Archive-name: games/video-games/final-fantasy/part1
Posting-Frequency: weekly
Last-modified: 1996/09/13
Version: 1.1.8
URL: http://orion.edmonds.wednet.edu/Misc/FF/FAQ/

           +---------------------------------------------+
           | * * * The alt.games.final-fantasy FAQ * * * |
           |           * * * Part 1 of 2 * * *           |
           +---------------------------------------------+


*** What's New in this FAQ ***

This is a **repost** of the FAQ I posted last Monday. Apparently I heard
that some site downstream received the article without several important
pieces of the header present. The FAQ looked fine from my site, so all I
can guess is that some news server downstream from mine mangled the
message's headers. I hope it doesn't happen again, but I can't gurantee it
won't...

Sorry 'bout that... Thanks to Pam Greene from the news.answers crew for
notifying me about this little boo-boo.

Version 1.1.8 (9-13-96):
- I haven't been updating the FAQ much recently, sorry. School started
last week, and being an honor student kind of takes away all your spare
time...
- Three more articles have been added to section 1. The first new one
(1.15) is a small attempt to curb some of the mail I've received
recently about stuff which is answered in the FAQ already. The next one
answers the frequently asked question I receive about obtaining FAQs.
- IMPORTANT: The third new article (1.17) is a small editorial I wrote
about all of these off-topic threads that have been propegating through
the a.g.f-f newsgroup recently. Please read it if you have ever
discussed anything not relating to Square (like MegaZeux or Lufia II.)
- Lots of Dark Elf questions this month! I've answered some of them in
section 4.3.


*** Table of Contents ***

Section 1 - Intro to alt.games.final-fantasy
1.1 - Welcome to alt.games.final-fantasy!
1.2 - What is Final Fantasy?
1.3 - Does Square make any video games other than the Final Fantasy
series?
1.4 - What can or can't be discussed in alt.games.final-fantasy?
1.5 - What is alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg?
1.6 - Didn't Square Soft go out of business?
1.7 - Why won't Square Soft release game XXX in the USA?
1.8 - Questions that you should **NEVER** ask again.
1.9 - Square Soft Resources on the InterNet
1.10 - Copyright, disclaimer, etc.
1.11 - Changes History
1.12 - Thank You's and Other Acknowledgements
1.13 - The Ultimate Final Fantasy Glossary
1.14 - I want to post the FAQ, too!
       Why is the FAQ being posted to newsgroup XXX?
       The FAQ is too big to post!
       Why don't you post the FAQ more/less often?
1.15 - I'd like to tell you about <something already in the FAQ>!
       Where can I find this <item already covered in the FAQ>?
       Why don't you add <something already covered in the FAQ>?
1.16 - Can you send me a copy of this FAQ, or anyone else's FAQ?
1.17 - Short Editorial on Off-Topic Posts

Section 2 - The Final Fantasy Series
2.1 - The Final Fantasy Series (Intro)
2.2 - Final Fantasy I (USA: Final Fantasy I)
2.3 - Final Fantasy II (not released in the USA)
2.4 - Final Fantasy III (not released in the USA)
2.5 - Final Fantasy IV (not released in the USA)
2.6 - Final Fantasy IV Easytype (USA: Final Fantasy II)
2.7 - Final Fantasy V (not released in the USA)
2.8 - Final Fantasy VI (USA: Final Fantasy III)
2.9 - SaGa  (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend)
2.10 - SaGa II (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend II)
2.11 - SaGa III (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend III)

Section 3 - Other Games by Square Soft
3.1 - Rad Racer (was released in the USA, but I'm not sure about Japan)
3.2 - The 3D Battles of World Runner (was released in the USA, but I'm
not sure about Japan)
3.3 - Rad Racer II (was released in the USA, but I'm not sure about
Japan)
3.4 - Seiken Densetsu (USA: The Final Fantasy Adventure)
3.5 - Seiken Densetsu II (USA: The Secret of Mana)
3.6 - Seiken Densetsu III (not released in the USA)
3.7 - Chrono Trigger (USA: Chrono Trigger)
3.8 - The Secret of Evermore (not released in Japan)
3.9 - Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (USA: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest)
3.10 - Breath of Fire (USA: Breath of Fire)
3.11 - Romancing SaGa (not released in the USA)
3.12 - Romancing SaGa II (not released in the USA)
3.13 - Romancing SaGa III (not released in the USA)
3.14 - Bahamut Lagoon (not released in the USA)
3.15 - Super Mario RPG (USA: Super Mario RPG)
3.16 - Rudora no Hihou (not released in the USA)
3.17 - Treasure Hunter G (not released in the USA)

Section 4 - Frequently Asked Questions about the Final Fantasy Series
4.1 - General Hints about the Final Fantasy Series
4.1.1 - Monster XXX or Boss YYY is too difficult...
4.1.2 - What kind of a party should I choose?
4.2 - Final Fantasy I (USA: Final Fantasy I)
4.2.1 - How do I get into the Sea Shrine?
4.2.2 - How do I get the Excalibur Sword?
4.2 3 - How do I get into the Mirage Tower?
4.2.4 - What do I do with Matoya?
4.2.5 - I defeated the Vampire...
4.2.6 - I defeated Lich, now what do I do?
4.2.7 - I defeated Kary, now what do I do?
4.2.8 - I got the Floater, but what use is it?
4.2.9 - I defeated Kraken, now what?
4.2.10 - I defeated Tiamat, now what?
4.2.11 - What items can I use in battles?
4.2.12 - What magic should I use to defeat the elemental fiends?
4.3 - Final Fantasy IV Easytype (USA: Final Fantasy II)
4.3.1 - Palom and Porom have been turned to stone...
4.3.2 - I got the Poison Sword, but no one can use it...
4.3.3 - Where is the Spoon?
4.3.4 - How do I deal with cursed items?
4.3.5 - How do I defeat Asura?
4.3.6 - How do I defeat Bahamut?
4.3.7 - How do I defeat Odin?
4.3.8 - How do I get the rarest armor in the game?
4.3.9 - The Magus Sisters are giving me problems...
4.3.10 - Where can I find some really rare items?
4.3.11 - What calls can I find and give Rydia?
4.3.12 - What spells should I use to defeat the elemental fiends?
4.3.13 - How do I get to the Cave Magnes (the Dark Elf's Cave?)
4.3.14 - How do I defeat the Dark Elf?
4.4 - Final Fantasy VI (USA: Final Fantasy III)
4.4.1 - What time is it?
4.4.2 - How do I get the Water Rondo dance for Mog?
4.4.3 - I'm in the World of Ruin, and can't find Shadow...
4.4.4 - How do I defeat Wrexsoul?
4.4.5 - How do I defeat MagiMaster?
4.4.6 - Where is the Cursed Shield?
4.4.7 - What do I do with the Cursed Shield?
4.4.8 - Where is the Atma Weapon?
4.4.9 - How do I increase my chances of getting critical hits on
enemies?
4.4.10 - How do I revive General Leo?
4.4.11 - Where is the Air Anchor?
4.4.12 - Where can I find the secret characters?
4.4.13 - How do I get the Crusader Esper?
4.4.14 - Where is the Ancient Castle?
4.4.15 - Where are the Golem and ZoneSeek Espers?
4.4.16 - Where is the Raiden Esper?
4.4.17 - Should I get the Ragnarok Esper or the Ragnarok Sword?
4.4.18 - Where is the Experience Egg?
4.4.19 - Where are the Illumina, Muscle Belt, Rename Card, Marvel Shoes,
Merit Award, Cursed Ring, etc...
4.4.20 - I just gave Relm the command to sketch monster XXX, and
everything got all weird/locked up...
4.4.21 - The world has ended, and my party's missing...
4.4.22 - My character was low on HP, and he/she just did a really
strange but powerful attack...
4.4.23 - I want to know where all the Espers are...
4.4.24 - Where can I get the most powerful stuff in the game?
4.4.25 - I got a Snow Muffler and a Bone Club, but how do I equip it on
my sasquatch?
4.4.26 - Where is the Paladin Ring?
4.5 - SaGa I (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend)
4.5.1 - How do I get the Excalibur?
4.5.2 - Where is the Nuke Bomb?
4.5.3 - How do I solve Ryu-O's riddle on Floor 5?
4.5.4 - What's the best way to defeat Ashura?
4.5.5 - Where can I find a Board?
4.5.6 - How do I get through Sei-Ryu's Castle?
4.6 - SaGa II (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend II)
4.6.1 - Do I really need to conquer the Nasty Dungeon?
4.6.2 - What do I do in Venus's World?
4.6.3 - What do I do with the Masamune, Aegis, and Heart MAGIs?
4.6.4 - Where is the Seven Sword?
4.6.5 - How do I defeat Apollo?

Section 5 - Frequently Asked Questions about Other Square Soft Games
5.1 - Chrono Trigger (USA: Chrono Trigger)
5.1.1 - How do I defeat the Golem Twins?
5.1.2 - I'm at the Forest Ruins...
5.1.3 - How do I forge the Masamune?
5.1.4 - What do I do in the Northern Ruins?
5.1.5 - There's something in some chests in 600 AD which interfere with
the Pendant...
5.1.6 - My party is in the Falcon, and I've lost everything...
5.1.7 - What do I do with Fiona in 600 AD?
5.1.8 - What must I do to get the New Game + mode to be active on my
copy of the game?
5.1.9 - How do I remove the curse on Frog?
5.1.10 - How many secret characters are in this game?
5.1.11 - Are there any hidden weapons for my secret character?
5.1.12 - How do I defeat the Son of Sun?
5.1.13 - The Moon Stone is missing, and I suspect the greedy mayor has
it...
5.1.14 - What does the right telepod do...
5.1.15 - How many endings are in this game?
5.1.16 - There's a locked drawer in a house in Dorino...
5.1.17 - Gaspar says that someone needs my help, and to find that person
fast...
5.1.18 - Does Ayla's weapon ever change?
5.2 - Seiken Densetsu III (not released in the USA)
5.2.1 - What do I do in the Black Market?

