The 7th Saga

"Have you beaten this game yet, RPG master?"

Introduction: Many people say this is a hard game, and some say “average gamers would spend no less than 70 hours” to complete this game. Why is it so hard and time-consuming? Well, because you would spend most of your time leveling up, or else you wouldn’t have the power to beat enemies or bosses in the next area. Does that mean you need a lot of experience to get to the next level? Nope, it means the enemies are not giving enough experience points. However, this is what makes this game stands out. If you beat this game, then you have proven that you are an RPG master. Good luck.

Story: 8.7
It happened on another planet “many years ago”. Your quest is to collect the seven runes to make you much more powerful, but on your journey you will encounter other people, or apprentices who also have the same goal as you have. They can help you or kill you. It also has a surprising event that happened in the middle of the game. Of course I am not here to spoil it for you.

Graphics: 8.6
Each player has its unique look and is well drawn. You can choose one out the seven “saga” to be your main player. Whenever you fight an apprentice, you see the apprentice’s front, but when you are with another apprentice, you see their back. I even sketched some pictures of the apprentices myself. The shadows on these apprentices are accurate and precise.

The bad thing about backgrounds is that there is only one type of background in dungeons and when fighting apprentices. The good thing about graphics is that even though the graphics in the outer world are kind of plain and simple, but the backgrounds for battles are about infinite. The camera shifts the battle scene into a 3-D format from right where you are standing. For example, if some mountains were above where you are standing, the battle scene for that location would be you facing the enemy and the mountains. The enemies are well drawn, and they also sway back and forth, which makes some of them hilarious. Some enemies are ugly enough so that you would want to kill them instantly.

Game Design: 8.8
The houses in towns are not spectacular, but there are some difference in the layouts for each town. Some are so complicated that it is almost like walking in a maze. Each main town is composed of an inn, an item shop, a house of healing, a weapon shop and an armor shop. There are some nice signs or old English letters that indicate which houses are shops and which are inns, etc. The negative point is that the transition time between going into a house is a bit time-consuming. It takes about 2 seconds for you to enter a house and be able to move again. This also applies to battles. When you meet an enemy, it takes about 3 seconds to start the battle. Another negative comment is that you can only buy one item at a time and need to go through a lengthy dialogue. Also, all the items you possess are shown as a list so that you would have to scroll down to the bottom if you just received/bought a new item. Again, this uses quite a bit of time.

A unique design about this RPG is that you have a radar like ball and can detect where the enemies and the surrounding towns are. If you are truly skilled with this item, you can walk from towns to towns without fighting a single enemy.

The best thing about this game is that there are different apprentices and they also travel from place to place like you do. You may fight them or team up with them. That makes this game kind of like a web-game where other players are involved too. It also shows the human nature. For example, the apprentices would want to fight you if you possess a lot of runes, and they would be your friends if you keep asking them to.

Music/sound: 9.1
Some songs in this game are catchy. I personally like the one in Zellis. I even memorized the tune for battle song, some town songs, and the song in shops. (Probably because I kept hearing them over and over again.) The one in dungeons is majestic and brings out the atmosphere too. There aren’t many sound effects presented in this game, but I still remember a few. When you lose a rune, you get this scary sound like you just seen the devil. The other sound effect is the sound you make when striking the enemies. For example, the sound of you slashing a serpent is very realistic.

Play Control: 8.2
This is an RPG, so no special moves or controls are required. However, the buttons required for this game are as minimal as two buttons plus the control pad. One for bringing up the menu and confirmation, and the other for cancellation. As long as you can move around, you are fine.

Puzzle and Challenge: 9.0
There not many puzzles in this game, except finding your way to the next town or cave. The challenge is extremely difficult, because it takes a long time for you to level up. (Unless you increase the frame rate in your Snes9x like me, he, he.) Some enemies are extremely tough, but the gold pieces and experience they give are very unbalanced. You would need to gain a lot of levels before you go to the next area, because the enemies there would be a lot tougher than the previous location. That is what makes the challenge in this game.

Fun and satisfaction: 8.9
Travelling with the apprentices does give you some fun. Seeing your characters leveling up and becoming stronger provide you satisfaction. However, the biggest factor for fun is raising your own pride. What do I mean by that? Well, if you beat the game, you have proven yourself to be an RPG master. Therefore, you spend lots of hours, trying to show that you are capable of beating this game. “YES!”, is what you would say when you slay the final powerful boss.

Percentage Breakdown: Story=10% Graphics=20% Game Design=20% Music/Sound=15%
Play Control=7% Puzzle/Challenge=8% Fun/Satisfaction=20%
Overall Rating: 8.8/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/15/01, Updated 10/15/01