The 7th Saga

"No need for clever puns. This game blows."

Known as one of the most challenging RPGs for any fan of the genre, 1993's The 7th Saga is one of the few mistakes that Enix has made in its lifetime.

STORY:
So a king has summoned seven warriors to his castle to ask them to find the seven runes scattered throughout the world. If they find all seven, then they'll be, like, really powerful or something. So you choose one of these SHALLOW seven characters to follow, and try to find these seven runes... and that's it. Wow, what a ****ty-ass story.
STORY: 3/10

GRAPHICS:
This might be the best part. The characters are all very detailed with some nice animations. The environments, for the most part, look pretty nice and polished. At times they got kind of bland, but they look better than a lot of other RPGs on the SNES. I also really liked the ways the battles looked. Your character and the enemies onscreen all have excellent animations and detail.
GRAPHICS: 8.5/10

SOUNDS:
A lot of the music in 7th Saga has this weird, mellow, electro-flute type sound in it, which really got on my nerves after awhile, even though it sounded so low-key. Most of the dull music I felt was very forgettable, except maybe the battle music. The sound effects were also very mellowed down, and thus made the experience a little duller than it already was. Is it really that hard to put some effort into the sound effects for a game? I barely even heard anything.
SOUND: 4.5/10

GAMEPLAY:
Definitely some of the worst gameplay you'll see in an RPG. It's not all bad though--I somewhat enjoyed the idea of the runes each having its own little power once you acquire it, and the ways you encounter enemies is unique (there's an onscreen map with white dots on that, when touched, will initiate a battle). It's also kind of nice that you can get a sidekick (one of the other six warriors) to join you. Speaking of which, another positive aspect of 7th Saga was how unique each character is. Though it ultimately backfires as the game progresses, your favorite part will probably be seeing how different each character is.

Now for the bad, which there is a lot of. Battles are dull--you can attack, use magic, use an item, or attempt to run (which you will fail at). But the unoriginal battle system isn't nearly as bad as the things you will soon read about.

There are way too many enemies on the map, which means you'll either be trying to fight your way through or desperately attempting to avoid them as you trek through many areas. This eventually leads to one of the reasons so many people hated this game--it's too damn hard.

Aside from the frequent battles, there are several other factors that contribute to the game's insane difficulty. First of all, you level up WAY too slowly. In comparison to most of the enemies you'll face, you are much, much weaker. Which in turn means you'll be getting your ass handed to you pretty much throughout the entire game, even with the runes' help.

Another problem is that when you die, you must return all the way back to the last inn with half your money gone. There is a lot about this idea that I hate. First, why did they have to make the inns the only save spots? It would've been much less frustrating if they had a save spot here and there in all the areas you explore, like pretty much EVERY OTHER decent RPG on the market. I also hated how you lost half your money. What, did the monsters need your money for their groceries or something? Does this make sense? It doesn't? Of course it doesn't! Hell, just give me a damn game over screen instead of this.

While I appreciate the character variety, there are some that are utterly pointless to play as. Why give us the option to be Valsu, a healer, when he'll get his ass kicked? It all comes down to how long a character can last, and therefore anyone with low HP or defense is not a good person to play as.

One final flaw that Enix decided to add is this weird gem system. Your character will receive gems that can be sold... and so you sell them. Why not just give us money instead? Then again, they can be very useful when you die, which will happen a lot. Still, it's all chained together. The gems shouldn't be necessary since the save system and difficulty should be altered.

I can't help but think you'll have to struggle to enjoy playing 7th Saga. It's everything that you don't want in a game. It's too hard rather than too easy, it's too frustrating rather than too boring, and it's too tedious rather than too discreet.
GAMEPLAY: 1/10

LASTING APPEAL:
Dude, you might not even make it through the first dungeon. The game can last over 45 hours, which is way too long for what it puts you through, and the ending is far from worth the pain. Don't even rent this game.
LASTING APPEAL: .5/10

OVERALL:
How can anyone like this game? It's pretty to look at, but that doesn't make up for it's suckiness. An uninspiring plot, crappy save system, and insane difficulty make The 7th Saga a game to avoid.
OVERALL: 2/10

Thanks for reading =)

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/07