There are few first-generation GameBoy games I can think of that can
truly be said to have aged well. Tetris comes to mind, and maybe Super Mario
Land . . . Revenge of the 'Gator (much better than Pinball Dreams) and
Gargoyle's Quest (better than its NES sequel), perhaps. And Final Fantasy
Legend.
Even though it is almost as old as the GB itself, FFL is still one of
the most popular RPGs for the system. It is also one of the best, surpassed in
depth of play and replay value only by the rest of the GB FF series. In fact,
FFL is, in some ways, superior to Final Fantasy, the NES game from which it was
derived. Although I don't have specs to bounce around, FFL plays as if it is
at least as large as FF--or, rather, the FFL universe seems equally vast. As
well, there are more character-types to choose from (FFL's 8 vs. FF's 6) and
more types of enemies to confront (FFL's 162 + 4 Arch-Fiends, Ashura, and the
Creator vs. FF's 117 + the 4 Fiends and Chaos).
To be fair, I should point out that FFL certainly has a few flaws: The
inability to exert real control over the changes in Mutant abilities can be very
frustrating; don't be surprised if a Mutant decides to evolve right when you've
found a set of abilities you really like. As well, while the towns, worlds,
and battle animations are impressive for a first-generation GB cart, the
intermediate levels of the Tower get pretty tedious to wander through (when
you finally have the chance to acquire the Door, it's a very welcome relief!).
However, Square Soft corrected all of the flaws of FFL in its sequel, FFL2.
What follows is a fairly in-depth walk-through of FFL. It contains a
great deal of "spoiler" information, so first-time players should consider
themselves warned! I have not provided play-control instruction, as the manual
does that rather well. I have, though, gone into considerable detail in
explaining the quest in the Base World for the benefit of anyone playing
without a manual. It's easier to figure out the play-control (which is actually
very intuitive) than to survive a premature trip to the Castle of Sword!
I certainly hope FF newbies will find this useful, and I welcome
additions and/or corrections from all you FF veterans!
Enjoy!
Setting up a Party
For me, one of the biggest advantages of the Final Fantasy Legend series
is the flexibility the games offer for creating parties; FFL3 lost some of that
initial flexibility but made up for it in the expansion of the possibilities for
character transformation. For a starting party in FFL, I recommend the second
party-type provided in the manual: two Humans and two Mutants. In fact, I'll
get even more specific: start out with two Human Males (HM1 and HM2 in the walk-
through) and two Mutant Females (MF1 and MF2). When you've gotten used to the
gameplay and the layout of the first world, you can start playing around with
Monsters as party members; new FFL players might find Monsters, and maybe even
Mutants, a bit frustrating.
Money Can't Buy You Love
But for Human characters, it does buy level advancement! In FFL,
Humans do not collect experience points and automatically advance in level.
You must buy Strength, Agility, and HP upgrades in order to develop your Human
characters. Also, I have not found any way to raise the Mana of a Human
character (except for the Game Genie!!!), so don't bother buying spells such as
Ice, Elec, or Stone for Humans. Save your cash for HPs!
Those Pesky Mutants
As explained in the instruction manual, Mutants acquire spell-like
magic abilities which change as the characters advance in level. What the
manual doesn't say is that you have very little control over how these abilities
evolve. There are, though, some principles to bear in mind:
1. The more you use the abilities, the more likely they are to change.
This is kind of a "catch-22" in that if you don't use the abilities,
they will not improve or strengthen; however, it seems that as soon as
your Mutant gets a set of abilities you like to use, they change.
2. The manual says that once Mutants reach a certain level, they
can no longer use store-bought items. This is simply not true.
Mutants always have the option to use armor, weapons, and other items;
however, the more you use store-bought weapons, the less-likely your
Mutant abilities are to develop and change. In fact, if you use
weapons too often, some of your mutant abilities will spontaneously
"fizzle out"--they will still be on your Abilities menu, but the
number of uses will drop to 0 until you visit an Inn.
