[personal profile] freshfeeling
Three months ago, I posted about my intent to play a Side Quest Challenge for the Pixel Remaster version of the original Final Fantasy, as popularized (?) by Diamond_Dragon back in 2019. In the meantime, I finished up what I was doing with Valkyrie Profile and Final Fantasy V's Four Job Fiesta, and then I recently shared my intent to play this Side Quest Challenge back to the GameFAQs Final Fantasy 1 board that spawned it years ago.

Having shared that about a week ago, a small number of new quests were generated and I've compiled a new list of quests on a Google Sheet that I'll attempt to keep updated. As of right now, there are 121 side quests! I finally started playing it on August 1st.


To briefly introduce this yet again, all weapons, armor and spells are locked and unusable until I do a side quest that unlocks them. The quests were generated by the community, which is mostly the FF1 board on GameFAQs. This includes some quests that I wrote myself but they were for Diamond_Dragon back in 2019. It also includes a small number of quests generated by one of my kids who was interested in this idea. (I am not particular about the medium or community that the quests come from, so I welcome quests anyone suggests in comments here or gives me via Bluesky.)

The little Python tkinter app I'm using to track things currently has its source sloppily managed on GitHub.

When I started, I picked a warrior named Cecil, a thief named Locke, a white mage named Lenna, and a black mage named Vivi. These are the same names Diamond_Dragon used, and while I didn't want to be a total ripoff it happens to work well for certain quests that make references to the other games that characters with those names are from. The Pixel Remaster starts the characters with some minor equipment, so I stripped that off and got down to questin'.

Title: Chain You Say?
Author: hawkeyerules (2020)
Story: After leading his party back to Cornelia one particular day, the party's fighter was relaxing in the Inn. As he was sipping some ale he overheard 2 guards talking about using chains to make armor. He went to the guards to Inquire about it.
Requirement: Talk to three guards within Castle Cornelia.
Unlocks: (a)Chain Mail

Checking the stats for the Chain Mail on Cecil.
This was nice because I was able to score the very nice early-game Chain Mail for my warrior before I even entered a battle, so I did it immediately. Some of hawkeyerules' quests were weird; even back in 2020, there were a few where they just were so trivial that Linguar82 or whomever had to add a bit more challenge or structure. Some of the other ones are just random collections of enemies to beat. But whatever, this one was welcome.

After this, I had to go weather a few fights with goblins with no weapons.
Fighting four goblins with no weapons.

Title: A Walk in the Park
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2019)
Story: George is just starting his walking stick business. He thinks he can get his business up and running if he just has the right promotional assistance, and who better to show off his walking sticks than the legendary Light Warriors? George needs to make sure these Light Warriors can walk with style though, so he needs to see them take a few laps around Cornelia first.
Requirement: Walk 3 laps around the town of Cornelia without resting (inn/sleeping bag/tent/cabin/house).
Unlocks: (e)Staff

No problem! Although there was some tension in that it felt like the black mage might die during this. It is quite funny that having a Staff on a warrior, a white mage, and a black mage can seem like such an asset. After this quest, I said, "Boy, this is going to be a loooong playthrough.".
Cecil the warrior now has a Staff to whack enemies with.

Title: Stabbity Death
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: The party's black mage had a vision, or nightmare rather, of a group of brave mages who conquered the world with their daggers. There were four, but their death toll numbered in the thousands. Could that truly be the way?
Requirement: Win a battle against exactly 4 Goblins. The party's black mage must be alive at the end of the battle.
Unlocks: (e)Knife

This was done incidentally, and made Locke the thief able to contribute a bit more effectively. Pixel Remaster seems to have the balance of Dawn of Souls and such, where thief accumulates hits really quickly and thus contributes a lot in terms of damage.

