Editing Final Fantasy Adventure (section)

==Development==
Square trademarked ''Seiken Densetsu'' in 1987 intending to use it for a game project subtitled ''The Emergence of Excalibur'', and led by Kazuhiko Aoki for the [[Famicom Disk System]].<ref name="lostlevels"/> According to early advertisements, the game would consist of an unprecedented five [[floppy disk]]s, making it one of the largest titles developed for the Famicom up until that point. Although Square solicited [[pre-order]]s for the game, [[Kaoru Moriyama]], a former Square employee, affirms that management canceled the ambitious project before it advanced beyond the early planning stages. In October 1987, customers who had placed orders were sent a letter informing them of the cancellation and had their purchases refunded. The letter also suggested to consider placing an order on another upcoming Square role-playing game in a similar vein: ''[[Final Fantasy (video game)|Final Fantasy]]''.<ref name="lostlevels"/>

After the release of the third ''Final Fantasy'' title in 1990, Square offered designer [[Koichi Ishii]] to direct a spin-off series game.<ref name="ishiitop100">{{cite web|work=[[IGN]] |url=http://games.ign.com/top-100-game-creators/97.html |title=97. Koichi Ishii |at=Top 100 Game Creators Of All Time |publisher=IGN Entertainment |access-date=November 23, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005032655/http://games.ign.com/top-100-game-creators/97.html |archive-date=October 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="truthaboutmana">{{cite journal|journal=LEVEL|date=2006|issue=6|title=Sanningen om Mana|last=Schaufelberger|first=Fredrik|pages=124–132|publisher=Reset Media AB}}</ref> It began development for the Game Boy under the working title ''Gemma Knights''; eventually, Square revived the trademarked name and released the game as ''Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden''.<ref name="lostlevels" /> It was later released in Europe as ''Mystic Quest''. Ishii suggested the basis of the game's story, while scenario writer [[Yoshinori Kitase]] helped write the game's script.<ref name="jpnstaffcredits"/> Ishii designed all of the characters himself, while Goro Ohashi was responsible for the development of the game system.

The ''Mana'' series, of which ''Final Fantasy Adventure'' was the first game,  was the result of Koichi Ishii's desire to create a fictional world. In Ishii's opinion, ''Mana'' is not a series of video games, but rather a world which is illustrated by and can be explored through video games.<ref name="JeuxFrance"/> When working on the series, Koichi Ishii drew inspiration from abstract images from his memories of childhood, as well as films and [[fantasy]] books that captivated him as a child. Ishii took care to avoid set conventions, and his influences are correspondingly very wide and non-specific. Nonetheless, among his literary influences, he acknowledges [[Tove Jansson]]'s ''[[Moomin]]'', [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', and [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings|Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref name="RPGamer"/>

=== Music ===
{{main article|Music of the Mana series}}
The {{nihongo foot|''Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden Original Soundtrack''|聖剣伝説 ファイナルファンタジー外伝 Original Soundtrack|group=lower-alpha}} was released in Japan on July 15, 1991.<ref name="OST" /> Most of the tracks were composed by [[Kenji Ito]], while track 16, "Chocobo Tanjou (Chocobo's Birth)", is credited to Square composer [[Nobuo Uematsu]]. {{nihongo foot|''Seiken Densetsu/Arranged Version Omoi wa Shirabe ni Nosete''|聖剣伝説/アレンジ・ヴァージョン・想いは調べにのせて||"Holy Sword Legend/Arranged Version Let Thoughts Ride On Knowledge"|group=lower-alpha}}, a set of [[arrangement|arranged]] tracks was also released on September 30 the same year.<ref name="OST-arr" /> Both albums were compiled into ''Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden Sound Collections'', originally released on August 18, 1995.<ref name="Sound-Collection" /> The game's music was included in a 20th anniversary CD compilation of all of the [[Mana (series)|''Mana'' series]] games' soundtracks.<ref name="compilation"/> A second arranged album titled {{nihongo foot|''Tanoshī Baieru Heiyō Seiken Densetsu''| 楽しいバイエル併用 聖剣伝説||"Fun Together with Beyer: Holy Sword Legend"|group=lower-alpha}} was released on December 10, 1998. The album was compiled by Yu Hong Ishikawa and Kushiro Negishi.<ref name="beyer" />