Tag Archives: Square Enix

Games, Language Fun

How to Speak Dubbish – The Dudbear Language

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Dubbish is a very simple language, and there isn’t very much you can really say in it.  Dubbish’s origins are from the game Legend of Mana by Square Enix.

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Dub! – a greeting, also means yes

Dud – means no and also goodbye

Duba – you

Duda – me

Dubba – friends

Bubu – Dudbear

Gugu – all other creatures

Da – light and stars

Ba – night

Dadda – light

Dubababa – many or very

Du – little

Baba – music

Dada – please

Gak – used to show displeasure

Bub? – used if you don’t understand

if you are trying to sell lamps, say – dada dadda?

Dabba duba – fuck you!

Foofoo – blow me

Da doodoo – holy shit

::spitting sound:: – eat me

Games, Game Reviews

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PSP) Review

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Developer/Publisher: Square Enix || Overall: 9.0/10

Being a fan of pretty much any SquareSoft RPG from the PSOne era, it has always pained my heart that I was never able to experience the uniqueness that was encapsulated in the Tri-Ace-developed Valkyrie Profile, published by its future bedmate Enix. Square Enix answered my prayers with the re-release of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, a couple of months before the prequel Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. Being a self-proclaimed hardcore fan of Final Fantasy games, I found VP: Lenneth to be a very jostling experience compared to the other products Squaresoft pushed back in the day. While the game could end up not delivering what you would expect after a full playthrough, it is a very fun 16-bit RPG nonetheless.

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth’s setting is quite unique from what is usually seen for games based in mythology. It’s not uncommon to see Greek, Roman, or even medieval games, given that those are the most familiar mythologies American society has grown up with. Until VP: Lenneth, I had never heard of the lesser-known Norse Mythology, and that is what VP itself is based on. Without some background understanding about the words “Asgard,” “Valhalla,” and “Einherjar” I was simply perplexed by what any of the characters in the game were actually talking about, since it offers no explanation within itself (a theme in VP: Lenneth seems to be that it doesn’t explain itself on purpose).

However, a simple query online through one’s favorite search engine can answer the questions that may arise. Understanding the concepts of Norse Mythology might take a little more time, but you get my drift. Now, while saying that VP is “based” on Norse Mythology is true, it does not necessarily mean all of the concepts it introduces are exactly true to Norse Mythology itself. You’ll have to take the events that happen in the game as just that – events that happen in the game. It’s not a retelling of any particular story except the one that was fictionalized for the game, though it might be based on mythological figures.

The basis of the game’s actual story is that you are a Valkyrie named Lenneth. Valkyries are the female death servants of Lord Odin, ruler of the Æsir, who lives in a large palace named Valhalla. A Valkyrie’s purpose is to obtain human souls from Earth that exhibit a strong capability of helping fight the war in Asgard (Norse Heaven), which rages between the two rival groups of Gods known as the Æsir and the Vanir. Though in Norse Mythology Valkyries don’t exactly engage in combat directly as seen in the game, Lenneth is quite the badass when it comes down to her fighting skills. Lenneth also brings worthy human souls along with her into battle, who are called Einherjar. The term is used by the Gods to refer to the spirit of a warrior who died bravely in battle. For a religion thought up by Vikings who valued war, it’s not surprising that those who exhibit bravery in battle would be seen as special.

Lenneth, also referenced as just “Valkyrie,” must find enough Einherjar to help the Æsir before Ragnarok (the end of the world) comes about. You control Lenneth through all the different stories and dungeons that occur through the game’s progression in a Chapter/Period system. There are 24 periods in a “day,” known as a chapter, and eight days to go through before Ragnarok. So that means Valkyrie is on a tight schedule. Lucky enough for you, there is no traditional trekking through different parts of the world map before you get to the next event. Valkyrie can fly! So you can save lots of time by just flying to the next destination. You’ll also know exactly where to go, so there’s no guesswork involved in whether or not you should go to a certain town unless you feel the need to waste your allotted time. Even though the Chapter/Period system might seem a bit restrictive, when it comes down to it there just isn’t all that much extra stuff to do. Without intentionally wasting time visiting places you’ve already been to, you will be able to get through all the character’s mini-stories and dungeons within the confines of the given time. Still, you must transfer at least one (preferably two, since it’s the max) Einherjar to Asgard if you want to keep a good standing with Lord Odin.