Title: Patrolling the Forest
Author: Shadow_FF6 (2019)
Story: Cornelian wood is known throughout the world for it's remarkable sturdiness. It's even used by many local commoners as a cheaper replacement for real weapons and armor. Unfortunately, the heavy Imp population has been causing real problems for the lumber industry as of late. The Carpenters Guild needs someone to check out the forest, and figure out which areas are safe to work in.
Requirement: Without using the Inn, take a step in every forest tile outside of Cornelia, noting each tile you get into a fight in. Completed upon stepping into the Weapon or Armor Shop.
Unlocks: (e)Nunchaku

This doesn't matter but I guess I wanted to get it off the list! As much as quests like this seem completely irrelevant, there's always a chance some new quest could emerge that's like, "Defeat [x] using only Nunchaku" so I may as well not ignore it completely.

Title: Ninja Vanish!
Author: FreshFeeling (2019)
Story: Supposedly, ninjas have the ability to disappear at will! A Thief can start to develop this ability using their keen dodging and escape abilities, and perhaps it will help to inspire their teammates, too.
Requirement: With a Thief at the front of the party, enter a battle and escape without taking damage three times. During these battles only the Thief may select the Run command.
Unlocks: (w)Invis

This was surprisingly quick-and-easy. Turn order seems to be fixed to be based around characters' agility values, and I even made use of the game's new Defend command to have the other characters skip their turns. This was sort of necessary, especially since this version removes the ability to use itemcasts for items that don't have itemcasts - in other words, there's no other means to fully "waste" a turn. I remain unsure whether the Defend command actually does anything (i.e. does it provide a defense boost?).
Obviously, I can't get Invis yet, but I got this quest off the list.

Title: Basic Magic Training
Author: Shadow_FF6 (2019)
Story: In the past, mages learned their trade in great colleges. However, while knowledge of magic still exists, there are few places to teach magical theory. Instead, most mages learn their trade out of necessity, in the right circumstances. Heating camp fires, keeping rations chilled, and mending the scrapes and bruises of the hike go a long way to encouraging young mages to learn their trade quickly.
Requirement: Head to the northern part of the Cornelian forest and pitch a Tent.
Unlocks: (b)Fire

A funny thing about Pixel Remaster (and other newer versions of the game) is that what used to be called a "Tent" is now a "Sleeping Bag" and what used to be called a "Cabin" is now a "Tent". For the sake of this quest I decided to follow to-the-letter and used an actual Tent. On a somewhat related note, this was around the point where I started shouting about how every new release of this game gets easier.

Title: Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
Authorbeege_man (2020)
Story: The party's black mage stumbles into a dark shed behind the Black Magic shop and bumps into a cackling witch feverishly working over a cauldron. Unfortunately the cauldron only has water in it for now. The witch explains that she needs some spider legs, a few Goblin Guard claws, and a horse's tail to craft a potion that will allow someone to put their foes to sleep.
Requirement: Kill 1 Black Widow, 2 Goblin Guards, and 1 Crazy Horse
Unlocks: (b)Sleep

I happened into the Goblin Guards and Crazy Horse before I remembered that this quest existed, and once I spotted it I wandered up into the Temple of Chaos to find a Black Widow. It was my second fight there! Very nice. At this point, I think my characters were already level 3. Cecil and Locke died before we got back to town; I revived them and actually healed them manually with Potions to avoid resetting my progress on the Goblin Guard quest. I should've used this opportunity to do the Pity of the Guard quest, but I forgot.

Around this point, I was saying, "Boy, there is something to this! There is something to this. It's the dumbest thing that I am going to say here: this is like, really satisfying... because I'm constantly unlocking things and that's, y'know, just naturally nice."
I may not have made the point very effectively but checking things off of a list and constantly making a form of progress feels really good. Later on, I elaborated on this. "There is something to be said for this as a format. Like, the feeling of doing stuff and getting something for it. Like, I really like the Xenoblade games and I'm starting to think maybe there's just something psychologically about that side quest-heavy format."

