Unlimited Saga

"Nearly Unlimited Excitement can be found in this game"

Unlimited SaGa is the ninth game in Square's long running SaGa series. I've been looking forward to this game for months and it was well worth the wait.

Story 7: Over all as I've seen from playing Ruby's quest it's pretty nice. Definitely gets the over all job done. Sadly through many characters who joined me got no real development. More like extras.

And story scenes were few and far between in the end. In fact to be truthful it was more like two or three task totals with subtasks. It did got better near the end, but it needs a lot more.

Still the characters kept the story interesting. And some of the last minute scenes in Ruby's quest were kind of cool. Though I need to figure out what some of them mean anyway.

Graphics 8: I may not be an expert at how good the animation is or anything like that. But everything is crisp and clear. The game looks like a work of art a lot of times. And the battle graphics are some of the best.

The dungeons graphics are rather weak. While I like them for making dungeons simpler to do, they aren't that special. Plus they make everything in a dungeon look alike.

With very good artwork type graphics, I'd give the game a 10. But due to the weak dungeon graphics, I have to give it an 8 instead as seen above.

Music 9: The music in the game is some of the best. It sounds good listening to the music on the computer. But it gets even better in the game.

The reason is the tunes fit so well with the game. There was no sense of out of place tunes at all for me. Some tunes could be used a bit more though if you ask me.

The tunes are also crisp and clear. They have a very epic feel to them in the end. Especially the battle tunes. Which I ended up hearing a lot of. I was trying to fight a ton of battles whenever I could.

Gameplay 9: The gameplay in this game is almost perfect. You have a ton of things to do and it is very involved. In fact you have to like being involved with game systems to truly enjoy this game.

For example you can do 1-5 attacks each round with any amount of characters you want up to five. So you can have Ruby attack twice, Hiro attack once, and Iskandar attack twice for example. And you can even combo with these attacks adding elements of strategy.

Next you have reels in battles. Through the use of timing and good set up, you can do more powerful attacks. All by hitting better panels. It seems random at first, but it's definitely about timing. And there's a wonderful sense of excitement when you're able to abuse the reel system.

The level up system is one of the best. No longer can you just become God by fighting and resting at an Inn. You now must actually complete scenarios. Then you must choose wisely from the panels you get.

The panels can range from things like making you better at spears. To things like being able to pick locks. Plus the more you fight the better your panels will be.

Finally you have the HP and LP system. You must now damage LP to kill enemies. And some are strong or weak against certain things. So part of the challenge is finding out what works best.

The one thing I hate about the battle system through is the panels you get at the end of a quest are too random. Sure you can beat the game despite that, but it gets pathetic to have down grade sometimes.

Now obviously there is a lot more to the system than that, but this is a review not an FAQ people.

Voice Acting 7: Not the greatest in the world, but much better than I expected. Plus the voices are kind of cool.

They even talk under certain situations. From new monsters appearing to doing LV5 combos. Only problem is the voices are often random. So for those who want to hear them or those who don't they may be out of luck.

I have yet to hear all the voices so some may still annoy me in the end. I'll have to wait and see of course. But the voices do give you an idea of the character's personalities.

Replay Value 7: I'm definitely going to play all seven quests, but just playing Ruby's quest wore me out in the end. So I may not replay all the quests as often as earlier SaGas. Still there is a lot to do giving plenty of replay value.

Over all 8: If not for the lack of graphics, a somewhat weak story and the randomness of panels at the end of quests, I'd give this game a 10. It's that good. However keeping the flaws in mind and the fact it does frustrate me sometimes, I can only give the game an 8.

To Rent or Buy: I bought the game because I craved what it had. But for most it is better to rent the game. If you are willing to try games for a good several hours. If you like getting involved with systems beyond pressing X then Unlimited SaGa may be the game for you. It can seem almost impossible at first, but the more you learn the more it grows on you.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/25/03, Updated 06/25/03