Where it began

In an age ruled by a tyrant, in a dimension that runs parallel to two others, lies a dying kingdom, doing all it can to survive while planning to defeat the tyrant. One day, the tyrant invaded that kingdom, kidnapping the princess. Before she was taken away, the princess broke up and hid a power that could defeat the tyrant. Her friend sets off to get her back, restore the power she hid, and defeat the evil. Despite being his adventure, this story was named after the princess. Historians would call it The Legend of Zelda. 

After playing a bunch of mediocre RPGs, I need a break. And what better way to do something different than to play something from 1986? It's a different genre, even more historical, and the beginning of one of the greatest franchises in the industry. I've played five other Zelda games, beating three of them, but I've yet to try to tackle the original. LoZ is as iconic as it gets, but does it deserve it? 

Yes, obviously. 

The plot is straight out of 1986. Zelda was released on the NES Disk System, but America got it on the regular NES. I don't know if there's a difference, but the story is a short few paragraphs at the start, and a few even shorter words at the end. It's par the course for the time, assuming there even was a plot to begin with. It's that old. This is also before anything iconic could be garnished onto Link or Ganon just by existing. It's sad. Legend of Zelda is just one of those games that tests the limits of my review rubric. 5/10

The gameplay, though, has to be pushing the limits of the system. What would become staples are all here. Bow and arrows, magic rods, multiple armors, and even multiple swords. Although no Master Sword yet... Hidden secrets, optional upgrades, and getting lost in difficult dungeons are plentiful. There are no themed dungeons, mind you, just pallets swapped tile sets in the shape of an animal. 9/10

I'm sorta disappointed with the OST. Mostly because there are only five songs, and you'll only hear three of them during actual gameplay. But, hey, guess what's here. The overworld theme! 8/10

The biggest thing I'll say about the artwork is that it doesn't get lost in itself. I never lost track of what was shooting me, outside of when the devs wanted that. There were a few rooms where there was so much nonsense that it all became vague blobs, but that was the goal. And it happens in games to this day. The rest of the graphics are from 1986, so you're gonna get what you're gonna get. 8/10

Even at the start of the franchise, Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto had something cooking. The world is rad, exploration is the goal, and there's a ton of cute stuff hidden with them. I might want to replay this one day for the fun of it, and it's the perfect length. The only negative thing is that it was 1986, and prominent NPCs were optional. 9/10

I started getting frustrated at the very end of the game, but I won't hold that against the game. So The Legend of Zelda for the original Famicom receives 39 out of 50 points. Many of the negative points are just based on how things age. Story wasn't the draw during the time of the dinosaurs, and there's only so much that can be done with the technology back then. If you want to remove the story section, then LoZ is an 85%. And even most of those missing points are subjective. I am glad I circled back to this for the sake of history, for the sake of the experience, and because it's a good game. 

Fun fact, this is now the oldest game I've played the "original" way. 

Why does this exist?

This game did not need to be made. 

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest got mixed reviews upon release. Retrospective "reviews," mostly from randos on Reddit, though, remember it fondly. This is common in the realm of niche RPGs, so that's not newsworthy. Square marketed it as "a simplified role-playing game... designed for the entry-level player." So it's babies' first RPG, set in a Final Fantasy world, developed by Square, beloved by fans, and I finally played it after 100 games in the genre under my belt. And I agree with the reviewers. 

Mystic Quest was released in 1992. Final Fantasy IV came out a year before this, even in the North American market. A game designed to be a gateway drug to the genre was released after a game that already filled that role. I love FFIV, but it's linear as all get out. And it's better! I'll ask again: why does Final Fantasy Mystic Quest exist! 

The plot is the most tertiary thing I've ever experienced. The world is being corrupted, and some random dude has to save it because of some ancient, unexplained prophecy. He just so happens to come across all the relevant mcguffin locations and saves the world. Who is Benjamin? Or the friends he made who were eager to join him? I dunno, but they didn't suck too bad. Unlike the bosses. It's rare I have to reward a 0 in boss points, but here we are. Apparently, the story is quasi time travel? 3/10

A beginner friendly RPG is as boring as you'd expect to play. Gear is automatically equipped, Magic is overpowered, and recovery items are cheap and plentiful. You get money, but you don't need it. If you lose a battle, you can retry at full health, and the game tells you (after the fact) if an enemy is strong or weak to an elemental magic. You can also have your second character in auto mode and let the well designed AI control them. Magic is categorized into three categories, each with its own spell charges. Experience is also not pointless. It takes so long to level up that battles, especially late game, feel like a waste. Generally speaking, explore the dungeons and fight everything once, and you'll be overpowered at the end. I had my fast forward button down most of the game, as it's just so dull. Even exploring the world is bad. It's straight lines, more akin to Mario World 5/10