Title: An Old Man and His Cows
Author: FlamingXP (2025)
Requirement: Defeat 3 Goblin Guards in a forest.
Unlocks: (a)Leather Armor

At first I was just tracking the Goblin Guards (GrIMPs) I defeated, but then I encountered three of them together in a forest regardless, so this was fine.

Title: Spinning Wool Into Yarn
Author: FreshFeeling (2019)
Story: It would be easy to convince the shops in Cornelia to sell you cloth if only they hadn't run out of yarn. I guess the closest thing to a sheep that we see in this game is maybe a... horse? It will have to do. Once you've sheared the animals, you'll need to spin the wool to make yarn.
Requirement: Defeat 4 Crazy Horses. After defeating the fourth, rotate the control pad 5 times before leaving the world map.
Unlocks: (a)Clothes

This was done over four different encounters. I did a few extra rotations just to be sure and ended up in another encounter, which was sort of the point intended.

Title: Swing That Sword With Pride
Authorhawkeyerules (2020)
Story: While hitting things with a stick is an effective way to level up using metal would be much better.
Requirement: Kill 1 Gigas Worm in the Temple of Fiends.
Unlocks: (e)Rapier

I did this while I was doing the Foggy Memory quest. Gigas Worms actually hit fairly hard! Even the chain-equipped warrior took 19 damage.

Title: Laid to Rest
Author: Linguar82 (2019)
Story: Lisa has long performed the funeral rites for those who perish in the village of Cornelia. But its been reported that many of those dead now walk the halls of the temple to the northeast of Cornelia. She needs your help to lay those souls to rest.
Requirement: Defeat 10 Undead type monsters in the Temple of Fiends
Unlocks: (w)Dia

Although I'd hit a few weak undead enemies, it was two groups of four Zombies that allowed me to complete this during the Foggy Memory quest.

Title: Foggy Memory
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: The party's white mage met an old wizard in Cornelia. He could teach them to use fog to protect their allies, but he forgot the correct incantation. He needs someone to perform a ritual to learn it. The white mage must go to the Temple of Fiends and examine the five doorways in the correct order, and return to him with the symbols on the door fresh in her memory.
Requirement: Touch the doors in the Temple of Fiends (stand in the space next to the door) in the order: SW, SE, NW, NE, and then the Center door, and return to Cornelia without resting (inn/sleeping bag/tent/cabin/house).
Unlocks: (w)Protect

I was about level 4 and with the unlocks from above the Temple of Chaos was no longer scary, so I did this. It ended up that about three or four quests were completed at the same time.

Title: You've Got The Touch
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: Protecting your allies is great, but even the best wizards have yet to develop spells that grant total immunity. People can still be injured no matter how much FOG there is, and magic bedsheets aren't common in the field. Fortunately there are healing spells.
Requirement: End a battle with any two non-white mage characters below 20% of their maximum HP and return to an inn without them going above that threshold.
Unlocks: (w)Cure

As I walked back from the Foggy Memory quest, I was also eligible for this! Awesome. I bought both spells at the same time.

Title: How to Heal Properly
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: The party's white mage has become frustrated. Healing these allies one at a time simply won't do.
Requirement: Restore HP to all four characters with the party's white mage when they are not at full HP in the same battle.
Unlocks: (w)Heal

Once I spotted this quest I realized it was pretty easy to get out of the way, so I did it while I was grinding Goblin Guards.

Title: Rare Drop from Goblin Guards
Author: FreshFeeling (2019)
Story: Aren't we glad that this game doesn't have 1/128 items? Well now it does. Sort of. The odds are better.
Requirement: Defeat at least 32 Goblin Guards between saves.
Unlocks: (e)Dagger

Well, I did this. It was annoying. I must admit that my 2019 self didn't always deliver. It's sort of barely worthwhile although I guess we won't know yet since the earliest Dagger is Elfheim.

