Quest 64
Encyclopedia
Quest 64, released as Holy Magic Century in Europe
, Australia
and New Zealand
and as in Japan
, is a single-player role-playing game developed by Imagineer
and published by THQ
. It was released for the Nintendo 64
in 1998 and was the first RPG released for the system in the United States.
After Quest 64s moderate financial success, a sequel was in consideration by the developer Imagineer. However, only the sequel's story was revealed before it was ultimately cancelled. Imagineer released two other related games for the Game Boy Color
: Quest RPG: Brian's Journey and a puzzle game called Quest: Fantasy Challenge.
—the player learns later that his father is looking for a thief who has stolen the "Eletale Book". The player must also collect elemental amulets, which have been hoarded by powerful criminals and are integral in the defeat of the game's final boss
.
Brian — A young boy who has set out to save his father. He lives at Melrode Monastery and is an apprentice magician with the ability to use Water, Fire, Wind, and Earth magic. The protagonist's name in the Japanese version is , while he is called Ayron in PAL region
releases
Lord Bartholomy — Brian's father and Master Spirit Tamer. He lives at Melrode Monastery and set about to get the Eletale Book which was stolen, but was subdued at Brannoch Castle before being able to continue.
Leonardo — Another apprentice magician like Brian who appears at Normoon and at Brannoch Castle near the end of the game. Though not a main character, he still manages to help Brian by providing healing items in a room within Brannoch Castle.
Leila — The guardian of Larapool, the city of water. She has the ability to control the water flow of the city, thus giving Brian access to Larapool's entrance to Blue Cave.
Colleen — A Sorceress who has protected the Water Jewel for generations is the only inhabitant of the Isle of Skye; her home is connected to Epona's home.
Epona — The mysterious seer who resides in the Blue Cave; her connection to the Isle of Skye gives Brian access to the Water Jewel. Later on, her powers allow her to enter Mammon's Dimension at the end of the game to provide aid to Brian.
King Scottfort — King of Kenneshire, rules over Dondoran Castle in Dondoran.
Queen Deanna — Queen of Carmagh, rules over Limelin Castle in Limelin and rules alone due to the death of her husband.
Prince William — The son of Queen Deanna and the crowned prince of Limelin.
King Beigis — Militant and power-hungry king of Highland, rules over Brannoch Castle in Brannoch Castle Town.
Fargo — Arsonist and thief who stole the Fire Ruby.
Nepty — Female Magician and thief who stole the Water Crystal. She has blue hair and wears a blue outfit.
Zelse — Magician in a group of vagabonds in Normoon and thief who stole the Wind Jade.
Solvaring — Self-proclaimed "King of the Beasts" and thief who stole the Earth Orb from the King of Dondoran.
Mammon — The demonic embodiment of greed who attempts to trick Brian into releasing him from his prison so that he may seek to possess the powers of the human spirit.
Shilf — Mammon's assistant, hiding in Baragoon Tunnel. She has red hair, wears a red cocktail dress and walks seductively.
Shannon — A puppet created by Mammon for the sole purpose of leading Brian around the world to collect the Elemental Gems, and who, near the end of the game, threatens to kill Brian's father, Bartholomy, unless Brian kills King Beigis and opens the World of Mammon.
Guilty — King Beigis' monstrous looking apprentice. He has made Brannoch Castle Town chaotic with his magic experiments.
is not based upon a traditional "level-up" model. Instead, experience is gained for specific stats based on how the player performs in battle. If the character gets hit a lot, for instance, defense will increase. Also, whenever the player finds a wispy white spirit, they can choose an element of magic to upgrade (from Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind). Leveling up these elements grants the character new attacks and strengthens existing ones.
The game has no money system. Every item is either found in a treasure chest
, given to the player character free of charge, or dropped by a monster, if the character doesn't have one already. If the character runs out of HP, the game will return him to the last inn
at which he saved. He will be allowed to retain all spells, items, and experience he has gained before death, but he may decline to do so by resetting the game without saving, and in any case, any items used before death will not be returned.
in 1997 under the working title Eltale (エルテイル).
Because North American and PAL releases of the game were considered too short and easy, Imagineer added new events and tightened some of the repetitive gameplay for the game's Japanese localization.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and as in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, is a single-player role-playing game developed by Imagineer
Imagineer (company)
is a Japanese entertainment company headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.The name "Imagineer" is a portmanteau, derived from the words "imagination" and "engineer". They started publishing video games in the mid-1980s...
and published by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
. It was released for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
in 1998 and was the first RPG released for the system in the United States.