The sound is the most conventional thing about the game. It sounds good enough, fits the action and downtime vibes, and is just pretty good. All the towns use the same melody, and there are no sad songs, so the variety isn't here. It also keeps them from being memorable. 7/10

The graphics make me think this is a budget title. Square's weird Hail Mary probably was... It's better than Secret of the Stars, but FFIV looked better. There are so few mobs, but so many pallet swaps, too. 6/10

The charm is fittingly mediocre. NPCs are fun, but there are no side quests, exploration is the name of the game, and the writing, while simple, has its cute moments. The standout is the world. It's small, focused around a tower, but saving each village looks rewarding. Making elderly people in a grey wasteland young and vibrant again was neat. As for game length, it's so boring that I wish it ended sooner. 6/10

Throw them into a barrel, Yahtzee them out, and we get a game I'll never yearn to play again. 27/50

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is overly simple. I know Japanese video game companies thought Americans were stupid, but this really shows how dumb they thought we were. 

This was also the last game in my NA released SNES quest. I'll talk about them as a whole later...

It's not THAT bad.

Still kinda sucks, though. 

If you scrounge through YouTube and look at all the vintage JRPG tubers, you'll find an excessive amount of "Best on the SNES" videos. No video has this game on those lists. In fact, it's widely regarded as trash; one of the worst in the genre. I'm, obviously, talking about the confusingly named Tecmo Secret of the Stars. 

The general consensus about Secret of the Stars involves critiquing the graphics, but they leave out some details. Firstly, yes, the overworld is hideous. Towns and dungeons aren't much better. However, battle graphics are stunning...mostly. Character models appear when they attack, and they look detailed and good. But enemy sprites fit in with any Final Fantasy on the system. Spell animations aren't as good, but they look distinct from one another and evolve, so that's fine. SotS was released in 1993, and the rest of the game looks great, so it's baffling why so much of it looks like NES RTX. I'll give that experience a 6, which means I like it more than most. 

On the flip side, I didn't enjoy the story. For starters, there's not much here. Many of the professional reviewers did like it, but maybe it's been the thirty years between then and now. It was more NES style exposition. Ray, you, randomly learn one day that you're related to a hero from the past, a fact everyone knows, and then your home is destroyed, sending you on a journey. Ray has to find four other heroic offspring heros to stop Homnicruze from destroying the world. Who's Tom Cruze? No clue? Who are the others? Also, no idea. Fortunately, they all know they're supposed to join you, so just walk around the linear world until you reach them. It's also a time travel nonsense... I can't see the appeal in these barebones. 0/10. 

The gameplay is actually fairly decent. All five characters bring something different to the group. Each has a different element magic, but I don't think enemies have elemental weaknesses... They all possess different buffs and debuffs, too. It's stupidly simple, but I found it fun, and I wanted to keep playing. And that's despite the story. I couldn't find any of the Combination Skills, though. My favorite parts were outside the dungeons. Not everything is advanced through caves. Sometimes you need to go on a scavenger hunt in town, and you'll run into zero enemies. Other times, you'll need to talk to a specific NPC. This is usually obvious, so it's a quick Fly By. This helps maintain the pacing and hides the monotony. More importantly, there's a B-plot of building your own town. I'm a sucker for that. 8/10. 

The sound is fine. Everything fits, but it, like the graphics, comes off a little NES premium quality. 7/10

The charm is, shockingly, mostly here. It runs the perfect length, but I'll never replay it. The world and NPCs are constantly changing, in large part due to building your own town. It's a bit shallow in those categories otherwise, but I can not stress enough how rad I think town building is. Exploration is also fun, due in part to another mechanic I haven't brought up. You see, there are actually two parties you can control. The five Aquatallions and five (out of eleven) Kustera. There are certain areas where the main five can't reach, but your allies can. It's never explained why, mind you. Sadly, it's not easy transferring items, and keeping the Kustera leveled and equipped is tedious and monotonous. But the devs knew this and made escaping battles a 95% success rate. Still, all the weird NES+ stuffs and clunkiness makes this hard to recommend. 8/10

As you may expect, there's a negative. Who wrote this? Maybe it's the terrible translation, but the way everything is written makes it seem like a grade schooler wrote this. The dying words of the final boss are a prime example. "Awe. Darn..." Maybe next time, with enthusiasm?

So the final score for (Tecmo) Secret of the Stars is 30 out of 50. I like the game more than the average reviewer by quite a lot, it turns out. But I can understand why the game is so detested, even if I don't think SotS deserves it. I'm not saying it's a hidden gem. I'm just saying it isn't that bad. It only kinda sucks! It's the worst D- game I've ever played, but it's still a D- 

Got one more true turn based game to go...