new, expensive equipment! Seriously, it's got a good selection, but I can't afford any of it. After the first set of items, the price of equipment just shoots up from there. For the moment, I couldn't afford anything, so I just talked with all the NPCs I could. One of them actually had important information to give! A villager claimed to have seen the princess being carried to the east, and thus I head East. I don't get too far across the world map when I find a cave!
     I head into the cave and light a torch to explore. It's one of the fun details of the game. Caves are dark, so you have to buy torches to light your way. It's possible to explore without a torch, but you can't see anything so... I wouldn't recommend it. Anyways, I quickly explore the cave and discover that my princess is in another cave. This cave only contains the memorial grave to the Legendary hero, Loto. However, it also comes with a message for his descendant (me). I require three magical relics to reach Dracolord's castle. Loto entrusted the three relics to three sages, and I must seek out their descendants and obtain the relics from them.
     Since there's nothing else to do there though, I quickly left the cave and started my World Map tour once again. While looking for wherever the princess is, I happened upon one of the sage's descendants. He says he was expecting me, but he won't give me the Rain Staff immediately. I have to prove myself as a hero by obtaining the Shiny Harp first. Well... darn.
     Further exploration from there lead me to discover the town of Kol. (Yes, I realize I'm blasting through this quite fast, but events are just accelerating this fast!) In Kol, I learn of Loto's Legendary Sword, and that I can obtain it somehow. I don't get anymore information than that though, but another man brings up the princess again! (I think...) He mentions something about a beautiful woman being spotted in a cave south of Kol. Thus... I am closer to my goal.
     Or maybe not... I traveled about quite a bit, but I never found the princess or another cave. I also got super lazy and looked up a guide for the game. It's pretty open world, and I have no idea where I needed to go. I'd certainly like to beat the game eventually, so a guide is unavoidable. I grab one more thing before leaving Kol for now. A few steps south of the hot springs is the PixyFlute. I'm going to need it for later, so I grab it and head out. From Kol, I had to travel south and find the Marsh Cave to reach the southern continent.

Random shot from Kol! YEAAAAH

     It's a pretty terrifying journey after the Marsh Cave. I have to hurry and fight my way through some pretty tough monsters before I reached the town of Rimuldar. The most notable thing about Rimuldar is that you can buy keys here. Throughout the game, you need keys at various points to unlock doors. In this case, I need the keys so I can obtain the Shiny Harp. I buy all the keys I can (6), and then head up to Garinheim to obtain the harp.
     The Shiny Harp belonged to a bard named Garin. He formed the town of Garinheim, and supposedly, his tomb lies beneath the city. The Shiny Harp is said to be buried with him, so guess where I'm going? With the keys in hand, I'm able to open a few doors in Garinheim and enter Garin's Tomb. At this point, this is where things got pretty dang difficult. The monsters were all very powerful, and I feel vastly unprepared as far as levels and equipment go.
     Around this time, I had a Copper Sword, Iron Shield, Chain Mail, and a D-Scale for equipment. It wasn't bad, but I needed better. I figured I needed levels to improve most of my chances, so I kept going back into Garin's Tomb. I had to keep going back because I died several times while exploring the dungeon's depths. As you go deeper, the monsters get harder. Thankfully, the only thing you really lose from dying is half your gold and having to make the trip back to wherever you died at. I died two or three times before I finally reached the bottom of the tomb and acquired the SHINYHARP!
     With the ShinyHarp in hand, I returned to the old man I met previously at the random shrine. He trades me the Rainstaff for the ShinyHarp, and that's one item down! Only two more items to go.... but I'm pretty much clueless of what I should do now. In all seriousness, I didn't have much of an idea of where to go. The only clues available in-game require that you talk to every NPC you meet. I had spoken to a few, but what little information I had at the time didn't say much. From here, I went into random exploration mode. I needed a few encounters to gain gold and experience, and thus begins exploration time!
     That is, I would have explored normally, but I'd rather try to wrap up this game than spend forever exploring. I look up a guide and begin my trek through the rest of the game! After the Rainstaff, the game seems to have a couple small Side Quests you can do. Okay fine! It's ONE Side Quest that I know of, but you get a sort of interesting item out of it. Time to head to the Mountain Cave!
     Where is the Mountain Cave? Well, it's located on the South Western continent in the middle of some mountains. It's not easy to describe how you get to it, but it's basically halfway through the map as you travel along the west coast. The Mountain Cave is home to a special item called the War Ring. Equipping the War Ring reduces the overall number of random encounters in the game. It's both a good and bad thing. You miss out on extra encounters for more experience, but I prefer the fewer encounters because travel is faster and safer now!

Here's the War Ring chest if that intrigues you!

     Unlike the previous dungeon, the Mountain Cave was only a few floors, and the monsters weren't nearly as hard. I made good use of the guide to collect all the items I found as well as navigating the cave. Things were going pretty well until I made one small mistake. I found a treasure chest that the guide hadn't mentioned, and inside that chest was a an item called a Choker. Not thinking about the implications of what that could mean, I immediately used the item and was cursed. GO ME!
     At this point, I was just trying to find my way out of the Mountain Cave, but then I got confused and lost. I had used the guide to get in, but I tried to get out by myself. It sounds stupid, but doing the exact opposite of how the guide tells you to get in can get confusing. It didn't help that I somehow kept getting back to the original staircase. I spent at least twenty to thirty extra minutes in that cave. The enemies weren't overly powerful though, so I wasn't defeated down there. And now with the War Ring on hand, I can travel a little safer and quite a bit faster!
     Next on the list? I need to go and rescue the Princess, Lady Lora! The only clue I had up until this point was that she's in a cave to the east. If I followed clues I had, the only cave available to have her would be the one labelled as the Marsh Cave.

