Which Final Fantasy is Better? NES or Mystic Quest

Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest are closer than you might think. While the graphics and gameplay are different, the stories are shockingly similar. I was very surprised to see how close they were.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is a weird game. It is a spinoff of the mainline series and was specifically made for a Western audience. Square was trying to popularize RPGs on the home console, and they thought that a simplified version of an RPG was the way to do it.

I have no idea how successful this idea was, but I can tell you that I didn’t like the game when I first played it. Like many other games, I’ve changed my opinion of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. It isn’t as bad as I once thought it was.

Final Fantasy is one of my favorite NES games. I’ve played it way too many times, and that is why I’ve gotten a little tired of it over the years. It is a solid game, and it sets up many of the things that would come after it.

Let’s get into these games a little more. I won’t be focusing on graphics all that much. The first game has a darker tone and graphics, while Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is a brighter and more cartoonish game. I’ll be focusing on the story and gameplay.

Game Descriptions/Overviews

There are quite a few similarities between these two games beyond the Final Fantasy name being attached to them. They’re both turn-based RPGs that have a high fantasy setting. The basic stories are oddly similar to each other.

Final Fantasy on the NES has the player create a party of four characters, then go on a series of quests to restore light to four crystals, and this leads up to a fight against a big bad guy. There is also a prophecy that foretold your characters doing all of this. A little time travel is mixed in at the end, but that doesn’t play as big a factor as you might think.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest has you take control of a solo protagonist. Other party members come and go over the course of the game, but they don’t stick around too long. In this game, you have to restore the power of four elemental crystals, which have been sealed by four creatures, and eventually you fight a bad guy who is trying to take over the world.

In both games, sealing the elemental crystals causes environmental damage to the regions of the planet they’re on. They’re different in each game, but the basic idea is the same. Once you defeat one of the mini bosses, the world becomes a better place.

These are basic descriptions of what happens in each game. It is very interesting to me that Square made two stories that are this close to each other. There are differences, but the plots are very similar. Let’s get into the major differences between these two games.  

Main Differences 

I’m going to do my best to keep this short. There are a lot of differences in the gameplay and setting, and only minor differences in the story. I won’t be focusing on the story that much here, because the two games have similar themes.

Right off the bat, the party systems are radically different in these games. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest has a single protagonist and a revolving door of party members to add a little strategy to the game.

You have to control all four characters in the NES game, and in Mystic Quest, you have the option to control both characters. I don’t hate the way Mystic Quest does this; I just think that the NES game is the way I would rather play. The NES game is more strategic, and makes the game more fun in my opinion.

If you die in battle in Mystic Quest, which will happen more than you might expect, you can restart the battle. This isn’t a feature in the NES game. With Mystic Quest, I can only assume this was done to help new players avoid losing hours of progress. You can also save anywhere and at any time in Mystic Quest.

Those are some of the big things that I could think of. I’m sure there are a lot more, but I wanted to try to keep things brief. Let’s get into the core mechanics for these games.

Comparing Core Mechanics (Combat, Story, Visuals, etc)

I’ll mostly be focusing on the story and visuals here. Those are two areas with minor differences. The stories aren’t too different from each other, and the graphics are quite different. I won’t be getting into too much detail here because I don’t want to get into the differences between an NES and an SNES game.

The core idea of restoring light to the four elemental crystals is the same for both games. Where they differ is in the tone and the side quests. Mystic Quest doesn’t send you on too many side quests. There is usually one for each section. The NES game sends you all over the game’s world looking for items and other useful things.

The visual styles are quite different. The first game is darker and more serious, and Mystic Quest is brighter and more cartoonish. I like Mystic Quest’s battle scenes more because they’re more interesting to look at. The NES game has fairly boring black screens, which isn’t something that I like.

Those were the core mechanics that I wanted to look at. There are a lot of differences between these two games. One of them is a starter RPG, and the other is more refined. They aren’t the same, but have similar things in them besides being turn-based RPGs. Let’s look at what each game does better than the other.

What Does Final Fantasy do Better?

There are a lot of things that this game does better than Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Some of them are personal preferences, like setting and gameplay. There are also some differences in the story, but not enough to say that one is significantly better.

While both games are high fantasy, I think it is done better in the NES game. It is a darker tone, which is something that I like more than the more cartoonish feeling of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. To go along with the setting, this game allows the player to explore the world more.