       +----------------------------------------------------+
       |*** Section 1 - Intro to alt.games.final-fantasy ***|
       +----------------------------------------------------+

* 1.1 - Welcome to alt.games.final-fantasy!

Welcome to alt.games.final-fantasy!

What, did you expect more in this article? (Read onward to find out what
we do here, why we do what we do here, and anything else that's not
covered by the two items I just mentioned.)

So, gather around, everyone, and Uncle Nu will tell you a story...


* 1.2 - What is Final Fantasy?

"Final Fantasy" is a series of role-playing video games for the Super
Nintendo Entertainment System (and the Sony PlayStation in about a year)
by Square Co. Ltd, a Japan-based video games company with offices in the
USA and maybe a few other countries as well.

The Final Fantasy series of games are among the most popular RPGs for
any video game or computer platform.

What makes the Final Fantasy series unique is that every game sequel
uses a different world from the game before it and different characters
for this world, but usually maintains the same game engine, game play,
and some of the different kinds of items used in the games. And for
those people who think that video games are uneducational or rot young
minds away need look no further - the Final Fantasy series of games
usually contain items and characters taken out of either world history
or different mythologies. Even some of the characters and places in the
game have mythological functions to them.


* 1.3 - Does Square make any video games other than the Final Fantasy
series?

Of course. In fact, Square's first few games weren't RPGs - "Rad Racer",
"King's Knight", and "The 3D Battles of World Runner" were their three
first games in the USA. These days, however, Square doesn't put out
anything much that's not an adventure game or RPG.

I'll mention some of these later.


* 1.4 - What can or can't be discussed in alt.games.final-fantasy?

We're pretty tolerant (well, most of the time, anyways...) of certain
discussions, this includes:

* Anything relating to the Final Fantasy series of video games.
* Anything relating to any non-Final Fantasy video games made by Square
Soft.
* Anything relating to Breath of Fire II, which is not a game by Square
Soft, but can be discussed here anyways because the original game
(Breath of Fire) was marketed by Square Soft.
* Square Soft game fan-fiction stories. (This does _not_ include any of
the various "Final Fantasy RPG" stories - they belong in
alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg, see below.)
* Making up fake Final Fantasy rumors or full messages loaded with them
- we call these "Fwaks".
* Why Square Soft screwed you over, or why not. Remember, the topic is
"Square Soft", but the newsgroup is called "alt.games.final-fantasy" -
discussing anything about Square Soft is OK.
* Game Genie codes for Square Soft video games.

We will severely flame you and killfile you and subscribe you to 20
different mailing lists if you post any of the following:

* Asking for help on any video game _not_ made by Square Soft. (Lone
exception: Breath of Fire II.)
* Chain letters, pyramid schemes, and/or anything which promises to
"make money fast". Keep illegal stuff out of our newsgroup! Thank you.
* Cybersex. This isn't _that_ kind of a "fantasy" newsgroup.
* Final Fantasy WaReZ. Keep it legal, folks, we don't want to all pay
more for the next Final Fantasy game.
* Flames directed at people posting Game Genie codes for Square Soft
video games.
* Reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllyyyyy loooooooooooooong
signatures.
* People who quote an entire message to leave a one-line response, or
people who quote themselves in their messages just to confuse everyone.
Double the penalty if the person includes a more-than-one line
signature.
* Posts relating to any of the various "Final Fantasy RPG" stories -
they belong in alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg, see below.
* Repeated questions asking about things that don't exist in Square
games - see article 1.6.
* Alternative spelling or typing.
* If it isn't about Square Soft, or one of their products, it doesn't
belong here. Don't bring it here. Thank you.

(NOTE: I'm only kidding about killfiling you and subscribing you to 20
different mailing lists. Don't take _everything_ so seriously, since
it's nearly a requirement that you have a good sense of humor if you
want to read our newsgroup...)


* 1.5 - What is alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg?

alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg is a special newsgroup. And special it is,
indeed.

In this newsgroup, posters play a little role-playing game based on
elements out of the Final Fantasy games. Every poster gets a character
that's either made up or from one of the Final Fantasy games, and that
poster collaborates with other posters to have their characters both get
involved or meet in certain cituations where this and that happens, etc.
Then, the poster posts the "chapter" of the character and what he/she's
doing, etc. and the process repeats itself.

It's kind of hard for me to explain, so if you're interested, why don't
you just inquire for more information in the newsgroup?

One word of wisdom to you, though: If you don't have anything to
contribute to the RPG, it's a very good idea not to post to this
newsgroup. Everything that isn't related to the online RPGs goes in
alt.games.final-fantasy instead. Thank you.


* 1.6 - Didn't Square Soft go out of business?

No, Square's still around today. The rumors of Square's demise in the
USA were greatly exaggerated (thank you, Mark Twain...).

Square Soft did, however, close their Redmond office and got rid of
their USA project development team (the team which put out Secret of
Evermore.) Square Soft is still functioning, but they're now located in
Los Angeles, along with another graphics-based Square office called
"Square LA". More on Square LA later.


* 1.7 - Why won't Square Soft release game XXX in the USA?

This is a hard question to answer. The truth is, though, that Square
Soft can only translate and release what Square Co. Ltd tells it to
translate and release.

Space is also a factor. Although the Japanese character system has 46
Hiragana and 46 Katakana plus all the Kanji (compared to the 36
characters in the English alphabet, including numbers), the Americanized
text actually takes more storage space than the Japanese text. As a
result, some things have been edited out of previous games in the past
due to space considerations.

There are two (maybe more) reasons why Japanese text can take up less
space than English text:

1. The Kanji system, made up of ideograms, can have one character
representing an idea, and that character can change its meaning
depending on how it's used. Although there's many thousands of Kanji out
there, it can greatly simplify words, especially if the same words are
used in different parts of the game.

2. I've only taken Japanese language (Nihongo) classes for two years
now, and I'm definitely not an expert; but in some cases Japanese words
can actually be shorter than English words. Say that Cecil (from Final
Fantasy IV) says: "Let's go to Baron!" In Japanese, if Cecil said that
same sentence using formal language, the sentence would roughly be
translated as "Baron ni ikimashou!" Now, in Hiragana and Katakana, each
letter (except for "n", "shi", "chi", and "tsu"; as well as stand-alone
vowels and the various diphthongs) represents two characters, a
consanent and a vowel (in that order.) So, that would make the sentence
take up three Katakana (for "Baron"), six Hiragana (for the rest of the
words), and an exclamation mark; totalling 10 characters in all; and
that sentence can become even shorter if Cecil used informal language or
if Kanji was used in the printing of the sentence. In English, the
sentence uses 13 letters and two punctuation marks, totalling 15
characters in all. So, the Japanese sentence requires less space to
store in the game. Granted, this may not be true of every sentence, but
it is of this kind of a sentence.

The other thing involved is economics. In the USA, role-playing games
don't sell well compared to action and sports games. What makes more
economical sense, to release a game in one area and sell millions of
copies of the game, or release generally the same game in another place
and only sell hundreds of thousands of copies?

(There's one other little factor involved. Square Co. Ltd has been known
not to release some of their more difficult games in the USA. Therefore,
an easy game is much more likely to be released in the USA than a harder
one.)


* 1.8 - Questions that you should **NEVER** ask again.

Usually, in alt.games.final-fantasy, when nothing else is happening in
the Square world and we've all practically exploited a game to its
fullest, the only thing we do to keep ourselves entertained is to make
up false rumors about the game.

Sometimes these have been fun to do, but unfortunately, some people
actually believe these false rumors, and as things turn out, we get
people asking for things that they've "heard were in the game", but they
really aren't there.

So, whatever you do, do **not** bring up the following questions, under
any circumstance:

Game Genie Codes for any Final Fantasy game or otherwise:
- There are several repositories for Game Genie codes. Use one of them
before you ask here. See article 1.9.

Final Fantasy III:
- Any Chocobos other than the yellow ones in the stables.
- Reviving General Leo (he's dead, Locke!)
- A "secret ending" (there is none.)
- Anything relating to Shadow's dream sequences.
- A "new game +" feature, or a second quest (neither exist.)
- Secret characters other than a particular sasquatch and a mime.
- Secret Character #2's real identity.
- Anything which mentions a character called "Akfek" (read it
backwards.)
- If it's in the FAQ, please read the FAQ before you ask any questions.

My final plea: Please, don't ask these questions! They've been debated
to death, and we're tired of seeing them.


* 1.9 - Square Soft Resources on the InterNet

Square Co. Ltd's Official Home Page:
http://www.spin.ad.jp/square/
Square Co. Ltd (in Japan) has their own official home page now present
on the World Wide Web. On this page, you can find out about future
Square games, anything you wanted to ever know about Square, how to
contact Square, etc.

Eldyne Island, the Island of Square Soft:
http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~nakao/cgi/eldyne_map.cgi
The idea of making entire WWW-based townships based on different Square
Soft video games has become somewhat a fad of real hard-core Final
Fantasy & other Square Soft game fans (especially in the USA), so a list
and registry was made out of them. Here, you can visit one of these
"towns", or find out how to make your own. There's even non-Final
Fantasy towns, like one relating to the Romancing SaGa games.

The Unofficial Square Soft Home Page:
http://www.dragonfire.net/square/
Contains lots of information on everything about Square Soft - the
games, the company, the fans. Definitely worth a look. (Note: This
server tends to be extremely turbulent.)

Marle Page:
http://www.eskimo.com/~hideki/title.html
This page seems to be dedicated to one of the lead characters in Chrono
Trigger, and that character is Marle. She's pictured all over the place
here, and although this page isn't as Chrono Trigger-oriented as I'd
like it to be, it's still worth a look. Careful, the text is black on a
dark grey background and hard to read.