I... forgot to get a proper screenshot. It's located around this spot in the game, but it's slightly to the Southeast of here.

For those who paid attention, the Marsh Cave is the one you have to pass through to reach the Southern Continent (the Eastern one). Meaning I've been through the cave a couple times now, and I've passed by the princess already!
     All I had to do was move to the eastern side of the cave and look for an offpath. It's a small cave, so it's pretty easy to find her.

Random door in a cave... Probably the right place!

And that would be the monster guarding her, a dragon.

Time to fight this giant lizard!

And this would be the part where I yell, BOSS BATTLE TIME! However, I'm willing to admit that I tried a few times here and failed every time. This game is no pushover, and I was going to need to improve my equipment as well as my level to beat the dragon.
     At this time, I was only level 11, so I figured I'd need at least two more levels if not more. The best town to get new equipment at this time was Rimuldar. They sell Steel Swords and Magic Armor (both part of my master plan of equipment). My trek through the Mountain Cave gave me enough money for a Steel Sword (1500 gold), but I needed 7700 gold for the Magic Armor to be in my possession... CUE THE GRINDING MONTAGE!

Here's one of the enemies I had to fight, the ferocious WOLFLORD!

The training montage of monsters lasted around an hour. I wasn't keeping good track of time here and earning money is quite slow. Most monsters only drop around 100 gold each, and the one monster who gives you more is the Gold Golem at 650 gold, but I wasn't meeting them very often. On the plus side, I was level 13 by the time I had the money, so I was going to be MORE than enough challenge for the dragon!
     It was time to head back to the Marsh Cave for OFFICIAL BOSS BATTLE TIME! It's time to beat this Dragon.

Rawr! I'm a Dragon! A GREEN ONE!

Even with the few extra levels, the dragon wasn't going to be a complete pushover. The main attacks he has are straight up physical strikes and the ability to breathe fire. The fire breathe is the most prominent attack in his arsenal and generally does at least 20 damage. This is a specialized dragon and is quite a bit tougher than your average dragon of the same kind.
     As with most battles in the game, fighting the dragon was mostly just a back and forth between dealing damage and healing damage. At this point in the game, the healing herb is basically useless, so I simply made use of Heal every two to four attacks from the dragon. It was a fairly close battle, but I still managed to defeat the dragon.
     With the dragon defeated, I approached the Princess and spoke to her.

And there's Lady Lora!

She thanks Keep for defeating the dragon and rescuing her. Dracolord was planning to make her his wife, so I came just in the nick of time. It's time to take her back to Tantegel. Keep picks her up, and I get a fun little sprite of the hero carrying Lady Lora.

That hero's a real prince charming here. Animation doesn't look stupid either!

     Now, I could walk all the way back, but I decided to cheap it out and do the quick method. From the cave, I used the Outside spell to exit. Once outside, I used a Warp Wing to return to Tantegel Castle. I carried the Princess through the castle and set her down in the throne room. The King thanks me for rescuing her, and Lora has a bit more to say after that. She proclaims her love for the hero Keep and gives him her love... in the form of an item! The LoraLuv.

Physically received but not in the way you think!

     It sounds weird, but the item provides a you with two things. No matter where you are, you can use it to learn how much experience you need, and it also tells you how many steps you are from the castle on the map. It sounds pointless at the moment, but that secondary property has a use later on. Anyways, the Princess is saved, hurrah, and time for the next goal.
     The next location I need to head towards is Mercado. Once there, I'll learn more about what I'm needing to obtain. As far as the guide goes, I've got three major items to find... Loto's Legendary Armor, Loto's Seal, and the Sun Stone. (Technically, the armor is a side quest, but I think it's important enough because of what it does. I'll explain more later when I get it.) I save my game in Tantegel Castle and head back out into the world.
     The journey to Mercado is quite a long one. From Tantegel Castle, you have to cross almost the entire map to reach it. You head south along the western border first. Along the way, I bypassed the Mountain Cave from earlier, a ruins of a decimated town, and a lot of tough monsters along the way. Now, when I was trying to find Mercado, I actually got a little lost again. There's a point where you hit the southern border of the continent and turn to the Northwest to reach the town. There's two bridges along this path, and I was supposed to take the second one. However, I ended up crossing the first bridge and that led me to a massive marsh area.
     Now, I have mentioned marsh a couple times in this post, but I have yet to fully explain them... Marsh-type panels damage you as you walk on them. The amount of damage differs sometimes, but the general amount in most places is 1 damage per panel. My Magic Armor counters this somewhat because it heals me 1 HP for every two steps I take. In other words, it halves the amount I take from walking through large patches of marsh. I walked all the way through and around the marsh before I realized that... I took the wrong path. I had to backtrack a small ways and head a little further along before I located Mercado. However, Mercado wasn't about to just let me come in, and I had to deal with their protective friend first!

The Golem is bigger than the town!

     Need I say it? BOSS BATTLE TIME! The Golem is a fearsome boss to behold. He has quite a bit of HP and a fairly strong attack. Unfortunately for him, he has a huge weakness that is exploited through a secret. Remember the PixyFlute item I found waaaay back there? It's located in Kol, but it has a particular use in the game.
     If you try to fight the Golem straightforwardly, you end up with a very rough and tough battle after a looong stretch of walking. This would make it quite hard fought and unfun. However, if you play the PixyFlute during battle, it puts the Golem right to sleep!

All golems love flutes... It puts them right to sleep!

Once the Golem is asleep, you can just constantly wail on him until he wakes up. Then you play the flute and put him to sleep again. That was the entire battle. There's basically no challenge if you have the flute here. Anybody who attempts and conquers this without the flute, I would like to say "congrats" because you have more patience than I do. With the Golem defeated, it's time to enter the walled city of Mercado!
     Mercado is the last city available in the game, but it brings in some the best selection you could possibly have.

