Final Fantasy Adventure Review! (Seiken Densetsu,) [GameBoy]

SuperDerek Reviews Final Fantasy Adventure, also known as Mystic Quest, and Seiken Densetsu, the predecessor to Secret of Mana!
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#finalfantasyadventure #seikendensetsu

[@SuperDerek]

Side note: This is my 38th review, and my first SquareSoft title. How did that even happen?

[@Painmaster212]

+SuperDerek RPG Reviews (The Game Collection) That is kinda odd! Missing gems like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Xenogears, Brave Fencer, Parasite Eve and many more and that doesn't include the beast Final Fantasy is gonna be when you start doing more from that series.

[@SuperDerek]

+Painmaster212 Yeah, well that's one of my things. I like to play series in order, even if they don't interconnect, just because I like to see the progression of the series and review it given that context. I'll probably dig into the Final Fantasy series later on. Gotta get all of the Japanese games we never got in the US before I can do it proper. :)

[@RPGtourguide]

+SuperDerek RPG Reviews (The Game Collection) For reviewing RPG's, that is a pretty impressive feat, avoiding the large shadow of SquareSoft and its RPG library. ;)

[@Gomezli16]

Derek, your recollections make me feel like a kid again! Keep it up! I’m experiencing these games through your eyes!

[@SeafoamSmiles]

I love the video overlay with the little glowing light. Nice touch.

[@carlkamuti]

Hello SuperDerek, I found out about you through the Happy Console Gamer interview and I'm now subbed and working my way through you Game Collection series. I'm pretty new to playing retro RPGs but I recently got set up with all the old emulators and am now looking for inspiration on where to start. Really liking your videos so far,, very knowledgeable and your style of delivery is relaxing. Really good stuff.

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks dude! :D

[@todaysdesperadohatesavocad7109]

I just wanted to say that I've fallen in love with your reviews. The enthusiasm you show for the games, including the knowledge you have behind each iteration (like little Did You Know's), really makes these videos special. Best of luck, bud!

[@baldpipesmoker1]

This is one of my favorite rpg/adventure games of all time. I loved the chip music in it!

[@MarxasThomas]

BaldPipeSmoker kenji Ito knows how to bring out the best of the gameboy's audio!

[@chrisjohnson9542]

I remember getting this game at a game shop that had used games when I was a teenager. It was back in the late 90s and I don't think the GBA was out yet. I remember getting this game and it was so cool and so much fun. I had played a bit of Secret of Mana when I was younger and I remember wondering to myself while playing through if SOM was inspired by this game. Then years later I got sword of mana for GBA and Somewhere towards the end of the game I had a thought... "is this related to that final fantasy adventure game?" Only to then discover that it was a remake. Lol and face palm! After realizing that then I totally remembered the story and saw all the obvious connections. I mean the beginning of the game litterally starts the exact same way. But to my credit it was many years later. This was a cool game though. There was nothing else quite like it for the gameboy. Although it shared similarities to my beloved Links Awakening, it had deeper rpg elements. The only part that I didn't like about the game was the way the key system worked in dungeons and castles. It was way too easy to get soft locked by getting yourself into a room where you needed another key but get stuck in a way where you couldn't get another key. But the remake fixed all that I'm pretty sure.

[@outlawscar3328]

Thank you for your well researched and thoughtful review. They can be quite difficult to find for original Game Boy titles.

[@AvalancheReviews]

That glowing power button too good!

[@DubiousGamingOnline]

Dude yeah that's like all I'm starting at.

[@AkiraStrix94]

Update: Finally beat the game all the way through. And man, Julius is appropriately the toughest boss. It only took me 3 times to beat him. That ending along with the music was pretty sad.

[@TheCodedtestament]

The GBA remake of this game is also glorious, but the original has the innocent charm that you just can't capture in a remake.

[@KlonoaDream]

While I'm not the biggest fan of Final Fantasy Adventure, I can still be grateful for it. If it wasn't for this game, I wouldn't have been able to play games from one of my favorite series, including the remake. Seiken Densetsu 3 and Legend of Mana are among my favorites, though I think I'm in the minority for the latter. Though I do understand why. I think you did a very good job on this review! Especially the part on how you can actually get stuck and can't go further. I think that is a good thing to warn potential buyers about, so good job!

