Well, from the good number of people that seem to be picking GM back up, I've done the same. Will I ever finish? Time will tell, but however, I actually have a direction and reference to work with this time around.

Anyone ever play Quest 64? Actually, a better question would be who HASN'T? Or rather, who played it and enjoyed it?

Quest 64 was a pretty innovative game for the time, considering that it was the first 3D RPG that hit the market ever, and it was hyped. Oh yes, it was very hyped. Nintendo power, posters, plushies, you name it, they had it for quest 64.

However, it took a huge nosedive when people actually began playing it. It was beautiful for it's time (1998, and the graphics were pretty good, only to be beaten down by OOT shortly after), but it had very many flaws. So many flaws, that most people outright sold it after buying it. Many people refuse to touch it, but those who played through (I) the game itself, you have a sort of connection to that game.

Quest 64 brought a kind of system that really was new and innovative, considering that it was the first 3D RPG to ever hit the market. That being said, it was a very large gamble in a sense. Nobody else had done it, and there were no references or ways of telling early on how to do it well. Thus, there were a large amount of flaws. But even then, it was still a gem that could've been salvaged, but it never was. Being overhyped, it got released very quickly, without going a little deeper into the game.

It was an awesome game, yeah, but where was its flaws? Well, all over the place. The story was utter crap, that being where your starting motive is to save your father, and *SPOILER ALERT* you DO find your father, but even after beating the game, you never see the father or son reunited, and you don't even know if his father survives. That's just being lazy right there. Anyone that knows a good RPG is Bioware, and a shit-ton of the quality is right in the story. That's flaw number 1.

Number 2 being it's linear-ness. It was Linear. Like, no finer line could've been made. It's almost as if you could dump the story and say "Get from point A to point B" and you wouldn't tell the difference with or without the story. You run around. You fight monsters. Whoopie.

Number 3 is items and character enhancement. Currency? Doesn't exist. Thus making it terribly difficult when you end up in a hard fight, only to find that when you die, you can't get the items you used up back, as they're generally found in treasure chests everywhere, but also given away by certain NPC's. But they won't give you that item if you already have one of it, so it makes items precious and valuable. Equipment doesn't exist either. There's no form of buying some better defense or getting an edge by buying a certain staff, nope, none of that.

Number 4 is the battle system and spells. Now the battle system is nothing new, but the spells are pretty nifty. They grow in power as you increase that element, and that's awesome, but there's a point in the game where you pretty much can't beat the game without investing in the earth element alot. Once again with the linear-ness. Seeing as earth gets a buff at lvl 36 that you can cast Magic Barrier, and quite literally, ALL ATTACKS CAN'T TOUCH YOU. I mean, christ. That's awesome, but there needs to be balance, not a god spell.

That's what I can get off the top of my head, but this also has it's pros, and these pros were revolutionary at the time.

Number 1 being the size of it. Quest 64 is huge. And I mean HUGE. You'd be lucky to speed-run the game and get it in under 15 hours, and by N64 standards, that's a pretty long game. The cities and landscapes are amazing (Considering 1998 folks,) not to mention the various areas you end up in, not to mention the final area! That place simply looks amazing and to be honest, pretty scary given how good it looked for its time.

Number 2 being the concept. the concept of a magic casting based game where you can specialize in one or two elements, or go all around is pretty amazing. The spells are nice, though they could've helped to be a little more impressive on the graphical side. Even some of the spells cast by enemies can be dodged as well, even though this is a turn based game. The battle system was pretty nifty, in my opinion.

Number 3 is the music. Oh god, the music is simply amazing. The early on areas have pretty decent music, but once you begin to reach further in to the game, the music progresses to be better and better, and once you reach Brannoch, it's almost orgasmic how brilliant the music is. Once again, opinion driven. For some, it was like their ears were bleeding, but they probably had NO taste in music. However, hearing that same battle theme becomes very irritating, but they were kind enough to include sliders for music and sound effects though.

Number 4, and I wish this didn't have to be pointed out, but the potential. The potential for this game is in unbelievably high supply, and you would understand this if you played through the whole game. It's just a total shame that they never went through with actually polishing the game and running it through a few times.

All things being said, Quest 64 was decent, at best, but the insane amount of potential it possessed is almost overpowering to think about. That being said, Quest 64 was the first of it's kind, and to put it in a way, FF7 and all the other future RPGs probably have Quest 64 to thank. I know alot of people would disagree, but think about it.

Quest 64 revolutionized the RPG, and Final Fantasy perfected it (Almost).

And this, is the legacy I feel like picking up. I know my references, what I'm aiming for and what I'm plotting, and all I need to do now is execute it, in my own fashion.

~V~