Here's a random shot of Mercado that shows basically none of the city.

Mercado has several shops within it's walls. Many of them are the exact same shop for some reason. However, one shop offers some crazy powerful equipment, but of course, it's for a hefty price. I don't really have the money or patience to get them right now, so I just walk around talking with NPCs for the moment.
     The main information I get is learning about the town of Domdora. I seemed to have passed it on the way here, but it was destroyed by the Dracolord and his minions. Among the ruins of Domdora is buried a great treasure though. It's hidden by a tree behind one of the shops in town. Only other details I know is that the shop was on the far east side of town. Whatever the item is, it seems to be of importance, so I guess I'll get to backtrack a bit. I leave Mercado, teleport back to Tantegel, and proceed along the same path I used to get to Mercado.
     Of course, I do stop part of the way there because Domdora is located in a desert area about halfway to Mercado. I head into the ruins of Mercado and begin my search. Search isn't really the right word though because I know exactly where I need to go. I head around the eastern border of the town and head into the shop. I step on the panel in front of the panel in front of the tree aaaaand BOSS BATTLE TIME!

YAR! I BE THE MADKNIGHT!

     I'm assaulted by a rather large fellow in armor called the MadKnight. I really give it my all to fight him, but I can't heal fast enough to counter his strong blows. On top of that, you have to cast StopSpell on him at the beginning of the battle, or he'll put you to sleep. Long story short, he slaughtered me without a second thought. Turns out, I get to experience even more GRINDING TIME! I reload and head back out into the wilderness to fight monsters, earn gold & xp, and beat that damn knight!
     My current level is 15, but I figure I'll need at least a level or two before I can beat him. On top of that, I'd like to improve my equipment another step. At this point, I was using the Steel Sword, Magic Armor, and Iron Shield. Mercado sells a fancy Silver Shield, and considering that's the best shield in the game, I figure it's time to upgrade to it. The only bummer here is that the Silver Shield costs 14800 gold! That's a lot of battles, but I guess I need a lot of battles for levels.
     While I'm grinding up a few levels, I decide to knock something else out while I'm at it. A key component to finishing the game is Loto's Seal. It's not really even directly needed though. You need it so that this old guy wants proof of your lineage at a later point. Regardless, I have to find it. The only clue to getting the Loto Seal is that it's located 70 south and 40 east of the castle. Under any other circumstances, this would be an impossible task. If you remember though, there's a certain item that tells you exact details that would help in getting it, the LoraLuv item.
     Using the LoraLuv item, you can pinpoint how many steps you are from the castle. The coordinates are 70 south and 40 east. For the LoraLuv item to work, you have to do the opposite coordinates to find the right spot. (70 north and 40 west) It's pretty far into enemy territory, and I actually happened by the location earlier on while looking for Mercado.

All that marsh... SO BLARGH!

And that above is the exact location of Loto's Seal. Why in the heck is it in the middle of a razed landscape? All I can figure is that it was randomly placed there before and then the place was all messed up. Anyways, that's another item down, and now all I need is the Silver Shield and level 17.
     Again, I can't figure up how much time I actually spent on this, but it was close to another hour of grinding time. The Silver Shield greatly boosts my defense by another step. (About ten points I think?) And now it's time to get the Flame Sword!... is what I would say, but I don't care to spend another pile of time earning 9800 gold for a sword I don't drastically need. Time to return to Domdora and defeat the MadKnight.
     BOSS BATTLE TIME! (Repeat) This time, I have zero trouble fighting the MadKnight. Just have to start off with StopSpell to prevent his Sleep spell, and then it's just a downhill slope with lots of physical strikes. With MadKnight's death, I'm able to take that extra step to search for the mysterious item that's buried behind the shop!

Hurrah for ultimate armor!

All my time and work has earned me Loto's Legendary Armor. It's a pretty good boost to defense, and I gain a few other nice little features. I can walk over marsh panels without taking damage now, and I heal 1 HP for every step I take. Awwww yeaaaah~
     With the armor acquired, I only need one more item, the Sun Stone. Unlike Loto's Armor, the Sun Stone is directly required to get to Dracolord. As it turns out, the Sun Stone has been right under my nose for the entire game. It's beneath Tantegel Castle in a secret basement area. If I had some keys, I could have gotten it at the first of the game. You simply go through the top right of the castle, use a key to enter, walk along the wall, head south to the mote, and enter the random stairs located there.

Oh look at this crazyrandomhappenstance!

     The random basement is the home of an old man. He tells me that he has watched over the Sun Stone for all this time and steps aside to let me claim it.

And what has that old man done with his life? Basically nothing.

With the Sun Stone in my hands, I'm officially the proud owner of all three relics! All I need to do now is head to the shrine in the far far south (Southeastern Continent's far southern tip), and then I can acquire the final item needed to finish up the game.
     I head out from Tantegel Castle and to the Southeastern Continent. It's quite a journey to find that southern shrine. It's pretty much all the way at the tip of the continent.

There it is!

I head inside and talk with the sage. Now, if you tried talking with him before this, it's quite possible that he immediately kicked you out. Why? Because he doesn't believe you are Loto's descendant without the Loto's Seal item. However, with the proof in hand, he's more than happy to do his duty. He takes the Sun Stone and Rain Staff from me and fuses them together. With his deed done, he steps to the side and lets me take hold of the RAINBOW DROP!

Evrybdy luv RainbwDrp!

