Ehrgeiz

"What's up with Sqaure and all these German names? Whatever it is, it's good"

Ehrgeiz... a strange combo of genres that makes for a challenging RPG and excellent fighting game. Not every game gets a 10 out of me. Unlike most of these reviews they go all psycho when they give out they're reviews and kind of forget about their weaknesses and flaws. However, this game deserves a ten. Let's start out with...

Graphics: 8
This is the only category that didn't get a ten. The movies look pretty good, especially for the age of the game. You can tell who the characters are at least. They can be a bit polygonal at times (or all the time), but at least it's not old-school N64 or something... The environment looks quite nice and the many weapons found in the RPG mode do too... also... as well. Some of the effects could've been a lot better. The magic in RPG mode and the explosions and hits and such in fighting mode are either very dull or extremely bright.

Sound: 10
Aaahhh... the sound. The BGM is wonderful. In RPG mode it always goes perfectly with the environment. Whether it be peaceful or dramatic, the wide array of music in the game really brings it to life. (I don't know but I'm pretty sure there's no BGM during the fighting mode, or maybe my disc is just scratched... a lot.)
Sound effects? Of course there are sound effects. Just about as many as they could fit on here, as the disc was almost completely full. Nice thud/slash/smack/smash/crush/attack sounds and whatever's left works good too.

Control: 10
Some may say that the controls in this game are difficult to manage. I just say they are challenging. Most fighting games give you a few variations of the normal d,df,f + button combo to shoot out a hadoken or something, but that won't work with this game. You see, this is a completely 3D fighting game. No side scrolling here. You can literally run circles around the other guy. Oh I got off track... the moves... the moves are well.. complex. You can't just pound buttons to pull em off. Actually I've never done them either because I don't play the fighting game much, but The board is full of posts on how to do them. Well.. accept for your ''special attack'' You have to... PRESS O!

GAMEPLAY!!!: 10(93247626713134647)
Grrr... I wish I could give more than 10 on the gameplay. The RPG mode is sooo awesome. It almost kind of reminds me of Diablo II a little bit but not really for one and only one reason... the items. There are way too many rare items to find in this game. But that's what makes it great. The FAQ doesn't even have all the rare items. Also, some weapons are blessed. These blessed weapons can be combined over and over with other weapons to form... a really good weapon!! and armor!! and shield! and helmet... The only downside to this is that the blacksmith won't take gold, he'll only take somethin to drink (Al-co-hol hahaHA hah heh no) I could play this game for weeks just searchin for weapons and gaining levels. Oh... and did I mention there's NO LEVEL LIMIT (unless it's 999, but I doubt it)

Now... the fighting game. Besides being a ton of characters to unlock (including 5 from FFVII,) the fighting game is just... well... fun! Besides being able to pull off special moves, each character has a simple, one button signature attack. If you run out of energy for your character's special attack, you can still perform moves and normal attacks. Also, the game is very customizable, which is always good.

Oh... did I forget the mini games? I think I did. There are four of them: A typical survival fighting mode, a racing mode where you actually run around a track and can attack people (no karts! wow!!!), a kind of relay game where you do various games where you bash the button a lot, and a puzzle game kind of like othello.

Overall:10!
Yes... a ten... This game truly deserves it. Underrated game of the year (even though this is 2003.) This game is CHEAP (as in price) If you see a copy of it, pick it up and try it out. At least borrow it if you know someone who has it. You won't be disappointed. One of Square's masterpieces that doesn't begin with Final Fantasy (or something else.)

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/03, Updated 06/14/03