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks a lot +KlonoaDream! :)

[@KlonoaDream]

+SuperDerek RPG Reviews (The Game Collection) You're welcome! :)

[@michaelsong5555]

As funny as this may sound, the protagonists aren't Sumo nor Fuji. They're just referred as Hero and Heroine. However, a Japanese game magazine posted a pic of gameboy play of this game, and those people used Sumo and Fuji as their names (in Japanese letters). And in the Japanese Sword of Mana (FF Adventure remake for GBA) manual, manga, novel, and promo art all name them as Duke and Elena, whereas in the English manual and promo comic name them as Matt and Rose.

[@flosmi]

My first "rpg"... i loved it

[@ajbaxter1944]

Just hearing the music at the start of the vid had me feeling super nostalgic haha

[@thogameskanaal]

I got stuck twice. One time in Medusa's cave where I saved when I was poisoned and died a split second after saving/loading and one time when I ran out of keys in the Glaive Castle... I had to restart my game...

[@SamuraiSam]

Great review! Just beat this game recently myself. My favorite part here was when you made it like you were onto something with the composers...and then discovered that you weren't. :P

[@opaljk4835]

I’m just starting this one for the first time after not really getting it as a kid. It’s a lot of fun!! Really great combat

[@zackphy]

I fucking LOVED this game as a kid but couldnt remember what it was exactally called or find anything about it. Ppl never believed me when I said I had played a Final Fantasy game that was like a Zelda game and not turn based as a kid as I couldnt prove it by giving the exact name. It's good to see the game again and bring back those memories along with confirmation that Zelda games had indeed inspired its gameplay as those were my absolute fav games as a kid, Link to the Past and Ocriana, and this game reminded me of the earlier Zelda games a lot. Anyway great video and thanks for the stroll down memory lane back to when I was about 5 or 6 lol.

[@Kinaldio]

Looking back at these graphics, they really remind me of some of the graphics in LoZ LA. I'm wondering if some of the same team worked on both games or if it's just my imagination. I'm pretty sure I never completed this game, but I remember it was a lot of fun. When I came to learn it was part of the Seiken Densetsu series it made a lot of sense why it was unlike all the other Final Fantasy games.

[@SilverMongooseVideos]

ALWAYS multiple save files. Doesn't matter the game, if it has multiple files available I will use at least 2. You finally reviewed a game I might be interested in playing ;) . Another great video, Derek.

[@SuperDerek]

+SilverMongooseVideos You would think that I would have made this a habit by now. I think that I stick to one save-file usually just because as a kid I would re-play games, and not want to lose one of my previous save files. xD Anyway, I'm glad that it looks like this game might interest you. :)

[@SilverMongooseVideos]

+SuperDerek RPG Reviews (The Game Collection) Ah yes, that is true. I still have files on my games from the original owners. Having siblings certainly didn't help either.

[@dmas7749]

Use save-states too. ...What? 2 saves is nowhere near enough.

[@bathoryaria4127]

I want a rom hack of this game that simply fixes the NPC who spazzes out behind the main character through out the journey. It really drives me insane that not only does her walk cycle not match mine, but that she walks in random directions! I know it doesn't have any effect on gameplay, but it's a distraction and an eyesore imo.

[@minneyar42]

The first time I played through the game, I got stuck in the exact same place you did, and I didn't have a backup save. Ugh, I don't know why they even thought it was a good idea to put locked doors after the point in the game where it's even possible to acquire more keys. On subsequent playthroughs of the game, I made sure to keep my inventory roughly half-filled with keys. (and mattocks, before you get the morning star)

[@chadmolitor6691]

Man this game was great. I'll be adding this to my summer replay list!

[@Mintcar923]

I wanted to see what this was like being theres a remaster on Vita..

[@chadmolitor6691]

Almost started playing last night at 11:00, but thought better of it lol.

[@ChristineMason87]

Oh derek you make great videos I give u another short soon great work hon

[@GT6SuzukaTimeTrials]

0:29 gosh I love this song. Someone should remix it, happy hardcore style. Alas, I never played any of the original GB FF's...but at least I had Link's Awakening lol. Oh and how did you record from the actual Game Boy? Some kind of camera attachment?

[@SuperDerek]

+GT6SuzukaTimeTrials Wow! I think you inadvertently gave me the best complement possible! I actually recorded all of my footage using my GameBoy Player on my GameCube, then applied visual effects to make it appear to be played on a GameBoy. I wanted to make it look authentic, and I guess now I know that it does! :)

[@AkiraStrix94]

Played through this game again recently. Unfortunately, my biggest screw-over was missing out on getting the Were Ax, so I can use it on the cyclops boss. Oh well, I guess it won't hurt to start over.

