Quest 64

"Overlooked by way too many people."

This game was the first RPG to be released for the N64. It was highly anticipated by many fans of Final Fantasy and RPG's of all types. However, when it came out, most people ended up hating the game for some reason. I can somewhat understand their dislike of the game. This is a game where you either love it or you hate it. Personally, I'm one of the few who love this game.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics for when this game was released were good. I really enjoyed the towns and cities, with the detailed yet simple setting. For example, when you enter a city, it looks amazing, but when you go further into the city and enter a house, sometimes you won't even find anything in the house.

The attack graphics were amazing. They were all unique and colorful attacks with different ways of maneuvering toward the enemies. The boss attacks were especially enjoyable to me. Those attacks especially were very detailed and elegent. Each attack also has elemental value, which is usually expressed through color. Blue represents water, green is wind, red is fire, and brown is earth.

The enemies were also very good. There were enemies with the same relative design(such as Wyverns and Red Wyverns), but they were so different in movement and color that they seemed like completely new designs. The bosses also looked amazing. They were extremely detailed.

Story: 5/10
Its not very good really. The only people you talk to are the bosses and the ones who allow you to save. However, if you do talk to everyone(which I have done many times), it is a deep and good story. If you talk to people in towns and shops, you'll often find people with their own stories to tell. Overall, the story is kind of optional.

Sound and Music: 10/10
The sound effects and music in this game were some of the best and most enjoyable in any game I have ever played. The orchestral music in this game is...just awesome. If you enjoy orchestral music in games, you will love the music in this game. The music in cities is happy and bright, while the music in dungeons is dark and tragic. The final music in a place called The World of Mammon is my favorite music in any video game. Sound effects in this game are also very good. Each magic attack has its own unique sound that applies to element.

Gameplay: 10/10
Personally, this is my favorite kind of RPG battle system. I really and sincerely wish there were more games with a battle system like Quest's. Here's how it works.

It is a turn-based system. You start in a large area in which you have to battle. If you leave the area, you escape the battle. However, you also have a smaller area around you in which you must stay during your turn. The enemies also have a small area like this. As long as you stay in this area, you are free to move as you like. Also, the higher your agility is, the larger the battle space is for you. You and your enemies take turns casting spells or physically attacking eachother until one or the other is defeated. Enemies also have elemental property. Every element has a weakness and a strength. Every strength is the same as the enemy's element. For example, a wind type enemy is strong against wind type attacks.

Replay value is also almost infinite. There are the four elements(wind, water, fire and earth). During the game, you can upgrade these properties and gain new attacks for each element. There are 50 jewels of each element, and you learn a new attack every 4-7 jewels. You start with 1 of each jewel. So there are 196 jewels to earn by battling and finding them in various places all over the world. There are almost infinite possible combinations of jewels you can take throughout the game. I have played through this game about 30 times(literally) and still am not bored of it.

Difficulty: 7/10
This game is pretty hard your first three or four times through. Once you know the game and get good at using and dodging attacks, it becomes much easier. But there are moments in the game where if you are not properly prepared, you will be killed by a boss or even just a regular enemy in the area. So if you do get this game, be careful not to go anywhere unprepared.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my review and I hope it helped you understand this game a little more. I recommend that you at least rent this game, just to see if you like it. Cause if you do, it will be an instant classic.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05