Chrono Trigger Page:
http://www.cris.com/~shelbyh/chrono/chrono.shtml
This site is Chrono Trigger player's heaven: Lots of useful and
interesting information about Chrono Trigger, the characters, the plot,
etc. If you've played Chrono Trigger before, you owe it to yourself to
come here.

The Official Home Page of Square LA:
http://www.sqla.com/
It had to happen, and it did... Square LA has now has made their
prescence on the WWW open to all of us. There isn't much there if you're
not looking for a job over there, but in the future, we should be seeing
more stuff as their next-generation games are released in the USA.

The Game Genie Code Creators Club (GGCCC):
http://www.illuminet.net/~strato/ggccc/
Repository for many various Game Genie codes for many video games,
including the Final Fantasy games. Worth a look if you use a Game Genie,
but please leave them alone if you're biased against the Game Genie.


* 1.10 - Copyright, disclaimers, etc.

This FAQ is Copyright 1996 by Nick Zitzmann.

DISCLAIMER #1: This FAQ is provided "as is" without any express or
implied warranties. I (Nick) have made every possible effort to make
sure that the information contained in this FAQ is correct, but in the
event that something is wrong, then I am not to blame.

DISCLAIMER #2: Neither I nor any of the participants of
alt.games.final-fantasy are in any way related to Square Soft or its
employees, etc. Everything here is unofficial to Square.

DISCLAIMER #3: The participants of alt.games.final-fantasy and myself
speak only for ourselves, not Square Soft or Nintendo or our employers
or any other related company.

DISCLAIMER #4: We live in a sick society if we have to have disclaimers
on everything... (That's what I think, at least.)

This FAQ is to go over some of Square Soft's games, answer questions,
etc. If you see anything missing from the FAQ, please send it to Nick
at: nickzman@eskimo.com

NOTE TO AMERICA ONLINE USERS: Due to abusive mail I've received from AOL
users, I have a mail filter set up for all mail coming from "aol.com".
If you use AOL and need to mail me about anything, please do it from
another online service. Thank you.

NOTE FOR ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO FOLLOWUP TO THE FAQ ARTICLE: The
Followup-To header has been purposely set to "poster" - if you did a
real followup, the post would also go to every UseNet newsgroup this FAQ
is posted to, including several moderated ones (alt.answers and
news.answers). However, some newsreaders out there (especially WinVN for
Windows) are extremely brain-dead and will ignore the Followup-To line
completely! If you followup to this article, make **absolutely** sure
that you are following up in E-Mail only. Thank you.

The latest version of this FAQ will always be always be available at the
following sites:

World-Wide Web:
http://orion.edmonds.wednet.edu/Misc/FF/FAQ/ (This is the maintainer's
WWW server. The FAQ has been translated into HTML form. Sometimes
updates are few and between, and at other times a preview of a future
FAQ is available there.)

FTP:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/alt.games.final-fantasy (This FTP
server is the official repository for UseNet FAQs. The most current
version can usually be found here several days after it's posted.)

Feel free to do the following with the FAQ:
- Read, share, and enjoy. <8*)
- Distribute the FAQ as long as Article 1.10 and my copyright are
present.
- Citate bits and pieces of the FAQ, as long as you make it clear that
you're citating a piece from the alt.games.final-fantasy FAQ.
- If you can fill in an empty part of the FAQ, let the maintainer know.

You may **NOT** do the following to the FAQ:
- Use WebWhacker, or otherwise mirror the HTML FAQ site without
permission of the maintainer.
- Plagerize the FAQ, create deriative copies of the FAQ, or distribute
the FAQ without Article 1.10 present. PLAGERIZATION OF INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY IS NOT ONLY A SIN, IT'S A COPYRIGHT VIOLATION.

I and the many others (see article 1.12) who have contributed to the FAQ
have put a lot of time and work into this FAQ. As the maintainer of the
FAQ, I expect all the readers to follow the guidelines above when
dealing with the FAQ. If you don't agree with those guidelines, you must
stop reading this FAQ and destroy any copies you might have made now.

I'm sorry for sounding so harsh, but after some people have made copies
of the FAQ with their WebWhackers, I had to get tough about the
copyright.


* 1.11 - Changes History

Pre-Release:
- First rough draft.
- Published originally in alt.games.final-fantasy.

Version 1.0 (4-12-96):
- Not published anywhere publicly but submitted to the MIT news.answers
team for submission to news.answers and alt.answers.
- SaGa III/The Final Fantasy Legend III and Secret of Mana/Final Fantasy
Adventure info added.
- For news.answers: Headers added.

Version 1.0.1 (4-14-96):
- First published publicly on the World Wide Web.
- Rudora no Hihou info added.
- Info about Relm's Sketch Bug in Final Fantasy VI/Final Fantasy III
added.
- Chrono Trigger Ending guide added.
- Square Sites on the InterNet added.
- More Chrono Trigger questions answered.

Version 1.0.2 (4-25-96):
- Article 1.6 has been played around with.
- Article 4.2 has been expanded.
- Unreleased.

Version 1.0.3 (4-27-96):
- Articles 4.2 and 4.3 have been expanded.

Version 1.0.4 (4-29-96):
- Some typos found and fixed.
- First copy published in the news.answers and alt.answers newsgroups
(yay!)

Version 1.0.5 (5-6-96):
- The title for the Secret of Mana games is now more correct to the
Japanese name.
- Added lots of interesting info about Seiken Densetsu III.

Version 1.0.6 (6-1-96):
- Added Secret of Evermore stuff.
- Added a glossary.
- Added Final Fantasy V stuff.

Version 1.0.7 (6-6-96):
- I added a chapter of questions that shouldn't be brought up again.
- The URL to the FAQ has changed - please take note!
- A link to the Chrono Trigger page has been added here.
- Another article has been added to article 5.1.

Version 1.0.8 (6-17-96):
- The story for Final Fantasy Mystic Quest has been added.
- I got a pointer to a full story for Final Fantasy II, but it was too
long to put in the FAQ. So, I just put the URL there in FF II's article.
- The Unofficial Square Soft page has changed addresses (as of 6-13-96),
the new address has been noted in this FAQ.

Version 1.0.9 (6-21-96):
- More frequently asked questions answered in 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4.

Version 1.1 (6-30-96):
- I (Nick) tweaked with the layout a little bit. The FAQ should be
easier to read now.
- Two FAQs about Square Soft are now explained in part 1.
- Article 4.4 was expanded a little bit.

Version 1.1.1 (7-7-96):
- The Edmonds-Woodway Web is down! The URL for the FAQ has changed to
MIT's FAQ archive site.
- The glossary and article 4.6 have been slightly updated.

Version 1.1.2 (7-21-96):
- The Edmonds-Woodway Web is back up.
- Article 1.7 needed an explanation badly, so I added one.
- The FAQ has finally been spell-checked. Turns out, there were lots of
typos everywhere. So, it looks like I'm going to have to re-write the
FAQ site from scratch instead of just updating it...
- I added an explanation on how the FAQ works, because some people just
don't understand. Hopefully they will now.
- I also expanded article 4.4.

Version 1.1.3 (7-27-96):
- From now on, I'm going to put the current version changes at the very
top of the FAQ so you no longer have to dig all this way down just to
see what's updated.
- I was finally given permission from the MIT FAQ people to stop posting
into the alt.games.final-fantasy.rpg newsgroup. It won't be posted there
anymore.
- The HTML FAQ site crashed again. I have no idea why.
- Speaking of which, I was reading through the logfiles on the HTML FAQ
site and discovered that someone was using WebWhacker on the FAQ. I
don't know what their intensions were, but in case someone tries to
mirror the FAQ without my permission, I've become a little tougher on
the copyright now.
- The FAQ is getting very large by now. I'm going to submit a request to
split the FAQ in two parts.
- I wrote up an article for Super Mario RPG. Look for it in article
3.15.
- I also added article 3.17. Will someone fill it in? Time will tell...

Version 1.1.4 (8-6-96):
- I added two more questions to article 4.4.
- Article 4.3.11 has been updated a little bit.
- I added a little more info to article 1.5.

Version 1.1.4v2 (8-7-96):
- The FAQ has been split into two parts. Part 1 is general info about
the games, stories, etc. Part 2 carries all the hints and
frequently-asked questions about certain things in the games themselves.

Version 1.1.4v3 (8-12-96):
- Ooops. I was just about to send this FAQ out, when I realized that I
had basically created two definitions for "parts" when I split the FAQ
up. The old "parts" are now "sections", and items in sections are
"articles".

Version 1.1.5 (8-18-96):
- I realize that not every Final Fantasy fan receives the
alt.games.final-fantasy newsgroup. The HTML FAQ was one solution, here's
my next: The FAQ is now being sent to the more universally received
rec.games.video.nintendo newsgroup ever since the proposal for a Square
Soft/Final Fantasy rec.* group failed.
- There are a few new items in the glossary.
- Before I get flooded in mail again, the HTML FAQ site died again. It
wasn't my fault this time. Honestly.
- Square's "King's Knight" game is given the credit it deserves in
article 1.3.
- The history was cleaned up a little bit to reflect what I mentioned in
the release notes for 1.1.4v3. Items are now articles in the history.
- More stuff in article 4.4.
- Article 4.1.1 is a little more verbose now.
- Article 4.5 has been expanded.

Version 1.1.6 (8-24-96):
- I now mentioned Square LA's home page.
- More new stuff in the Glossary.
- Some tidying up, but nothing much otherwise.

Version 1.1.7 (9-2-96):
- Added a URL for the Game Genie Code Creators Club.

