Quest 64

Quest 64
Quest 64
North American Nintendo 64 cover art
Developer(s) Imagineer
Publisher(s)
  • JP: Imagineer
Director(s) Ichirou Honma
Atsushi Ohsuga
Yasushi Kamegai
Tomokazu Hattori
Producer(s) Atsushi Ohsuga
Kouichirou Sakurai
Writer(s) Tomoko Suzuki
Composer(s) Masamichi Amano
Platform(s) Nintendo 64
Release
  • NA: June 1, 1998
  • EU: September 30, 1998
  • JP: July 9, 1999
Genre(s) Role-playing game
Mode(s) Single-player

Quest 64 (Holy Magic Century in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Eltale Monsters (エルテイル モンスターズ, Eruteiru Monsutāzu)[1] in Japan) is a single-player role-playing video game developed by Imagineer and published by THQ. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and was the first role-playing video game released for the system in the United States.

After Quest 64's moderate financial success, a sequel was in consideration by the developer Imagineer.[2] However, only the sequel's story was revealed before it was ultimately cancelled. Imagineer released two other related games for the Game Boy Color: Quest: Brian's Journey and a maze game called Quest: Fantasy Challenge.

Plot

Story

The playable character is an apprentice mage named Brian. Brian sets off to find his father who has left the monastery of the mages—the player learns later that his father is looking for a thief who has stolen the "Eletale Book". The player must also collect elemental amulets, which have been hoarded by powerful criminals and are integral in the defeat of the game's final boss.

Setting

The game's story is set in Celtland, a fantastic medieval world that resembles Ireland.

Gameplay

The game differs from most other RPGs in that the experience system is not based upon a traditional "level-up" model. Instead, experience is gained for specific stats based on how the player performs in battle. If the character gets hit a lot, for instance, defense will increase. Also, whenever the player finds a wispy white spirit, they can choose an element of magic to upgrade (from Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind). Leveling up these elements grants the character new attacks and strengthens existing ones.

The game has no money system which is unusual for an RPG. Every item is either found in a treasure chest, given to the player character free of charge, or dropped by a monster, if the character doesn't have one already. If Brian runs out of HP, the game will return him to the last inn at which he saved. He retains all spells, items, and experience he has gained before death, but any items used before death will not be returned.

Development

The game was announced in early 1997, at which point it was to be titled Eltale (エルテイル) in Japan and Holy Magic Century in all other regions.[3] It was exhibited at Space World in 1997.[4]

Because the North American and PAL releases of the game were considered too short and easy, Imagineer added new events and tightened some of the repetitive gameplay for the game's Japanese localization. Expectations were high for the game as in 1998 when the game was released the Nintendo 64 didn't have any RPGs.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings54%[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[6]
Edge5 out of 10[7]
EGM3.83 out of 10[8]
GamePro[5][9]
Game RevolutionC−[10]
GameSpot5.4 out of 10[11]
IGN5.9 out of 10[12]
Nintendo Power6.3 out of 10[13]

Quest 64 received mixed reviews upon release with GameRankings giving it a score of 54%[5] Though praised for its high quality graphics[11][12] (IGN wrote "Quest proves beyond a doubt that compelling RPG graphics are possible on a cart"[12]) and inventive spell system,[11][12] reviewers criticized it for lacking depth on all fronts: gameplay, storyline, and exploration.[11][12] GameSpot wrote "Quest 64's individual puzzles and challenges are similarly straightforward. Go to Town #1. Converse with townspeople. Discover that there's a villain scaring everyone and making it impossible to get through Forest #1 to Town #2. To boot, he's stolen Unique Elemental Magic Item #1 from Lord #1."[11] The general conclusion was the game was competent enough to charm gamers who had never played an RPG before, but too simplistic and trite to interest anyone else.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Buy Eltale Monsters". Play-Asia. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  2. ↑ IGN staff (January 26, 1999). "Quest 2". IGN.com. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  3. ↑ "In Development". Next Generation. No. 29. Imagine Media. May 1997. p. 55.
  4. ↑ "SPACEWORLD'97" (in Japanese). Nintendo. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  5. 1 2 3 Critic reviews at GameRankings
  6. ↑ AllGame review
  7. ↑ Edge staff (August 1998). "Quest 64". Edge (61).
  8. ↑ "Quest 64". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1998.
  9. ↑ GamePro review
  10. ↑ Game Revolution review
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 GameSpot review
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 IGN review
  13. ↑ "Quest 64". Nintendo Power. 110: 96. July 1998. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
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