     Now that I have the Rainbow Drop, I'm finally able to head for Dracolord's Castle. You might be wondering what difference a strange item could possible make at this point... And you are more than right to be wondering. What the heck could a Rainbow Drop possibly do? Now, if I didn't have the guide, I'd probably be a little clueless. True, I might be able to figure it out eventually, but this isn't the most straightforward of game. You HAVE to talk with every single person around to get the full story and all the hints of what is going on. Even with that in mind, you still have to play the part of a detective to figure things out. It's pretty much the bread and butter of games this old. You're given some direction but not all of it.
     And this is what you do with a Rainbow Drop.

SO CLOSE! Whatever shall I do?

Turns out the Rainbow Drop fixes that with a magical bridge!

Seriously though, how are you supposed to figure that out? It's kinda random if you ask me, but I might have just missed out on the conversation that explains this. I could rant about this a bit more, but I should probably just move past it now. For those wondering where that spot is, from the Southern Shrine, you have to head to the most Northwestern tip of the Southeastern continent to find that spot. You simply use the Rainbow Drop at the very edge, the game has a lovely little animation, and the bridge appears.
     With the bridge there, I can cross over and get into Dracolord's Castle. It's quite a fearsome looking place, but I'm more than prepared for this. So... LET'S DO THIS! I cross over the Rainbow Bridge, trudge through the marshes surrounding his castle, and then enter into the villain's castle.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

And thus begins the descent into the depths of evil! With Loto's Armor and the Silver Shield, my defenses are more than prepared for the fights ahead. However, I am lacking in the weapon power department... As it turns out though, Loto's Sword is actually hidden in Dracolord's Castle. I couldn't tell you WHY it is hidden there, but it is for whatever reason.
     The first part of the castle was just a general castle's floor. I had to work my way from the entrance to the throne room. In there, you can inspect the throne and find out that a hidden passage is nearby. A little searching and...

Now THAT is a throne!

Beneath the castle is a dark dungeon-y cave. Without guide directions, I'd probably get lost down here pretty easily. Being how this game does encounters, the second floor of monsters really isn't too tough. They aren't pushovers by any means, but this game tends to make enemies harder at deeper levels as opposed to the same grouping all throughout. It's a nice touch.
     Anyways, let's find Loto's Sword! I could go into full detail here, but... I'm not going to. Using the guide, I navigated the dungeon, fought off monsters, and worked my way through a secondary path to find Loto's Legendary Sword!

Awesome Sword is Awesome.

Awww yeaaaah! In my hands is the most powerful weapon in the game. It is two times more powerful than the Steel Sword that I've been using for most of the game, so I'm going to see quite a bit of difference in damage. After just a single battle, it's already quite clear that the sword was worth my time.
     However, I'm running short on HP after at least every other battle, so I end up using a lot of MP along the way. Even proceeding from the chest with Loto's Sword, I'm only like halfway through this dungeon. It makes you backtrack a ways to get back on the right path. When I finally do, I'm only a few floors away from the bottom floor of the castle.
     The final floor looks kinda like I'm back outside again... I mean I was going downwards and even had to cast Radiant to see my way around. Suddenly this floor is all lit up, and it even returns to the inside-a-castle look.

Dem Creepy Statues!

I work my way along this creepy castle pathway and come around to a throne room. And who is that sitting upon the throne? I finally come face-to-face with DRACOLORD!

Doesn't look TOO menacing at the moment mind you... BUT THAT IS THE EVIL DEMON HIMSELF!

     Now, this actually comes into an interesting scenario here. When you approach and talk to the Dracolord, he asks your character if you'd like to rule the world with him. You can answer yes or no here. Unfortunately, I'll have to pop that bubble immediately and reveal that saying "Yes" to his question turns the screen black. Then the game reloads with you at Castle Tantegel. Even when you answer "No" to the question though, he immediately asks you again. He really wants you to rule the world with him. (I think this is more of a punishment for someone who's just mashing A constantly to speed through things.) You answer no again, and then the Dracolord comes out swinging for...
     FINAL BOSS BATTLE TIME!

DracoLord is ready to battle!

 And then I die.
     No seriously, I die on my first attempt to beat Dracolord. I overspent my MP, and by the time I made it to him, I didn't have enough to keep myself fully healed. He does a decent amount of damage, but the real kicker here is that he can heal himself. Without my own supply of magic to keep myself in fighting fit, I quickly went down and was out. The game kicks me back to Tantegel Castle, and I get to make the journey back to Dracolord's Castle.
     Of course, this trip goes quite a bit faster since I have Loto's Sword to help me. Any enemy I come into contact with during my trip dies in a couple turns if not a single turn. When I reach the castle, I get to make the trip back down into the dark depths. Of course, I also don't have to make the side errand in the castle of finding Loto's Sword, so this goes quite a bit easier. And when I reach the Dracolord a second time, I've got nearly all of my MP to use on the battle. Need I say... FINAL BOSS BATTLE TIME! (Retry Edition)
     Okay, the Dracolord isn't any kind of a pushover. My current level comes out to around Level 19, and I'm probably pushing it to beat him at my level. (The max level in the game is 30.) His attacks aren't really anything special, but he seems to have a near infinite supply of Magic and can heal himself almost constantly. You just have to keep after him while healing yourself to avoid dying. With enough diligence, the Dracolord will eventually go down!

Of course it does!

     However, the screenshot above already reveals that, like most final bosses, it's not just a single form here. FINAL BOSS BATTLE TIME! ROUND TWO! THE TRUE FORM EMERGES!

Now that's more appropriate for the name "DracoLord" (Japanese name is actually Dragon Lord.)

