Introduction

Welcome back once again friends, for another LP of a game that Square Enix might actually have been justified in titling as Final Fantasy Adventure in order to cash in on the success of the original Final Fantasy. This time we're going to be playing Final Fantasy Adventure.

Released in November of 1991 in the US, Final Fantasy Adventure was something unusual in a Final Fantasy title. Rather than using menu based combat with a party, the player roamed through the world attacking enemies with a variety of weapons, casting spells, and solving puzzles. When I first played the game I remember thinking it was more like a Zelda than anything else, but that's not quite accurate...

You see, Final Fantasy Adventure was originally titled as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden, with Seiken Densetsu meaning "Legend of the Holy Sword" and Gaiden being a term that indicates a side story or spin off. The story centers around a young man who is drawn into a struggle to protect the Mana Tree against an evil empire seeking to exploit the power of the tree for their own selfish desires. If this sounds somewhat familiar to you and you don't already know about the connection, it might help to know that the first sequel to Seiken Densetsu was released in the US as Secret of Mana.

The game features a very talented set of developers and designers including Koichi Ishii, Yoshinori Kitase, and Kenji Ito. Kenji Ito has been part of the music composition of all of the Saga series of games, while Koichi Ishii had a hand in Final Fantasy Legend, the first three Final Fantasy games, and helmed the rest of the Mana series. This was also the first game that Yoshinori Kitase worked on, beginning a career that has included being co-director of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, director of Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and producer and co-producer of Final Fantasy X, X-2, XIII, the entire Kingdom Hearts series, Final Fantasy Dissidia, and Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus.

The Game and LP

As I mentioned, FFA plays more like a Zelda game than a Final Fantasy. Our hero will move and fight on the same screen and solve puzzles, but gain levels and stats like in a typical RPG. It's actually a very potent mix, and produces a very fun game. It was later remade as Sword of Mana, a sequel that I never really took to. I'm going to be doing this one as hybrid LP. Most of the game will be covered in screen shots, but I intend to make videos of bosses and particularly interesting puzzles. There will also be some reader input, as I'm going to be soliciting advice on how to develop our character... more to follow on that in the first update.

The Story

Starting a new game the first thing we see is a scrolling intro.

quote:

Tree of Mana grows
with the energy of
will from each and
every thing of
this world.

It grows high
above the clouds
in the air on top
of Mount Illusia.

Legend tells that
it gives eternal
power to the one
who touched it.

Dark Lord was
trying to find
the way to the
Tree of Mana to
get the mighty
power to conquer
the world.

Now that the stage is set, I need help from all of you:

Four letters each, as grossly unfair as that is. There's no selection of character in this one, so the Boy is going to be the hero.

The Let's Play Archive

Final Fantasy Adventure

by ddegenha

Introduction

quote:

Table of Contents