Unlimited Saga

"A surpisingly fun game"

I didn't want to play Unlimited Saga. It got terrible reviews and well it looked dumb and I really don't care for the Saga series. Well, I got on a "must buy all Square titles" kick and bought the game. When I finally got to it in my pile I thought about skipping it. Did I really want to suffer? Did I suffer? Read on!

The game tells the story of 7 different people with different lives. They are all connected by a single event and while paths cross, it isn't forever. The stories are fairly simple and did nothing for me. They were good enough to allow me to finish the game.

The graphic still of this game is one of the unique aspects of the game. It uses a painted stills look and the battle graphics look hand drawn. The animation is just top notch in battles and while everything else may feel lifeless, it's looks darn good.

The sound in the game is great. Well, the voice acting could use some work, some characters are a bit nerve grinding. The music is some of the best around and sound effects are nothing special. If nothing else, get the soundtrack.

The game had complex controls at first. Battle system is all based on using X to select commands. The tricky stuff came in traveling the dungeons. You need to press the right or left stick towards the boxed location names to move to them. Yes, it's simple when you know that but jumping in isn't recommended for this title. I had to keep pulling out the manual.

Unlimited Saga plays like no game before it in its own series or any other game out there. One part old school Dungeon & Dragons and one part Japanese RPG. Does the combination work out well? Yes and no.

You can pick from one of seven characters. The core game play is the same it's they have different stories, areas and a different cast (for the most part). So while you can pick any character you want, there are a few that are better suited but each character also has a theme to their game play. Revenge, trade ECT. This sets up on what kind of quests you can expect.

Now, towns are just a simple map and you select buildings. Enter the Inn to talk to people by selecting their name. You also tend to get missions this way as well. While it makes the game feel simpler, it's almost needed.

The dungeons are where the game takes some key notes from Dungeons & Dragons and it's also the reason some people can't enjoy the game. To explain this can take more time than I am willing to put into this but here's an example of how it works. You start on a space. Let's say it's green and it's a grassy hill. Okay. Now you can move to one of two ??? Areas. Moving to one and a few things will happen. First off a new picture appears with the name of that location. Connecting it to the piece you just left. You may run into a monster and they may or may not attack. That seems random. You may also find an item. You will also notice that some more ??? Areas have appeared off of that. So, you move to a place and more paths branch off. It's a little complex and really causes problems in the later dungeons because they become so complex and there is no overall map to view. Another problem is that some dungeons only allow so many moves to get to the end and if you use more than allowed then it makes you start over. Thank god for the maps on-line for the areas. They are life savers.

The combat in the game is your average turn based combat. Sort of... Think Shadow hearts wheel but at the same time not. You can have a number of party members. Not sure if there is a limit. You select which member and their attack. You can do this six times per turn. Once you have the six moves selected (it can be a single person or 6 people, but only 6 attacks. Once you have that a wheel appears. Think of it as a roulette wheel. You need to land on the attack. You can either do singles or you can combo the 6 attacks for extra damage. It sounds easy and on one hand it is but the AI break about 50% of all combos so you can't always rely on them but a broken combo doesn't mean you lose an attack or anything.

I can see why people are turned off by this game. It requires more luck than skill and while that creates a more challenging game, I liked it. It felt like what a RPG should be. A game where not everything is controlled by the characters, they aren't all knowing beings and it really does keep you on your toes.

The game is long with 7 playable characters. Each character is fairly long as well so it's a meaty game and it's really cheap these days.

I can't recommend this game because it isn't for everyone. You will either love it or hate it. There is no in between. I personally enjoyed it a lot. Buy at your own risk but don't rent it because it's about the same price to rent as it is to buy.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 10/10
Control - 7/10
Game Play - 9/10
Replay Value - 5/10

Final Score - 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/13/07