Dark Savior

"This isn't an RPG...it would be much more accurate to call it a crappy puzzle game and a crappy fighting game rolled into one."

I forget which magazine it was, but when they were interviewed to talk about this game, they mostly talked about the graphics and how they ''tapped out the full power of the Saturn.'' They may have done that, but I for one would have rather had slightly lesser quality graphics and better gameplay. Few games are crappier than this one.

Story: 1
You're some stupid bounty hunter that has recently captured some ugly, retarded looking pile of slimy flesh that is supposedly one of the most deadly life forms in the universe. You decide to be one of the guards on the prison ship headed for the prison island. All of a sudden, it escapes, and you have to track it down.

Gameplay: 1
You're asleep in your cabin when someone comes in and tells you that the ugly mobile pile of flesh has escaped. From here on, the game will consist of nothing but crappy puzzle sequences and crappy battles.

If they were going to make this game primarily a puzzle game, the least they could do was make the puzzles somewhat cool. The puzzles mostly consist of you jumping over a bunch of gaps/rivers/hazardous floors. Sometimes you must flip switches to make machines work and such. Almost every time you have to manipulate an object or to move an object out of your way, you must swing your sword at it. Sometimes you must also push boxes around. There are no enemies in puzzle mode at all. If you should die or fall into water/a gap, your little bird companion will rescue you and take 20 gold pieces from you at the same time. Oh wait, I'm sorry, the currency in this game isn't called gold pieces, it's called ''points.'' What happens when you don't have 20 points? Your bird friend says, ''Sayounara.''

Now we get to the battles. Hoo boy, this is retarded. Like I said, the battles are like crappy fighting games. You only fight one enemy at a time. The battle is a three round battle, meaning if you die once, you'll be brought back to life, even if you have no healing/revive items in your inventory. You can do a standing slash and a jumping slash. If you hold down the attack button and charge up your super meter, you can unleash a really stupid looking super auto combo. You can also block. If you miscalculate a jump and your back is facing the enemy, your character will do a spinning back kick if you press attack. What's the key to winning battles? ***Run up to the enemy and mash the attack button.*** I never lost a battle this way...until I decided that the game was a waste of my time.

Are there people to talk to and shops to buy things at? Yeah, but the people almost don't tell you anything useful (usually if someone has something interesting/valuable to say, they will ask for an item before they tell you). Are there hidden items/secrets? Yes, but this doesn't make up for the horrid gameplay by 1/16. If you want to play a puzzle/item collecting game that's actually FUN, go play Tombs and Treasure for the NES; that game is actually quite similar to this one, except it doesn't try to trick you into thinking it's an RPG.

Graphics: 7
Yeah, the 3D in this game easily falls in the above average bracket when compared to other Saturn games, even PSX games as well. Why the 7? Well, while the 3D scenes are nice, the 2D sprites could have been much better. The sprites are detailed decently, but character design could use a lot of help (especially the sorry excuse for a villain, the abovementioned ugly pile of murderous flesh). The only time the sprites look well animated is when they walk. If they jump or attack, the 2D animation looks almost like something you'd see on the SNES. Finally, it's not that hard to see that many parts of this game were rushed graphics wise. For instance, this is what happens when you find out the pile of flesh has escaped:

Guy who wakes you up: Wake up! The ugly pile of deadly flesh has escaped!
You: How can that be? The cage was so strong, even the pile of flesh couldn't break through!
Guy: Can't you hear everyone on the ship dying!? :: turns to the left, ''Aahh!'' sound is played :: :: turns to the right, another ''Aahh!'' sound is played :: :: etc. ::

Sound/Music: 2
The sound effects are stupid as hell. They use the ''Aahh!'' sound way too much if people are getting damaged. If you swing your sword in the air, it sounds like you are hitting something before you even see the sword swing. As for the music, one or two of the songs are decent, but that's it. Most of them aren't good at all.

Control: 7
Fine for the most part, but you have to put your feet at the very edge of most gaps to make the jump. 50% of the time you'll accidentally go one pixel too far and fall. This will be quite frustrating, since there are so many puzzle sequences which require you to jump frequently; some sequences consist ENTIRELY of jumping over gaps!

Replay Value: 1
No matter how much you enjoy finding secrets in games, this game is just too crappy to even play through it once to find everything.

Bottom Line?
This ''RPG'' game may very well be the worst ever on the Saturn. There are way better ones, like Shining the Holy Ark...heck, this game even makes Mystaria look godlike. Either play those games or play Tombs and Treasure for the NES, because this game is all 3D graphics and no gameplay, which is why I give it a 1.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/01, Updated 10/07/01