Saiyuki: Journey West

"How does Sa Gojo get away with that hairdo?"

Saiyuki: Journey West was a hidden PS1 game that was released a little after the turn of the century. It involves Sanzo, a young monk, who is told to go to India. Along the way you will play an enjoyable yet ultimately average strategy game.

STORY:
As said before, you follow Sanzo, a gentle and adventurous young orphan. He recently had a mysterious dream where a creepy woman appeared and told him to travel west to India (hence the name of the game). He becomes a monk and begins his journey, meeting some interesting characters along the way. No doubt the most obvious is Son Goku, a goofy monkey-man who rides on a cloud. Goku manages to provide most of the entertainment in the story, since Sanzo is a pretty boring protagonist and the other characters are quite cliche (the jolly fat guy, the bratty princess, etc.). We are kind of in the dark for a good portion of the game as to why Sanzo and Goku must travel west together, so I won't spoil it here. I will say that there are some pleasant surprises along the way, especially the fact that the instruction booklet does not tell you about all the characters that will join you.
STORY: 7/10

GRAPHICS:
Strategy games aren't played because people love their visuals, and Saiyuki makes that pretty obvious. While some images are pretty cool (character portraits and the Guardian Powers, for example), for the most part you'll see bland environments with bland special effects and bland character sprites. Many are recycled throughout the entire game and it overall lacks variety. An upside to this, however, is that the main character designs are quite interesting and help add to the whole Asian theme.
GRAPHICS: 5.5/10

SOUNDS:
Aside from that awful intro song, the music in Saiyuki is very well done. It of course has a strong eastern influence, whittled down to PS1-quality sound. It still sounds great, and manages to not drone on in your head once you're done playing (which a lot of strategy games' soundtracks tend to do). The sound effects are similar to the graphics in that they are... well, bland. There aren't that many and none of them really sound that exciting or anything. But they're only sound effects, so what does it matter?
SOUNDS: 8/10

GAMEPLAY:
Saiyuki provides its players with quite a challenging experience but conjures up very few aspects that would make it stand out from other SRPGs.

Every character is very unique. For example, Sa Gojo is a water monster who uses a nifty halberd as a weapon, while Lady Kikka uses a bow and arrow and uses the element of life to aid her party. This gives us some fun experimenting with each character as we progress, but what videogame doesn't do that? In the end, your characters all move on square grids, where they can attack, use magic or items, or do nothing. Exciting, I know.

There are a couple opportunities in Saiyuki that attempt to separate it from the rest of its genre. There is the dojo, where you can build up your characters' levels, and the "Post" where you can take quick jobs for rewards. Very original, eh? Sorry Saiyuki, try again.

Okay, it's time I be fair here. Something that really does draw you into Saiyuki is each character's "Were" form and Sanzo's Guardian Powers. Once per battle and for a limited amount of time, any character besides Sanzo is able to transform into a "Were," a sort of giant monstrosity where they get powerful new abilities and major stat increases. Sanzo can't transform, but he can summon Guardians for an MP cost. The Guardians are around for a short time, but they have some powerful abilities that simultaneously can help your party and harm the enemy every turn they're. The Guardians and the Were forms are the main reason to keep playing Saiyuki. While not anything that will revolutionize the SRPG genre (if they did, you'd have heard about by now), they add that teensy bit of originality that the game would otherwise fail to offer.

As a whole, Saiyuki is far from a necessary purchase by any SRPG enthusiast. The best things about it are its simplicity and the Were forms/Guardians. Other than that, you will most likely be less than impressed.
GAMEPLAY: 5/10

LASTING APPEAL:
There isn't a whole lot to do in one playthrough other than the main quest, the dojo and the jobs. Therefore, once you beat it for the first time, I doubt you'll be coming back to it anytime soon.
LASTING APPEAL: 6.5/10

OVERALL:
Some cliche characters and a run-of-the-mill style of gameplay make Saiyuki: Journey West pretty forgettable. It's not an unappealing game by any means, but it's far from spectacular.
OVERALL: 5.5/10

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/12/08

Game Release: Saiyuki: Journey West (US, 08/13/01)