Around this point I realized that side questing had actually left me dramatically over-prepared despite the limitations and that I really needed to get Garland down. I was level 7! That is kind of an absurd level for Garland. I had forgotten to get Rapiers, but it didn't matter. After an inn stay, we wandered up and beat him, which was stupid.
Vivi casts Fire on Garland. We defeated Garland!
We observed the bridge scene and wandered to Pravoka. I fought the pirates, but also did a couple of quests up front.

Title: Fashionista Mars
AuthorFreshFeeling (2025)
Requirement: Buy one of every available option at once at an armor store you have never visited before. In the event that you have visited every possible armor store, purchase two Ruby Armlets and two Protect Rings.
Unlocks: (a)Helm

I figured with all of the extra battles I had already done I was probably loaded with cash and I may as well get this done now! I bought everything in the Pravoka armor store. The Iron Armor there is pretty expensive and we can't use it yet, so it drained our cash.

Title: The Perfect Drink
AuthorFreshFeeling (2019)
Story: It would be nice to purchase the (b)Ice spell in Pravoka but there's an alcoholic woman passed out on the door. She says she would move if only she could have her favourite drink, made from the water of the fountain in Cornelia. It must be carefully carried without being spilled.
Requirement
: After visiting Pravoka, check the fountain in Cornelia. Designate a character to carry the drink. That character must walk to Pravoka without hitting being killed, petrified or stunned.
Unlocks: (b)Blizzard

This quest is actually a reference to a bizarre shrine quest in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It happened that I had a Zelda-lover in my chat so I explained this in some detail. In the midst of this quest, I made good on my statement that I'd reduce my experience gains to 0.5x using the Boost feature. I had said this on GameFAQs, and the idea is I don't want to be grossly over-levelled because then I don't need to do side quests to finish the playthrough. I am already seeing the effects of all of the extra monsters and such, so I think this was a good idea.

Title: You Underestimate My Sneakiness
Author: Diamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: Although only a thief, the party's thief occasionally he shows some promise towards becoming a ninja. The party's white mage is watching his silent methods and slowly learns to recreate it with magic.
Requirement
: With the party's white mage alive, the thief must kill an enemy in the first round of a fight in which you get the chance to strike first. Then the thief must flee the battle before he takes any damage.
Unlocks: (w)Silence

I carefully set this up during a pre-emptive I had against two Goblin Guards, one Goblin, one Wolf, and one Warg Wolf. It still required some luck, but it came together.

Title: Long, Narrow Things of Power
AuthorKingRamz (2019)
Story: Cyrus, the mohawk guy in Pravoka, has heard tales of a long, narrow peninsula that's not so far away from the town. Horrifying tales of beasts that should not be. You know, the sort of threat a self-respecting quartet of Light Warriors would be very interested in stopping. Cyrus is friends with the weapon shop owner in Elfheim, and if you can send those scary monsters packing, he'll tell you the secret phrase you can say to the weapon shop guy that'll get him to show you his best merchandise - a long, narrow, powerful sword.
Requirement
: Win two battles in a row at the (former) PNEoP without running away or resting (inn/sleeping bag/tent/cabin/house). After the second victory, return to Pravoka without a TPK and talk to Cyrus.
Unlocks: (e)Mythril Sword

and

Title: Thor's Courage
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: The party's white mage looked out at the horizon. A thunder cloud was rolling in, the perfect time to impress the deity, Thor.
Requirement
: Walk from Pravoka to the (former) PNEoP and back to Pravoka with the white mage leading the party. The white mage must stay alive the entire trip.
Unlocks: (w)NulShock

I decided to do these two PNEoP quests at the same time. Seeing as this version of the game solved the domain mapping bug, it's really easy. It occurs to me that I never actually talked to Cyrus at the end so I better make sure to do that before I try to claim a Mythril Sword.

Now it was time to fight the pirates. They have beards in this version! They've also been buffed substantially, which surprised me. They still weren't tough at all though.
Vivi casts Sleep on the eight surviving Pirates.