Version 1.1.8 (9-13-96):
- I haven't been updating the FAQ much recently, sorry. School started
last week, and being an honor student kind of takes away all your spare
time...
- Three more articles have been added to section 1. The first new one
(1.15) is a small attempt to curb some of the mail I've received
recently about stuff which is answered in the FAQ already. The next one
answers the frequently asked question I receive about obtaining FAQs.
- IMPORTANT: The third new article (1.17) is a small editorial I wrote
about all of these off-topic threads that have been propegating through
the a.g.f-f newsgroup recently. Please read it if you have ever
discussed anything not relating to Square (like MegaZeux or Lufia II.)
- Lots of Dark Elf questions this month! I've answered some of them in
section 4.3.


* 1.12 - Thank You's and Other Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank these people for their help:

- David Powell (David_Powell@brown.edu) for stories and information
about Seiken Densetsu/Final Fatasy Adventure and SaGa III.
- Nicholas Yarymowich (ax164@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) for making a list of
Chrono Trigger endings.
- Tatsushi Nakao (Tatsushi.Nakao@Colorado.EDU) for stories and
information on Rudora no Hihou.
- Chris Killam (logain@atcon.com) for providing information about FF IV
rare items.
- Aki K. Seiya (seiya@ix.netcom.com) for information about the story of
Seiken Densetsu III and info about the Black Market in the same game.
- Rob Vanatta (rvanatta@calweb.com) for the Secret of Evermore story.
- My 11th grade Mythology teacher, who taught me a lot of the stuff you
see in the Final Fantasy Glossary below. <8*)
- D.J. Green (nebulosa@best.com) for the Final Fantasy V story.
- Io (mc3488@mclink.it) for the Final Fantasy Mystic Quest story.
- Scott Frans (102060.1653@CompuServe.COM) for clearing up an
inconsistancy in article 1.3, and posting the FAQ to CompuServe.
- Laurence Hartje (lhartje@primenet.com) for mentioning a tip about the
Son of Sun in article 5.1.
- Lord Rokol (LrdRokol@aol.com) for giving us all a repository for Game
Genie codes.
- Luke Drelick (duky@worldnet.att.net) for pushing me way off the deep
edge and motivating me to write article 1.17.


* 1.13 - The Ultimate Final Fantasy Glossary

This glossary covers many of the acronyms, etc. used in this FAQ & the
alt.games.final-fantasy newsgroup, as well as some other things found in
Final Fantasy games.

FF: Short for "Final Fantasy".

NES/DMG/SNES: NES is an acronym for "Nintendo Entertainment System", DMG
is "Dot Matrix Game Boy", and SNES is "Super Nintendo Entertainment
System". These are the American names of Nintendo's products. (They're
called "famicoms" in Japan.)

CT: Short for "Chrono Trigger".

SoM/SD: Short for "Secret of Mana". (SD is short for "Seiken Densetsu",
or "Legend of the Holy Sword" in English.)

HP: Hit Points. In most RPGs, the characters hit point amount determines
how much physical damage they can take before they get taken out of
commission.

MP: Magic Points. Characters who cast magic spells use these for their
energy when they cast the spells.

GP: Can be either Gold Points, or Gold Pieces. They are the units of
currency in most of Square's games.

Lich/DarkLich (from FF I, SaGa/FFL I and SoM): A dead body.

Kraken (from FF I and SaGa/FFL I): A legendary sea monster of northern
seas. Not to be confused with the legendary Loch Ness Monster.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu (from FF V): The Epic of Gilgamesh was one of the
very first epic tales ever told on historic record. Gilgamesh was the
king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, and was hated by the people so
much that the gods sent a man named Enkidu to challenge Gilgamesh to a
duel. Gilgamesh accepted, they fought, and in the end, they emerged not
as rivals but as best of friends. So when Enkidu died, Gilgamesh set out
to find the secrets of eternal life, even though a wise sage named
Utnapishtim warns him that there is no such thing as "permanence".
Gilgamesh eventually found a tree which would allow men to live forever
if he would only eat the fruit it grew, but on the way back to Uruk, he
loses the tree to a serpent. Gilgamesh died within a year of the
incident.

Odin (from SaGa II/FFL II, FF IV, and FF VI): In Norse mythology, a
giant cow which nourished the Frost Giant Ymir (before the world was
created) melted a curious block of ice one day, and the first Norse
Aesir, Bure, emerged from the block. Bure resisted Ymir, and called upon
his sons (who weren't born yet) to bring Ymir down. Ymir was defeated,
but Bure died in the battle. One of the surviving sons of Bure was Odin,
who then went forth and created Yggdrasil (the World Tree) which linked
Ymir's body (now called "Midgard", or the human world) to a number of
other worlds. For starting the creation of Yggdrasil and fathering most
of the Norse gods, Odin became the master god of all the Norse
Aesir/Vanir (who were the Norse gods.) Today, we name our Wednesday in
honor of Odin.

Ragnarok (from FF VI): Yet another element of Norse mythology. Ragnarok
was the day when all the Norse gods and the evil Frost Giants would meet
in war (and unfortunately the Giants would win.) Due to the lack of
gods, Yggdrasil would catch fire, and all the worlds (including Midgard,
the humans' world) would be scorched, making Ragnarok a Norse version of
an apocalypse. However, after a period of darkness, several new entities
(several sons of Odin and Thor) would come out, restore Yggdrasil, and
Midgard would flourish in a new world of eternal peace.

Fenrir and Terrato (from FF VI): More Norse mythology. When Loki (one of
the Aesir, but really one of the Giants) mated with a giant, the Fenris
Wolf (Fenrir) and the Midgard Serpent (Terrato) were conceived. Both
reached Asgard (the world where the gods lived) sometime afterward. Odin
promptly threw the Midgard Serpent into the ocean, not realizing that
the Midgard Serpent would grow to be so tremendous that it would circle
around the world several times. As for the Fenris Wolf, he also grew up
fast, and made all the gods (except for Tyr) afraid of him - he had
already broken several of the chains, and there are entire stories to
how the gods found a way to permanently bound the Fenris Wolf.
Unfortunately, while they were bonding the Fenris Wolf, Tyr lost a hand,
but the bond would hold until Ragnarok (when the Fenris Wolf would break
free and devour Odin.) Loki and his mate would also conceive Hel, who
became ruler of the underworld, and where Christianity gets its name for
the Christian underworld.

Minerva (from FF VI) and Arachnid (from FF I): Minerva was a Greek/Roman
goddess who was thought to be the foremost weaver the world had known,
until a skilled mortal named Arachne challenged her to a weaving
contest. So, Minerva accepted the challenge, and when she wove, she wove
a message out to Arachne to give up before something bad happened. But
Arachne didn't yield, instead, she wove up a design which directly made
fun of the gods. For her blasphemy, Minerva turned Arachne into a
spider, so she would go out and weave for the rest of her life. Today,
the words "arachnid", "arachnophobia", etc. come from the outcome of
this story.

Chaos (from FF I): In Greek/Roman mythology, before anything, there was
nothing but Chaos, where everything was mixed together. Then, out of
Chaos came Gaia (Earth), and then Uranus (the sky), and thus, Order came
from out of Chaos. This is where we get words like "chaotic", which
basically mean "disorganized". In FF I, however, Chaos is portrayed as
the ultimate evil, which is not necessarily true every time.

Mu (from FF V): I'm not sure where this exactly originated, but Mu was
supposed to be a lost continent of sorts. Because Mu has been proven to
not exist, just the word "Mu" has come to mean "nothingness" or
"nonexisting". (NOTE: There are characters in Chrono Trigger who call
themselves "Nu". These are totally different, and shouldn't be confused
with Mu.)

ExDeath (from FF V): ExDeath is just short for "Exceeding Death". Wow!
Wasn't that short?

Venus (from FFL II): In Roman Mythology, Venus (Aphrodite in Greek
mythology) was the Roman god of beauty. Needless to say, she was one of
the most popular of the Roman gods, but even she despised some people,
like a mortal girl named Psyche. Venus did have one child (Cupid, a
demigod of love in Roman mythology), and has also given her name to the
second planet from the sun in our solar system.

Terra (from FF VI): Terra is not only a feminine name, but also refers
to Earth. "Terra Firma", for example, is a word meaning "land".

Crono (from Chrono Trigger): Taken from the word "Chronos", which refers
to simple wristwatch time. That leads into things like Chronologies
(history, time by time) and Chronic (occurring and getting worse over a
period of time.)

Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthezar (from Chrono Trigger): In Christianity,
these three wise men departed to meet Jesus on the night of Christ's
Mass (Christmas).

Lucca (from Chrono Trigger): Probably named after a region of Italy, but
no one has any idea if that's right or not.

Thanatos (from Secret of Mana): "Thanatos" is an Ancient Greek word,
meaning "death personified". (Thanks to sherlock@ksu.edu)

Janus (from Chrono Trigger): In Roman Mythology, Janus is the god of
open doors and generally represents various opposites that we see in
life. Janus has no equivilant in Greek Mythology, making him a "unique"
god to the Romans.

Locke and Celes (from FF VI): Although it may seem that Locke and
Celes's relationship is a normal one, Locke actually represents Jason,
and Celes represents Medea. Jason, according to Greek legend, sailed to
the end of the world to find the Golden Fleece with a team of men who
called themselves "Argonauts" because their boat was called the "Argo".
When Jason arrived, though; he could have not retrieved the Fleece if it
wasn't for Medea, a local sorceress who betrayed her people and helped
Jason retrieve the fleece. The mythological function, though, was that
Medea represented the feminine side of Jason, while Jason represented
the masculine side of Medea. And later on, when Jason became imbalanced
in himself and turned to being all-powerful again, so did Medea. Locke
and Celes are exactly the same way, and this is demonstrated time and
time again throughout the game.

