Final Fantasy Adventure, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden or simply Seiken Densetsu, and later released in Europe as Mystic Quest, is a 1991 action role-playing game created and published by Square for the Game Boy. It is a game that is part of the Final Fantasy series and the first game in the Mana series.
It was first created under the name Gemma Knights. The game has gameplay similar to The Legend of Zelda, but it also includes elements of role-playing, such as tracking character abilities and strengths. A remake called Sword of Mana was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, changing the story and some gameplay features. Another remake was released on mobile phones in Japan, improving the graphics and music. A third remake, Adventures of Mana, was released for iOS, Android, and PlayStation Vita on February 4, 2016.
The story follows a hero and a heroine who try to stop the Dark Lord of Glaive and his assistant, Julius, from destroying the Tree of Mana and harming their world. The game included elements from the Final Fantasy series, such as chocobos, but these were later replaced with enemies and gameplay styles typical of the Mana series.
Final Fantasy Adventure received mostly positive reviews when it was first released. Over time, it has been considered one of the best action adventure games for the Game Boy. The game also started a new series called the Mana series, which became a successful role-playing game franchise. Its sequel, Secret of Mana, was released in 1993. A version for mobile phones was released in Japan in 2006. A version was also released as part of the Collection of Mana on Nintendo Switch in 2017 and 2019.
Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the original The Legend of Zelda for the NES. The world is viewed from a top-down angle and is divided into small squares that fit on the screen. The main character can move up, down, left, or right across the screen. Players can talk to people in towns to gather information and buy or sell items and equipment. Enemies can be fought on field screens to earn experience, GP, and items. In dungeon areas, puzzles may need to be solved to progress. Players can save their progress at any time. Weapons found throughout the game help the character cut through obstacles like trees and thorns.
The main character has stats, such as hit points, power, and stamina, which increase when they gain experience levels. Magic spells, which use up the character’s MP, can heal the character or harm enemies. These spells are found in specific locations or given by other characters at certain points in the story. The character also has a power gauge that affects attack strength—the higher the gauge, the stronger the attack. The gauge fills based on the character’s willpower level. It slowly fills over time but empties when the character attacks. If the gauge is completely full and the character attacks with a weapon, they perform a special attack.
A non-player character may sometimes join the main character during the story and help them complete tasks. The game allows players to kill townspeople, a feature that was not common in many role-playing games at the time.
Plot
The Hero (named by the player, officially called Sumo) is a prisoner of the Dark Lord. One day, the Hero's friend tells him about the Dark Lord's plans and urges him to find a Knight named Bogard. The Hero escapes from prison and learns that the Dark Lord is searching for a key to the Mana Sanctuary to control the Mana Tree, a source of energy that supports life. The Hero meets the Heroine (named by the player, officially called Fuji), who is also searching for Bogard. Together, they find Bogard, who tells them to seek a man named Cibba. During their journey, the Heroine is kidnapped but is later rescued by the Hero with help from a mysterious man.
When they meet Cibba, he plays a message from the Heroine's mother, who explains that she is a descendant of the Mana Tree's guardians and that her pendant is the key to it. The mysterious man reveals himself as Julius, the Dark Lord's advisor, and kidnaps the Heroine after learning she has the pendant. The Hero tries to save her but fails and is thrown from Julius's airship. Before falling, the Heroine gives him the pendant.
The Hero reunites with Amanda, who escaped from his prison. She steals the pendant to free her brother, Lester. The mayor of Jadd, Davias, takes the pendant and turns Lester into a parrot. The Hero and Amanda fight a Medusa to obtain a tear that can break the spell. They kill the Medusa, but Amanda is infected and turns into one. The Hero kills her and uses her tears to free Lester. Lester then kills Davias, who admits he gave the pendant to the Dark Lord. The Hero defeats the Dark Lord but discovers the Heroine is under Julius's mind control and has opened the entrance to the Mana Tree. Julius reveals he is the last survivor of the Vandole Empire, which once tried to control the Mana Tree, and defeats the Hero.
Realizing he cannot defeat Julius, the Hero learns from Cibba about a powerful sword called Excalibur. Cibba helps him find a rusty sword, which he explains is Excalibur and will reveal its true power to the worthy. The Hero climbs Dime Tower to reach the Mana Sanctuary and meets a robot named Marcie. As the tower collapses, Marcie sacrifices himself to push the Hero to safety. After passing the sword's trials, the Hero confronts Julius and defeats him, but this destroys the Mana Tree. The Mana Tree, who is revealed to be the Heroine's mother, asks the Heroine to take her place as guardian of the Mana Tree before dying. The Heroine agrees and becomes the new Mana Tree, while the Hero becomes her guardian.