[@Caspicum]

I never got that far in Adventure, or many of the early Final Fantasy spin-offs. Some for good reason... Fucking Mystic Quest. Might need to replay this. Not a fan of Sword of Mana, and I definitely prefer the style of the original. Takes me back to Link's Awakening and Final Fantasy Legend. GOOD STUFF, LAD. I look forward to the Sword of Mana review, and my backlog increasing by yet another game.

[@TheManCaveYTChannel]

great review! I

[@johnnyrenkiewicz2789]

Soundtrack is amazing

[@armyofninjas9055]

I loved this game so much growing up. I had all 3 legend games as well. And I actually liked them all. Those, Link's Awakening, and Pokemon were imho the best games on the system. And I played a LOT of game boy growing up.

[@RPGtourguide]

Woo Final Fantasy Adventure! Slap that FF on the title so people will buy it, good job, Square. ;) Hahaha. I love the Seiken Densetsu games, an awesome spinoff series. That really sucks about that part where you got stuck. Always a good idea to keep a backup save. This game is a lot of fun and I think is really good, working with the limitations of the GameBoy. A remake you say? Sword of Mana? Hadn't heard of it... nor have I noticed someone doing livestreams of the game recently. :P Haha. Great review! Is this the beginnings of a series of reviews for the Mana games? ;)

[@OneStarDay]

What are the 7 deadly sins of RPGs?

[@chesspunk489]

1. Denying that Final Fantasy 7 is the best rpg of all time. 2. Stating that Zelda is a rpg. 3. Game design making it possible to get potentially stuck and have to create a new save file. 4. Using a guide during the whole playthrough of a rpg. 5. Using save states like a wuss while playing a rpg. 6. Game design forcing the player to have to constantly steal from bosses to get the best equipment when the miss rate is too high making each boss battle go on forever like in Final Fantasy 9. 7. Using the missing no/infinite rare candy glitch in pokemon red/blue.

[@samuelevans7575]

If I could recommend any games for you to review I would definitely request Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and the Final Fantasy Legend series on Gameboy. Also Final Fantasy 4 Heroes Of Light and Bravely Default :)

[@johnnyscifi]

FFA, is technically in the Mana Series, riiight?

[@SuperDerek]

+johnnyscifi Yep! It's Seiken Densetsu 1, Secret of Mana is Seiken Densetsu 2 :)

[@whatwhatwhatwhatwhat]

Great video! These are some of my favorite older games. Just a small note: Seiken Densetsu is pronounced kinda like "Say-ken Den-se-tsu (like the tsu in tsunami)" rather than "Sai-ken Den-set-su". It's not that important, I just wanted to point it out because I'm lame.

[@fatenabu1]

Which version do you like better this one or the remake on GBA called Sword of Mana?

[@oledevo]

When I first played it in 92 or whatever I managed to get stuck in one of the dungeons. I'd used all my keys and I remember I couldn't exit the room when I loaded the game. OH SNAP. Just seconds after I wrote this you mentioned it happened to you too.

[@cyrus649]

ive try to play the remake, but found the beginning to be a bit slow and boring... need to try it again to see if i still think that... I love the original b&w game :)

[@blackenedwritings]

This game made me love RPGs back in the day. :) (Yeah, it's not really one, I know. ;) )

[@KlonoaDream]

Hey, Super Derek! Have you heard there is going to be a remake of this game? I've seen the trailer, and I think it looks great so far!

[@SuperDerek]

+KlonoaDream You bet! Looks like it's coming out for the Vita, I hope they make sure it's compatible with the PSTV. :)

[@toolman4745]

I don't think I ever played this. I think my brother and I either got this, or FF Legend, or both, but I don't think I played that much. The Gameboy was never a huge pull for me. I mostly played on my NES then SNES.

[@TheChefBoo]

I recently played this game fully, and I was not a huge fan. But, I do agree that the music is great.

