I like to think that I'm a fan of the Final Fantasy franchise, but I must admit that I'd never heard of Final Fantasy Legend until today, much less played it. It was kind of a big deal, apparently: it was the first RPG on the Gameboy, was the first Square game to sell over a million copies, and was the first game in what would go on to become the SaGa series. It's final boss, The Creator, also sparked a JRPG trope that continues to this day: the ultimate goal of most JRPGs is to kill some sort of deity. Makai Toushi Sa-Ga was released in the States in 1989, but carried the Final Fantasy title to help marketing (a nifty trick Square Enix still hasn't grown out of).
Makai Toushi Sa-Ga featured three classes: humans, mutants, and monsters. Humans leveled up by equipping and using items, and mutants by fighting in battles. Monsters, on the other hand, only got stronger by eating the "meat" dropped by enemies. It seems like a proto-Devil Summoner, except with cannibalization. That alone makes Legend the best Final Fantasy, ever. Period. But if that weren't enough, there's also a one-hit kill chainsaw weapon, and, depending on your class, your character might not have a face -- only a skull.
Anyway, that's a really long introduction for a Final Fantasy Legend speedrun video below the jump. I know that the words speedrun and Final Fantasy* seem like an oxymoron, but Legend can be beaten in about two minutes -- the ending sequence takes longer than the actual game.
As Kevin from Magweasel explains, the speedrun relies on a series of glitches that allow you to warp to different places, access characters and weapons that are stronger than they should be, travel 16 times faster than usual, and bypass all of the game's puzzles.
Hit the jump to see the speedrun in action and if, like me, you've never played Final Fantasy Legend, you can enjoy the game's final sequence -- that is, of course, if you read Japanese.
Joseph Leray is a founding Destructoid editor and has better hair than you. He speaks French and needs to send us his updated bio in English, preferably.
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ZOMFG!!!! I jus love this game, I still have my original cartridge, I bought it in a flea market long long time ago, hahaha..... ahh, the past, how many years, so many good games
Stop making me think about how I wish that "4" game Square just talked about was really SAGA 4/Romancing SAGA 4.
Still have my copies of FFLegend and FFLegend2 and love them dearly(2 more so than 1).
If you're thinking about jumping into the Legend/SAGA series, SAGA 2/Legend 2 is being remade for the DS. I currently have mixed feelings about the re-done character arts, but, eh, still looks good.
@BreakTargets -- oh yeah, you're right. I never could get to Memoria fast enough, though. :(
@Dexter -- it's not supposed to be impressive, it's supposed to be interesting. Besdies, I think taking the time to figure out where those glitches are is a feat unto itself, party pooper.
I still have my copy of Legend lying around somewhere. I played it when I was 9, and it confused the shit out of me.
SaGa games have always been weird. Every game seems to promise a deep story with an ensemble cast, but it always winds up being a series of character backstories, tenuously tied together.
This game was GREAT when it was released, definitely not easy. Beating the boss legitimately was actually quite hard. Final Fantasy Legend II was a much better game IMO, also brutally hard in parts.
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Contest:
12:30 AM on 07.08.2009
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Second, It's the Excalibur II. There's a difference between the two.
I guess you weren't looking forward to a story, were you?
Stop making me think about how I wish that "4" game Square just talked about was really SAGA 4/Romancing SAGA 4.
Still have my copies of FFLegend and FFLegend2 and love them dearly(2 more so than 1).
If you're thinking about jumping into the Legend/SAGA series, SAGA 2/Legend 2 is being remade for the DS. I currently have mixed feelings about the re-done character arts, but, eh, still looks good.
@Dexter -- it's not supposed to be impressive, it's supposed to be interesting. Besdies, I think taking the time to figure out where those glitches are is a feat unto itself, party pooper.
I beat the final boss the same way.
"Oh Hi i'm teh creator"
me: "k." *chainsaw*
This is one of the few GB games I will always be sad that I never owned. I <3 SaGa so much. I really hope Square releases the remake of SaGa 2 here.
SaGa games have always been weird. Every game seems to promise a deep story with an ensemble cast, but it always winds up being a series of character backstories, tenuously tied together.