Final Fantasy Adventure

Final Fantasy Adventure (known as Mystic Quest in Europe and Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (Legend of the Holy Sword: Final Fantasy Gaiden) in Japan) is a spin-off title from the main Final Fantasy series, released for the Game Boy handheld console. Becoming the first game of what would become the Mana videogame series, it was marketed as a Final Fantasy title however its gameplay held more similarities to the Legend of Zelda games of that time.

The story follows a protagonist hero and a young heroine as they attempt to thwart the Dark Lord of Glaive (Shadow Knight in the Japanese version) and his sorcerer assistant Julius from destroying the Tree of Mana and dooming their world. The game was met with generally positive reviews, noting its strong story but faulting its shaky dialogue in the English versions.

In its Game Boy Advance remake the game was retitled Sword of Mana.

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to the original Legend of Zelda for the NES: the world is viewed from a top-down camera angle and is comprised of single screens that take up the entire viewing ares. Saving is possible at any point in the game. As is standard in RPGs, the player must interact with individuals within towns to gather information and buy or sell items and equipment.

The hero progresses through a number of different regions, with a different goal in each region. The beginning area is a grassland. There is also a swamp, a rocky coast, a forest, a crystal field, and a mountainous region. The hero is allowed to progress from area to area either by obtaining a key that opens the way or by finding the weapon that will allow him to destroy whatever is blocking the path.

Enemies can be battled in the fields and dungeons to gain experience, GP, or randomly dropped items. Within dungeon areas a number of puzzles may be required to be solved in order for the player to advance. The player starts with a sword and eventually gains a whip, an axe, a spear, and a morning star mace. Each of these weapons can be used to destroy certain features of the environment, e.g. the axe can cut down trees and open up new paths for the hero.

The main character possesses several statistics, including hit points, power, and stamina, which can all increase upon gaining an experience level. Magic spells, which expend the character's MP, can be used to heal oneself or damage enemies. These spells can only be found in certain locations or obtained from other characters at specific plot intervals. In addition the protagonist has a power gauge that affects his attack strength – the higher the gauge, the stronger his attack will be. The speed at which it fills is directly affected by the character's will level. The gauge will slowly fill up over time but once the main character attacks the gauge is emptied. When the gauge is completely filled up and the main character attacks with a weapon he will perform a special attack. This system is used in many other later Mana titles.

Characters
The story follows the hero character, named by the player, as he tries to save a female character who must also be named. The hero is joined during certain sections of the game by secondary characters who provide essential assistance; e.g. the girl can heal the hero, as well as attack enemies. The player cannot control any of the secondary characters.

The main antagonist of the story is Julius Vandole, the last survivor of the Vandole Empire who was adopted by Dark Lord as a baby and is attempting to take possession of the Pendant of Mana, which when used in conjunction with the spell Klnka Imra Miryon Tin Qua' reverses the flow of waterfall that leads to the sanctuary of Mana, where the Tree of Mana grows. His ultimate intention is to restore the Vandole Empire with the power of Mana.

Story
The world is threatened by a "Dark Lord" who is on a quest for the power of Mana, which will allow him to rule supreme over the land. At his side is a mysterious wizard named Julius. The hero, a gladiator whose parents were killed by the Darklord, is imprisoned and forced to fight daily for the Darklord's personal entertainment. One day, the hero escapes and by chance overhears the Darklord and Julius in their plans to seize the power of Mana. When they discover his escape, they chase him over a waterfall to what they think is his death.

Having (miraculously) survived the fall, the hero saves a mysterious young woman from monsters. The girl encourages him to help her find the magical objects needed to defeat the Darklord in his quest for the Mana Tree. They first journey to the nearby town of Topple to gather information.

One of the last Gemma Knights, Bogard, is now living as a hermit in the mountains. Bogard tells the two to seek out Cibba in Wendel. The pair's journey to Wendel takes them through a swamp and to a mysterious house called Ketts. They spend the night there, but the girl is captured by the master of the house, Mr. Lee. The hero must find a magic mirror inside the swamp cave, with the help of a Red Mage. With the mirror, the hero defeats the Ketts' doorman, enters the basement of the house, rescues the girl and defeats Mr. Lee, a vampire.