[@tedp9945]

Easily one of the best games for gameboy

[@zborgerd]

I still love this game. I find it hard to fault the limitations in the dialogue because it was actually much better than other games at the time. FF IV (II) came out around the same time but I don't think that I would play it for several months after this. FF IV would ultimately become one of my favorite games in the franchise, but FFA and the Mana series is awesome as well. I have a lot of fond memories of this game and played through it several times. Need to dig out the Gamecube GB player and do it again soon. One weird fact about this game is that Sunsoft re-released it in the late '90s. I thought that it was the weirdest thing. So there are technically two versions; The original Squaresoft release, and the Sunsoft release. The music of FFA was done by Kenji Ito, the same composer of most of the Saga series, which bothers me because I absolutely loathe FF Legend and most of the Saga games. But the music is indeed not bad. I prefer Kikuta's music (Sacnoth founder) in the later "Mana" games though.

[@ItalianoMobzter7]

So apparently this is getting a Vita remake. Kinda cool.

[@itsSuperEffective0]

This looks a lot like Link's Awakening and any game that reminds me of that game is clearly a masterpiece

[@theflyingninja1]

I actually preferred this game to the remake, Sword of Mana.

[@theimortal1974]

one thing that annoyed me about final fantasy adventure is the final boss is instant kill if you touch it and it teleports around.

[@DubiousGamingOnline]

I always wanted to playthough this game. I had a friend who had it as a kid and I wanted that game but I got final fantasy legend, which sucked. The graphics are pretty cool though my look very ff4. Really good game boy sprites

[@johntracy72]

I've always liked Final Fantasy Adventure.

[@SimplyDad]

Are you ever gonna review the rest of the Shin Megami Tensei games? You did all 5 Persona games, are you just getting to playing the rest of the series?

[@Redbird-UJ76]

Somehow its the games fault that you didn't utilize the second save file that was available to you?

[@SuperDerek]

Luckily, I was using multiple save files. But I would say it's still a mark against the game. Games should be designed to be fun, and starting over is not fun. Either they didn't know about the pitfall which shows a lack in play-testing, or they knew about it and left it intentionally, which is sadistic.

[@Redbird-UJ76]

Well first off thank you for responding in such a non combative way, secondly i agree pitfalls such as the one you discrbe are from a lack of or lazy playtesting, either way im still going to buy this game for my GBA SP just because it looks like a classic RPG nostalgic goodtime, despite the issues you metioned in your review.

[@SuperDerek]

Hey no problem man. Also, I'm glad to hear it! It's definitely still a really fun play for the money. :)

[@cynicthehedgehog385]

It’s SEIken, not SAIken

[@SuperDerek]

Yep, I've been corrected a few times already. This review is 4 years old now, not much I can do about it now. :-\

[@Painmaster212]

Your first Final Fantasy review and it's not even a part of the series other then the name haha That should be changed! We await a Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy entry to be added into the Game Collection :D

[@TheNerdSmash]

You are tragically under subbed.

[@lanfan9488]

@Sidnei de jesus To make it sell haha. They knew FF was popular and it would sell better if it was a FF game

[@Chris47629]

So in a way final fantasy and mana are part of a shared universe lol

[@VGMusicExplorers]

Love the music in this game so much, we did a cover of it: /watch?v=Y9phyZaH3Bg

[@Trini84818]

Final Fantasy Adventure remake just announced! /watch?v=m7TqD87JfWE

[@TheRealNintendoKid]

SAY-ken... SAY... not Sai... god damnit...

[@SuperDerek]

Yep, I done goofed. I learned to mispronounce it back in the late 90's when I was playing the fan-translation of SD3, back before KZbin was even a thing, and I've been screwing it up ever since. I now know the correct way to say it but old habits die hard. I think it's kind of like the way people called Ryu "Raiyu" from Street Fighter. Not an excuse, just an explanation.

[@sid1984]

I don't like that name, "Final Fantasy Adventure". This game was never meant to be a sidestory of FF. Wonder why they did not use "Legend of Sword", wich is is the right right translation of Seiken Densetsu... Well... Darkside of 90's

[@SuperDerek]

+Sidnei de jesus Well actually.... The title of the GameBoy game in Japan was "Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden" which literally translates to "The Legend of the Holy Sword: Final Fantasy Side Story" so it kind of makes sense. At least more than calling it "Mystic Quest". :)

[@chriswheels9957]

You're really creepy in your videos. Like it's almost akward to watch.

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks, glad to hear that it's almost awkward and not just awkward outright.

[@showersmoker]

Wow, I forgot about this game until now. I used to have it as a kid and enjoyed it. I never beat it though.