Another unique aspect of the game is that it is almost exclusively in 2D. Save for the world map, there will be lots of platforming and running through doors on either side of a room. It is also multilayered – you can go to the “rear” or the “front” so there isn’t just one long string of rooms you progress through. The battle system is by far one of the most unique from the era and still is to this day. When in battle, each character is assigned to a face button, and when they are activated in a devastating-enough pattern, you are able to perform a special attack. Each character will have one unique special attack that they will use for the whole game, which can deal some very damaging blows that can make or break a battle in the desperate times. It is also important to note that special attacks can be strung together as long as a gauge in the bottom left of the screen fills up to 100 after any series of attacks.

Three kinds of items can pop out of an enemy as you fight them. There are purple orbs for using special attacks/magic more often, blue crystals giving 10% more experience each, and treasure chests symbolizing items you obtain after the battle is over. The way a battle progresses is in a combination of real-time and turn-based. When it is your turn, you can use all of your characters at the same time and get through your turn in a relatively short fashion if you choose to. It is a completely different system from the ATB system that was seen in FFVII/VIII/IX. The battle system is a very effective one, right up there with Xenogears’ implementation for non-ATB-based systems.

Another liberal idea that is executed in VP: Lenneth is the lack of any actual shops. That’s because Lenneth has the power to create items out of thin air by expending an amount of Materialize Points. As time goes on, stronger weapons and items will make themselves available for materialization. At the end of each chapter, you will be given another allotment of MP based on how well you did, which will have to go a long way considering that the next time you’ll get a significant amount of MP will be at the end of the next chapter. However, all is not lost, as you can convert items into MP if you’re just out of reach of a certain item’s price or simply don’t need a certain item. The whole item/weapon system is convenient, considering that you never have to hunt through a ton of different shops for a better weapon since you carry the shop with you. This Divine Item system, as it is known, can only be used on the world map or on save points.

Another interesting aspect of the game is that there are three different difficulty settings, as well as three different endings. The difficulty settings relate to how many dungeons you’ll be able to play and the level new characters start out with. Almost every help source I’ve seen suggests picking hard, for the fact that you can experience all of the dungeons that are in the game and see any of the three endings. The endings are referenced as “A,” “B,” and “C.” The “C” ending is the really bad ending, and is pretty easy to get. The “B” ending doesn’t explain anything that happened in the game, as you just get a pat on the back and off you go. The “A” ending is where the game should really be at, so do not play the game with the intention of getting any ending other than “A” if you don’t intend on playing this game more than once. Unfortunately for me, I knew nothing about which ending would be the most satisfying and ended up getting the “B” ending…resulting in a very underwhelming conclusion after pumping forty hours into the game. But I did have fun, and that’s the point, right?

When it comes to sound, it’s very cool to have a game from the PSOne era contain a decent amount of voiceovers in it. While it has become a de facto standard in my mind for most games I play now (especially dialogue-heavy games), I do have realistic expectations for games that were released nearly seven years ago. I found the voice work to be very satisfying, much like the graphics. Having a game that is entirely in animated 2D lends itself to having a sort of artistic beauty that is not hampered by a past generation’s typical look. There is nearly no frame rate slowdown in battles, as they play out with fluidity. Unfortunately, there is a noticeable slowdown in normal exploration as the camera scans left and right, not to mention the menu loading that is a bit longer than I would have liked, all of which can take away from the perceived quality of the emulation.

As for the portability of VP: Lenneth, I can say that it is the first and only portable RPG that I have sunk forty hours into. The record was previously held by Golden Sun, which I only spent around ten or fifteen hours with. Needless to say, VP: Lenneth works very well for portability, but if you’re looking for quick spurts of playing for five minutes, it might not be a great idea to play an RPG to begin with. If you’re away from a home console and have loads of time to kill, VP: Lenneth will be an excellent choice for RPG gamers. I know that I wouldn’t have been able to get through some of those long shifts at work without my PSP and VP: Lenneth.

VP: Lenneth is well worth the amount of money I spent to purchase the game the week it came out. I am glad that I am able to experience this game when it was nearly impossible to do such a thing for the past few years. For being one of the rarest PSOne games, it’s almost a steal to have it available at a normal price point.

