The Final Fantasy Legend The Final Fantasy Legend , originally released as in Japan , was actually the first game in the " SaGa " series and had no connection to the " Final Fantasy " series . This and the other two " SaGa " games released on the Game Boy system were re - branded as the " Final Fantasy Legend " series when released in the United States , undoubtedly to bolster sales , as it was only the second RPG Square had ever released in North America . Gameplay . Character selection . At the beginning of the game , players create their initial character to lead the party . This character will be the strongest statistically and will begin with a strong weapon , but once chosen , the selection cannot be undone . They are given a choice of three races : The player can also choose a gender for the Human or Mutant character , which will affect his / her starting stats ; males start with higher Str values , while females begin with higher Agl values . After the initial character has been chosen , three more can be recruited at Base Town , created just like the initial character , to make a party of four members . However , units recruited from the Base Town Guild will be much weaker than the initial character . Battle . Battle is a standard turn - based system . Players must first choose to fight an enemy horde , or run from it . When the Fight command is chosen , the player must decide which weapon , spell , or ability they want to attack with , or whether to defend with an equipped shield . However , equipment has durability . Using a weapon , a shield or a magic book will decrease its durability by one use . When it reaches zero , it breaks and must be replaced . Humans and Mutants can equip multiple weapons so they will not be totally useless should one of their weapons break . Status ailments . Monsters have the potential to inflict status effect s on the party when they attack : The player will receive a Game Over if all units are in Ston or Dead status . Revival mechanics . Unique to the " SaGa " series is the method in which players must manage units ' deaths and subsequent revivals . As each unit is recruited , they are given three lives ( represented as hearts ) . Should the unit fall to 0 HP , the unit may be revived at a House of Life at the cost of a heart and a nominal fee . The unit may carry up to five hearts , but a dead unit with no hearts is considered permanently dead and cannot be revived , at which point the unit can be exchanged at a guild . Story . In the center of the world is a great tower . This tower connects to many worlds and at the top the entrance to Paradise . A group of adventurers from the world at the base of the tower decide to climb it to explore the various worlds . Along the way they encounter many strange creatures and among them strong monsters based on the Chinese Zodiac who guard the key to the next floor . In the Base World , Gen - bu , the Black Turtle , has hidden the Black Sphere in the Statue of Hero , southwest of the Tower . Two dragons guard the divided Blue Sphere in the World of Sea . Sei - ryu , the Blue Dragon , holds dominion over the realm from a palace below . A resistance force builds in the World of Sky as Byak - ko , the White Tiger , rules the realm with an iron fist in search of the White Sphere . Su - zaku , the Red Bird , lays waste to the World of Future as he guards the Red Sphere . Squaresoft Internal Connections . As it often happens in unrelated games or series from the same publisher , even in " Final Fantasy Legend " there are references to and from other products by Squaresoft . " SaGa " referring to other Squaresoft products : Other Squaresoft products referring to this game :