After Quest 64s moderate financial success, a sequel was in consideration by the developer Imagineer. However, only the sequel's story was revealed before it was ultimately cancelled. Imagineer released two other related games for the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
: Quest RPG: Brian's Journey and a puzzle game called Quest: Fantasy Challenge.
Story
The playable character is an apprentice mage named Brian. Brian sets off to find his father who has left the monastery of the magesMagi in fantasy and role-playing games
A "Mage" is a character archetype commonly found in fantasy settings that entail the use of magic. Mage, rather than magus, is the spelling generally used to describe magic-wielding characters in role-playing games and fiction...
—the player learns later that his father is looking for a thief who has stolen the "Eletale Book". The player must also collect elemental amulets, which have been hoarded by powerful criminals and are integral in the defeat of the game's final boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
.
Characters
The game's main characters and bosses are:Brian — A young boy who has set out to save his father. He lives at Melrode Monastery and is an apprentice magician with the ability to use Water, Fire, Wind, and Earth magic. The protagonist's name in the Japanese version is , while he is called Ayron in PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
releases
Lord Bartholomy — Brian's father and Master Spirit Tamer. He lives at Melrode Monastery and set about to get the Eletale Book which was stolen, but was subdued at Brannoch Castle before being able to continue.
Leonardo — Another apprentice magician like Brian who appears at Normoon and at Brannoch Castle near the end of the game. Though not a main character, he still manages to help Brian by providing healing items in a room within Brannoch Castle.
Leila — The guardian of Larapool, the city of water. She has the ability to control the water flow of the city, thus giving Brian access to Larapool's entrance to Blue Cave.
Colleen — A Sorceress who has protected the Water Jewel for generations is the only inhabitant of the Isle of Skye; her home is connected to Epona's home.
Epona — The mysterious seer who resides in the Blue Cave; her connection to the Isle of Skye gives Brian access to the Water Jewel. Later on, her powers allow her to enter Mammon's Dimension at the end of the game to provide aid to Brian.
King Scottfort — King of Kenneshire, rules over Dondoran Castle in Dondoran.
Queen Deanna — Queen of Carmagh, rules over Limelin Castle in Limelin and rules alone due to the death of her husband.
Prince William — The son of Queen Deanna and the crowned prince of Limelin.
King Beigis — Militant and power-hungry king of Highland, rules over Brannoch Castle in Brannoch Castle Town.
Fargo — Arsonist and thief who stole the Fire Ruby.
Nepty — Female Magician and thief who stole the Water Crystal. She has blue hair and wears a blue outfit.
Zelse — Magician in a group of vagabonds in Normoon and thief who stole the Wind Jade.
Solvaring — Self-proclaimed "King of the Beasts" and thief who stole the Earth Orb from the King of Dondoran.
Mammon — The demonic embodiment of greed who attempts to trick Brian into releasing him from his prison so that he may seek to possess the powers of the human spirit.
Shilf — Mammon's assistant, hiding in Baragoon Tunnel. She has red hair, wears a red cocktail dress and walks seductively.
Shannon — A puppet created by Mammon for the sole purpose of leading Brian around the world to collect the Elemental Gems, and who, near the end of the game, threatens to kill Brian's father, Bartholomy, unless Brian kills King Beigis and opens the World of Mammon.
Guilty — King Beigis' monstrous looking apprentice. He has made Brannoch Castle Town chaotic with his magic experiments.
Gameplay
The game differs from most other RPGs in that the experience systemExperience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
is not based upon a traditional "level-up" model. Instead, experience is gained for specific stats based on how the player performs in battle. If the character gets hit a lot, for instance, defense will increase. Also, whenever the player finds a wispy white spirit, they can choose an element of magic to upgrade (from Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind). Leveling up these elements grants the character new attacks and strengthens existing ones.
The game has no money system. Every item is either found in a treasure chest
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
, given to the player character free of charge, or dropped by a monster, if the character doesn't have one already. If the character runs out of HP, the game will return him to the last inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
at which he saved. He will be allowed to retain all spells, items, and experience he has gained before death, but he may decline to do so by resetting the game without saving, and in any case, any items used before death will not be returned.
Development
The game was first previewed at Space WorldNintendo Space World
Nintendo World, formerly called Nintendo Space World, Nintendo 64 Space World, Super Famicom Space World, Famicom Space World, and , is a video game trade show hosted by Nintendo, typically to unveil new consoles or handhelds...
in 1997 under the working title Eltale (エルテイル).
Because North American and PAL releases of the game were considered too short and easy, Imagineer added new events and tightened some of the repetitive gameplay for the game's Japanese localization.