Games, Game Reviews

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2) Demo Preview

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Developer: Level 5 | Publisher: Square Enix ||

It’s been a while since a Dragon Quest game has come out. The last Dragon Quest (also known as Dragon Warrior) game to come out was Dragon Warrior VII in 2000 for the original PlayStation. Needless to say, the old Enix canon franchise now sees its latest incarnation under the guise of Square Enix and developer Level 5. Level 5 has already built up a reputation with Sony’s Dark Cloud series, one that I am very fond of, and the same cel-shading style used in Dark Cloud 2 shows through in Dragon Quest VIII.

I had the opportunity to actually play the demo for Dragon Quest VIII because GameCrazy gave me a copy of the demo disc when I finally got one of their cards to get discounts on used games. So, naturally, I decided to play it. I hadn’t had the pleasure of playing any of the previous games in the series, so I started Dragon Quest VIII with a clean slate. I was an avid fan of the Dragon Ball Z series back when it was in its popularity spike in America, so I noticed the art style of Akira Toriyama right off. Coupled with the cel-shaded look of the whole game, it gave a very anime-esque feel to the game that is very similar to Toriyama’s previous works in animation. The environments don’t fare as well from what is shown. Even though it is a demo, the areas available weren’t very impressive or breathtaking to say the least; rather, the environments in the demo were more or less just trying to accomplish what they were trying to do and little more. The areas available were an open field, a cave, and a town.

Like what was mentioned earlier, the field and the cave aren’t all that spectacular. The field had some nice colors with trees and hills, so the features of the field weren’t all that boring. The cave also had some nice colors in certain parts, but most of it was just brown. The town was also colorful, but it just felt like it didn’t have anything special to it. Of course, being a demo, it doesn’t usually reflect on how well the game will look in all instances, and I expect that Level 5 has made some nice-looking areas, and of course, to some extent, utilized the help of Akira Toriyama in that regard. The sound is nothing less than what you should expect from a Square Enix game; simply, it’s a nice fantasy-oriented orchestrated soundtrack. The limited amount of voice acting present was only available during the very important parts of the story mode. The voice acting isn’t half bad either. It should also be said that the automatic stand-out for best voice in the game is the character of Yangus, who sounds like some guy that would be in The Getaway. The main character doesn’t talk, though.

As far as gameplay goes, Dragon Quest VIII is pretty much a run-of-the-mill RPG. There’s not a lot shown in the demo to distinguish it too much from regular RPG gameplay, but there are a couple of unique things to it that go toward making it more than just normal. There are random battles — this is nothing really surprising. But what is different is that there are also extra enemies on the map that you have a choice of fighting on the map as well. Sometimes you can be forced to fight the enemies that appear on the field. So, they could be guarding a treasure or present an extra battle challenge. Battles are also fast-paced and you can get through them relatively fast if need be. What helps this is the use of tactics that you can assign to your other teammates, whether you want them to automate in a certain way or if you want them to follow your orders. So if you had your allies automated (and you can change their tactics mid-battle) you’d only really control the main character and be supported by your allies’ decisions according to the tactics you selected for them.

As for the actual story, it’s a charming adventure they have going. Even though they drop you into the middle of the story (which is probably not even in the real game as it is presented in the demo), it did interest me, and I wanted to find out more about the problem at hand (which was something about a king being transformed into a monster) and who the non-speaking main character really was. The town structure also reminded me of the 16-bit era RPGs; it wasn’t really anything in particular, but there was just something about the way the buildings were laid out, as if we were still in 2D. I also had the same feeling when running around on the field outside of the town. Whether or not the developer tries to keep that feeling through the whole game could be questionable.

The Dragon Quest VIII demo has cemented my decision in definitely getting the full retail version. If you’re able to get your hands on it, take the demo for a spin, as it’ll definitely show off some of the style of Dragon Quest VIII and what’s to be expected from the game. Judging from the demo alone, Dragon Quest VIII is sure to not disappoint.

Games, Game Reviews

Star Ocean: Till The End of Time (PS2) Review

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Developer: Tri-Ace / Publisher: Square Enix || Overall: 8.8/10

As a trend, there only seems to be one Star Ocean game made every generation. The first Star Ocean was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and the second Star Ocean was released on the original PlayStation (PSOne). Through its unique battle system, interesting storyline, and immense item system, the Star Ocean series has gained quite a following. Originally an Enix-published game, the Star Ocean series’ third installment shows nothing but improvement after the merging of Squaresoft and Enix, largely due to the fact that Tri-Ace develops the game. The series has been revamped and improved to above and beyond what its predecessors had even dreamed to accomplish.