Exploration also goes along with the gameplay. You have much more freedom to play how you want to play in the NES game. It is less linear, and you have more options to customize how you want to play.

I like how the NES game sets up its party. Characters have defined roles, and this allows for more strategic and difficult battles. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest rolls all the classes into the main character and augments that with a rotating cast of side characters. For me, I like how the NES game does this more.

There are more parts of the gameplay that this game does better. Because this isn’t a started RPG, I’m not going to harp on them too much. The NES game has more of what I’m looking for in an RPG. I do enjoy grinding for levels, and that is something that the NES game lets you do, while Mystic Quest largely excludes this from the gameplay.

What Does Final Fantasy Mystic Quest do Better?

Believe it or not, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest does do a few things better than the first game. Most of what it does better has to do with storytelling and character development. There are a few things that I like, but I can’t say that they’re better or a significant improvement.

The character development is better in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. While you don’t know much about the main character, you do learn more about him than the characters in the first game. The other characters you meet along the way have more of a role in the game. The other party members aren’t with you very long, but they make more of an impression than the party members in the first Final Fantasy.

The way the game tells its story is also better. The story itself isn’t better, but the way it is told is more enjoyable. I like that it has more cutscenes, and it uses visuals to tell the tale. It isn’t that the cutscenes look better; it is that there are more of them, and they advance the plot in a more meaningful way. This is something that is corrected in the remasters of Final Fantasy.

The rest of the things that I like about Final Fantasy Mystic Quest aren’t necessarily better. It is a fun game, but there isn’t anything that is clearly better. I know that the graphics are better than the NES game, but I’m not going to count that against the first game.

Which is Better Overall and Why? 

Final Fantasy on the NES is the better RPG. It has a more complex story, there are more side quests, and you’re given more freedom to explore. The game lets you do what you want to do and complete it in the order that you want to some degree.

At their core, these two games have the same story. In the first Final Fantasy, you get more of an explanation for who the fiends are, and you learn more about the final boss. It is a more complex version of the story in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.

I like the darker tone of this game more than Mystic Quest. It fits the overall theme of the game more. This also translates to the graphics, which I like more than the other game.

The first game is more challenging, and you have more freedom to explore. In Mystic Quest, you’re locked on set paths, and you’re not able to explore the game’s world. The first game lets you explore the world, take on quests in the order you want, and has more complex fights.

The first game is the better game. It has more of what I want from an RPG in it, and I like the more complex story. While there are things that Mystic Quest does better, it isn’t enough for me to put it over the first game in the main line series.

Which Would I Rather Play?

This is a little weird, but I would rather play Final Fantasy Mystic Quest again. I’ve only beaten the game once, and I’ve played the first game to death. I would like to know if there was something that I missed in Mystic Quest.

It is a simple game, and I didn’t feel like it took as much time as the game said it did. Because it is such a simple game with no real grinding in it, the story flies by. It is a very relaxing game to play.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was more fun than I was expecting. It has a fun story that is like many of the early Final Fantasy games. Many of the game mechanics have been simplified to make this game easier. The game is like a palate cleanser between better RPGs.

Since I’ve only beaten this game once, that gives it the edge in this category. I do like the first Final Fantasy, but it is a game that I’ve played way too many times. It feels stale to me, and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest plays like a simplified version of that game.

Conclusion 

I picked up Final Fantasy Mystic Quest recently, and wanted to beat it for the first time. I never really gave the game much of a chance, and I’m glad that I did. It is a nice change of place from the more serious RPGs that I’ve played.

The first Final Fantasy is a fun RPG, but I’ve played it too much over the last few decades. It is a quality game, but I’ve grown more critical of it in the last few years. While I still enjoy playing it, the game has gotten a little stale.

There was something a little surprising about these two games. I wasn’t expecting their stories to be as close as they were. Mystic Quest felt like a simplified version of the first game’s story. While I like the darker tone of the first game, there was a degree of familiarity that I liked with Mystic Quest.

At the end of the day, the first Final Fantasy is the better game. While there are several good things in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, I don’t think it is as good as the NES game. I would like to revisit Mystic Quest because I always wonder if I missed something from these games, or I want to try and do better than I did before. Also, I’m not sick of the game yet.

If you liked this post, please check out my other vs series posts. Such as Final Fantasy vs Sweet Home or my review of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.