3. Mutants are the only characters who can get the most use out of the
P-Knife, P-Sword, and Vampic ("vampiric") Sword. The P-Knife and
P-Sword do damage as a function of the weilder's Mana; Humans don't
have any, so they should not use these weapons. The Vampic Sword does
damage by absorbing HP from the enemy struck by the sword; these HP
are added to the weilder's HP, but only if the weilder's HP are not at
the weilder's current maximum. If the weilder's HP are at maximum, the
sword will absorb HP from the enemy but will not pass the HP to the
weilder. The absorption power of the Vampic Sword may be linked to
Mana, since it seems to always absorb 0 HP when weilded by a Human.
Monsters: They are What They Eat
As the manual explains, Monsters advance in level/abilities by eating
the Meat of other Monsters; most of the time, this will cause the Monster to
transform into another type of monster, but sometimes all that will happen is
a recharge of HP and abilities. The _Nintendo GameBoy Players Guide_ includes
a comprehensive "Transformation Table" which will indicate what any given
monster-type will change to when it eats any given type of monster meat. The
only problem is that the table is not completely correct. I have used the
table to try to direct quite a few transformations, only to have something
completely different result. Your best bet is to compile your own table by
keeping track of the changes your Monsters undergo. Bear in mind that the
transformations are not always upgrades! It's very depressing to have a
nice hefty Oni eat the wrong meat and end up a Fly. Bummer.
World One: Continent
Now that you've got your party sorted out, you're ready to start
adventuring. Here's a quick outline of the places you need to go in the order
in which you need to visit them. The map below provides a general idea of where
each place is located on the overall world map. You will find that there are
many obstacles to negotiate between the various locations; terrain will limit
"straight-line" travel. Similar outlines and maps will be provided for each
world. In the walk-through, directions will be given as single or paired
letters--N for north, W for west, SE for southeast, etc.
1. The Tower: Base Town
2. Hero
3. The Castle of Shield
4. The Castle of Armor
5. South Town
6. Bandit's Lair
7. The Castle of Armor
8. The Castle of Sword
9. The Castle of Shield
10. Hero
11. Base Town
1. The Tower: Base Town
Once you have organized your party, head out into the great wide-open
and do some exploring. The Tower sits on an island surrounded by a moat-like
river. I suggest staying on this island and fighting the monsters you encounter
there until you accumulate at least 500 GP. This will take about fifteen or
twenty battles, since you will only encounter single monsters worth 40 GP each,
and you will need to return to the Inn rather often to replenish your HP.
A note about using the Inns: You are charged GP for your stays at the
Inns based on the amount of HP your party members need to regain. If your
party members still have all their HP, staying at an Inn is free! Bear in mind
that staying at an Inn replenishes your HP and recharges your Mutant abilities,
so even though a stay costs no money, your Mutants can still benefit. You will
find this a very useful thing when one or more of your Mutants gains the Cure
ability; you can use the Mutant's ability to replenish your party's HP, then
stay at an Inn for free to recharge the Cure!
Once you've collected the cash, go to the Weapons/Armor shop and buy a
suit of Gold Armor and a set of Gold Gauntlets. Equip your HM1 with the Gold
Armor and Bronze Gauntlets; equip HM2 with the Gold Gauntlets. At this point,
your FMs will not need armor as long as they stay in the back of the marching
order. You're certainly free to wander the island long enough to equip your
whole party with Gold Armor, but what I've suggested is a minimum requirement
for a reasonable chance of survival.
At this point in the game, you want to do as much fighting as you can
while following this principle: Make money, don't spend it. The enemies on
the island are, for the most part, easy to beat. You will face Goblins,
Albatrosses, Lizards and Zombies, which I've just listed in order from easiest
to hardest to beat. Because of the relative weakness of the enemies in the
first world, don't waste your money on magic and magic items; you don't
really need them yet.