What really sets the Star Ocean games apart from all of its competitors are, instead of the turn-based system, real-time battles in a 3-D setting while mixing in traditional RPG elements. What also sets the Star Ocean series apart from others is that its storyline is science-fiction, one you rarely see in the RPG genre. No game in the Star Ocean series pulls off what Star Ocean is known for better than Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Amazingly fun real-time battles, an overwhelming yet very fascinating story, and unique characters makes Star Ocean: Till the End of Time an amazing game and an unforgettable experience all at the same time.

Taking place in space itself, and on many different planets, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time creates a grandiose experience as you delve into the story visiting vastly different places that could only be experienced in a science fiction story. For at least half of the game, however, you will spend all of your time on one particular “primitive” planet that is in a state of war. Even though this major detour from the overall story may seem as something that the game could have done without, certain elements of the game are progressively introduced while on the planet, allowing the player to also get used to the battle system, learn a little bit more about the overall story and actually build an interest in whether or not the main characters of the story will make a difference in the escalating war. The “sub-story” on the planet ends up taking an important place in the overall story, so it doesn’t seem like it’s a total waste of time.

Included within the game is extra information that allows the player to further involve themselves in the universe of the Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, in a dictionary that adds words automatically whenever you run across information. The dictionary adds a lot of depth to the game and you begin to create an overall picture of the kind of universe Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is like. To fully understand the dictionary though, you may have to take a course in Physics, as many scientific terms are used, and even though they are explained in the game itself, you would still have a better understanding if you took a class. Something you can really appreciate with the game is that much of the information is actually believable as to how things work, and you can tell that the game developers did their homework when it came to the specifics of Astronomy and Physics in their dictionary terms, and in-game references to the topics. The extra effort of Tri-Ace adds to the believability and possibility for the events in the game as they unfold.

The actual story starts out when a teenage boy named Fayt is vacationing with his parents and a childhood friend named Sophia. While on the planet, the current state of the universe that is known about is explained, as well as just starting to learn how to use the battle system. You also learn of Fayt’s personal life a little bit and who he knows and holds dear to his heart, most namely his father, mother, and Sophia. This is all fine and dandy to begin with, because no conflict is actually introduced except for the fact that the Earth-founded Pangalactic Federation (which is more or less an alliance of many planets with many species) is in a seemingly everlasting war against another superpower named the Aldian Empire. When the planet Fayt is on is attacked by a third party, named the Vendeeni, this is where the true conflict in the game really begins. For a long time you will be kept in the dark about why the Vendeeni came to attack the planet Fayt was vacationing on, but when you’re finally told why they did it, the story begins to get even more interesting. As the story progresses, it gets better and better.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time has a fun and involving real-time battle system, and this is where the game really shines. The real-time battle system is one of the most fun battle-systems ever created. Instead of a strict turn-based game, you take full control of your character, and, along with your other allies, beat the crap out of your enemies as fast and as hard as you can without taking too much of a toll on your characters.

Your character’s stats in battle rely on three different types of gauges: HP (Hit Points), MP (Mental Points), and Fury (a percentage that dictates how many moves you’re able to conduct before recharging. Some attacks take up more Fury than others). To succeed in the battles of the game, it would be wise to keep your HP and MP as high as you can, and conserve Fury enough so that you’re able to use your attacks effectively. Unlike most games, when your MP gauge is completely depleted, the character becomes knocked out. This adds to the strategy of your moves and being able to use the time you have to keep yourself and your allies from knocking out.

As your characters level up you can learn new abilities that will have to be used if you even want to have a chance at defeating some of the later enemies in the game, and learn how to use them effectively. When you use special abilities (depending on the kind of ability) it will take away HP, MP, or both. The amount use is usually not very significant, but when used without moderation, it can create difficulties for future battles. During battle, every attack used takes away a percentage from the Fury gauge, dictating how many times you’re able to conduct attacks in a string or other moves without recharging for a bit. The consideration of conserving Fury when you can during fast-paced battles becomes a part of the game’s challenge. Simply being able to mash the buttons on your controller won’t get you too far, as you will really have to know what you’re doing to progress in the game. The real-time battling also creates the challenge of keeping an eye on your allies, as well as trying to defeat the enemies you’re facing. How you actually play becomes paramount to winning battles, rather than just simply leveling up.

