The 7th Saga

"Frankly, I can't see why people didn't like this game that much."

Ranking:

Graphics: 8/10
Sound Effects: 5/10
Music: 9/10
Originality: 8/10
Play Control: 7/10
Group Enjoyment: 6/10
Individual Enjoyment: 7/10
Challenge: 8/10
Ending: 3/10
Overall: 8/10


Enix put a lot of stock into ''The 7th Saga,'' an RPG for the Super Nintendo. It features the tried and true plot of ''You must go out and save the world from evil,'' this time by collecting all 7 ''Runes.'' This had quite a different idea about the hero, though, since instead just arbitrarily given a character, you actually pick from 7 different people to work with. So, does your chosen character collect the 7 mystical runes, and save the world, or do they end up stuck in another time and place, unable to use 1-800-CALL-ATT to get a ride home?


Good Points:
The idea of picking your main character, and eventually a secondary character (if you so choose) as a partner, was a good idea. The general feel of this game, from the graphics to the music, was very moody and dark. Frankly, I think this is great, even if the game wasn't trying to do that. The crystal orb/enemy indicator was a nice touch, too. You know exactly where to go to get into fights (or avoid them, if you so choose).


Bad Points:
Well, even though you can see where the enemies are, it's still a tad too hard to dodge them. The challenge level seems to rise WAY too quickly, as well. New weapons and armor cost an arm and a leg, and really don't give you enough of an edge to be worth it. And when you get 2 people in your party, requiring new weapons and armor, then you're in for some trouble. I've found that the only way I could survive at times was to go back to a MUCH earlier location, and fight enemies there. I wasn't in any real danger, and I could actually defeat the monsters with minimal problems.


General Ratings:

Graphics:
Wow. The character graphics are pretty good, as are the magic spells. But the real clinchers here are the fact that the monsters are well drawn AND animated (the enemies move, attack, cast spells, etc). Whenever you get into a battle, the overhead map swirls around, so it shows your characters fighting on the very spot they were standing when they got attacked. The only thing that brought this score down some is the slight grainy-ness and blocky-ness of the swirling. Oh well, you can't win them all, can you?

Sound: Well, this game is purely average in sounds. Some of them are good, some are bad, some aren't very fitting, and some are. If you're looking for a game to base sounds off of, go for this one. It's average, all the way.

Music: This music is great. It's moody, dark, mysterious, and foreboding (running out of adjectives...), even when it's at a somewhat joyous mood. The music fits the game very well...the only thing that brought this down is sometimes, the music is SUPPOSED to be happy, but it's still too dark. The cavern music seems too ''Gung-Ho''ish for me. I mean, come on! I'm just going through a cave...

Originality: The originality was average, but then it got bumped up because the monsters were actually animated (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy IV-VI), and the characters had more than just a couple of animations for each movement. If you want to know what I'm talking about, look at the other characters when you're fighting them in 1-on-1 combat. TELL me Lux isn't frightening when he performs his Laser attacks! Oh yeah, and the intro to the fights was nice, too.

Play Control: It's an RPG. You don't have to worry about it that much, and it's not difficult to figure out. That's all there is to it.

Enjoyment: While groups of people aren't going to go ravenous over this game, or sit and watch you play it forever and ever, but if you're going solo, then it's not too bad. The latter parts of the game are a bit difficult, and you'll probably be forced to build up levels instead of doing anything important, so that takes down the enjoyment some.

Challenge: The challenge starts out pretty good, but then gets even harder, and harder, until surviving from 1 town to the next is maddening! At least you get spells at frequent intervals.

Ending: Aw, CRAP! After ALL that, THIS is what you get? Well, I'm not going to spoil the ending, but for a Super Nintendo games, let alone a Super Nintendo RPG, this ending stinks.


Overall:

Aside from the ending, this game is just great. It's a dark, moody, depressing game where you play the part of some unknown person who has trained to go and save the world. Unfortunately, as with all RPGs (except FFT), you're going to have to build LOTs of levels to survive. May I suggest the Metallic Brains located on the Eastern Isle?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/00, Updated 04/20/00