With the ship I started a new batch of quests, gradually starting work on the awkward quest to get Fira since that would make so many quests faster and easier. Fira is also a pre-requisite for getting Thundara, so it's important. I also started tracking my dodges more carefully so I could earn the Blink spell.

Title: Honoring Erdrick I
Author: FreshFeeling (2019)
Story: Allegedly, a great hero named Erdrick who came from another world once saved that world and then died, only to somehow be interred in Elfheim. It is said that one of Erdrick's first weapons was a bamboo pole, wielded while he was wearing simple clothes. What better way of honoring this great hero could there be than laying a bamboo pole at his supposed grave site?
Requirement
: Bring a Staff and Clothes to Erdrick's grave in Elfheim, then Drop both.
Unlocks: (e)Battle Axe

Well, this is kind of weird for a few reasons. For one thing, it ain't Erdrick's grave in this version!
Visiting three graves. The message from one reads, "Here lies Link."
I'll overlook that. There's also the fact that this quest and a couple of others require you to drop items/equipment, and it turns out there's no way to do that in the Pixel Remaster. Instead, I just sold them. It's not going to make some significant financial difference, after all. I'm considering this quest met. I never actually got the Battle Axe, but seeing as Elfheim doesn't sell Mythril Swords in this version I might want to do that.

Title: IF ALL ELSE FAILS, USE FIRE
AuthorZzonkmiles (2019)
Story: The Light Warriors have heard tales about an enchanted plain northeast of Pravoka where there are legendary beasts that are many times more formidable than what can usually be found around the town. That doesn't exist anymore so let's cook seafood.
Requirement
: Kill 10 Sahagins damaged only by using the (b)Fire spell (eg. no other spells nor weapon attacks are allowed).
Unlocks: (b)Fira

It took two Fire spells to kill a single Sahagin, and Vivi currently has a maximum of 5 spell charges, so this took a few intentional trips to get it done. But it got done! Note that this is one of those quests that got edited because different versions don't have the same encounters at the PNEoP. This change was suggested by Zzonkmiles in post #58 in 2019.

Title: Captain's Prerogative
Author: Linguar82 (2019)
Story: Bikke is concerned that you may not be able to handle the life of a pira...err sailor. So he wants you to plun… err travel around the Aldi sea to prove your worth.
Requirement
: Sail to and dock at each port that can be reached without the use of the TNT canal without resting (inn/sleeping bag/tent/cabin/house).
Unlocks: (b)Scimitar

Title: Captain's Prerogative Bonus
AuthorLinguar82 (2019)
Story: You will particularly impress him if you also defeat all of the monsters of the Aldi Sea along the way.
Requirement
: Sail to and dock at each port that can be reached without the use of the TNT canal without resting (inn/sleeping bag/tent/cabin/house) or running away. Defeat at least 1 Buccaneer, 1 Sahagin, 1 Sahagin Chief, 1 Bigeyes, and 1 Shark during the trip. (This can be completed at the same time as Captain's Prerogitive.)
Unlocks: (a)Leather Cap

This was originally one quest with a "bonus feature" but I've taken steps to remove those to ease the tracking, so it's sort of two quests now. In any case, it was easy to do both at the same time. I am glad I had Fira for this trip! It really helped with swarms of Sahags and Buccaneers.

Title: Sneaky Sneaky Sir
Authorvp5489 (2019)
Story: The butler at Hotel Cornelia leads a double life. By day he's a loyal servant with a love of feet. By night he's a cunning rogue with a penchant for subterfuge. He's willing to teach you if you show that you're not an amatuer.
Requirement
: Evade 25 attacks.
Unlocks: (w)Blink

The large Sahagin swarms accelerated the pace at which we could see our team dodging attacks and eventually I tracked 25 of them. Done!