The faults of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time comes in how the story is formulated in certain aspects as well as how it’s delivered. Too often do you see unneeded parts of story that just seem like its fluff and not really even that interesting or important to the overall story. Most of the “fluff” stems off from playing as a character that comes off as fairly flat and not very well characterized. The “fluff” seems more like a failed attempt to truly characterize the main character. The same sort of feeling rubs off on some other characters, but the main character Fayt suffers the most from this sort of characterization flaw. There are other very unique characters in the game however, most notably being Cliff, Nel, Albel and even the little kid Roger (who seems to just be a comic relief character). There are other recurring characters that are not playable, and still take an important impact on the game’s storyline that are somewhat more interesting than Fayt. Adding to the “flatness” of Fayt’s character is really the voice acting for the character. It seemed to me, at least, that the voice actor had something to be desired in the acting, and really the dialogue in certain cases across different parts of the game needed some improvement. However, for the most part, the voice acting is a very good part about the game. At times, the music or sound effects in the background shrouds the dialogue being spoken, or take away from the concentration of listening to what characters are saying. On a side note, fans of the sci-fi RPG Xenosaga Episode I will also notice familiar voices in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time that were in Xenosaga Episode I. Quite a few of the voice actors who were in Xenosaga Episode I also worked as voice actors in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. This may or may not be a good thing, but I don’t feel it matters to the overall quality of the game at all. Another fault of how the story was formulated is that through the first disc of the game there wasn’t enough space-oriented things, and you spent the vast majority of the time on a primitive planet fighting with swords and dealing with dragons and things that had to do with the planet you were on, and didn’t really have a whole lot to do with the main overall story other than the fact that Fayt is there and things happen there because he was.

On how the game actually looks and sounds like, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is not the absolute best you’re going to find nowadays, but all the graphics are definitely smooth, and during the movies, very polished and very nice. There are a lot of space ship battle scenes that are shown throughout the game as well, and if you’re interested in the whole sci-fi scene you’ll appreciate the kinds of ships and action sequences concerning them. Music takes a weird place in the game, because even though a lot of music actually goes with the mood of the game, there are instances where there’s all of a sudden a rock song that doesn’t mix in with anything about the game. I have to say that this is the first RPG where I have seen flat out rock music with guitars and drums playing during the “exploring” parts of the game (though its not too bad in itself). It seems so out of place to me, considering that the battle music, background music during dialogue and all the other kinds of music used do not have the same kind of genre of music at all. It also depends on what planet you’re on, as the music arrangement changes for the most part, and there is different music being played during “exploring” parts later on in the game.

Another part about the game is the Invention System. This is more overly an optional part of the game you don’t have to participate in, but you are given the ability to create items to be sold in shops by patenting them. Items created by you or items created by other inventors will help you out on your quest by being able to buy better weapons and items that are better than the ones you usually used beforehand. Just the sheer amount of items that can be created is astounding, and actually fairly overwhelming. The part some people may like about it though is that because there are so many items to create, you’ll always be trying to create a new item that hasn’t been patented yet, if you so dared to actually care enough about it. Creating your own inventions is entirely optional, and you really don’t even have to make any inventions at all, but it is an extra part of the game that utilizes the massive amount of items that have always been included in the Star Ocean games.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time displays a very good mix of all the elements an RPG should have, and taking a different approach at the whole genre by its use of real-time battles as its battle system. The amazingly fast-paced and challenging battles are something to be reveled, especially when it comes to how much the game has improved upon its predecessor. Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is definitely an excellent game to have, if you enjoy RPGs or enjoy Action games, as it is a unique experience all-around.

Games, Game Reviews

Front Mission 4 (PS2) Preview

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Developer/Publisher: Square Enix ||

Square’s Front Mission series isn’t one that many will recognize… The first game in the series, simply titled Front Mission, had been a strategy game similar to Final Fantasy Tactics, and the second a unique side-scroller where mechs called Wanzers jumped around and shot at each other. These first two Front Mission games had only been released in Japan, and were average games at best. However, the third Front Mission succeeded where its predecessors could not, with the PlayStation’s Front Mission 3.

Front Mission 3 is an amazing game. It has huge mechs blowing the crap out of other mechs (called Wanzers), the ability to elaborately customize your own Wanzer (or even create one from spare parts), and a story that is actually good enough to keep you playing. On top of that, there are two different stories you can go through. A huge part of Front Mission 3 is an “internet” type of feature in which you could go to different “web sites” that are in-game, and an email system. Unlike any other game, the vast in-game history of the world (and a little bit of actual world history) is a big part of understanding the game and why things happen.