Lavos (from Chrono Trigger): The idea for Lavos wasn't totally original,
either. Lavos does have a mythological equivilent - the infamous Cthulhu
(pronounced "kuh-tue-lue".) In Babylonian mythology, Cthulhu is an Elder
World entity who sleeps silently below ground in a forest somewhere. His
awakening would spell the Apocylapse, as he would rise from the forest
and drain the world of all its natural resources.


* 1.14 - I want to post the FAQ, too!
         Why is the FAQ being posted to newsgroup XXX?
         The FAQ is too big to post!
         Why don't you post the FAQ more/less often?

There's a little bit of misunderstanding among many of the people in the
alt.games.final-fantasy newsgroup.

This is an **official** UseNet FAQ. I noticed that there was no official
FAQ for this newsgroup, so I wrote one to answer many questions that
were asked repeatedly over and over again in the newsgroup that I was
getting tired of answering. After I wrote it and posted it originally, I
sent it to the UseNet FAQ people at MIT to turn it into an official FAQ.

Because this is an official UseNet FAQ, there are some restrictions on
what can and can't be done with the FAQ:

1. No one but the FAQ maintainer can post the FAQ.

2. Changes in the FAQ header are extremely trivial. In order for me to
add or drop newsgroups, I need to send mail to the FAQ people and wait
for them to approve of the change. I can't change the headers by myself,
I have to request and then be told to do so.

3. The FAQ people are extremely backlogged in mail. It takes nearly a
month in order to approve of the changes.

4. I only post the FAQ once a week. If I posted it more often, it would
not only be a waste of bandwith, but a nightmare to archive. Since the
FAQ is archived at an FAQ FTP server at MIT along with the rest of the
UseNet FAQs (ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/), I don't want to
flood them with FAQs to archive. Besides, there's a nice HTML FAQ out
there if you really need it.

As for the FAQ being too large to post, it depends on your newsreader.
Most newsreaders for Mac and Windows systems aren't especially graceful
with large articles, especially some Windows newsreaders which don't
allow custom headers. The FAQ is posted using a beta version of Tin 1.3
on my InterNet provider's Sun host. Tin really has no limit on how large
articles can be.

* 1.15 - I'd like to tell you about <something already in the FAQ>!
         Where can I find this <item already covered in the FAQ>?
         Why don't you add <something already covered in the FAQ>?

These kinds of questions are the most annoying I get. Please, folks, I
don't want to hear another thing about:
* how to defeat the MagiMaster in FF VI,
* where to find the rarest items in FF IV Easytype, and/or
* how to get vaguely mentioned secret characters in your party in any
game.

Just read the FAQ before you waste my time asking any of these kinds of
questions or sending me info about stuff I've already covered. It's all
there. Really.

* 1.16 - Can you send me a copy of this FAQ, or anyone else's FAQ?

Sorry, I am not a human FAQ server, nor do I ever want to be. If you
want a copy of the FAQ, please get it from any of the abovementioned
sources or read the weekly posting in the newsgroups.

As for other FAQs, I don't have them, so I can't give them to you...

* 1.17 - Short Editorial on Off-Topic Posts

UseNet has a very big reputation for being a total anarchy, and the
alt.games.final-fantasy newsgroup is no different. We as the readers
must decide for ourselves what is on-topic and what is not, just like
any other non-moderated newsgroup.

However, most every newsgroup out there (with the exceptions of a few,
like the alt.att.* newsgroups) was created for a specific purpose. The
alt.games.final-fantasy newsgroup was created for the purpose of
discussing Final Fantasy role-playing video games. Since then, we've
never had all that much of a problem talking about any Square game in
general.

Unfortunately, this has become a little out of hand. Now, there are
people pouring into the newsgroup talking about things that are totally
unrelated to Square games or propaganda or otherwise, and they claim
that "it should be allowed here because we are Square fans anyway." The
biggest violator of this recently have been the fluctuent posts about
Lufia II (an RPG for the SNES by Natsume) and MegaZeux (a game engine).
Neither item really belongs in this newsgroup at all, and it should be
taken elsewhere.

The stuff I wrote in article 1.4 are only **suggestions** for the
content of this newsgroup. They were written in the same newsgroup
"philosophy" which most of us agreed on before these other new people
came here and inundated us with stuff that has only a vague resemblance
to anything Square might have made. We can only hope that the "new"
people will come to terms with this and accept this aspect of the
newsgroup. Most of us are here to talk about Square, not some
third-party RPG or a third-party game engine.

Of course, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't go to some other place
where it is possible to discuss it. If you're one of these people, you
should seriously consider an alternative, like setting up a mailing list
about the product and devising your own rules for it. Unlike newsgroups,
mailing lists can be controlled very easially by a central authority.

Let me state again that I am not the moderator, nor can I tell people
what to do. I can only say that this has been a newsgroup for Square
stuff, and I hope you all respect that aspect of the newsgroup.

I'd like to hear your thoughts about this. Please E-Mail me if you have
any.


           +--------------------------------------------+
           |*** Section 2 - The Final Fantasy Series ***|
           +--------------------------------------------+

* 2.1 - The Final Fantasy Series (Intro)

There are currently seven Final Fantasy games, and three SaGa games.
Three of the seven FF games were released in the USA, in the descriptors
below I'll mention if the game was released in the USA or not. All three
SaGa games were released in the USA as "The Final Fantasy Legend", and
are vastly different from the regular Final Fantasy games.

The first three Final Fantasy games were released for the NES, the next
four were released for the SNES, and all the SaGa/Final Fantasy Legend
games were released for the Nintendo Game Boy.


* 2.2 - Final Fantasy I (USA: Final Fantasy I)

It is a dark time for the Kingdom of Coneria. The world had been kept
functioning and intact by four prevailing elemental powers - Earth,
Fire, Water, and Air. But now, fertile valleys are turning into useless
clay, the world's volcanoes are threatening to erupt uncontrollably and
unpredictably, the ancient Sea Shrine has been invaded and once-peaceful
marine life has turned against seagoers, and the Sky Warriors of Lefein
have lost their prize possession - the Sky Castle - to monsters with
control over the skies. It looked like the world was falling apart
uncontrollably, until a wise sage named Lukahn told the King about the
Prophecy of the Light Warriors - in times of terror, four Warriors would
appear, and they alone would set things straight again. Princess Sara
heard about this, and left the castle to find the Light Warriors
(unfortunately, she never returned.) One day, though, some time after
the Princess's disappearance, a group of four showed up at the gates of
Coneria Castle, and each one of them held a darkened Orb. You control
the Light Warriors, and you must lead them on a quest to return light to
the Orbs and gain elemental powers back to where they belong. Did I
mention reality's fate depended on you and you alone? Good luck.

Final Fantasy I is the game that started it all. It was vastly different
from any other RPG available for the NES, as well as being one of the
best RPGs in its time. Although this game lacks many things that were
added to future Final Fantasy games - like Chocobos, for instance - it's
still a great game to play over and over again. It's pretty long, too,
for an NES game.


* 2.3 - Final Fantasy II (not released in the USA)

A full copy of the story to this game can be found at this URL:

http://www.odyssee.net/~jpmorin/vidgames/ff2story.htm

(The story was much too big to put in this FAQ.)


* 2.4 - Final Fantasy III (not released in the USA)

I've never played this game, so I don't have any idea what it's about or
what was added to it. Can someone fill me in here?


* 2.5 - Final Fantasy IV (not released in the USA)

The world was at peace with itself, and kingdoms governed their land
justly and with little or no quarreling with bordering kingdoms. In one
of the kingdoms, though - Baron - an engineer had finally came up with a
machine that would give mankind its ultimate dream come true - the
ability to fly. These machines, called "airships", would allow for
unrestricted sky travel, and so, Baron became the most powerful kingdom
in the world. A man named Cecil, who was originally trained to be a Dark
Knight, took up the job of creating and commanding a fleet of Airships,
and the people who flew the ships became known as the "Red Wings". One
day, Cecil was commanded by the King of Baron to fly to the town of
Mysidia and take a magic crystal from the town. The Red Wings did so,
but after the mission, Cecil realized what he had done and questioned
the King's authority to use the Red Wings to bully a foreign town. So,
at that, the King stripped Cecil's authority and commanded him to bring
a present to the nearby town of Mist, where humans could call up
monsters to do their bidding. Cecil was not going to do this journey
alone - he would be accompanied with a skilled Royal Dragoon named Kain.
In Final Fantasy II, you are Cecil, and you guide Cecil through a series
of plot twists and sub-quests which send Cecil out on a mission to save
the world from a fiend named Golbez and the strange power controlling
Golbez's actions.

Compared to other Final Fantasy Games, Final Fantasy IV was quite long
and detailed - Cecil would be separated and rejoined with Kain many
times in the story and meet other allies like Rosa, a wizard with magic
healing powers; Edge, an ambidextrous ninja; and Tellah, a sage with
strong magical powers. Cecil won't be assisted just by humans, however,
as this game had many forests which are homes to Chocobo birds which
could give the party rides or recover their MP or even store items for
them. As the world in Final Fantasy IV gets more and more explored and
more progress goes into the game, two more worlds open up to exploration
by Cecil. This is another one of those games which you're going to find
yourself playing over and over again.

The most notable addition to Final Fantasy IV, though, was a "real-time"
battle system in which warriors prepare themselves for battle based on
their agility level, and when they receive a command, they take out
orders immediately. There is no time to waste in battles in this game,
since when your party's getting ready to attack or when you're stuck on
giving a character orders, the monsters will be attacking you based on
their agility levels. Then, there are surprise attacks where the
monsters will strike first, pre-emptive attacks where the party has a
chance to strike first, and the dreaded back attack.


* 2.6 - Final Fantasy IV Easytype (USA: Final Fantasy II)

Well, apparently, some Final Fantasy fans must have found Final Fantasy
IV to be much too difficult to play and win, so Square Co. Ltd released
another version of the game with some of the more trivial and
nonimportant sub-plots and items taken out of the game, as well as
having the enemies toned down and special battle tactics removed.


