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DEVELOPER
Imagineer
PUBLISHER
THQ
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
Cartridge
PLAYERS
One
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 here are those critics and game reviewers that will inevitably cut Quest 64 some slack since it's the first RPG on the N64. Even though there are no other games on the system to compare Quest 64 to, I've played plenty of RPGs to know a bad one when I play it. My high hopes for a quality RPG experience on the N64 have been shattered for the time being by this wannabe boring hunk of plastic filled with silicon that's supposed to be fun.
Where to begin? Well, let's start with the story since that's one of the most important aspects in a game like this one. You control a young lad by the name of Brian who just happens to be the savior for everyone in the world. His unique gift is the ability to control the various elements (fire, water, air, and earth) to help him do battle against the many monsters in the game. At the beginning of the game you're on a search for your father, but many other quests will present themselves to slow you down. The overall story is very generic. You will travel across the 3D overworld and come to a town. In the town you will talk to several people who will tell you where you need to go next. Many times an item needs to be found and brought  back, which means you'll have to go to a location (a haunted forest for example) and retrieve the item from a big monster. There's next to no plot twists and I found it extremely difficult to become attached to the main character. This isn't a Zelda or Final Fantasy game that's for sure.
The fighting isn't real-time like in Zelda or Secret of Mana. Instead the battles take place right on the main map and are turn-based. At first the battle screen reminded me of the awesome SNES game Chrono Trigger, but I was soon disappointed once I fought a few battles. In order to attack an enemy you will either have to move right next to it or use your elemental magic, which may or may not hit the enemy depending on your magical level. You can move around in the battle screen when it's your turn. The area you can move to is represented by a circle that's placed around your character. You can move and attack in one turn. In order to run from a battle you'll have to leave the entire battle arena, but in most cases it's best to stick out the fight. Since Quest 64 is a turn-based battle game it's extremely disappointing that no other characters join your adventure. I think this would have definitely spiced up the story  and the game would have been much more enjoyable. This story has been told one too many times and it's so boring that it couldn't hold my attention.
When I first played Quest 64 I thought the graphics were excellent. The entire game is presented in 3D and looks a little like Mario 64 in some scenes. It seems as if the programmers didn't play any other 3D games out there though. There's virtually no camera control buttons or different views to help navigate your character around. I can't tell you how many times I found myself staring at a wall with no idea where Brian was located. This is especially annoying in the battle screens since every now and then the camera gets stuck behind an object (like a tree) and even though you can move the camera it still reverts back to that view when you're done looking. The battles are boring enough without having to stare at a tree trunk for the entire time. Other glitches like walls disappearing and slight slowdown really hamper the game play.  A game can have pretty graphics, but if it makes the game unplayable or hard to control then one has to wonder if it was really worth the effort.
The music is also disappointing. I understand that the composers have very limited space due to the cartridge format and I also know that the sound processor on the N64 sucks, but I've played enough games on this system to know that it is capable of some truly enjoyable music. The music is boring and doesn't help set the mood of the game in the least. It should also be noted that there isn't any voice and the sound effects are the same run of the mill ones heard in any other game.
Like too many other third party games on the N64, Quest 64 simply comes off as being below average. If the game were even slightly fun to play I'd have given it a higher score, but this game just doesn't do the RPG genre justice. I'd rather play Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy on the NES than this "state-of-the-art" RPG. I know many people rent this game to see how it plays, but I feel that it's not even worthy of a rental. In case you do decide to rent Quest 64, be sure to own a Memory Pak since it's required to save. I'll continue to play my PlayStation for quality RPGs, until Zelda 64 that is.
-- Craig Majaski
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