It's possible to rush through the first world fairly quickly, but I
believe that the best style for RPGs like FFL is to move slowly and think
carefully about how you equip and prepare your characters. More than likely,
if you rush through the first world, you will get killed before you reach the
third floor of the Tower. It gets really nasty really quickly in there.
Remember to check the abilities of your Mutants after each battle. For
their first few fights, use their Rapiers, but as soon as their mutant abilities
begin to appear, use those abilities as much as possible! The more you use the
abilities, the more rapid they will change and increase in power; as well, using
the mutant abilities will cause increases in Mana, which will be useful when you
start buying spells for the Mutants. With careful play, you can increase your
MFs' Mana to 99 before you reach World Two!
2. Hero
If you followed the instructions above, you've armored your Humans,
powered-up your mutants, and developed a feel for the battle techniques. You
are now ready to leave the "sanctuary" of the Tower and have some serious
adventures. Your first destination is the Town of Hero, which you will find
to the SE of the tower island. Cross the bridge and immediately head S until
you hit mountains; go W until the town appears. You now know the location of
two Inns, so you can run around and kill things to gain GP and experience,
safe in the knowledge that there are nearby places to which you can flee.
A word of warning: For now, stay away from the little forest path to
the SW of the tower island; it is a quick route to/from the Castle of Sword,
and if you go there now your entire party will be killed.
In Hero, you will learn the story of the naked statue and the items it
formerly wore. You must retrieve the three items from the kings who have
"borrowed" them in order to unlock the door at the base of the Tower. Start
you quest with the Castle of Shield, in the forest directly E of Hero.
3. The Castle of Shield
The Castle of Shield is not a very hospitable place. If you try to talk
to the guards, they'll throw you out, and if you avoid them and try to speak to
the King and his Steward, they'll just be rude. You cannot get the shield at
this point, so don't wear yourself out trying. Actually, you can skip both the
Castle of Shield and the Castle of Armor and go directly to 5 and 6, but you
won't be able to really appreciate the evolution of the story.
4. The Castle of Armor
The guards are more friendly here, but you still won't come out of your
first visit with anything but information. See the King and he'll tell you of
his sad romance with a young girl of South Town--which gives you a good reason
to head south.
5. South Town
Here you will learn of Bandit, who lives in a cave to the SW of South
Town. He has been using threats to prevent the girl from marrying the King of
Armor. Hmmm . . . maybe you should go and smack him around. But before you do,
here's some advice:
Bandit may look like a Lizard, but he is actually one level up. He's
a P-Frog (as in "poisonous frog") and can be a challenging opponent. His
biggest threat is his poisonous skin; if he is struck with a handheld weapon,
the poison will carry through the weapon and harm the wielder! The least
expensive solution is to have all of your characters, or at least the HMs,
purchase Bows; for much more cash, you can equip your MFs with spells like Ice
or Elec (Electricity). The basic idea here is to use weapons that let you
attack from a distance.
6. Bandit Cave
Here are directions for a quick trip through the cave: At the bottom
of the stairs, go W, then follow the passages N, E all the way, then S; turn E,
then take the stairs S. At the bottom of those stairs is a rather large cave;
go W to the wall, then follow the wall S to a W turn; at the end of a very
short passageway, you'll find a door. Go through the door and go W, then
follow the passageway N to your confrontation with Bandit. Show no mercy.
After defeating him, go back to through the door into the large cave.
In the NE corner of the cave is a door which will remain locked until you
defeat Bandit. Once he's dead, it will unlock, and you can raid the riches
within. You will find these items in the chests: Potion, Strong, and a Bronze
Shield. Return to South Town to freshen up at the Inn, then head back to the
Castle of Armor.
7. The Castle of Armor
Having defeated Bandit, you've earned the eternal gratitude of the lusty
King of Armor. Of course, he knows that gratitude can't be cashed in for GP, so
he gives you the King Armor, as well his thanks.
Now . . . here's your first big decision: What do you do with the
Armor? Do you take it back to Hero and put it the statue? Or do you put it
on yourself? C'mon . . . who's gonna know?
