The 7th Saga

"One of the few Enix classics."

The 7th Saga is a pretty advanced RPG on the SNES created by Enix. If the tough monsters aren't enough to get you stuck in the game, the puzzles and insane dungeons will be. While the game is hard and this can make it a bit frustrating at times to want to play, the graphics, sound, story, character designs and monsters are great. You can choose between seven different characters in the beginning, and you will meet up with the others later on, which ones depending on who you are. There are several different paths to choose through-out the game, and many different endings. So it's in your hands on how you want things to turn out.

The animation and movement in this game are really well done. Whenever you get in a random battle the camera pans down from above your characters, right down into the action. It's something that was really unique and difficult to do back then. Some of the dungeons you quest to seem sub par. Everything seems so dim and everything (such as the walls, and texturing) looks the same as you journey through dungeons. It makes the game very bland and boring during these parts. Not to mention that the graphics in some areas are a bit grainy and pixelated. This is something minor though. It's not really noticed unless you look actually look for it. Other than those small flaws, everything else is very nice looking and overall, the graphics in The 7th Saga were very well done.

Sound-wise, the music is great. It gives the game the whole medieval "I'm going on an adventure" feel to it. Dungeons too, are accompanied with some evil, mysterious, and dark music. It really gives you the feeling it would as if you were there yourself. The battle and boss battle themes also gave the battle emotion to it. Music can really do a lot for a game, and in this case, it makes The 7th Saga incredible. The only draw back however, is the quality. At times the songs sound a bit fuzzy or blurry sounding. Something that could really have been really easy to touch up on. The sound effects are about average. They sound like the default RPG sounds you'd hear in a few other RPGs around that time. It's not terrible, but it's also not the first thing one would probably think about when thinking about The 7th Saga.

As said before, this game is pretty tough. Make sure you level up and don't run away from battles much when playing. The dungeons are tough and far apart in the world. So getting there will be tough and getting through them even tougher. Some of the bosses may seem near impossible. Don't worry though, with enough training you'll be able to defeat them. On the other hand, the game has a superb and intriguing plot, and you'll probably want to keep on going to the next location to see what happens next. If you like frustration though, this is your game. Be prepared for a long, tough, and eventful journey ahead of you!

There are seven different characters to choose from, and each one has many different choices through-out the course of the game, so you can play this game over and over again with different things happening. Including endings, there are several endings you can get as well. There are a few things in The 7th Saga that were new to American RPGs when it was released. Such as the monster radar. You'll notice when you're on the world map you'll see a monster radar with the world map and dots showing the monsters located around you. This added a whole new dimension to strategy to either fight or avoid fighting.

In conclusion, The 7th Saga is worth it. If you have the time and patience, this game is fun, innovative, challenging, and great looking. Once you get used to the difficulty, you should have no problem clearing other RPGs out there and becoming what some would call an "RPG Master". Finding the game on the other hand could be difficult. Most SNES games and hardware are discontinued so getting your hands on a copy could be just as challenging as the game itself!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/05