Front Mission 4, also a strategy game, looks spectacular. It is set in 2096, and takes place in Germany and South America six years after the original Front Mission’s Second Huffman Conflict. Front Mission 4 intertwines the stories of two Wanzer pilots Elsa and Damil. In the world of 2096, there are 3 main economic powers: the OCU (which is made up of the countries between Japan and Australia, along the coast), the UCS (the U.S., Canada, and South America), and the EC (basically all the countries in Europe).

The game starts with Elsa’s story in Europe. Elsa is formerly a wanzer pilot in the French army, and is now in an EC team that tests and researches wanzers, called the Durandal. When an EC German base is attacked by an unknown force of wanzers, the Durandal is sent to investigate the attack, and uncovers a dark plot. The story switches over to Damil in South America. The UCS Venezuelan governor declares independence from the UCS, and deploys troops to blockade the country. UCS troops are sent in to repress the Venezuelan forces. Damil and his unit are among those deployed, but they have no interest in war. Damil’s story starts when he and his unit witness a plane crash in a Venezuelan jungle. What they find inside the cargo plane shapes their destiny.

The battle system in FM4 has been changed a bit from FM3. The main addition for actual battles is a new system called the Link System. Utilizing the new Link System allows you and your team members to use particular maneuvers against your enemies, whether they are Attack or Defense Links. With the Link System, you can have more than one friendly unit attack an enemy unit at the same time, obviously giving more damage to that enemy unit, or decrease the amount of damage given to a friendly unit.

Another noticeable change is in the Pilot System. Instead of having skills randomly become obtained like in FM3, it appears that you can get skills more freely by using “Enhancement Points” your pilots earn after a battle. The skills you are able to obtain increase with your computer’s rank. When you upgrade your computer, you can choose from more abilities to acquire. There are three types of skills that give you advantages during the game. There are Battle Skills (randomly activated during battles), Passive Skills (in effect as long as they are equipped), and Command Skills (available from a pilot’s list of commands).

Front Mission 4 is set for a release on June 15, 2004.

 

Games, Game Reviews

Unlimited SaGa (PS2) Review

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Developer/Publisher: Square Enix || Overall: 3.0/10

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Overview:
Unlimited SaGa is the latest in the underrated SaGa series. Let me tell you right now, you’re in for a big disappointment. This game seems like it’s an experimental mending of 3 games: SaGa Frontier 2, Legend of Mana, and Final Fantasy Tactics. The best way to explain each aspect is to put them in a numbered list.

1. The vastly different character choices and their journeys (from SaGa Frontier 2) is the basic formula for Unlimited Saga. Seems interesting right? Of course it is. That’s why I liked SaGa Frontier 2 so much (and still trying to beat it).

2. Remember the adventure stuff you always sent your allies on in Final Fantasy Tactics? Well, you get to do them now! Hooray! The only good thing it takes from Final Fantasy Tactics are those adventures, but the bad things it takes from it make this one good thing bad. This game also has the same basic towns, meaning they’re just pictures, and you don’t get to roam around. The whole game you don’t get to roam around at all. There’s no actual moving of a character in a conventional sense, like in any regular Final Fantasy (or really any) game. You hop around like it’s a board game. This is sort of like FFT, in that you just tell the person where to go and they go, and you don’t actually move them.

3. Most have probably not played Legend of Mana, but it was a pretty fun game. Unlimited Saga takes from this game the kind of towns there are, meaning the different places you can choose to go to in the city itself, but then mixed with the FFT towns. You don’t actually move anywhere, you just select the place you want to go and a picture comes up for the place. Legend of Mana was just one big game of different adventures you had to do for people, sort of like this game.

Now, take a game that mixes that interactivity you had in Legend of Mana for those missions (which you actually play), and the adventures you sent your allies on in FFT (which you didn’t play at all). You get something of a 50% interactivity game. That game is Unlimited SaGa. Oh, and you don’t get to see any of the places you’re traveling except for a little random picture in the top left corner.

The people in the bars that you can converse with are about as dumb as the main characters are flat (and that’s pretty bad). I’ve only played one out of the 7 characters you can choose from so far for about an hour, and I can say that there are some interesting aspects to this game. However, after a while these “interesting” things don’t become so interesting anymore.

