Part V: Mystic Quest: Squaresoft does North America (and Europe)
In the previous chapter, we discussed Final Fantasy IV. If interested, read it here.
Squaresoft of America's early era marketing never ceases to be weird. The messaging was all over the place. No wonder the games flopped all the time.
Mystic Quest was a formative game in my development as a Squaresoft fanboy. When Mystic Quest appeared at my local Blockbuster, it finally gave me another JRPG option to rent whenever Final Fantasy IV/II wasn’t available (the options were scarce back in those days. Lagoon, ewww.). After two rentals and a lot of hours, I was able to finish the game. To my 9 year old self that was a great accomplishment, like when I rode my first bike. I had tried several times to clear FFIV with no luck and yet I was able to beat the newest game in the series. That boosted my confidence and made me more willing to try more complicated games in that style. Little did I know at the time that this seemingly innocuous game of my youth would become the pariah of the series, hated by many Final Fantasy fans on forums. It got labeled by many as “Baby’s first JRPG” and an “insult to the North American audience”, among other epithets. We will learn why it got those labels in this article.
An excerpt from the "Ogopogo Examiner" Squaresoft of America's fan newsletter announcing Mystic Quest. One could get these newsletters by filling out the postcards included in the game boxes (silly me, I always threw those away). Also, a rare early mention of the numbering discrepancy in the series.
Development History
Mystic Quest was developed as a direct response to Final Fantasy IV’s sales in North America. Squaresoft executives were trying to come up with a plan after those lousy sales results. First they needed to know the Why. Why had the Japanese hit flopped overseas? Could it have been the marketing? Could it have been the unappealing box art? Could it have been the lack of cultural relevance? No, said the Squaresoft executive team. The problem was clearly that the game was too complicated for Americans. While there was a grain of truth in that sentiment (turn based games were less popular in North America than in Japan), there were examples of games with far more complicated gameplay that were huge hits on consoles. Heck, it doesn’t get more complicated than SimCity, but with proper marketing and hype it sold well on the SNES. Instead of simply chalking it up to a lack of familiarity with the genre or cultural differences, they jumped to some unfounded conclusions.
Market research told Squaresoft that the average American gamer looked like this in 1992.
In any case, the decision was made to make a Final Fantasy game specifically engineered to appeal to Americans. Problem was, no one in the company knew enough about North America or what would appeal to them. As is usual in the corporate world, when an executive comes up with a cockamamie plan, everyone who doesn’t want to get stuck with the additional work becomes extremely busy. Hironobu Sakaguchi’s team had an alibi as they were working on Final Fantasy V. Akitoshi Kawasu’s team was busy working on Romancing Saga. Koichi Ishii’s team was working on Secret of Mana. Who were the
Maybe the pointy haired boss was a Squaresoft executive during this era.
Game Overview
With that level of mismanagement, the fact that the Osaka team was able to assemble a coherent, functional game is a minor miracle. Since they didn't have a lot of development time, they took gameplay ideas and the general look of the game from their previous title, SaGa/Legend III. They further tweaked the gameplay to make it more approachable to kids who were not familiar with Final Fantasy. It clearly took tropes from other popular games at that time. The world map is no longer an open field but a connecting graph of nodes like what you’d see in a Super Mario World game. It also has tools to aid in dungeon traversal much like the Legend of Zelda or Seiken Densetsu/Mana games. There are also several puzzles involving pushing boxes and blocks, which are more common in Zelda games. The combat is still turn based, but there are no random encounters. Enemies appear on the map and the player fights them at their own convenience.
The overworld map is vastly different from the rest of the series. Feels more like a Mario style map.
Jumping may seem out of place in a Final Fantasy game, but it is not the first time it appears in the series. The mechanic was first featured in FF Legend III.
Some of the weapons can be used as tools in exploration. For example, the cat claw (for scaling walls), and the dragon claw (as a hook).