In Wendel, Cibba shows the girl that she is descended from the keepers of the Mana Tree, which the Gemma Knights protected. But then Dark Lord's forces attack Wendel. The Red Mage offers to take the girl to safety, but he reveals himself to be Julius and rides away with her in his airship.

With the help of the dwarves, the hero makes it through the Gaia cave, meets up with Bogard and boards Julius' airship. They try to rescue the girl, but Julius catches the hero outside her cell window. The hero gets the girl's pendant before Julius knocks him off the ship and down to the earth below.

The hero lands in Menos, home to another former Dark Lord slave, Amanda. She steals the pendant and takes it to Jadd hoping she can barter it for her imprisoned brother Lester. Instead, Jadd's ruler Davias turns Lester into a parrot and forces Amanda to hunt for his mother, a Medusa who's tears can restore Lester. The hero helps Amanda hunt down the Medusa. They are unable to get any tears after defeating Medusa, but Amanda turns into a Medusa from the battle, forcing the hero to kill her and take her tears. Once Lester is returned to normal, he helps the hero avenge Amanda by defeating Davias. With his last breath, Davias says he gave the pendant to Julius' pet bird, Garuda.

Lester's music clears away the poison gas outside Jadd, opening the path back up the mountains and to Dark Lord's castle, where the hero rescues the girl and battles Dark Lord for the pendant. After defeating Dark Lord, it is revealed Julius has the real pendant. He admits that he is the last descendant from the old Vandole Empire, and he mesmerizes the girl into chanting a spell that causes the Mana Falls to flow upward. The hero falls off the mountain while Julius and the girl ride up the waterfall.

The hero is rescued by a chocobo in the crystal desert, which takes him to Ish. Bogard has been here since he fell from the airship. The chocobo's legs broke from carrying the hero, but the town vet, Dr. Bowow, replaces them with mechanical legs, allowing it to walk on water. Bogard tells the hero to find Cibba, who has gone to the mountain city of Lorim. Lorim has been frozen by the ice fiend Kary, freezing all the townspeople and trapping Cibba in his room. The hero travels to the snow cave and defeats Kary to break the spell and free everyone.

Cibba says the hero must find the legendary sword Excalibur. In the floatrocks region to the northeast, the hero finds a cave that takes him to an island in the southwest (though he first must get past the water fiend Kraken). In the island cave, the fire fiend Iflyte has what appears to be the legendary sword, but it is all rusty.

After beating Iflyte and getting the Rusty Sword. Cibba tells the hero to raise the Dime Tower in the crystal desert. Dr. Bowow directs the hero to the Cave of Ruins, where he must defeat the earth fiend Lich for the Nuke spell. The spell helps open another cave near the desert shore. At the very bottom of the cave, an altar causes the Dime Tower to rise when the hero holds the Rusty Sword.

Inside the tower is a robot named Marcie, who helps the hero reach the top of the tower. At the very top, they must defeat Garuda, but the tower begins to fall after the battle. Marcie throws the hero from the tower to safety, going down with the tower. The hero is now back at Dark Lord's castle and takes the waterfall up to the Mana Temple.

At the end of the Mana Temple is the Mana Forest, where the spirit of the girl's mother turns the Rusty Sword into Excalibur. At the top of the mountain in the forest is the Mana Tree, but Julius has succeed in tapping the tree's power. Julius first splits himself into three images and then transforms into two different monsters before the hero can finally defeat him for good.

Defeating Julius causes the Mana Tree to die. The heroine sacrifices herself to become the Mana Tree and preserve the world. The hero then becomes her Gemma knight and guardian.

Trivia

 * In the English manual of the game, the name of the protagonist is given as Sumo while the girl is called Fuji. These names are generally not considered canon.