Title: Coppers and Robbers
Author: FreshFeeling (2019)
Story: Traders in the Aldi Sea have found that many ships have been attacked by pirates recently, and they are formalizing a unified Aldi Police Force among Cornelia, Pravoka and Elfheim in order to contain this thread to local trade. If you join their ranks, you, too, can wear the uniform of the "coppers". Solving the pirate problem would surely convince them to let the Light Warriors join.
Requirement
: Defeat at least 10 Buccaneers. Then, prove that the Buccaneer threat is dealt with by travelling between the ports at Cornelia, Pravoka and Elfheim in any order and finally speaking to any guard NPC all without encountering any more Buccaneers.
Unlocks: (a)Bronze Gloves

This quest made more sense when the Bronze Gloves were called Copper Gauntlets. Anyway, this was fine.

Title: Fight Like a Pirate
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: True pirates fear nothing from the sea.
Requirement
: Defeat 10 Buccaneers, 2 Sharks, 12 Sahagins, and 2 Bigeyes.
Unlocks: (e)Saber

I hadn't even noticed this quest, honestly, but at this point I saw it and realized I had already done it. A freebie!

Title: An Old Man and His Worms
AuthorFlamingXP (2025)
Requirement: After completing An Old Man and His Cows, defeat at least 1 Gigas Worm while in view of a mountain tile. Return to a town while experiencing 3 or fewer encounters after the Gigas Worm.
Unlocks: (a)Leather Gloves

I wasn't intending to do this one, but it happens that on the way to my first visit to the dwarves I ran into some Gigas Worms with an Ogre. I had only just got off the ship so I was confident I could make it back to Cornelia. It worked out!

Title: Appreciating Nature: Dwarf Cave Edition
AuthorFreshFeeling (2019)
Story: There is a story told of Wood the fighter and his companions... his poor, poor companions who had to follow along with Wood while he insisted they inspect every darn tree in each forest they found on their journey to save the world. Wood even insisted that, because the dwarves didn't care for forested lands, they must inspect the forest adjoining the Dwarf Cave twice. If you walk in the footsteps of this legend, the dwarves may have a gift for you.
Requirement
: In a single trip to the Dwarf Cave, step in every single forest tile outside of the Dwarf Cave twice before proceeding inside.
Unlocks: (a)Steel Gloves

My stream dropped in the middle of this, so my record of it continues in a second video here. At first, I was walking through the wrong forest! I went through the one near the Dwarf Cave port rather than the one actually adjacent to the Dwarf Cave. Once I got to the correct forest it wasn't bad.

Title: Hammer Time
AuthorDiamond_Dragon (2020)
Story: Dwarves are known for their crafstmanship, metal hammers are no exception.
Requirement
: Talk to the Dwarf Smith.
Unlocks: (e)Hammer

Easy peasy.

Around this time, I wanted to wrap up... but I was affected by an urge to complete just one more quest. I really wanted to meet Matoya to start more quests involving her.
I briefly equipped a Leather Shield at this point, but I never used it in combat. Equipping it was an oversight; not only was it still locked, but there was no quest to unlock it! That's because I had two quests to unlock the Helm and one of the "Old Man" quests was supposed to do the Leather Shield instead. I've fixed that up between play sessions, but it didn't impact anything in the gameplay.
Cecil the warrior's equipment after Elfheim. Locke the thief's equipment after Elfheim.
Lenna the white mage's equipment after Elfheim. Vivi the black mage's equipment after Elfheim.
Lenna the white mage's magic at this point. Vivi the black mage's magic list at this point.

I really wanted to do Hey I Can Use That Too to unlock Thunder, which requires beating a formation of a single Shark. While I know that existed in the NES original, I hadn't encountered a lone Shark (hah) in my entire time playing thus far. I wandered around for like 10 more minutes looking for lonely Sharks and found none! I remembered those being pretty common. I guess the formations must have been adjusted for Pixel Remaster or something - I don't think this can be attributed to just bad luck. Anyway, I couldn't complete that and this ended up being where I left off!

Level 10 and we're more than ready for the Marsh Cave!
The party status at level 10 before going into the Marsh Cave.
 
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