Now, unlike the first form, you won't have to worry about any self-healing, but the trade-off here is that Draco Lord's true form has more powerful attacks. He has a couple different attacks to choose from, but the real problem is when he breathes "intense" flames on you. Regular fire only did around 20-30 damage, so with a max of 100+ HP, I would be more than fine. However, his "intense" flames tended to do more around the 40-45 range of damage. Now, with that damage range in mind, you've probably figured out that I didn't have an easy time here.
     The first battle sapped nearly half of my MP, so I was left with very little at this point. My spell of choice for healing was the spell Healmore because it... healed more, but each casting of the spell cost me 8 MP. It would heal me for quite a bit, but it also meant losing a turn to healing rather than damaging DracoLord. Even with a steady set of attacks, it was coming down to the line. I had one last heal left in me, and I was afraid I was going to get to walk the same path once again! As it came around to my last heal, I knew it was a make or break moment. I was afraid I was going to lose when... I struck the Final Blow!

     After a long and harrowing adventure, I finally defeated the DracoLord! He wasn't any kind of a pushover here, and it would have still been a challenge with even a couple extra levels behind me. Dracolord is a tough cookie, but with him gone, I can finally reclaim the Orb of Light! Keep takes the orb in hand and a blinding flash of light shines out. And thus the world has been saved! It doesn't seem like anything has changed at first, but upon leaving the castle, I am met with an already different image of the world.

Marshes turned into flowers. Hurray!

     The marshes aren't the only thing that have changed in the world. I come to find that the monsters have fully disappeared, and I'm not getting into any random encounters. I already know I need to head back to Tantegel Castle, but I figure it can't hurt to revisit a few places along the way. This was planned into the game of course, and revisiting the few towns gives you a nice feeling of accomplishment.
     Every person you talk to congratulates you on defeating the Dracolord or are all in praise over the world being saved and once again in the light. You can actually travel to everywhere in the game and speak with people. Most of the end messages from them end up matching up, but it's still a nice gesture. At this point, I was ready to beat the game though, so I didn't dilly-dally too much.
     When I reach Tantegel, I'm greeted by the King who offers me his Kingdom as thanks. My character finally speaks up though and declines the offer. Rather than take the King's Kingdom, he wishes to go out and start a kingdom of his own. Of course, he isn't about to go alone. Lady Lora comes out and declares her eternal love for Keep. She joins him, and the two slowly leave the castle together.

Yay for new beginnings!

And now we leave Tantegel...

~Fin~

And thus ends the very first Dragon Warrior title. 

     I had a good time, and the game was pretty short as well. I've had the game done for several days really, and I should have had the post done sooner. Of course, my life is quite busy with the holidays and life in general though... Not a real excuse, but I'm taking it. I apologize for the massively long post, but there's lots of pretty screenshots, so you can forgive me... right? Expect a quick summary of my thoughts on the game within the next few days. I won't do a full review since it's such a short game, but I figure I'll share some thoughts on it at least! If you made it this far, I'd like to thank you for reading. Heck, if you just scrolled down this far, congrats! That's a lot of post to scroll through, so you have accomplished something. That's enough rattling out of me. /end post

Ending Point - End of the Game.
Screenshots - Imgur album.
Keep's Level - 19
Goals Accomplished - Obtained the Shiny Harp. Traded the Shiny Harp for the Rain Staff. Grinded a lot of gold and experience. Found the War Ring in the Mountain Cave. Rescued Lady Lora from the Dragon. Found Loto's Seal randomly in a marsh. Obtained Loto's Armor in Mercado. Found the Sun Stone underneath Tantegel Castle. Got the Rain Staff and Sun Stone combined into the Rainbow Drop. Use the Rainbow Drop to reach Dracolord's Castle. Made my way through Dracolord's Castle. Defeated Dracolord. Beat the Game.
Next Goals - Start Dragon Warrior II.



Side Note - YES! I know this took me a long ass time to beat, but I've been busy with life and other games. I should be able to throw together a summary/review in my spare time, and that should be up before the year ends. I'll begin Dragon Warrior II shortly after that. Apologies for the lack of posts this month, but I've been trying my hardest to keep with it.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

VGBA Explosion! #3

Oh dear. Another month has come and gone, and my selection process for the VGBA Explosion! is going to get harder and harder as I run out of albums to share... But I'm not there yet! For this EXPLOSION! I'm going to share some of the fine, fine releases from the net label, GameChops.
Long story short, it's a music label for video game remixers. I've been following it since the beginning, and I'd like to say it's all great quality stuff. I've already shared a few of their releases...

1. bLiNd - NESteryears
2. Koopa Soundworks (Now called Brave Wave) - World 1-2

Since I can't review every single album, I figure it's time to get more of their stuff in here. I'll share three albums and let you go from there yourselves~

Joshua Morse - VLAD

Price = $4

Album - VLAD
Artist - Joshua Morse
Genre - Electronic Dance Music, Jazz, Chiptune, Castlevania Remixes.
Suggested Because - Castlevania is a classic series that has been with us since the original Nintendo. They were incredibly challenging but super fun games with a simple goal. Destroy Dracula! (Or something very similar) This album takes those classic songs and mixes them up to a dancy, jazzy, chiptune-awesomeness. Seriously, it's worth a listen!

Dj CUTMAN & Spamtron - Meow Meow & Bow Wow

Price = $7

Album - Meow Meow & Bow Wow
Artist - Dj CUTMAN & Spamtron
Genre - Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening Remixes, Chiptunes, Electronica
Suggested Because - I'm a bit biased but... I love Dj CUTMAN! He does some awesome video game remixes and chiptunes and all that stuff. This album is a sort of sequel to a previous one known as "Bagu And The Riverman". (You can see it on the GameChops site.) It's just so much fun to listen to, and I can't describe how much I enjoy this album. GET IT!