The game may be "easy", but that doesn't mean you wont get a few game overs from the bosses with their status effects. Fortunately, battles can be restarted easily.
The story is very much a lighthearted, whimsical take on Final Fantasy I. The story revolves around the main character Benjamin and his quest to restore the 4 crystals. A mysterious old prophet guides you along the way. Benjamin is accompanied by 4 guest companions (only one can join at a time). However, some of the development limitations rear their ugly head here when it comes to the the story. The story is far too simple and game is far too short when compared to Final Fantasy IV. Like I mentioned to before, I beat the game in two rentals (probably 15 hours or so), which was a positive from my perspective, but probably not for someone paying retail for the game. On top of that they were instructed to keep the dialogue and story as succinct as possible and it really makes the story feel very simple and childish (Apparently, Americans don't like to read, either). None of the characters are allowed to have real depth or much dialogue, which is a shame.
Another story related tidbit: This game would be the debut of Ted Woosley on English localization. He was hired by Squaresoft of America to localize the games for the North American audience and to run the fan newsletter. His presence was noticeable as the localization didn't suffer from the errors that the Final Fantasy IV's script had.
Cast of Mystic Quest, chibi style. From left to right, Benjamin, Kaeli, Tristam, Phoebe, Reuben and the Old Man.
The Cast, Western style. From left to right, Tristram, Phoebe, Benjamin, Kaeli, Reuben. Some additional Phoebe art with the claw on the right.
The story revolves around the mysterious Focus Tower and a quest to restore the 4 crystals hidden in the world. Pretty standard FF stuff.
Mystic Quest is one of the first instances in the series of sprite characters emoting in story scenes. Benjamin is
on the left side.
On the right, the cartoony, light-hearted side of Mystic Quest shows up in some of the enemy's sprites when damaged.
The Osaka team understood the assignment when it came to the soundtrack. They thought Americans would love killer rock tunes and they were mostly right. It doesn’t get more righteous than the main battle song and the boss battle song. There are also some memorable melancholic tunes, like Spencer's cave theme. Not bad for a game that was quickly thrown together.The Cast, Western style. From left to right, Tristram, Phoebe, Benjamin, Kaeli, Reuben. Some additional Phoebe art with the claw on the right.
The story revolves around the mysterious Focus Tower and a quest to restore the 4 crystals hidden in the world. Pretty standard FF stuff.
Mystic Quest is one of the first instances in the series of sprite characters emoting in story scenes. Benjamin is
on the left side.On the right, the cartoony, light-hearted side of Mystic Quest shows up in some of the enemy's sprites when damaged.
Response and Aftermath
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest would be released in North America and Europe to mediocre sales. They doubled the sales of Final Fantasy IV/II but didn’t reach the numbers of Final Fantasy I. The response from reviewers was predictable: It was a step down from Final Fantasy IV visually and was too simple by comparison. Interestingly enough, the Japanese Final Fantasy fans caught wind of rumors of a North American only Final Fantasy and started sending requests to Squaresoft to release the game in Japan. Squaresoft eventually relented and released it under the title of “Final Fantasy: USA Mystic Quest”. In an ironic twist, Famitsu proceeded to take a huge dump on the game upon review and it flopped just as hard in Japan as in North America. After both underwhelming launches, Squaresoft would promptly sweep this game under the rug and try to forget it ever existed. Very few mentions in spinoffs, compilation games, or timelines. Seems like a cruel fate for a fine game that introduced JRPGs to a new generation, even if it was conceived out of ignorance.
Mystic Quest North America's box art vs the Japanese release box art with the USA subtitle.
After the release of Mystic Quest, Squaresoft would carry on with their folly and deem Final Fantasy V “too complicated for the western audience”. It would not get a concurrent release it in North America. That would cause frustration in many North American Final Fantasy fans when they found out about this detail (including yours truly). It would be up to an intrepid band of high schoolers to right the wrongs of their executives. But that is a story for another day.
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