* 2.7 - Final Fantasy V (not released in the USA)

The game opens when the main character, Butz, is out riding with his
chocobo, Boko. A huge meteorite slams to the earth, not far from him.
When he rides over to investigate, he finds a young woman and an older
man. The man has lost his memory, but can remember enough to call
himself Galuf. The girl identifies herself as Lenna, princess of Tycoon.
Satisfied that they are all right, Butz lets them leave, only to chase
back after them when the road they travel starts to crumble beneath them
and they are attacked by goblins. Eventually, he rescues them and they
set off to find a way back to Tycoon, only to find themselves captured
by pirates as they explore a watery cave.

The pirate leader, Faris, spares them when he finds that he has a
pendant exactly like the one Lenna was wearing. He agrees to take them
to the Temple of Wind, since there is no wind to be found. At the Temple
of Wind, they find that the crystal of wind has been shattered.
Concerned about the remaining three crystals - water, fire, and earth,
the party of four - Butz, Galuf, Lenna, and Faris (who later turns out
to be a she) chase after the remaining three crystals, only to arrive
just in time to see each one shatter. After the shattering of the last
crystal, Galuf's granddaughter, Kururu, comes out of the meteorite that
heralded the destruction of the last crystal, and offers to take him
home.

Butz, Lenna, and Faris, with the help of the inventor genius Cid (who
created a ship powered by - and later not powered by--the crystal of
fire) and his grandson Mid, find a way to power their own journey after
Galuf, who they want to help out in the quest that brought him to their
world. Arriving on Galuf's world, they find him pitched in a battle
against ExDeath, a tree into which all of the evil forces in that world
had been summoned. With the help of Galuf and his friends Zeza and
Kelgar, they continue an assault on ExDeath. Butz learns of the true
origin of his father, Dorgan - who was born on this world, and left for
Butz's world to watch over the crystals, which kept ExDeath sealed away.
ExDeath had once been defeated by the four Warriors of the Dawn - Galuf,
Zeza, Kelgar, and Dorgan - and sealed away by the crystals, but he found
a way to shatter them and escape, wreaking havoc on Galuf's and Butz's
world. Now, each of the remaining Warriors of the Dawn (Dorgan died in
Butz's world of natural causes, perhaps precipitating ExDeath's move on
the crystals) must sacrifice his life in order to help the four heroes
of this generation - the Light Warriors - defeat ExDeath for once and
for all. Zeza sacrifices himself in the depths of a Barrier Tower, one
of four generating an impenetrable barrier around ExDeath's castle.
Galuf is slain in a battle with ExDeath himself, trying to regain the
power of the crystals of this world. One of the crystals is shattered,
but your party manages to regain control of the other three when Galuf
uses his last strength to force ExDeath to retreat. Kururu takes Galuf's
place in your party, gaining his knowledge and experience from the will
of the crystals that resided in him and moved into her with his death.
Kelgar uses the last of his strength, giving it to Kururu to break the
trapping illusions of ExDeath's castle when you go to storm it. In the
final battle with ExDeath, though, the three remaining crystals are
shattered, and the events which follow show the true link between
Galuf's and Butz's worlds, and pave the way to the final defeat of
ExDeath.

In Final Fantasy V, unlike in I and IV, character classes aren't fixed.
From the fragments of each of the crystals, your characters obtain
"jobs" - character classes ranging from the familiar Knight, White Mage,
and Red Mage, to the slightly more exotic but still recognizable Caller,
Dragoon (Dragon Knight), and Ninja, to totally new classes like the
Elementalist (Wind/Water Mage), the Monk, the Magic Sword Knight, and
the Blue Mage (which class is revisited in Final Fantasy VI in the form
of Strago). Characters may switch between these jobs any time they are
not in battle, but as they stay in a job and earn experience in it, they
learn abilities in these jobs. Each character, in addition to his job,
can use one ability learned from any class. Some of these abilities
duplicate powers the class has naturally - casting white magic, using a
harp as a weapon, and summoning the elements - to new abilities that can
assist your character even while he plays the class s/he learned it
from: summoning woodland creatures, raising your hit points by up to
30%, and paralyzing enemies. Success comes from making suitable mixes of
both primary jobs and secondary abilities, making sure that you have
ample ability to attack while simultaneously being able to defend and
heal yourself.


* 2.8 - Final Fantasy VI (USA: Final Fantasy III)

It is said that the world was created by three ancient Magi, whose
magical powers governed the world and made them immortal and
all-powerful. That would sound good, except when the Magi conflicted
with each other, things got ugly. While arguing on what to create where
one day, an all-out war started among the people in the world. The Magi
would turn some of these people into freaks of nature with magical
powers, and these new creatures were called "Espers". The humans who
weren't changed could be infused with magical powers from these Espers,
so they too could use magic. The people continued to fight against each
other using the dread destructive forces known as "magic", and all the
while, were not only destroying themselves but ridiculing the Magi that
looked over them. The Magi finally realized what was going on, and
turned themselves to stone in an attempt to stop what they had started.
In the meantime, the Espers had realized the errors of the humans' ways,
so they created their own world to live in and separated the two worlds.
Magic ceased to exist in the human world as the war - which was dubbed
"War of the Magi" - ended at long last. Eons passed, and civilizations
advanced as high science and technology reigns in a new world. But one
day, in the small mining community of Narshe, a frozen Esper is
unearthed. After news of this, attacks similar to ones only last seen
during the War of the Magi appeared again, and the world's citizens were
afraid that magic was making a comeback. A powerful Empire in the south
had been campaigning for control of the world, and their ruler, Emperor
Gestahl, was going to use the dread destructive forces of magic to take
the world as his own. His ultimate weapon rested in a young girl who was
half-human and half-Esper, and could wield magical powers without having
to be infused with magic first. Her name was Terra, and she possessed
arcane powers the world had never seen since the War of the Magi eons
ago. However, Terra did not completely understand emotions, so in fear
that she may someday turn to work against the Empire, the Empire had put
a controller on her which robbed her of all conscious thought. Terra,
and two other Imperial soldiers, were then commanded by the Emperor to
raid the town of Narshe and return with more information about the
frozen Esper that was found there. In Final Fantasy VI, your first
mission is to find the Esper, and after a freak accident between the
Esper and Terra occurs which returns Terra's conscious thought to
herself, you must guide her and a party of adventurers in an attempt to
stop Emperor Gestahl before he re-enacts the War of the Magi and all is
lost again.

Final Fantasy VI is by far the longest and most challenging Final
Fantasy game made. The sheer amount of character depth and plot changes
make a long and challenging game fold out to you instead of the player
knowing everything just by the beginning of the game. Final Fantasy VI
also has the largest party size - there are no class changes like there
was in Final Fantasy V, so every character has his/her own personal
strong points and skills to build on. There are also two secret
characters in this game, if you can find them. The geographical features
again contribute to the game's story, as different modes of
transportation are needed to get to several different scenarios, like
rafting down river rapids, taking ferry boats, and even submerging a
castle under desert sands in order to get around a mountain range.
Chocobos are rare in this game - only the yellow species still exist,
and you can only find them in stables located in different parts of the
world.

The major new addition to this game are mainly new ways of using the
Super Nintendo's Mode 7 effects - Chocobo and Airship rides are no
longer over a flat map, but are now three-dimensional and are really
cool to watch.


* 2.9 - SaGa (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend)

Long ago, the ancients built a gigantic Tower which linked many
different and unique worlds together for easy access. It is said that a
special Paradise exists on the top floor of the Tower, but oddly enough,
monsters have come out of the tower and the "main" worlds of the tower
have been sealed off by fiends, all under control of a creature named
Ashura. Now, there is another who has dared to brave the adventure,
destroy Ashura and claim the elusive and infamous (yet only fabled)
Paradise.

SaGa is very different from the regular Final Fantasy games - there are
no set characters and no occupations. Instead, you get to make up your
own party, which can be composed using Humans (regular characters who
must be manually upgraded), Mutants (human-like characters with magical
powers and upgrade themselves with battle experience), and various
monsters who have been tamed and will fight for the Humans' and Mutants'
cause. Human and Mutant characters can be either male or female - the
only difference other than the character's appearance is the character's
starting statistics which tend to weigh more towards strength for males
and toward agility for females. And weapons have a limited life as well
- all weapons and items can be only used a limited amount of times
before they break and new ones must replace them.


* 2.10 - SaGa II (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend II)

It has been said that when the ancient gods created the worlds, they
linked each and every world together by way of one main Celestial World
which would connect to other worlds by way of a tower known as the
"Pillar of the Sky". One of the ancient gods, Isis, then turned herself
to stone and split herself into seventy-seven separate stones which were
scattered far and wide. These stones became known as MAGI stones, and
when a person used the powers of the MAGI, he or she would effectively
be a contemporary god. Five such people - Ashura, Venus, Magnate, Odin,
and Apollo - went out and gained powers by collecting MAGI and used them
to become more god-like. Meanwhile, an underground operation of people
known as "guardians" were storing MAGI of their own so that these gods
couldn't go too far in the way of increasing their powers. One of these
people is your father, although he had to keep a low profile in order to
prevent blowing his cover while in front of the gods he was working
against, so even you didn't know his real identity very well as he left
when you were young. Now that you (whose name and identity the players
get to choose) are older, you decide to go out and find your father, and
on the way, you must collect MAGI of your own to help you on your
search. You're not alone, however, you take three other people with you
on the mythological Father Quest.

SaGa II is much more detailed and longer than the original game. There
are many more worlds to discover and many more sub-quests that must be
embarked on your way towards finding your father. There are the same
character classes from the original SaGa, with one addition - robots,
who become powerful based on the weapons it has equipped, and its
weapons will never break but instead will recharge themselves when your
party sleeps at the Inn and be useful once again. The MAGI also plays a
role in the game - different MAGI have different uses, and some MAGI can
be equipped with a character to give him/her special skills like extra
strength/agility or resistance to an elemental power.