Grimecraft - POKÉP

Price = Name Your Price

Album - POKÉP
Artist - Grimecraft + Several guest artists
Genre - Pokemon Remixes, Chiptunes, Dubstep, Dance, Bass, etc. (I'm not good at selecting genres.)
Suggested Because - The Pokemon series has some very choice and tasty music. It's all good stuff, and that's going all the way back to the beginning even! This album brings in some of the old, but it mostly covers the new sounds of Pokemon X and Y. From the very first song, it's just dance chiptune electronica fun!

And these are just a few of the more recent releases from GameChops! If you go to their site (link up above), you can find quite a few more albums to listen through. It's all great stuff, and you should be more than happy to buy them up and support a great label. I hope you enjoyed this month's selection of VGBA Explosion!

Side Note - I'd like to apologize for the delay of the first Dragon Warrior post. I've been busy with work and other games, but I have been slowly playing it. I figure I'll actually wrap the game up in a single, slightly longer post though. Just... LOOK FORWARD TO IT SOON! Thanks for your patience.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

VGBA 9 - Sega Swing

The Flight Away - Sega Swing

Awesome Sega-Style Music with Pop-Style Vocals... Hurray!

Band - The Flight Away.
Sites - Facebook. Bandcamp. Soundcloud.
Type of Album - Sega-Style Chiptunes with Pop Vocals.
Genres - Chiptunes, Pop.
Favorite Song/Songs - Dance Fight!

Review - Today, we look over at The Flight Away with the album Sega Swing. This album is probably one of the most interesting ones I've run across in a while. It's got a style all its own, and it's just pretty dang fantastic. But what's so great about it?

The first thing that immediately caught me was... THE MUSIC! As soon as you hear it, it's like you're back in the old days with a Sega Genesis at your side. The style of chiptunes here is something I don't think I have ever heard anywhere else. It's just amazing! However, with the great Sega-style chiptunes comes something that not everybody is going to like... the vocals.

Granted, they aren't horrible vocals or lyrics, but it's all generic in comparison to the music. After listening to it a few times, I've gotten used to both vocals and lyrics, but I really wish I could get an instrumental version of the album instead. Overall, I just feel that the amazing chiptunes really don't need the vocals given here. (Granted, this is probably the harshest I have ever been in one of my reviews.)

Now, if you enjoy the vocals, then good for you! I'm all for it, and this is pretty much a perfect album for you at that point. I'd easily defend this album for the music alone really, so in the end, I still enjoyed my time listening to it.

However, I do apologize for this. I guess I wanted to share this album more than review it, and I can't bring it in me to attack or berate someone's good/great work. Now, if this were just an awful album, I would have never reviewed it in the first place, but there's enough good here that I'd still like to spread the word. I didn't love the vocals or lyrics, but there might be those out there who do! And thus... we come to the conclusion.

Pros - A fantastic and very unique set of chiptunes. Sega-style chiptunes for you hardcore Sega peoples. Just amazing instrumental goodness going on.
Cons - The vocals aren't bad, but they're kinda plain in comparison to the music. Same thing with the lyrics. Look past that? You still have a great album.
Rating - 3 out of 5.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

News Post! (11/18/2013)

Now, this is going to be fairly short and sweet and answer a few questions I have about what I'm going to do next.

1. What comes next?

This one is easy because I have been planning and broadcasting it for a while. With Final Fantasy coming to conclusion (AKA I've run out of titles), I'm planning to play through another long-running RPG series. There aren't very many out there that are also very well known. There are a few PC-based ones, but I don't think I'll be tackling those anytime soon.

That and I had a great thought somewhere along the way... I remembered that there is another series that has actually been around LONGER than Final Fantasy! It's a lesser known game that was so popular in Japan that they aren't allowed to release it during the week. It is Dragon Quest!

Of course, just so you know, the first couple of titles were actually released in America as Dragon Warrior, so the first couple titles will be played under their original American name. Thus the constant use of "Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest" when I mention it.

2. How are you planning to do it?

With Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, I actually owned a copy of the game, but I felt that my posts needed more pictures to help make the wall of words have some pretty in between. Now, I will say right now that I do and/or plan to own every single Dragon Warrior/Quest game in one form or another.

As of this moment, I own all of them except for Dragon Quest V and Dragon Quest VII. They seem to be the most expensive of the group, so I'm holding off on them for the moment. Also, despite all this buying, I plan to use a fancy emulator to play most of them where I can.

An emulator allows me to have backup saves through Save States, take screenshots, and easily access and play it next to the blog post. Thus I can write and make notes as I go as opposed to turning around constantly from my TV and sometimes ignoring the game for long periods.

(For those curious, the emulator setup I'm using is this. -> RetroArch.)
(Long story short, it's a frontend program that can run multiple emulators. Figure I'll use BSnes as the core.)

And the current plan is to play the first three games (Dragon Warrior 1, 2, and 3) on the emulator and follow the rest on whatever console/handheld I can access them. It'll look something like this...

1. Dragon Warrior I (GB) - Emulator.
2. Dragon Warrior II (GB) - Emulator.
3. Dragon Warrior III (GBC) - Emulator.
4. Dragon Warrior IV (NDS) - Console.
5. Dragon Warrior V (NDS) - Console. (Needs to be purchased!)
6. Dragon Warrior VI (NDS) - Console.
7. Dragon Warrior VII (PS1) - Console. (Needs to be purchased!)
8. Dragon Warrior VIII (PS2) - Console.
9. Dragon Warrior IX (NDS) - Console. 

*FYI, Console = handheld where appropriate.*

I have plans to buy the missing games, but it won't be anytime soon since I don't need them quite yet.

