Unlimited Saga

"Chances are, you're gonna have to make an actual effort to like this game."

Most reviewers (including myself) have some sort of introduction before starting into the nitty gritty. I'm at a loss for this one though. This game is so unique that you just have to dive right in, really.

Graphics
The graphics are nothing special. They're very vibrant, but still not especially pretty. If you're a fan of the SaGa series, you're not really in it for superb graphics anyway, but players new to the series may not find enough eye candy to keep them satisfied.

Sound
The soundtrack is great and the voice overs are easily above average. However, you may find yourself getting very tired of the battle theme by the end of your second or third adventure.

Gameplay
This game is, well, odd. Once you choose your character, you'll see some story introduction by way of comic-like sequences. Expect a few ''important'' lines of this intro to be spoken word. From there, you'll be in a town. There you'll find a Carriers' Guild, an Inn, and possible a blacksmith or magic items shop. The towns are entirely menu based. The inn has a shop, and will allow you to manage your party, save, start a new adventure, or get more information. At the blacksmith you'll use your own raw materials to forge new items/weapons or repair your own weapons. Each weapon has a durability rating. When it reaches 0, that weapon is unusable until you repair it. Some characters can learn a Quick-Fix skill that will allow them to repair in the field, but don't count on having it.

Once you finish up in town, you'll be launched head first into your first adventure. You'll start on a ''square'' (they're not really square shaped, but, eh, just go with it). You'll see at least one box with ?????? in it. Using the analog sticks, you can highlight it. Pressing them further will cause you to move there. Boxes that have blue text are safe, yellow is probably trapped, and red will have a number of monsters. As far as your character knows, anyway. Blue doesn't necessarily mean it's safe. Traps can be avoided (or defused if one of your characters has the appropriate skill) by timing. Once triggered, a trap reel will appear, and your goal is to stop it on a green spot, meaning you escape safely. Similar reels are used when trying to diffuse or unlock a treasure chest you find (very few chests can just be opened, unless you want to take damage from the trap).

If you find a monster, it will often attack you. Sometimes it will not, and you can start battle preemptively. Either way, you'll end up fighting. All your available characters will be able to choose attacks. Any one character can attack as many times as you want, so long as you only use five actions between your entire party. You can use one-shot attacks, or attempt a combo. Combos will result in strong attacks (an indicator will appear near the bottom of the screen to tell you the power of the combo. However, enemies will often interrupt your combo, resulting in stronger attacks for them too. After a little bit of playing, you'll be able to figure out times when perhaps you should pass up trying a combo. Battle is done by way of reels (you know, like slot machines). A single reel will come up for each attack, and you'll have to stop it at the desired moment. Choosing a green slot will result in your regular level one attack (basically, just whatever you selected), while blue will result in a stronger level two attack. The attack levels are color coded and correspond to your own level of expertise, which I'll cover later in the status section. Sometimes your characters will learn a new technique, which can be used in the future if you have the right equipment. In order to win the battle, you need to deplete the Life Points of your enemies. Harder hitting combos will make this more likely. However, Hit Points are almost just a suggestion in this game, as a character can have 0 hp, take a hit, and still not lose an lp. There's some reason to the madness, and you should be able to figure it out with a little play time.

Once you achieve your goal at the time, whether it be finding an item or just getting to your next destination, a skill distribution screen will appear. Here you'll be able to pick a new skill/proficiency for each of your characters. Each character has a grid with a certain number of slots for skills, and each new skill is either placed in an empty space, or you must get rid of an old skill. The game forces you to take a new skill, so you may have to get rid of something you want to keep just because you're forced to delete it. At this time, your characters' max hp will likely increase a bit as well. After this, you will be prompted to save. Then you'll, well, do it all again.

There are some other elements that I didn't touch on, but I think you can get an idea of whether ot not this is for you based on what I did go into.

Replayability
If you enjoy the way the game works, you'll be able to play it for quite a while without getting tired of it. Each starting character has a different quest (there are seven in total). There's a ton to do and a lot of ways to do it. If you enjoy the system (the learning curve may be a little too steep depending on which character you pick first and how experienced you are with the genre) you'll love finding new ways to play around with it.

Overall
Graphics - 7 - It's just a matter of preference, so you may want to check some screenies for yourself if this game interests you.
Sound - 9 - Even if you find yourself clueless, you'll have some nice music to do it by.
Gameplay - 8 - A very deep system with lots to work with, but it can get tedious.
Replayability - 9 - If you like it, you'll be able to play for a long, long time.

Summary
Again, it's just a matter of what kind of game you like. If you grew up on D&D and Wizardry, you're more likely to enjoy this. Ironically, if you first considered buying this game because the case promised a preview of FFX-2, then it's more likely that you won't like the game. Although, the preview is nice.

If you're a daring soul, buy it. I did, and I don't regret it. But even fans of the SaGa series may want to consider renting this one first.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/03, Updated 06/28/03