The INCREDIBLE Dev Story Behind Final Fantasy Mystic Quest 

FFMQ deserves a pixel remaster. With additional content.

Loved this game as a kid. Not being able to break the game is what drove me to break all my future RPGs.

I know that this game doesn't have the best reputation, but it is nice seeing videos covering it in a positive light every now and then.

mystic quest was my first jrpg. it was love at first sight to the genre. here in germany turnbased rpg games for consoles were rare

This game had the best battle sprites ever I dont understand why no one's copied this yet even to this day

Mystic Quest will always have a place in my heart as the first RPG I've ever 100% completed in under 24 hours (a Blockbuster rental back in middle school and without skipping meals and bathroom breaks) It may have been easy, but it was fun for what it was.

I played Mystic Quest as a teen with one of my best friends on his SNES (in the mid to late 2000s). Didn't even know it was a Final Fantasy game until like 10 to 12 years later. I could swear it just said "Mystic Quest" on the cartridge. It was a beautiful little gem of a game.

That is so weird...I was playing Mystic Quest last week! Lol. I was going to finish the last dungeon this week. I'm doing a Completionist run- the areas are not finished until the area is completely cleared of monsters, and all vital chests are obtained. I think MQ deserves a remaster and expansion. It was great! Yes, it's a "baby" Final Fantasy, but sometimes, players just want a taste of an FF. They don't want to devote hours upon hours, grinding and playing an extensive game. Sometimes they just wanna have fun. Sometimes, they want an escape. And, MQ satisfies that with an incredible soundtrack. And, it DID ITS JOB- It introduced people to FF. MQ was my first of the brand. And, MQ innovated SO MANY THINGS. Using speed stats to determine the way actions would be resolved. AI or manual control your party members. Having your targets change visually to give you a good indication of how much HP they've missed. Puzzles using tools. Encounters visible on the map. I mean... it's crazy how many little fingerprints from MQ are in the games that came after it.

I played this game when I was like 6 years old after I played FF1 ...it helped me to get into later main title Final Fantasy games

Mystic Quest was my actual first Final Fantasy, but I actually didn't know it was part of the franchise for a couple years because the super title was so small in comparison to the subtitle. I also tend to refer to it now as "the beginner's Final Fantasy."

only thing i want to know about this game is what kind of drugs the composer was taking while cooking up that soundtrack

It's funny to me how Square Japan was like "yeah we made a watered down RPG for dumb Americans," the Japanese game industry was like "how dare you withhold a Final Fantasy game from us release it now," and when Square did they all turned their nose up at it. My brothers and sisters in Christ, you asked for it.

Mystic Quest was my favorite Christmas Gift from my dad.

20:21 OH YEAH BBY THEY USED FUCKING HCBAILLY'S LP AS THEIR MYSTIC QUEST FOOTAGE AND IF IT WERENT FOR THEM KEEPING THAT TRANSITION IN I WOULDNT OF NOTICED LMAO

I played the hell out of this with a friend, and that was after i had played ffiv and others

Despite being very simple compared to other RPGs that had come out, including FF 1 and 2, Dragon Warrior, and others, I still really enjoyed this game and its story. Baby's First Final Fantasy, it was called at the time😂

This was my first rpg. It really did serve its purpose. I liked you could maneuver about the world, use multiple weapons and chop down trees and the music. For as bare as it was, it insighted alot of creativity and imagination in me. And it took me two years to find out how to get out of that damn ice pyramid! I would like a sequel, that was more advanced but kept the same feel as the original and a more complex story. And more importantly, similar sound track.

FFMQ still has one of the best final boss themes.

Mystic Quest is beast

FFMQ was a fun game for what it was, that music slapped so hard though. I would love some more call backs in some other FF media. Give me another charcter named Benjamin having MQ ben's hairstyle. Give me a new XIV job that uses grappling hooks in combat and have the relic weapon be the dragon claw from MQ.

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest is a good example of why creators, be it for video games, novels or otherwise, should never try to dumb things down for their audience. Trying to do so just ends up being seen as too simple a story, gameplay that is too simple, etc. EDIT: Fixed a typo.

I get so tired of people talking trash about this game. It is incredibly fun and creative

truly a labor of love thank you so much for your high quality content. keep up the good work. wish you well

Great game my first ff the soundtrack is godly

Tried to play it a few times. Should give it another try on a portable.

At 6 I loved MQ it was just my speed

Love this game

So much love for mystic quest! Hating on this game is so tired and forced. What people called “too easy” are now standard QOL practices in modern RPGs. Thank you Mystic Quest!

Quite interesting indeed. I recall first seeing this game on the shelves and not being aware it was a Final Fantasy game. I just glossed over it completely. By the time I did learn it was an FF, I'd already had the impression it was a bit of a dud. Still, very fun vid to watch! Looking forward to more, as always.

I never played Mystic Quest, but I remember the ads being all over the comic books at the time, including the price point. I never found a copy of the game anywhere.

Awesome video, very interesting!!

This was my first RPG… before I even knew what an RPG was.

I actually enjoyed Mystic Quest. I remember people referring to this game as "Baby's first Final Fantasy". It's very basic and simplistic, but it's also pretty cool! Plus, the soundtrack is amazing! I really like the boss battle theme and the one from the volcano level. When I played Theatrhythm Curtain Calls on the 3DS, I always had Benjamin in my main party.

