Editing Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (section)

==Development==
Although designed by one of Square's development teams in Japan, ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest'' was specifically geared for the U.S. market. At the time, console role-playing games were not a major genre in North America; Square thus attempted to broaden the genre's appeal through this title.<ref name = "ogopogo"/> Square had already released several ''Final Fantasy'' spin-offs in North America, including the first three titles in the [[SaGa (series)|''SaGa'' series]] as ''Final Fantasy Legend'', and the first [[Mana (series)|''Mana'' series]] game as ''Final Fantasy Adventure'', and wished to further break into the popular American consciousness.<ref name="ign"/> Square's executives cited the alleged difficulty of role-playing games as the reason Americans shied away from them, and eased the difficulty level by tweaking various aspects of the main series' gameplay.<ref name = "ogopogo"/> The American release of ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' was altered to make the game simpler, for example. ''Mystic Quest'' was to take this one step further, and the Japanese developers worked with the American offices to make sure the game was accessible to children.<ref name="ign"/>

''Mystic Quest'' was developed in a graphic and gameplay style similar to ''[[Final Fantasy Legend III]]'' (part of the aforementioned ''SaGa'' series). The gameplay shares numerous similarities with that title, featuring a very similar battle system, graphical interface, and dungeon system.<ref name="similar"/> Even the jump feature from ''Final Fantasy Legend III'' has been reproduced, and almost all of the icons - from caves to the enemy sprites - are a color-upgraded version of ''Final Fantasy Legend III''{{'}}s character set. Besides allowing for computer-controlled allies, the game did away with random battles, complicated storylines, and text-based menus. To appeal to the perceived tastes of North American audiences, which gravitated towards fast-paced games, Square included [[action-adventure game]] elements; players could now brandish weapons outside of battle, jump, use a grappling hook, and set bombs to open new paths.<ref name="bombs"/> North American translator [[Ted Woolsey]] explained that "the action/adventure players... are larger in numbers and the demographic is different. They tend to be younger and like the idea of jumping straight into the action with a sword in their hands; it's an empowerment issue - you get to go out there, start whacking things and it feels good! With the more traditional RPGs, it takes a good 15 or 20 hours of playing before you're finally hooked".<ref name="woolsey"/> Woolsey said that ''Mystic Quest'' was one of the easiest games he had to translate, due to the game's small size.<ref name="ted"/> Because the game was marketed towards a younger demographic, the game sold for [[United States dollar|US$]]39.99.<ref name="gamespotffhistory"/>

===Release===
After its U.S. debut, ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest'' was released in Japan under the title ''Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest''.<ref name="ign"/> The European release of the game was released in English, German and French. The European release had its title changed to ''Mystic Quest Legend'' to avoid confusion with ''[[Final Fantasy Adventure]]'', which had been released in Europe as ''Mystic Quest''.<ref name="european">{{cite web|title=Definitive Years in Gaming History: 1991 |website=[[Eurogamer]] |author=Jaz Rignall |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-07-definitive-years-in-gaming-history-1991 |date=May 7, 2012 |access-date=March 8, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209004520/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-07-definitive-years-in-gaming-history-1991 |archive-date=February 9, 2013}}</ref> ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest'' was first unveiled in June at the 1992 [[Summer Consumer Electronics Show]] in [[Chicago]], where it was a popular venue,<ref name="ogopogo"/> and the game was later presented in more detail in the Fall 1992 issue of the ''Ogopogo Examiner''.

===Audio===
The game's soundtrack was composed by [[Ryuji Sasai]] and Yasuhiro Kawakami.<ref name="MQ">{{cite web |last=Gann |first=Patrick |title=Final Fantasy USA Mystic Quest Sound Collections |publisher=RPGFan|url=http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ffmq/index.html |date=2001-03-23 |access-date=2009-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116213532/http://rpgfan.com/soundtracks/ffmq/index.html |archive-date=2013-01-16 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was one of the first games bearing the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' name not to be composed by series regular [[Nobuo Uematsu]], after ''[[Final Fantasy Adventure]]'' (known in Japan as ''Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden'') and the ''[[Final Fantasy Legend]]'' trilogy (known in Japan as the ''Sa·Ga'' trilogy).<ref name="SEMO">{{cite web|url=http://www.squareenixmusic.com/composers/sasai/biography.shtml|title=Ryuji Sasai :: Biography|publisher=Square Enix Music Online|author=Chris|date=2007-09-10|access-date=2010-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222144628/http://www.squareenixmusic.com/composers/sasai/biography.shtml |archive-date=February 22, 2014}}</ref> The album was first released on one [[compact disc]] by [[NTT Publishing]] on September 10, 1993.<ref name="MQ"/> ROM capacity limits and hardware limitations made the composition process difficult.<ref name="musicinterview"/> After the game was completed, Sasai recorded two remixes on his days off for the game's album, and personally played the guitar parts.<ref name="musicinterview"/> "Mountain Range of Whirlwinds" was built off of Sasai's liking of the sound of the [[french horn]], and its ability to go the length of the song and convey a sense of mountains.<ref name="musicinterview"/> The track "Last Castle" was written in a short time, and was used to create imagery of a field, but its length left very little space for the "Battle 3" song.<ref name="musicinterview"/>'

{{Track listing
| Headline        = ''Final Fantasy Mystic Quest Original Soundtrack'' listing
| total_length    = 
| title1          = MYSTIC RE-QUEST I
| length1         = 4:14
| title2          = MYSTIC RE-QUEST II
| length2         = 4:11
| title3          = Mystic Quest
| length3         = 2:22
| title4          = Hill of Fate
| length4         = 1:28
| title5          = World
| length5         = 0:47
| title6          = Beautiful Forest
| length6         = 2:30
| title7          = Battle 1
| length7         = 2:22
| title8          = Victory Fanfare
| length8         = 0:33
| title9          = City of Forest
| length9         = 2:18
| title10          = Fossil Labyrinth
| length10         = 1:35
| title11          = Battle 2
| length11         = 1:47
| title12          = Middle Tower
| length12         = 1:25
| title13          = Shrine of Light
| length13         = 3:14
| title14          = Rock Theme
| length14         = 1:12
| title15          = Fanfare of Friendship
| length15         = 0:06
| title16          = Dungeon of Ice
| length16         = 2:52
| title17          = Dungeon of Waterfall
| length17         = 2:21
| title18          = City of Fire - Faeria
| length18         = 1:59
| title19          = Rock 'n' Roll
| length19         = 1:03
| title20          = Lava Dome
| length20         = 1:46
| title21          = City of Wind - Windaria
| length21         = 2:28
| title22          = Mountain Range of Whirlwinds
| length22         = 2:15
| title23          = The Crystal
| length23         = 1:16
| title24          = Last Castle
| length24         = 2:33
| title25          = Battle 3
| length25         = 2:10
| title26          = Mystic Ballad
| length26         = 2:18
| title27          = Ending
| length27         = 2:18
| title28          = RE-MIXTIC QUEST
| length28         = 7:36
}}