Graphics:
The strongest point about this game is the graphics. Everything about this game graphic-wise is beautiful, because I actually really like hand-drawn-looking graphics. The only bad thing is, is that there is no animation except in battles, and the animations aren’t very good. Enemies look better than your characters actually do. Half the time you’re playing a board game, and the other half you’re battling. This gets kind of boring, because when there are some story scenes (which are rare) the only things that you see are the cut-outs of characters talking about stupid things.

Sound:
The music is good. It definitely sets a mood, depending on which adventure you’re in. But the game itself is not executed well, so the music becomes sort of useless to listen to because you don’t really even see what kind of a place you’re in. For example, there’s creepy music in an abandoned castle. But you don’t see this castle at all, so it takes away from the experience of enjoying the music.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is executed well FOR WHAT IT IS. In the beginning, I couldn’t figure out how to move my character across the board-game part of the game, until I accidentally hit my left analog stick. A weird circle thing popped up, and pointed towards the ????? box. OHHHH so that’s how you move. And the first time I saw my character move I was horrified to see that all it was, was a still black and white image of my character jumping around. “Isn’t that terribly fun?” you might ask. No, it isn’t.

Now, you have to say, “The battle system is good, isn’t it? That’s what you come to expect of the SaGa series!” Yes that’s what you are expecting, but you are let down and then shot in the head like a lame horse in the backyard. The battle system makes no sense. Let me start at the beginning. Ok, you enter a battle. Like in other SaGa games, you have HP and LP. Your attacks actually use HP, and in no time you’re down to 0 HP. Supposedly, HP is a wall “protecting your LP.” But since HP is depleted so fast, I see no real reason why HP even exists in this game. Sometimes, when you even have HP, your LP is decreased for no real reason. When you lose all of your LP that character dies, and doesn’t come back till you go back to a town.

There is also a “combo ’system’” (notice how I put system in double quotes, because this game really doesn’t have a system of anything). The combos are helpful, yet not helpful during battles. Moreover, it just doesn’t make sense. When you attack, you have 2 options. To either “Go!” or “Hold.” If you go, you just attack. If you hold, then you get the chance to string together multiple attacks by your allies, or the one character. Yet, you also run the risk of having an enemy get into your combo and deal more damage to you than you did to him. That happens almost every time, and makes you not want to use combos at all. The whole battle system is a mess, and there is nothing really going for you. You can’t even heal your freaking health, LP, or get rid of status problems without going back to town. It’s confusing what actually happens in a battle.

The backend system is even more confusing. There are these things that are called growth panels, but nothing (not even the instruction booklet) explains the functions of these panels and how you can increase your abilities using them. After every adventure you complete, you are forced to put abilities on to the growth panel whether you want to or not. That means when your growth panel is full, you’re going to have to replace one skill with another. So, it’s almost impossible to actually get ahead in this game. The rest of the backend system is just a cluttered mess that makes even less sense than the growth panel. After actually looking through it, you say to yourself “what’s the point of any of this?”

You won’t see yourself going to the main status menu very often anyway. It’s not like any of it is useful.

Crappiest Part:
The crappiest part is how this game does not get you into playing the game at all. The game does not tell you why you are playing, and it feels like its holding back on the actual story of the game. The rest of the game wouldn’t be so horrible if it only had some sort of a good story to keep you going on. After a while, the only reason I was playing this game was because I spent money on it. Fortunately, it wasn’t that much, so I’m going to see if I can get some cash off of it. Well, I came back from 2 places, and I couldn’t get anything more than 5 bucks for it. I bought the game off of EBay for 10 bucks. I may as well keep it…

Overall:
This was a horrible execution of so many good ideas. This game would have been good, if it were more interactive, and if it were an actual GAME. This game is just a bunch of commands that you don’t have any fun in doing. The only thing you actually get to do is when a random spinning wheel comes up and you hope you succeed in what you’re trying to do.

Don’t get fooled by the box, when it says to “embark on … quests and encounter completely new battle systems, [and] open-ended stories.” There are only crappy quests, new crappy battle systems and anything but open-ended stories. Unless open-ended means you make up your own story in your mind…

Unlimited SaGa isn’t a game I would suggest to anyone, not even to those who were fans of the previous games in the series. The game lacks interactivity and isn’t too appealing. Perhaps if you’re looking to waste some time, Unlimited SaGa would be worth looking in to, but it would be wise to search elsewhere.