* 2.11 - SaGa III (USA: The Final Fantasy Legend III)

Thousands of years ago, immortal beings fought a long war over who
should become the ruler of a world known as "Pureland". As the battle
went on, these beings created more and more powerful magic and more
devastating weapons. Unfortunately, the side affects of these
increasingly powerful means of war began to show their signs in other
universes. The effects of such attacks were so great as to actually
threaten the existence of other worlds. Sol, the creator of The World,
feared that the effects of these attacks would soon spell the end of his
world. So, he build a great spacecraft, known as the Talon, that was
capable of flying at incredible speeds, and could even traverse the
different dimensions themselves, allowing him to travel to other worlds.
So, Sol used this ship to travel to Pureland, where he managed to seal
the warring immortal beings, and more importantly the effects of their
magic, in their world. This exercise was very taxing for Sol, though,
and when he returned to The World he had just enough energy to spread
the 13 key components, known as Units, throughout the time and space
occupied by his world. He then fell into a deep sleep. Hundreds of years
later, the immortal Pureland beings have grown powerful enough to
finally retaliate against Sol for sealing them off from the rest of the
worlds. Using their combined magic, they summon a water entity that
manifests itself above the oceans of The World, and was visible to all
inhabitants of the The World, past, present, or future. This apparition
created two great problems for those who lived in The World. Out of this
entity came forth hordes of evil and dangerous creatures who threatened
the lives of the inhabitants of the World. Also from this entity poured
forth water, and slowly began to flood The World, which not only
threatened the lives of those who lived there, but their posterity as
well. Only one mortal, known as the Elder of Dharm, in The World knows
the true reason for the presence of the Water Entity, and what the
ultimate goal of the monsters that was ravaging the surface of his world
was. You are raised by this man, and when you grow old enough, he tells
to the true story of the Water Entity, and how you must travel across
land and time itself to hunt down and find the scattered pieces of the
Talon, so that the Purelanders can once again be stopped, and your world
can be saved.

SaGa III offers a different style of fighting than in SaGa I and SaGa
II, that is similar to Final Fantasy VI (I think). You normally have
four members in your party, but are be joined by a fifth character from
time to time. You don't have a choice into the nature of your original
characters, but you do have the opportunity to develop them though the
gaining of experience. They also have the chance to change to/from
robots, cyborgs, beasts, and monsters, through the eating of monster
meat or installation of robot parts obtained in battle. Robots don't
have the ability to use magic, and are initially weak, but have the
ability to upgrade through the addition of part capsules. Cyborgs are a
cross between human/mutants and robots. Monsters don't have the ability
to use any items, but generally have high HP and must continue to eat
the meat of stronger monsters if they wish to continue to develop.
Beasts are a cross between human/mutants and monsters. Unlike SaGa I and
II, many weapons have unlimited usage, but there are also many 1 use
items.  Also new is unlimited use magic that can be purchased or created
with combinations of stones that are found throughout the game. There
are also special non-combat spells which will allow you to fly though
the air and swim under water. When flying the Talon, you can fly though
the air, and the Talon will fight along with you when you encounter
enemies.


          +----------------------------------------------+
          |*** Section 3 - Other Games by Square Soft ***|
          +----------------------------------------------+

* 3.1 - Rad Racer (was released in the USA, but I'm not sure about
Japan)

Rad Racer was one of the early Nintendo racing games in which you drive
either a sports car or an F1 racer down roads and must make it past
certain checkpoints in a given amount of time in order to finish the
race and move on.

The only thing which made this old NES game unique was that, if you
pressed Select during game play, the colors would change so you could
wear 3D glasses and play the game in a 3D motif instead of the regular
2D graphics. Hey - it was made in the 80s, after all.


* 3.2 - The 3D Battles of World Runner (was released in the USA, but I'm
not sure about Japan)

In this game, you were in control of World Runner, and your goal was to
dash through a level in a certain amount of time in order to get to a
dragon boss who was waiting at the end of each world in order to move on
to the next. Sort of like Rad Racer, except it had a plot to it and you
controlled a human instead of a car.

Also like Rad Racer, this game had a 3D feature. Gutta love those 1980s.


* 3.3 - Rad Racer II (was released in the USA, but I'm not sure about
Japan)

Generally the same as Rad Racer, except with new tracks, the F1 car
removed, the 3D feature removed, and a little bit different of a feel to
it. But otherwise, it was relatively unchanged from the original.


* 3.4 - Seiken Densetsu (USA: The Final Fantasy Adventure)

All life in the world springs forth from a waterfall which flows from
the base of a tree known as the Tree of Mana. The waters from this tree
are the essence of life itself, and not only create life, but purify
those living in the world. In turn, the goodness in the world supports
and strengthens the Mana Tree However, this idyllic relationship is very
unstable. The Mana Tree dependance on the will of all those who live in
the world means that should the beauty and peace of the world be tainted
with evil, the tree will suffer. Given a great enough evil, the tree
will begin spewing forth waters that no longer strengthen peace in the
world, but rather breed evil in the minds of the inhabitants of the
world. This generation of evil will spiral in until the world is
completely consumed by it. Anyone who managed to gain control of this
tree could effectively rule the world with near limitless power. Thus,
the tree was to be protected - the shrine that surrounded it was
considered sacred and no man dared tread on its hallowed grounds.
However, long ago, the Emperor of a land known as Vandole entered the
shrine and began to use the power of the Mana Tree to enhance his evil
and enslave the people of his kingdom. However, his attempt to rule the
world was thwarted by the Gemma Knights, the guardians of the Mana Tree,
and the Mana Family, the Tree's keepers. Following the battle, the Mana
Family feared that the tree could once again be used for evil purposes,
and therefore decided to seal the shrine with a magical pendant. Many
years later, another corrupt ruler turned his eyes toward the Mana Tree.
Dark Lord, ruler of the Empire of Glaive, wishes to use the tree for his
own evil purposes. He is assisted by a sorcerer named Julius, who knows
a suspicious amount of information about the nature of the Tree and the
Pendant that was used to seal the shrine. Some people of this world are
unfortunate enough to be captured and forced to fight evil monsters for
the entertainment of Dark Lord, as well as the increase amount of evil
in the world. These people fight over and over until they die. You are
one of these people, and were originally captured after sneaking into
Dark Lord's castle to find out what he and Julius were up to. After a
battle one day, your best friend, when lying on his death bed, tries to
tell you what he knows about what is going on. He manages to mumble only
a few words about Mana, the Gemma Knights, and a particular person,
Bogard, who you should see if you are ever able to escape. You indeed
escape, and eventually find this person, after being pushed off a cliff
by Dark Lord and being saved by a young girl. Bogard turns out to be a
Gemma Knight, but is very old. He helps you continue on your journey,
but you learn very little from him. He almost doesn't help you at all,
until he sees a pendant the girl has around her neck...

This game is not an RPG in the way the the SaGa and Final Fantasy series
were. It is actually an adventure game, fought real-time. Although
similar in battle-style to Nintendo's Legend of Zelda, it differs
greatly because of the presence of a good storyline and the ability to
develop, and more importantly, control the development of, your
character. You have the ability to talk to people, as well as sell and
purchase items, armor, and weapons. At certain points you learn special
magic spells, and at others you will be assisted by one of several
characters who will not only fight at your side, but will also offer
advice or provide some service (i.e. heal you).


* 3.5 - Seiken Densetsu II (USA: The Secret of Mana)

You are a child who grew up in the little village of Potos, out in the
middle of nowhere it seems. You were raised by the villagers there,
since your parents just left you in the care of the village before they
mysteriously disappeared. One day, while out in areas which were
forbidden for you and your fellow townspeople to enter, you got
separated from your friends and found a strange sword stuck in stone -
calling your name. You take the sword, but when you do, the area becomes
invaded with evil creatures who fight back against the villagers. Turns
out, the sword you took was protecting the town, and so, without the
sword and with you being held responsible, the townspeople drive you out
of town. Your adventures lead you into a long quest which turns into a
journey to save the world from an evil being named Thanatos, who is
trying to revive an ancient device of destruction known as the "Mana
Fortress".

The whole Secret of Mana series was Square Soft's first real venture
into creating adventure games instead of RPGs. In this game, the player
gets a variety of different weapons, and over the course of the game
have to improve them in order to get farther into the game. Your main
character will not alone on your quest, two others - a girl and a sprite
- will eventually join the party, and you can assign these characters to
being either computer-controlled or you can have up to two other people
playing the same game at the same time.


* 3.6 - Seiken Densetsu III (not released in the USA)

Long ago, when the world was still in the darkness, the Mana Goddess
sealed the 8 beasts of disaster that were to bring destruction into 8
stones using the Mana Sword. Darkness then faded, and thus the world was
created. Mana Goddess transformed herself into a tree. Years passed
by... Until one day, the peace came to a sudden halt. Power-hungry ones
trying to take over the world, breaking the seal and releasing the
powers of the 8 beasts... Trying to possess and wield powers greater
than those of gods and goddesses... Mana was being depleted from the
world quickly... and the Mana Tree was starting to wither and die. And
thus, the Triangle Story begins...

Seiken Densetsu III is based on conflicts between a neutral country and
a leading (strong) country:
                Forcena <--> Artena
                Rolante <--> Navarre
                Wendel <--> Beast Kingdom

This combination creates 2 Triangles:
                BK ---- Artena       Wendel ----Forcena
                  \     /                 \     / 
                   \   /                   \   /
                  Navarre                 Rolante
which can be imposed on top of each other. The story is based on the
relationships among these countries. Therefore, the story will differ
depending on which character you start the adventure with.