3. What about Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XV?

This is probably the only REAL question anybody would have because yes, I haven't said anything about either one. Honestly? I'm not very interested in playing an MMO (XIV) because I don't really have anybody I'd play it with. And for me... the MMO would only be fun alongside a couple friends. I skipped XI anyways, and nobody seems to have stomped on that thought. (Of course my reader database is probably like ten people at best. XD)

Then that leaves the unreleased Final Fantasy XV for the PS4. I'll probably buy it and give a quick play of it, but from what I've seen, I dunno how much I'll be impressed. It'll look beautiful. There's no arguing that, but I can't see myself enjoying it nearly as much as I have previous ones. Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's just being tired of the series, or maybe Final Fantasy XIII truly killed the series for me. I dunno, but I figure I'll at least buy it and give it a chance.

Also... NO! LIGHTING RETURNS IS NOT HAPPENING! Just... NO!

And that about wraps up all the main questions anybody would probably have here. I did say they were my own questions, but I was trying to be funny... OH RIGHT!

I will start playing Dragon Warrior I by the end of the month. I don't know when the first post will be, but you should expect it about the end of the month/beginning of December. That's it folks. See you soon!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - Final Thoughts

Oh yeah! Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was a short-y, but it was a goody! I've taken longer than I should have to finish it, but that's not important. What is important is my quick review of what I truly thought of it.
So let's...

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - Final Thoughts

Now... Let's begin with the usual details here.

Game Stats

Time Played - 13-1/2 Hours.
Final Party Levels

• Keeper - Level 37
• Phoebe - Level 34

Screenshots Album - Imgur.

Battlefields Cleared - 20 of 20.
Game Overs - More than I'd care to list... (Also I didn't keep count. Was just throwing in a few more sections to expand this part.)

Game Review

Now it's time for the ever-popular and totally self-opinionated REVIEW!
As per the usual rules, we'll take a look at the...

• Aesthetics
• Gameplay
• Story

Being how the game goes, I don't feel it necessary to have a character category. I'll briefly go over it, but there's really not much to say or add. Anyways! Let's begin with aesthetics because looks are everything!

I don't honestly believe that of course (seeing as I've played all these older games), but the looks can easily effect if someone will or won't play a game. An older 8-bit or 16-bit game can look quite unappealing next to our modern day graphics for some. Personally, I greatly enjoy the old style of look, and as the blog has proven, I'm more than okay with playing older games. (True, I did play remakes of most of the games, but that was to allow access to easier saving methods.)

Now, in judging Mystic Quest fairly, it's not too bad of a SNES game, but it fails in comparison to another title that was released on the very same year... IN THE VERY SAME SERIES!

A typical battle in Mystic Quest.
Doesn't look too bad, but a bit simplistic.

A typical battle in Final Fantasy V.
The background isn't too complex in this shot, but the characters are more detailed.

Here's the Level Forest from Mystic Quest. This is the "dying" version, so it's all brown'd up, but it's really not super detailed if you ask me. Lots of similar tiles spread throughout.

Here's a clip from the opening sequence of Final Fantasy V. Not the most detailed area, but it at least has a varying look and differing tiles throughout. Much better in comparison.

So what I'm basically saying here is that the graphics aren't really anything to go crazy about. They aren't bad at all, but they could have been better. The graphics are passable for aesthetics, but I'd say the REAL gold mine for this portion of the review is the fantastic and awesome soundtrack for the game.

The music is all really catchy and enjoyable. Being as small as the game is, there isn't a huge amount of variety, but the regular battle and boss battle themes alone are just awesome! 

BATTLE THEME

BOSS BATTLE

Do you hear that? It's pretty dang rocking if you ask me. Apart from those, the music is pretty enjoyable overall and always appropriate for the location you are at. (If you like those, you should check out the following album as well! LINK) Overall though, this game isn't really the best sounding or the best looking in the series or even classic RPGs in general. It's not bad persay, but it could be a lot better. It's enough to enjoy what goes down though, so I'm going to let this section pass through. Aesthetics aren't over the top, but they're enjoyable for a classic RPG. Now let's get to the gameplay!

For RPGs, the gameplay is usually about the levels and stats alongside epic turn-based and/or real time battles. For Mystic Quest, there was a different plan in mind. Now, I'm not going to go into a fully explained history, but here's the simplified version. Back in the day, apparently Americans weren't sold on the idea of your classic turn-based RPGs or... at least the majority wasn't. Action RPGs were doing well enough, but Square wanted to get more people into it. Thus they created Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It was to be a simplified, easy-to-play entry RPG for newbies. 

Overall, it really hits this mark, but that's really about it. The game is most enjoyable to people who have played it before and those who enjoy a good RPG, but it's really lacking beyond that. The overly simplified gameplay is going to turn off most hardcore gamers, and RPG fans will probably prefer different titles in the Final Fantasy series. Don't get me wrong! I enjoyed Mystic Quest as I played through it, but it wasn't the most powerful Final Fantasy experience for me.

To go more into details about this, the gameplay has been greatly simplified in comparison to previous games. Leveling up does increase your stats, but the weapon and equipment selection is limited. Rather than choosing your current equipment, your character is auto-equipped with the latest type of each item. This kills any customization, but at the same time, there's really only a single line of equipment as you progress through. There's nothing to change up to create a specific kind of character. Different kinds of weapons and all that, but you're generally just best off using the most powerful one at the time regardless. 

Spells aren't too far off either. There's only a handful of spells in total. I wish there were a few more spells to choose from, or at least some way of improving old spells. The game was less than 15 hours overall though, so I guess having fewer spells doesn't really hurt anything. I'm cool with the "number of casts" system over the MP one though. It's nice being able to cast pretty much whatever you want whenever you want rather than worrying about a budget. 

