Having already released a slew of third-party Social RPGs using their IP, ranging from the surprisingly good ‘Kingdom Hearts: Unchained X’ to the horrible cash grab that was ‘Final Fantasy: all the Bravest’, it would seem that Square Enix has finally struck on a formula that works. Despite mixed feelings on ‘Final Fantasy: Record Keepers’, it does raise the question of if the mobile market audience support so many games running simultaneously? Evidently Square thinks it can.
For those of us from Europe this game will always be known confusingly as ‘Final Fantasy Mystic Quest’, and for others in America its ‘Final Fantasy Adventure’, however in truth this game is at its best using its Japanese title ‘Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden’ marking it as the first entry into the massively popular ‘Mana’ series.
Sequels to titles in the Final Fantasy main-line series used to be non-existent, so when a direct sequel to Final Fantasy X on the Playstation 2 was announced there was no small amount of interest from players at the time. I personally picked up ‘Unlimited Saga’ largely for the bonus disc with the ‘linking’ short animation they included with that game. To say that people were intrigued with what could happen AFTER the world had been saved was putting it mildly.
After the high standards set by Square on the Playstation the expectations were high for a Final Fantasy title on the Playstation 2. Final Fantasy X launched to a wave of hype and manages to push a number of impressive firsts onto the players for the long-running series.
Few games get such a bad rap as Mystic Quest. Developed by Squaresoft as a method of introducing the JRPG into countries where it had failed to be a successful genre, it’s a little on the simple side, but that doesn’t stop it from having a certain charm.
Was there ever an RPG as desired as Final Fantasy III? When all of the other games were receiving ports to the Playstation in the golden era of gaming this title slipped the net and it wouldn’t be until it saw eventual release on the DS that gamers could get hold of it and play it for themselves.
The second title in the Final Fantasy series is often considered something of an ugly-duckling when compared to the other titles in the series. This is largely because of the shift from a conventional levelling system into something altogether more complicated, but with hindsight it makes just as many leaps forward as it does steps back.