Development
In 1987, Square registered the name Seiken Densetsu for a game called The Emergence of Excalibur, which was planned by Kazuhiko Aoki for the Famicom Disk System. Early advertisements described the game as requiring five floppy disks, which was unusual for games at that time. Square asked people to order the game in advance, but management canceled the project before development began. In October 1987, customers who ordered the game received a letter explaining the cancellation and were refunded. The letter also encouraged them to consider ordering Final Fantasy, another upcoming role-playing game from Square.
After the third Final Fantasy game was released in 1990, Square asked Koichi Ishii to direct a spin-off game. The project began for the Game Boy with the working title Gemma Knights. Later, Square used the name Seiken Densetsu again and released the game as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden. It was later released in Europe as Mystic Quest. Koichi Ishii created the game’s story, and Yoshinori Kitase wrote the script. Ishii designed all the characters, while Goro Ohashi developed the game’s system.
The Mana series, which began with Final Fantasy Adventure, was created by Koichi Ishii to build a fictional world. Ishii believed the Mana series was not just a set of games but a world that players could explore through them. He drew inspiration from childhood memories, films, and fantasy books. He avoided using common game conventions, and his influences included works like Moomin by Tove Jansson, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
The Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden Original Soundtrack was released in Japan on July 15, 1991. Most of the music was composed by Kenji Ito, and one track, "Chocobo Tanjou (Chocobo's Birth)," was created by Nobuo Uematsu. A collection of rearranged tracks, Seiken Densetsu/Arranged Version Omoi wa Shirabe ni Nosete, was released on September 30, 1991. These albums were later combined into Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden Sound Collections, which came out on August 18, 1995. The game’s music was also included in a 20th-anniversary CD of the Mana series. A second rearranged album, Tanoshī Baieru Heiyō Seiken Densetsu, was released on December 10, 1998. This album was compiled by Yu Hong Ishikawa and Kushiro Negishi.
Versions and merchandise
In 1998, Sunsoft received the permission to use the game and released it again along with the Final Fantasy Legend games. This version was promoted as having support for the Game Boy Color, even though the game itself was not improved. RPGamer reported in July 2004 that Square Enix was asking loyal customers about the possibility of making Final Fantasy Adventure work on the Nintendo DS. GamesRadar listed Final Fantasy Adventure as one of the games they hoped would appear on the 3DS Virtual Console.
The game was remade for the Game Boy Advance and called Sword of Mana in 2003. The original version was remade again for mobile phones and released on August 16, 2006, for SoftBank's 3G network. It was later made available on the i-Mode distribution service on November 6 and the EZweb distribution service on February 5, 2007. The mobile phone version plays more like the original game, but with updated graphics, sound, a better world map, and other small changes. The characters have been redesigned several times during each remake. A 3D version called Adventures of Mana was released in 2016 for PlayStation Vita, Android, and iOS. A version of the original game was released along with Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana as part of the Seiken Densetsu Collection on June 1, 2017, in Japan, and on June 11, 2019, in North America and Europe as Collection of Mana for the Nintendo Switch.
Two guidebooks were published in Japan: Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden kiso chishiki-hen and Seiken Densetsu Final Fantasy Gaiden kanzen kōryaku-hen. Each includes character illustrations and manga. The guidebooks were released in May and August 1991, respectively.
Final Fantasy Adventure is one of the video games featured in the manga titled Rock'n Game Boy, written by Shigeto Ikehara and published by Comic BomBom from October 1989 to December 1991.
Reception
According to Square's marketing team, the game sold 700,000 copies worldwide, with 500,000 of these sold in Japan.
Final Fantasy Adventure was included in Nintendo Power when it was re-released in the United States. IGN praised the Game Boy re-release version for its strong story, graphics, and music. They also said the game's puzzles were creative and compared it to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. However, they noted that the role-playing gameplay did not mix well with the action parts. RPGFan also praised the game and called it one of the best RPG titles for Game Boy. RPGamer praised the game's story and characters. Nintendojo gave similar praise but mentioned that the game was very different from other Final Fantasy titles.
The game has been viewed positively since its first release. GameDaily listed it with other Game Boy Final Fantasy titles as essential games for the system, calling it a game that provides "hours of role-playing" to play. Pocket Games, a gaming magazine, ranked the titles together 8th out of the Top 50 games for the Game Boy, stating that every game in the series is a classic with well-written stories and strong characters. Kotaku praised the original release as a "really great action-RPG." 1UP.com said the game was ambitious for its time, noting that it helped change the overhead perspective action adventure genre. They also rated the game as "Worth It!" in 2007 and mentioned that it introduced many unique gameplay features in the Mana series. GamesRadar named it the 13th best Game Boy game ever made, pointing out that its interesting leveling system and many collectible items made up for a poor English translation. Game Informer also praised the game's leveling system but called it a "simplistic" title compared to later games in the series.