Quest 64
Reviewed by Lucas Jessee
This one of a kind role playing game may have only come out a day from when this
is written, but it is already creating a buzz around town. If you went to the stores
on June 12th to find Quest 64, you probably had some trouble. I went to the store
that had N64's in stock when everybody else was still on backorder and I still had
to have a copy of the game reserved for me. If you like RPG's, you'll love Quest 64.
It's not only the first game of its kind for the N64, but it will probably be the best,
at least until Zelda 64 comes out.
Graphics 100 out of 100
I don't know how you could want better graphics on a fantasy game. Trying to make
monsters look like they are described in mythology is hard enough. But to but it in
a game, with motion....that's pretty hard. I really like the way they made the Wyverns
look. If you ever played RPG's for Nintendo (such as Dragon Warrior), you'd have some
idea what a Wyvern is supposed to look like. However, the Wyvern is described as a
"LARGE" beast with wings. The Nintendo RPG's never really displayed this largeness.
Just hope you don't come face to face with one of these until you have full health
and have command of several spells. Also, to make so many different monsters and
NPC's (Non-player characters), with so many different looks, lines of dialog, and
sizes, it just boggles the mind. Many RPG's have different types of the same monster.
To use wyverns and Dragon Warrior as an example again, there was the wyvern and
the starwyvern and even the magiwyvern. They all looked the same, just different
colors. You find this very little in Quest 64. In fact, I only saw it twice. They would
be the pixies and the ghosthounds. Other than that, you might have a skelebat and a
giant bat, but they look different.
Music and Sound 97 out of 100
If you like Irish rock, you'll love this sound track. No, no, no, not like U2, but not
entirely different either. You'll hear the sound of bagpipes and several other flutes
and whistles. There aren't many sound effects in this game, but it doesn't really need
them. You can hear the "THUMP" of your staff as you strike a monster, but there isn't
much else to the SFX. Actually the background music is the best part. It changes
with every place you go. If you are in a cave, you have some deep, dark, music. If
you are in a beautiful town, you'll hear some bagpipes or flutes. You could say each
part of Celtland (pronounced Kelt-land, I believe) radiates its own aura, which
provides the different types of music.
Game Challenge 98 out of 100
Well, I have to confess, I haven't even beaten the game yet. So far I've put in about
6 hours of dragging Brian around the countryside. I've gotten the Earth Sphere, the
Wind Jade, and the Water Rock so far. If I had to take a guess, I'd say you get the
Fire Stone next, and then proceed to reclaim "Eletale's Book" and find your father.
It's not an easy quest though, even if you could warp to the end, you'd die immediately
because you have low HP's, MP's, defense, and agility. This changes as your character
progresses though. Quest 64 has a very different form of levels. As you use your staff,
your power increases, as well as your HP's. When you use your magic, your total
number of magic points (MP's) grow. When you get hit, your defense is brought up.
When you successfully avoid an attack, your agility raises. Taking all of these and
putting them together, when you kill a certain number of monsters you will
eventually gain more "spirits". There are Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire spirits. Each
spirit will let you take command of a new spells, if you have enough. Also, each will
let you have a new type of spells. Earth spells attack and protect you with rocks.
Water spells attack and heal you with ice and water. Fire spells mostly attack.
While Wind spells can do an array of things.
Game Play-Fun 97 out of 100
This game defiantly gets good ratings on the fun factor. If you like fighting monsters
and solving puzzles, this is the game for you. Though, I was relatively disappointed
by the way everything is laid on a silver platter for you. If you talk to everyone,
you'll eventually know exactly what to do next. Not like Dragon Warrior, where you
must think for yourself. Instead, you are given the answers. Just remember to enter
every room and talk to every person.
Frustration
As good a game as it is, it still gets frustrating. Often times when in combat,
your camera will stick a tree between your character and your view. This can be
very angering. Sometimes it even does it with a hillside. Also, this game has an
endless number of L----O-----N--------G forests, caves, and countrysides, with
no map for them. Hope you have lots of honey bread with you, or you'll not make it
through for a while.
Replayability
I haven't beaten the game yet, so I don't really know if you can play it after you beat
it. But if I had to take a guess, I would say it would still be fun to play. Getting
new spells and such would still be fun.
Game Value 100 out of 100
This game was defiantly worth its value. Seeing as how I've paid over $70 for games
like Cruisin USA, which gets boring after about a week. At $64.95, this game is
practically a steal.
Overall 99 out of 100
To bring this all to an end, this game is the best game I've seen come out on the
Nintendo 64 since GoldenEye. It is challenging, fun, and has awesome graphics.
Hope you like it too. And by the way, look EVERYWHERE for hidden spirits, you
never know where they'll bubble up.