There are 6 characters in Seiken Densetsu 3. Your party will consist of
3 of the 6 characters.  Depending on who you choose as your main
character, your purpose, story, course of action, and the final enemy
will differ. You can choose from:
        Duran (Forcena): soldier
        Angela (Artena): magic user
        Charlotte (Wendel): cleric
        Hawkeye (Navarre): thief
        Riesz (Rolante): amazoness
        Kevin (Beast Kingdom): grappler

DURAN:  Forcena
The game starts with a tournament scene. Duran is up against Bruzer.
Duran wins (of course). Duran's father, Roki was known as the "Golden
Knight", and was a good friend of the king (Eiyuu-ou). He disappeared
when Duran was still a young boy. His mother, Simone, died of illness,
so Duran and his younger sister Wendy, were brought up by his Aunt
Stella. He had no real memories of his father, but like him, Duran
became the best swordsman among the young, and became a soldier for
Eiyuu-ou. Duran is on watch at the castle. The other guard goes on the
round for the last time for the night before their replacement is to
arrive.  We enter Duran's dream... (he falls asleep.) Duran as a young
boy, asks where his father is going. Roki replies he's going to go fight
a dragon - Ryuutei - the strongest among all dragons. He never returns.
It was reported that he fell into a bottomless pit with Ryuutei. Simone
collapses after she whispers "so he was a golden knight till the very
end... I'm sure that's what he would have wanted..." Simone admits to
Stella that she had been ill, but didn't say anything because she didn't
want to burden Roki. (Simone probably dies at this point.) Duran wakes
up, and the area is covered by a bright red light. He finds the soldiers
on the floor, and a mage in red robes appear. Duran attacks, but fails.
He collapses after he is struck by magic. Voices are heard, and the mage
splits. (Just in a knick of time... how 'bout that. ^^; ) Forcena
advisors suspect Artena of sending spies into Forcena. They want to
attack Artena, but Eiyuu-ou stops them - there's no proof yet and no
apparent reason as to why they would do this. He orders spies to be sent
into Artena. Duran's in the pub, upset that he was beaten. Wendy comes
to cheer him up, but runs off. Duran then visits a fortune-teller. And
his adventure begins...


* 3.7 - Chrono Trigger (USA: Chrono Trigger)

It has been one thousand years since order has come out of chaos and the
Kingdom of Guardia had united the entire world together, so now, the
citizens of the world will celebrate a giant Millineal Fair in tribute
to the event which happened a thousand years ago, and all the hardships
it had gone through since - like a war against an evil wizard named
Magus who tried to take over the kingdom four hundred years ago. Crono
is a common boy in this world, and he wakes up one morning to go and
celebrate the Millineal Fair with the rest of the known world. Crono had
only barely entered the fair when he accidentally bumped into a girl
wandering around in the crowd. She claimed that her name was Marle, and
asked Crono if she could follow him around for a while, and he accepted.
The couple travelled to an exhibit at the fair which was being put on by
Crono's best friend, Lucca, who was an inventor and scientist. The
invention was a telepod - you could step in one end and come out the
other. Crono tried it out first, and sure enough, came out the other
side in one piece. But when Marle tried it, she just disappeared without
a clue to where she went. Although this made Lucca panic, adventurous
Crono took the one thing Marle left behind when she disappeared - her
strange pendant, and stepped back into the pod. This time, he
disappeared, and awoke to find himself in the same place he was in, but
he was now four hundred years back in time... As Crono, you must travel
back and forth in time to fix damaged time strands in order to prevent
the possibility of having an alternate reality in which everything is
destroyed in the future by an alien creature named Lavos. Marle and
Lucca will also be along for the ride, but you will also meet certain
characters from different points in world history which will join Crono
on his way.

Chrono Trigger is in many ways like a Final Fantasy game, except instead
of a few large worlds there are many smaller worlds with links to the
past, present, and future to be explored. The idea of moving back and
forth in time is not a new one, but it does add so much to the story of
this game which revolves around time travel.


* 3.8 - The Secret of Evermore (not released in Japan)

Basically, the storyline is very simple. It is about a boy and his dog
(whom you both name.) from Podunk, USA. The boy is a bit obsessed with
Science Fiction films, as he is constantly referring occurances in the
game to the films. The game starts with him and his dog leaving a movie
(I forget the name). His dog runs off to chase after a cat, which leads
him to a huge mansion. The dog runs in the mansion, and the boy follows.
Inside, they find a huge machine. The dog chews on the wire, and the
machine sucks him up inside. The boy has no choice buy to follow. They
find themselves in a spaceship. The professor who used to live in Podunk
in the 1960s (it was his mansion) throws the boy and his dogs to some
sentries, who are easily beaten with a bazooka you find. Then, you jump
out the spaceship and fall to the earth. You also find your dog has been
mutated.

The game play is similar to that of Secret of Mana. However, the magic
is a bit different. You use something called "alchemy" if you have ever
played the Ultima Series, the magic system will be VERY familiar to you.
Using the L and R buttons, the dog can "sniff" out items you need to
cast a spell. I.E. ash, crystal, water. Then, to cast a spell, you need
like 2 ash and 1 water.


* 3.9 - Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (USA: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest)

Basically, there is Benjamin, a boy who was raised by an old man of his
village. One day, while he is with a man on the top of a hill, a great
earthquake starts, and they are attacked by a monster; and it's a very
strange thing, because monsters have never been seen anywhere for a long
time... Benjamin kills the beast, and returns to his town only to start
a journey that will bring him all across the world, until the final
battle with a powerful being called the "Dark King".

There are many differences from this and the other Final Fantasy games;
the world is divided in four parts (and everyone is related to an
Element) linked by a giant Tower, but the tower's doors were sealed
long, long ago, to separate the four regions; in every region there is a
large dungeon (ie the Ice Pyramid, Lava Dome, and Pazuzu's Tower) which
holds a boss monster that controls that land.

Another difference is that during the game some of your actions will
modify the very shape of the world: you start in the Earth region, that
is becoming more and more dry and ill, and you will restore it to
fertility; the Water region is freezing, and you must restore warm to
it, and then open a hole with a powerful bomb in a sealed waterfall that
once used to fill a great lake in Wind's region, and now is sealed; the
Fire region is being shook up by powerful earthquakes (you'll see them
on the world map !) that you will stop, and in the Wind region you will
stop the strong wind that is going to destroy the city. During the whole
game, your party will be composed only by two characters: you and
another, that will often change. The last (and biggest) difference from
other games is that there are no battles on the world map, but only in
the locations, and the monsters are visible, and a battle can be started
only by going into them; and, when killed, they will disappear.


* 3.10 - Breath of Fire (USA: Breath of Fire)

I've never played this game before. Could someone please fill this space
for me? Thanks.


* 3.11 - Romancing SaGa (not released in the USA)

See 3.10.


* 3.12 - Romancing SaGa II (not released in the USA)

See 3.11.


* 3.13 - Romancing SaGa III (not released in the USA)

See 3.12.


* 3.14 - Bahamut Lagoon (not released in the USA)

See 3.13.


* 3.15 - Super Mario RPG (USA: Super Mario RPG)

The plot to this game (which was co-produced by Square and Nintendo)
seems simple at first. In fact, the plot is almost exactly the same as
the plots in Super Mario Bros. I, III, and Super Mario World: The
Princess has been kidnapped by Bowser (again!), and Mario (Luigi makes
his only appearances in the game's manual this time around) goes after
her. This time, Mario travels straight to Bowser's castle, and while the
two are fighting, a strange thing happens: A giant sword falls from the
sky and into the castle; sending Mario, Bowser, and the Princess flying
out of the castle. Mario fortunately lands right into his small house,
but the Princess is missing and Mario can't get back into the castle. As
the plot thickens, however, it's revealed to Mario that the Star Road
has been shattered by the Smithies (the same forces guiding the sword),
and without it, wishes can never be answered. In order to fix the Star
Road, Mario needs to find seven stars, and then drive the Smithies out
of the Mushroom World.

Super Mario RPG not only enhances on the Mario theme by keeping classic
Mario elements (like the ?-mark blocks everyone's familiar with,
Starman, etc.) and adding in a new 3D world, but it's also the first of
the many Mario games over the years to have a role-playing style to it.
Mario punches, hammers, jumps, kicks shells at enemies; and also fights
with a group of up to two other characters. There's plenty of tiny bites
of humor throughout the game, puzzles to solve, places to visit, and
various sub-games to play. Some of the puzzles and sub-games in Super
Mario RPG, however, may only be easy for people who can maintain a solid
rythem and have an understanding of the C major scale in sol-fesh,
because non-musicians may have a hard time trying to race Boshi or
helping Toadofsky with his songs. Otherwise, this is a very solid game.


* 3.16 - Rudora no Hihou (not released in the USA)

After 4000 years of prosperity of the one race of life, there will be
one who brings the end to that race... one's name is known as Rudora.
Rudora will bring an end to one race and also brings creation of the
next race to prosper. Almost 4000 years have past since the race begin
to flourish... air was polluted, and there was a sign of the end of
human race worldwide. Will there be a way to escape from Rudora's
routine of destruction and creation? "Rudora no Hihou" vividly describes
the human race that fought against destiny in the last 16 days before
Rudora's destruction began...

In "Rudora no Hihou", the player searches for the strongest magic by
themselves. With different combinations of the specific word (Japanese
characters), magic attribute, strength and MP consumption will change.
Explore around to making magic and create your own ultimate magic!


* 3.17 - Treasure Hunter G (not released in the USA)

See 3.14.


* * * To Be Continued in Part 2 * * *

-- 
Nick Zitzmann                             http://orion.edmonds.wednet.edu/
(Resident Mac Tweaker)
nickzman@eskimo.com (InterNet)            "640K should be enough for
zitzmann@edmonds.wednet.edu (Alt.)         everyone." - Bill Gates
