You probably couldn’t guess it from the name of this game, but the subject of today’s review is not actually a Final Fantasy title. The Final Fantasy Legend is the first installment of the SaGa series. This game came to be when Square saw the popularity of Nintendo’s handheld platform and wanted in on the market. Rather than give gamers a true blue Final Fantasy game (it was their most popular franchise at the time after all) they decided to create a new RPG franchise called Makai Toushi SaGa. In an attempt to cash in on the Final Fantasy name in North America it was released as Final Fantasy Legend. Today we’re going to take a look at this legendary (get it?) role playing adventure.
Final Fantasy Legend takes place in a very unusual setting by RPG standards. The SaGa series melds together the fantasy medieval elements the genre is known for with several parts science fiction. It’s very unique for the time, and even today, the setting and atmosphere make it stand out from the pack. Final Fantasy Legend is based around several worlds that are connected via an ancient and magical tower. At the top of this is paradise, and anyone wishing to reach it must acquire four spheres. Each of these unlocks a different world. The ground level is pretty traditional, but then you have an underwater kingdom, a civilization built in the sky, and a futuristic landscape decimated by an evil monster.
As was unusual for Japanese style RPGs at the time (and even now for that matter) you begin your quest here by creating a character. You have a few options in this regard. You can select between a human, mutant, or various species of monster. With the first two you can even choose their gender. From here you give them a name, and you’re thrown right into the quest. It’s a little disappointing you can’t alter their appearance but hey, this is a Game Boy game after all. You start in front of a town area wherein you recruit three other characters for your party (with the same options I mentioned earlier). At this point you buy equipment, items, and then set out into the world.
If you’re with me up to this point then everything should sound pretty familiar. It’s at this point however that SaGa throws most traditional conventions out the window. Sure, enemy encounters are turn based and random. Just about everything else is a little wacky by RPG conventions. First of all most weapons in this game can only be used a specific number of times before breaking. Spellbooks can wear out too, as can shields. Basically armor and helmets are the only equipment that doesn’t break. This was immediately a turn off, but I found the mechanic makes me plan differently than I would in any other RPG. I had to bring multiple weapons along (thus item management has more depth) and I had to save resources for the boss encounters. Although I hate to admit it, but this mechanic does work well here.
I was also put off when I discovered that your party doesn’t gain experience points after battle. The only thing you pick up from defeating foes is money. Upgrading your characters’ stats is very unique and quite unusual in terms of mechanics. The humans are the easiest. You simply buy items in the shops found throughout the world. The MUSCLE item will increase strength by three points, and there’s another one for your agility stat and hit points. These items are expensive and you’ll need to fight many battles to earn them. Mutants are quite a bit different. These guys only gain stats at random at the end of battles. They have a lower bar for their maximum levels, but they’re guaranteed to reach them faster.
Monsters are the most unique of the bunch. They don’t gain strength and agility like the others. Instead these guys change forms by eating meat dropped by defeated foes. This is mostly trial and error unless of course you’re following a guide to help give you the strongest monster forms. That would be cheating of course, but I wouldn’t blame you because the system is so vague. Final Fantasy Legend isn’t particularly accessible for most gamers. You have to do some research on how to upgrade each class because it’s incredibly non-traditional and the game itself never really explains it. Honestly, I can’t imagine someone being able to figure out the mutants progression without first reading about it.
Final Fantasy Legend has some pretty big difficulty spikes. The beginning of the game is very difficult as your characters start off weak and equipment (as well as upgrades for your humans) is all very expensive. Pretty early on however I found myself super overpowered. I was able to destroy groups of enemies with ease, and even boss characters fell after just a few turns. This held true throughout most of the quest to be honest. Then suddenly, as you reach the final world enemies begin curb stomping your party on a regular basis. I went from being overpowered to being forced to grind, and regularly had to do so to make it through the long and difficult dungeons.
If there’s one thing I truly enjoyed about Final Fantasy Legend it was the exploration. The worlds are full of imagination and a treat to take in. The sky world and futuristic land in particular really tickled my fantasy sci-fi itch. The world maps are small and feature few landmarks that you can enter, but they’re all pretty unique from one another. I particularly like how most of these lands feature their own vehicle with which you can travel faster or over special terrain. In the water world you get a floating island that functions largely like a ship, and an airship in the sky world. My personal favorite was the motorbike used to avoid the devastating monster constantly chasing you throughout the apocalyptic futuristic land.
The dungeon designs however are a little underwhelming in my opinion. Square turned up the encounter rate which can make remembering where you’re going and the paths you’ve already checked difficult to remember. Instead of making meaningful puzzles the developers instead throw a lot of secret paths at you as well as numerous doors which lead to dead ends. They just aren’t that fun to explore in my opinion, and typically the loot you find is pretty underwhelming. Typically I enjoy checking every nook and cranny in role playing games but here I just wasn’t motivated to.
In terms of graphics Final Fantasy Legend doesn’t really push the hardware. The terrain is often just plain white with little texture. Later areas such as the sky world have animated clouds which looks nice, but then you enter towns and dungeons and everything is just boring visually. The battle scenes feature plain white backgrounds, but the monster designs are fairly inventive and I found them plenty charming. The soundtrack is also a little disappointing. The SaGa franchise would later on to become known for its music, but this first installment falls a bit flat. The world map and battle themes are serviceable but not terribly memorable.
I’ll be honest. I expected to hate Final Fantasy Legend. I’ve tried to play it several times and the simplistic yet weird gameplay mechanics really turned me off. Finally I sat down and did proper research on how to play it, and then when I came back everything just clicked in to place. I really like Final Fantasy Legend and it gives me a new appreciation for the SaGa franchise. I used to brush them aside but now I’m going to play through each and every one. Final Fantasy Legend is a great RPG, and not just by Game Boy standards.
