QuickNavigation - FF Odyssey Final Fantasy Legend I / Makai Toushi SaGa
(Last updated on 11/14/2007)
 

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By: wsim

Introduction

     Final Fantasy Legend is the first RPG game on the Game Boy platform and plays much different from a typical FF game. Final Fantasy Legend transferred the RPG franchise to a handheld system for the first time and much attention was spent towards the game itself. Actually, the game itself was released under the name Makaitoushi Saga in Japan and was the first instalment of the Romancing Saga series, so you wonder why it was called Final Fantasy Legend in the US, instead. The game was originally released in 1990 by Squaresoft USA. The game is divided under a character class system but it is known to be quite difficult for relatively new gamers to the genre.

Full Story (Spoilers)

     There are three races, humans, mutants and monsters and you control a select band of adventurers throughout the 3 classes in which their goal is to climb through a mysterious tower at the centre of the world, controlled by the forces of darkness. Certain stairways lead to other rooms in which you encounter other people; other doors lead your party to other new worlds in which your job is to help the people being oppressed by the fiends that control the mystical tower. The party obtains crystals as the adventure goes on, enabling them to progress through the tower as they break the barriers set upon them. The higher they climb and reach atop the tower, the more dangerous the threat becomes and the closer they get to find the answers that they so desperately seek. Thus, begins a frantic quest in which your party strives to defeat the fiends and reach the top of the mystical tower, to bring peace to the world and find their own truths.

Analysis/Ratings
 -Graphics
 -Gameplay
 -Storyline
 -Sound
 -Fun Factor
 -Overall
 -Ratings

Graphics

     The Game Boy was never really known for it’s graphics but unfortunately, this is the one field in which FFL suffers the most. The game already looked fairly dated by the time it debuted over a decade ago today as there are very dull backgrounds and the overall look feels very boring and uninspired. The dungeons frequently turn into a maze full of repeating walls and floors which look terribly bland to say the least and most of the sprites don’t look all that impressive. The only real good part is the detailed sprites for the monsters. You are not going to like this game for its graphics, trust me.


Gameplay

     The gameplay seems rather ambitious, setting up the game among class-based systems. There are humans, who aren’t great at magic but are very good when it comes to physical attacks, thus they are best used for weapon-based attacks. Not to be outdone, there are the mutants, who are excellent as far as magic goes and they really should be equipped with magic books. Finally, there are the high-maintenance monsters as they work differently and gain strength through the process of Evolution. The monsters evolve as they eat the carcasses of fallen enemies to become stronger, though you have to be careful about how you decide to do this. But unfortunately, the game is flawed in that it is kind of difficult to properly pick the best class and the game is not very friendly towards novices. Considering that FF Legends contains some very difficult enemies, having a weak monster or such on the team could be really bad as it almost always spells failure. Perhaps the most frustrating thing of all, seems to be the very high number of random battles found in this game. Now, obviously random battles are not new in RPG games but in FFL, the random battles are fairly scary as you could be unprepared as you might face off against a strong enemy. This makes walking distances become very tedious and tricky and for unprepared people, it means certain disaster. The game has a sense of realism in that magic books and weapons wear down with frequent use and would have to be either replaced or repaired by the gamer. However, a real flaw with the system is in the situation that your party could be stuck in the middle of a dungeon and with no weapons and no cash; your party is as good as dead. Thus, it can be extremely frustrating at times.

Storyline

     A simple story that can branch into many directions with the concept of “The Tower”, the overall storyline has a relatively unpredictable feel to the game. Even still, the storyline is still simple no matter how you put it and seems rather generic. It’s not terribly bad but the characters are extremely dull and generic and they seem to lack definite emotion and feelings. Not a bad effort, considering this is the first FF game to grace the Game Boy. But it could have been better, in my mind.

Sound

     A pretty solid soundtrack. Nothing really special but it is simple enough to serve its point. There are some nice themes to it and they seem to fit the overall situation fairly well. While there are hardly any real memorable tracks found in FFL, the soundtrack is good enough not to really annoy gamers with cheesy music and that is probably good enough, considering that this is an early GB title.

Fun Factor

     Honestly, with frequent random battles and a very high chance of dying over and over again, the game is much more frustrating then it is enjoyable. With some pretty difficult enemies and other tricky features and stuff like that; the game is obviously not very good for people brand-new to the RPG genre. If you are unprepared, the odds are that you are going to get wiped out, and this sense of frustration does not help the game at all. Saving very often is a must and walking long distances can be very tedious at times, since the random battles are so frequent and they can be difficult, overall. The storyline is simple and lacks depth.

Overall

     Unless you really are a Final Fantasy or Square fanatic, and a big one at that, it is safe to say that you can pass up on this game. The game has plenty of flaws, especially in the high difficulty level and the fact that the high number of random battles can be extremely frustrating and irritating. The storyline itself gets the job done and the music is not too bad but otherwise, the game simply lacks the depth that the console FFs have to offer. If you are looking for a good handheld RPG game, you might want to try this title out, providing that you can get past the difficulty level and the absolutely frustrating nature of the game.

Ratings (Compare w/ other games)

GRAPHICS: 4/10 4

With many instances of repeating generic walls and floors in the dungeons, the game looks very dull and the graphics really aren’t too impressive.  It is probably the worst part of the game, besides the frustration behind the battles and such.
GAMEPLAY: 12/20 6

There are some interesting factors behind the game, especially in the realism field with the fact that weapons and magic books wear out over time, but the real flaw here is that there is a chance that your party could be decimated if you aren’t prepared properly.  The difficulty of the game is indeed frustrating, especially for casual gamers and the overall game is more irritating than fun.
STORYLINE: 14/20 7

Even though the storyline seems generic, it isn’t a bad effort by any means, considering that this is the first RPG to grace the Game Boy.  It is good enough for a first try, even though it lacks character development and depth.  In the end, it doesn’t matter as much as the rest of the game suffers from various flaws.
SOUND: 7/10 7

Simple, yet efficient.  The soundtrack is not annoying and the music is bearable, which is nice since a lot of soundtracks tend to have tracks that really aren’t very good, even if it is just a few of them.  Not many memorable tracks but that is ok, since the music isn’t annoying, thankfully.
FUN FACTOR: 5/10 5

This game is not very fun, especially with the tedious battles and the fact that the difficulty may be too much for novice gamers.  Walking even short distances is a real challenge and that in itself is a bad thing.
 
OVERALL: 42/70 6.0

Besides the efficient and simple storyline, as well as the solid musical score, the rest of the game isn’t nearly as good.  From the extremely bland graphics to the incredibly difficult random battles that exist in the game that provide more of a sense of frustration rather than a sense of enjoyment.  The game is good, besides the flaws that are evident within the title itself.  The class system is unique but leads to dull characters and a fairly generic feel.  It isn’t a terrible title by all means, but it’s merely mediocre at best, in my humble opinion that is.

Wonderswan Remake

      In Japan, they released a remade version for the Wonderswan.  It contains updated graphics, much like the Final Fantasy I and II remakes for the same platform.
 
 

 

 
   
   
Contents  
   
Introduction  
Full Story (Spoilers)  
Analysis/Ratings  
Wonderswan Remake  
Release Information  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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Release Information


(Japan)
 (Makai Toushi SaGa)
December 5/1989


(North America)
September 18/1990


Courtesy of:
Fantasy Anime


(Japan Remake)
 (Makai Toushi SaGa)