Quest 64

"Quest 64 = RPG =/= Perfect = Opposite of Quest 64"

Shown first at the Electronics Entertainment Expo of 1997, many gamers awaited Quest 64 with an unsatiated hunger for an RPG, and Quest 64 was the N64’s first to-be RPG. However, the initial response at the release of this game was one of shock, one that would be similar to buying an ice cream maker, making the ice cream, expecting to get a sweet chocolate flavor, but instead getting a flavor made up of the common dirt off the streets.
Indeed, Quest 64, even now, in the era where many are beginning to look back at the golden days of gaming, to play those games that were astoundingly creative and most people never heard of, it is still regarded as bad, as a poor attempt at an RPG on the N64. I have to agree, but the question is, Why is it bad? The thing is, nobody could ever understand why it is so bad, until they have played through the entire game, finished it, and feel that gaping hole of nothing where a feeling of satisfaction should be.

The storyline itself seems OK. On the large island of Celtland, the residents live in harmony with the spirits of nature, of which is represented by the four elements of Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth. Cryptic powers to these mysterious entities are engraved in a piece of literature called the Eletale Book. Only those who are true spirit tamers, ones who hold the power of the spirits and are in synch with nature, can use the strengths ingraved.

However, one day, destiny took Celtland for a plunge in life, and the Eletale Book was stolen by an unknown thief, whom has read its holy words. Using its power, the figure has caused the transformation of ordinary creatures into monsters, who now roam the countryside, many wielding powerful black magic. With only the few cities safe, and the citizens of Celtland in rebellious moods, somebody must stop this madness.

Taking the role of Brian, a 5-year-old apprentice spirit tamer, you have a arduous task set ahead of you. Your father, Lord Bartholmy, a highly respected spirit tamer, left over thirty cycles ago to reclaim the Eletale Book, and has not returned. Promising those in Celtland that he would find the book, rescue his father, and overall restore peace to Celtland and the Eletale Book to its rightful position, Brian has set off on a journey that will decide the world’s fate.

SUMMARY: You take role of 5-year old shrimp to save land from evil being.
So pretty much, while the story is original, too much of its base plot is ‘Save the world from an evil being’.

Being the N64’s first RPG, you’d expect it to flop in many places, but shine in some? Well, that is correct. While the battle system has some niceties to it, the rest of the game basically sucks.
When in battle, you and your enemy(s) take turns to use attacks which act in real time, so you can dodge it if you get the patterns of an enemy’s attack down. You can either attack with your weak staff, or, with the game following an HP/MP system, use spells. But that’s really all there is to battling, besides using the RARE items that you get. Unfortunately, when tackling the later monsters in the game, running around will do you nothing – the monster’s attack will either hit you, or by a fluke or bug in the programming, miss you.
That brings us to spells. How does one cast a spell? Whenever you find a rising wisp of smoke on the overworld, or after a certain amount of battles where the experience is HIDDEN ANNOYINGLY ENOUGH, you will be able to pick to level up once in one of the four elements, up to a level of 50 in each category. Whereas this is a somewhat nice feature, the problem is that to get through the game, you HAVE to have Water and possibly Earth for the newbies fully leveled up, and Fire and Wind are absolutely useless later in the game.
Speaking of flaws, this brings me to the second, more noticeable flaw of Quest 64. There is no currency, there is no equipment, and there are no allies. In the RPG genre, currency is used to purchase items and equipment, equipment is used to strengthen you, and you have allies to help you out with different abilities than you. That’s not the case here. While the idea of items thankfully wasn’t cut out of the game, it’s still flawed. Stopping off at the local bakeries and pubs in each kingdom, if, say, you don’t have a Fresh Bread, you might be able to get one for free from the local bakery. However, if you do have some Fresh Bread, what do you get? You get a prompt refusal to give away Fresh Bread, let alone anything else. The system f’ing doesn’t work, as items are super-rare.
There is one redeeming factor in the flaws of the gameplay, though. Whereas in some RPGs, you have to travel all the way from place to place, in Quest 64, you can pick up ‘Wings’, which when you use, will return you to the kingdom that gave you it. Not only that, but you can pick up an infinite supply, though one at a time still, so if you need to backtrack, you will not be required to spend hours just to do get one thing.

As the Nintendo 64 has never had good sound capabilities, you can’t expect too much for sound and music. However, even if you expect a little below average, you’re still expecting too much, so lower your expectations a bit. No, you’re STILL expecting too much!
While the battle theme, the music that you’ll be listening to for a good majority of the game, is nice and catchy, the rest of the game is terrible, with the exceptions of a few nice sound effects. It’s like the feeling you get when being forced to repeatedly listen to ‘BOOOP BOOOP BOOOP’.
There are, thankfully, a few good sound effects, such as the beating of Brian’s boots against the ground.

While the rest of the game can be quite terrible, graphics are astounding. The backgrounds and monsters are done quite well, and it’s quite the eyepleaser. Your hormones will work at a faster pace when playing this game due to the graphics, I guarantee you that.
While the game is geared toward kiddy-like graphics, they are still colorful, and a wide variety of monsters are available. The townspeople almost look individually drawn. Brian, a kid with a stick, still looks like a shrimp though.
However, there are two flaws still; in battle, the camera can be pretty agonizing, oftentimes turning so that you can’t see the enemy’s attack, and the fact that there are literally hundreds of rooms in the game that serve no purpose.

Quest 64 can be basically thought of as another game with the good points and the bad points, but the fact is, it was to be the first RPG for the N64, and it turned out to be a real downer. So unless you have an urge to see just why this game is so bad, don’t buy it. Not only is it bad, but it also requires a memory card, and for those who hate to spend another 15$ just to spend a game, we shall avoid it like the plague.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/04