Going beyond stats, the game also features a fun but sometimes broken battling system. Battles are generally pretty simple in that you just attack all straightforwardly or take advantage of enemy weaknesses via specific weapons or spells. However, when statuses get involved, having a two-person party can quickly become a problem. If one person is petrified or confused, you either have to hurry and defeat the enemy or waste a turn healing him. During that time, you just pray that the healthy character isn't status-ified himself. It's really only a complaint because I died to this exact condition several times near the latter half of the game. You do gain a lot of status resistances from armor and such, but it's very annoying and game ruining until you hit that point. This would all be solved by a regular three-person party. 

 Another change to the usual system was the removal of random encounters and placing monsters on the map instead. This lets you control what battles you do and don't fight. I'd advise you fight as many as you can though because otherwise you'll find yourself under-leveled. There were many battles where I was probably closer to the line of "just leveled enough" to really defeat the various bosses and enemies. (For those who don't know, the maximum level in the game is Level 41. I didn't quite make it there, but I was close!) Overall, the battles aren't too shabby, but the lack of a third person can really change things up where a single round spells doom out of NOWHERE. 

However, if I am excited for one portion of this game, it's the exploration and action-style elements. Outside of the battles, you have to maneuver each field using your weapons and jumping ability. This usually only results in quick-and-easy puzzles or just running to hit a switch, but it's a good mixture with the rest of the game. ALSO JUMPING IS ALWAYS POWERFUL! (It's better than FFXIII's jumping...) Seriously! The clever use of the sword, axe, and claw are just great as you travel through the game. Chopping trees, hitting switches, climbing walls, and then that's just some of the early stuff! Eventually your claw becomes a grapple hook and the sword is... just fun to stab with. SCHWING SCHWUNG! Love that sound~

Now, how do I see Gameplay overall? For what it is, it's a nice and quick game. You'll only spend around 15 hours at most, so it's good for a short RPG. It's also a great entry RPG for anybody who wants a taste without getting all serious-like. The lack of random encounters further helps this since I know many people hate the idea of being interrupted constantly. The action and exploration help mix it up a bit as you explore the world. Battles play pretty well, but the two party system tends to mess things up when a third person would really help out. I still had fun with the game, but it's not quite perfect. All we need now is to wrap things up with the story and a dash of characters.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest brings in a simple story of a "chosen boy" to save the world from a great evil. You have to adventure throughout the land and restore the four elemental crystals to power. For Final Fantasy, that's pretty much 101-style story. There are four crystals, they're elemental, and they're integral to the world's survival. 

The story isn't a very deep or consistent thing at times though. You often find yourself going from one place to another without any real events. I'm fairly happy with this since Final Fantasy XIII and others felt the need to make every accomplishment into some sort of event or scene. Seriously, climbing a set of stairs shouldn't immediately thrust me into a scene about how I climbed a set of stairs.

If you are wanting a deep and emotional story about characters that grow into heroes... You won't find that here. However, once again, I greatly enjoy a simplified and easy going story. The characters often make small jokes throughout, and your guy (the one I named Keeper) does his little "WTF" shrugging arm movement all the time. Most of the story goes pretty simple-like. Go to this location to restore the crystal. Go there to retrieve an item. Open this path. Save this person. It's all simple and such.

However, there were a few times where the situation turned into "...what?" for me. The old man, who (SPOILER ALERT) turns out to be the Light Crystal, tends to drop in and out at very random moments and spouts off your next objective. He does it really fast though, so if you aren't careful, you end up missing the entire message. Then later on, there were entire conversations that flew by fairly fast and then I was just left wondering "What am I supposed to do next again!?" The game does sometimes leave you high and dry if you missed a few lines, but it's generally easy to get back on track. 

As for the characters in the story, they're really nothing to go crazy about. You've got your main person, Keeper in my case, along with a few sidekicks that help you throughout the game. Each character has a bit of story behind them, and they help you multiple times throughout. However, beyond their attachments to the story, they don't really evolve or grow. They generally go along with you to help defeat the evil ahead or to secure some goal of their own. Even when you leave a person behind and meet with them later, they don't really change very much. They're an interesting enough bunch, but they feel less like people and more like just characters. Therefore... nothing to sink your feelings into. 

What does this mean for my thoughts on story and character? You kinda have to just take it as it is. You can't expect a big thing that's like a metaphor for anything. It's just a guy working with other people to save the world. It's simple and clean and not bad overall. There's silly points littered throughout, and it never goes overly serious or deep just to be like that. I liked it.

And thus we finally come to the finale of my review. What did I think about Mystic Quest when you add it all up? It's a good and highly overlooked game, but it's not really something I'd give my life to defend. I enjoyed my time through it, but I can't see myself wanting to play it again even remotely soon. It doesn't really hold a cup of tea to some of the greater Final Fantasy titles, but I still feel that it does hold a place. I liked it more than FFII, and it's got about the same depth as FFIII. So really... I'd say it gets a pass overall. It's not a game for everybody, but it still has its moments. 

Worst case scenario? It's only like 12-15 hours worth of gameplay, and that's more than many modern games. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is an off-title in the series for a reason, but that doesn't make it any less of a Final Fantasy title in my book. You should give it a chance and play some! Give it an hour or two, and if you still don't like it, that's fine. You're missing out on a good game though. /end review

And with this review done... Final Fantasy is coming to a close. You might be wondering about Final Fantasy XIV or Final Fantasy XV. I'll post up a quick News Post about that here soon, and I'll explain what my plans are involving them. Ahead of me now is Dragon Warrior/Quest, and it's about time to get crackin'!

Side Note - Thanks for reading my humble and unorganized review! It might not be much, but it's truly how I felt. Stay tuned for a News Post coming very very soon.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~