I always had a soft spot for Mystic Quest (which I ended up playing after 6 and 4). In spite of its mechanical simplicity and utter brokenness of magic once you could buy MP healing items, it had its own little charms and was a game you could just kind of let loose and play instead of planning ahead and strategy that was often involved in other FF titles as well as most of the best RPGs around at the time.

I am a little insulted that the Japanese thought that the older FF games were to difficult to play for the west. FF2 is a cluster Fck because of the strange leveling system, memo system, but 3 and 5 are pretty straightforward.

You know, without the HVGN (Happy Video Game Nerd) aka Stop Skeletons From Fighting, I don't think I would've known about this game. However, I did get the game a while back and played a bit of it. Maybe I'll get back to it and finish it one day.

The more I learn about the development history of FF games, and the corporate struggles and missteps Square has had over the years (even up to the recent video you did on the financial reports), it’s a wonder how FF still exists…of which I’m glad but man, some of their assumptions and blunders over the years are pretty shortsighted and borderline juvenile. Perhaps the new 3-5 year plan will see them producing less FF content, but much more quality ones. We don’t need polymorphic content. Just MAKE THE GAMES AWESOME.

A game I'd love to see remade for the modern day. It was such a simplestory, but there was charm in it. The spritework was great and I rarely see it replicated nowadays outside of things like Shin Megami Tensei on handhelds and etc. Would love to see it return and for everyone to experience what was the culmination of mixing SaGa and Mana together.

My game kept freezing in the ice palace, so they sent me a new copy in the mail.

44:54 . . . quite ironic considereing what has happened recently, and because of the same very reason xD

They did a lot of things right with this game, IMO. First FF game with enemies in the field instead of random encounters. We wouldn’t get that until FF12!

It's crazy to me that the incredibly cryptic and kind of broken Final Fantasy for NES was a certified hit, so when sales of the much more user-friendly and technically superior Final Fantasy IV were disappointing, Square's response was to decide that somehow FFIV was too confusing, and that Western audiences needed more handholding to understand its nuance. You will never convince me that this bizarre logic fail wasn't rooted in deeply held and prejudicial cultural biases. I feel a flash of disgust for the company leadership of that era every time this story gets retold. People are people--there's no such thing as a country of smart people or a country of simple people. If the product underperformed, it's much more likely that you failed to advertise it adequately, or in a way that reached the intended audience, or that you produced it in too low of a quantity, or that you sold it for too much money, or some combination thereof. Example: compare the box art and cartridge sticker art for a game like Yoshi's Island or Super Metroid with the dull, solid red of Final Fantasy IV. Which is going to capture the eye of a child or an adult shopping at Christmas time?

My first final fantasy 🥲

I remember shortly after my parents divorced in the 90s, one of my fondest memories was playing FFIV on SNES with them both as they were big fans. I literally learned to read playing along with them. One day at Walmart, I saw FF MQ on sale for $20 and excitedly grabbed it out of the bargain bin and showed Mom. She was briefly intrigued, but looked it over and asked the younger guy at the register about the game and he simply shook his head no. She put the game back. Not long after we saw FFVI and quickly purchased it and thoroughly loved it. However I always wondered what I missed out on, with the cover art burned into my memory. Fast forward to 2006: While browsing Goodwill, I stumbled across MQ for $5. I quickly bought it and was so excited to play it when I got home. I really tried to like it. The visuals were so bland and looked like something made in a primitive RPG Maker, and the design lacked any kind of depth perception (very.. flat). The dialogue and story had all the charm of an episode of Blue's Clues, and if you're into that this is perfect for you. The battle system for whatever reason visually looks more like it would be at home on the NES. I did take note in the multiple sprites for all enemies which is one thing this game had that other FF games rarely had. The music, something I've always loved about FF games.. is good. I can't criticize it much other than the fact that it sounds more like it would be at home on a Mega Man-esque action game. I trudged through the game for hours, thinking that eventually it would be worth it or at the very least I could say I beat it and move on. It was such a chore by that point. This game is not worth the $5 I paid for it and I wish I had never played it. A lot of people would file my comments as just being a hater, but trust me I didn't want to dislike this game and I tried hard to find any reason to continue on.

Capcom did something similar with DmC due to the poor sales of DMC 4. However, at least I will give Square a lot more credit in this case. Also, I wouldn't mind playing through this game at least once. It sounds like it had innovations well ahead of the the other games at the time!

Did anyone else experience the game freezing, and requiring a reset, every few minutes in the ice level? Maybe it was due to me using my Game Genie.

They need a Zelda links awakening type graphics version of mystic quest

FF8 lore Video continue? So excited

FF4 is my first Final Fantasy. I loved the story and characters. FFMQ is the second game I own and played. It was okay, but I found the story and characters lacking. I didn't enjoy it much. FF6 is my favorite Final Fantasy. I love the characters and story. I'm still hoping for an HD-2D remake.

I was a late player of Mystic Quest and played it after beating titles like VII, VIII, and IX, so Mystic Quest was not my cup of tea. Too much a child's RPG. But in that regard I do think it was a good thing for players new to JRPGs

I loved it! ❤

Among my friend group, Mystic Quest was seen as “Final Fantasy for Babies” and I don’t believe any of us even rented it.

Final Fantasy wasn’t hard to play for me

What I learn with this videos. Never treat you audience as kids and never try to appeal to american audience. Peoole buy japanese games because they dont want an american game, but a japanese one.