Retro Runback – Quest 64

I have been unironically banging the drum for Quest 64 for years. I remember renting it from Blockbuster (shut up) when I was a kid and loving it. Mainly because, at that time, my experience with RPGs was fairly limited. I had played Final Fantasy Adventure on Game Boy and the first disc of Final Fantasy VII. But Quest 64 was special to me because it was the first game to kick my ass by being not particularly polished.

‘quest 64’ makes me wonder: Why not have a “___ for beginners” game?

Yes, Quest 64 has its quirks. The random encounters are as frequent as the Cowboys’ continued failure season to season. And there could be some better button mapping. But the actual concept of the combat was pretty cool. You had an octagon-shaped area you could move within, and your enemy had the same. You could move towards them for a melee attack or stay back and fire spells.

It’s a bit janky, but there is something to Quest 64‘s gameplay. We’ve seen some of its elements in modern RPGs. You could move around in your area to dodge attacks, and leveling up attributes is done by using them. Though the HP Level Up is based on being hit, not damage taken. It was ugly then, but it works now. A lot of people say the game was difficult. I think it’s just the game being rough as hell around the edges. I do believe that Quest 64 could have been a great starter RPG.

Which brings me to why I think running it back could be great. It seems that with Clair Obscur making people pay attention to turn-based RPGs, younger players and those not well-versed in RPGs could do with a game that is simple in its execution. One that shows off the basic tenets of turn-based gameplay and eases them into the genre. For that reason, I’d love to see an updated version of Quest 64. Let’s make more of an effort to get people into these games. And then, maybe we can get even more great ones.