Equip HM1 with the King Armor and equip HM2 with the Gold Armor from
HM1. Hey, if the Kings could "borrow" this stuff, so can you.
8. The Castle of Sword
Although you're welcome to go and ask (and pick up some GP on the way),
the King of Shield is still not ready to part with his Shield, so your next
destination is the Castle of Sword. However, this is a very dangerous place;
the monsters therein are the most powerful in the first world, and they attack
in groups. To prepare yourself, go to Hero and buy enough HP200 to boost the
HP of your HMs over 100; if you have the cash, you can give buy some Strong for
them, as well, but that stuff is expensive--and you can beat the King of Sword
without it! If you are using your MFs well, their HP and abilities should be
increasing rather nicely; don't forget that Mutant HP and stats increase on
their own--store-bought HP, Strong, and Agility DO NOT work on Mutants!
When you enter the Castle of Sword, AVOID the guards! Unlike the guards
in the Castle of Shield, they will attack you, and you will not be able to run
away. Enter the castle and head straight for stairs. On the second level, make
your way to the southern stairway; the northern stairway leads to a dead-end,
and the monsters you will likely face on the way will try to make it a one-way
trip! The key is to lose as few HP as possible on your way to King Sword. Find
him, beat him, and get the King Sword. Once you get the Sword, give it to HM1
and pass whatever weapon he's been using to HM2. Unlike the weapons you buy,
the King Sword has unlimited uses. As well, it is the most powerful weapon
available in the first world. Nifty!
To complete your ensemble, you will be heading to the Castle of Shield.
But first, stop at an Inn and recover from your experience in Castle Sword.
Even with the King Armor, it's not a pleasant place . . . but you will be back!
9. The Castle of Shield
After powdering your nose in the Inn of your choice, head to the Castle
of Shield. The King is ready to give up his Shield now, mainly 'cause he's
dead. Pursue the treacherous Steward through the secret door in the N wall of
the King's chambers and wreak some serious vengeance upon his cowering form.
Then you'll get the King Shield.
Now, here's a tip: Don't equip HM1 with the King Shield. Using a
shield in battle means he cannot attack, and you don't want to lose the power
of the King Sword. Equip one of the MFs with the King Shield, either the
weakest MF or the one with the fewest defensive mutant abilities. When used,
the King Shield throws a force field over your ENTIRE party, which makes it
a handy defense, especially since, like the King Sword, it has unlimited uses!
10. Hero
Okay. If you want to be a good little adventurer, the thing to do now
is to head to Hero and give back those wonderful toys. Put them on your Item
list, then go up to the statue; press A twice with the hand on each item and
they will be returned to the statue.
If you want to make sure that you'll survive the next few floors of the
Tower with relative ease, don't be so hasty! Instead of heading to Hero, go
back to the Castle of Sword and repeatedly attack one of the Guards. As a
precaution, you might first want to buy a Rod and equip one of your MFs with
it to make sure that you can heal any damage your weaker characters might take
while you are upping your bank balance.
So how do you know when you've had enough? Well, here are some goals
to attain before returning the items to the statue:
1. Raise the HP of your HMs to 200+. As you'll learn, HP upgrades
are labelled according to their effectiveness. HP200 will work until
your character's HP pass 200; at that point, an effective upgrade can
only be provided by HP400. Likewise, HP400 only works until your
character's HP reach 400, and so on. You cannot buy HP400 in the first
world, so you might as well get what you can get while you can get it.
2. Raise the Strength and Agility of your HMs at least into the teens.
3. Equip your strongest characters with Axes (probably your HMs) before
returning the items to the statue. The Axe is the most powerful
strength-based handheld weapon which can be purchased in the first
world. You'll need them.
4. Before you return the items to the statue, equip all four of the
party members with Gold Armor; if you can, equip the HMs with Gold
Gauntlets, as well (remember that Mutants can only carry four items; if
