"Very shallow... Yet at the same time, very addicting"

Quest 64 was pretty much the first "RPG" that hit the Nintendo 64 out of the very few in it's library. The game itself is under rated as a majority of gamers believe it to be a complete flop. In some senses they are correct, but Quest 64 still has enough to redeem itself and make it a fun game to play overall.

Story – 1/10. YES, this is the game's Achilles' Heel, and to make matters worse it's this category is pretty much the background to Role Playing Games. You start out controlling the game's hero, Brian (a Spirit Tamer), in a Monastery. You are told that your dad has disappeared and you are to set out to find him. You travel the world fighting renegade bosses to help certain towns, while at the same time to collect the four elemental orbs and later the Etale Book to reach the demon Mammon and defeat him at the end. It's more linear than I make it out to be.

Character Development - 2/10. Pretty much ties into the story, but it actually had more progression. Less than a handful of characters you meet on your journey and see again will progress, most notably, Shannon. Brian on the other hand, is the silent protagonist, and makes no development at all unless you take in consideration his quest extended further than finding his father. A few of the bosses you actually kill on your way through the game probably had been more developed than our silent protagonist.

Sound/Music - 9/10. A strong point in the game, the Over world, Cave, dungeon, battle, boss, etc. themes are for the most part well done. Although it does get repetitive at some points it never treads towards being annoying to the point you would turn the sound town, or turn it off all together. Sometimes the little tunes can get stuck in your head, usually the boss fight would stick in mine even hours after turning the game off . :)

Controls - 8/10. The C buttons are for the four different elements of magic available to use. The R button allows access to your inventory while the Z and A buttons check chests. The B button does nothing in the field. The controls may be somewhat confusing at first, but are not very hard to adapt to after playing for a short period of time.

Challenge - 10/10. Unless you level early and take advantage of healing magic you will be in for a rocky road. Field monsters usually aren't too challenging and are good for leveling on - also taking the extra step to find as many elemental bubbles as you can will benefit you greatly. Bosses have moves that can easily squash your HP in a matter of two or three rounds, each with their heavy blows either at melee distance or a ranged distance. The battlefield usually allows you to maneuver when enemies use channeling moves, so try and take advantage of it when possible (punches and kicks can't really be avoided).

Graphics - 10/10. For it's time, Quest 64 easily had top tier graphics. Enemies, people, housing, items, landscapes, etc. all had were nicely done. Also items such as trees didn't seem to follow you around like cardboard when crossing by (aka items in Super Smash Brothers), and also the game changes from day to night overtime!

Originality - 9/10. Quest 64 used a hybrid between Active Time Battle and Turn Based Battle for it's system instead of one or the other. It's fun to play with, all though it can put you at a disadvantage at times, or vice versa. The elaborate branches stemming from the four basic elements (wind, water, fire, earth) was also something somewhat unique and not to complex to the point where it becomes an extreme annoyance. Also, like I said earlier, the game switches between day and night like in reality.

Replayability - 4/10. Another one of the weaker points in Quest, most likely due to a few caves that you have to tread through (most notably the ice cave - yuck!). Quest also has a few secrets locked in it along with a major secret area which comes packed with goodies. Playing through it twice seems like an easy possibility, but having to tread through a few of the caves more than once could easily make someone quit before finishing a second game (or even starting it if they think about it).

Overall - 7/10. The Story and Character development are mainly the reason why it couldn't be higher (Replayability didn't impact it too much). The rest of it is easily near top notch. Since the story is so shallow and it is a RPG after all it receives extreme heat, and essentially is left underrated as it just offers so much more.

Buy or rent? Now a day you could probably buy Quest 64 for around $10. It probably costs around half as much to rent it, buying it would be a better option as you may want to go through it another time or two.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/04