i guess this is technically abandoned? i got to the penultimate dungeon and essentially got cut off from progressing further since I didn't have any keys and no enemies dropped them as an item in the dungeon, so ive played like, 89% of this game? i watched someone play through the rest on youtube, it's okay.

dont let my score be a condemnation of this game, i think it's fine, it's just very outdated. i enjoyed my time with it and was shocked to learn it predates link's awakening and even ALttP by a few months. i bring those up because they're some of the best 2d action adventure games, uh, ever? yeah, ever.

it might be unfair to compare them, in that regard, but i just kinda inherently compared them anyways without even really thinking about it. i think the greatest claim to fame this game has is being the first game ever to have the title "seiken densetsu" (it was only ever a final fantasy title outside of japan) and "seiken densetsu" is the coolest name for anything ever. just say it out loud, it's so satisfying. seiken densetsu. rolls off the tongue.

i wouldn't recommend this game super heavily unless you've somehow played secret and trials and just wanna see where the series started, or you're a crazy person like me and insist on playing series in release order, regardless of if it even matters or not.