"Brilliant story, good voice acting, but long dungeons"

When I heard that Septerra Core might be released some years ago I was very excited. I loved the Super Nintendo RPGs and so I was looking forward playing a new RPG with good graphics. I bought the US Version because it was released much before the European versions.

Graphics (8/10)
I like the graphics very much. They are well drawn, the characters look good and the portraits of the characters are nice as well. Unfortunately, the later dungeons are very huge and they sometimes look very much the same at many areas. And since the characters are very big in the game and you do not have too much overview it can be hard to find out where to go.

Sound (8/10)
It is long ago since I played this game. I don´t remember the music at all but I think there was not too much of it in the game. The sound was good and the voice acting (complete voice acting the whole game!) was very good.

Story (10/10)
Well, Story is very important for me. And Septerra Core has one of the best storys I have ever followed in RPGs. A world with seven shells, each looking very different. Interesting enemies, they are seen in many cut scenes as well, this creates the atmosphere to continue playing! Interesting characters, the party members all have their own story. Well, I like the story, it is exciting, you often do not know what will happen next.

Gameplay (8/10)
Here lies the problem of the game: It is fun, yes, the fighting system is good, magic system is interesting. Okay, good points. But one problem is that you get only few experience points, leveling up is difficult. And getting few experience points is always a little frustrating, isn´t it?
The other thing is that the dungeons later in the game are very, very big. Well, you want to continue, you want to know how the story continues but first you have to get through huge dungeons. Later in the game they are all the same (okay, the graphics are different), you get through labyrinths, you have to find keys to open new doors, proceeding. This is boring and lengthy. But then there are some cutscenes and then the excitement is there again.
Unfortunately the fights are a little lengthy as well, it takes some time to proceed later in the game.
The last thing that bothered me: The game is (as most games of the genre are) linear. In the first half of the game you are told what to do next. Later you can visit all seven shells (seven little world maps!) as you wish and nobody tells you what to do next. Luckily I had a walkthrough, I would not have the motivation to run around and find out everything on my own. This is no fun.

Challenge
This game is not too difficult, but not too easy as well. Since leveling up is not easy after all you will always be low at hitpoints so fights can be difficult after all. Later it is frustrating that your heroes often miss the enemies. I hate this, as well as permanent attacks with status changing (not in this game too much, luckily).

Overall (8/10)
I like this game, I love this brilliant story, love the characters in the game, all these little storys in it. I don´t like the very very long dungeons later, the few experience you get, the lengthy battles. But overall, I don´t think I did waste my time playing this game. It is great after all!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/02, Updated 11/17/02