Difficulty:

Very Hard

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Broken"

"The 7th Saga" is a Japanese Role-Playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that was created by The Enix Corporation and released in the summer of 1993. Featuring 7 playable characters with varying gameplay styles, "The 7th Saga" tasks players with returning the 7 scattered runes of legend to the beloved King Lemele while facing monsters, demons, friends, and rival apprentices alike in a quest to become the next heir to the throne.

In the "7th Saga", players will explore caverns, dungeons, towers, lost civilizations, and even the past as their journey across Ticondera twists and turns with plot developments, betrayals, and new quests. Featuring an innovative (for the time) "crystal ball" which places monsters (as dots) on a mini map and genre pushing graphics, "The 7th Saga" is a JRPG that remains playable, if not entirely enjoyable, even by today's standards.

The Good:

• Graphics – One of the major problems nowadays when playing older games is the graphical eyesore that many classics have become. Somehow the mind is generous in how it remembers beauty (old games, old cars, and old girlfriends) but fortunately "The 7th Saga" is an exception.

• Length – "The 7th Saga" is a long game even by old school standards. The plot does have its highs and lows and leveling can become tedious but if you're looking for something that'll take up some time then this is a safe bet.

• Monster Variety: It's a known trick of the trade for many developers to change the "skin" color of a monster, rename it, and throw it back in the game a few levels later as a stronger, more evil, more improved opponent, and call it a job well done. Though the developers of "The 7th Saga" aren't entirely guilt free from this practice the sheer amount of unique opponent's far excuses any duplicated monstrosities the player may encounter in their quest.

• Plot – The premise of the plot is simple: Get the runes, become the King. Yet "The 7th Saga" manages to surprise you, trick you, and keep things interesting throughout the majority of the game.

The Bad:

• Difficulty – I'm old school and I'm not one to complain about games being hard but "The 7th Saga" is infamously known as a very difficult RPG. First time players are encouraged to play a character more geared towards melee than magic and to spend a lot (and I mean a lot) of time leveling your character outside of the actual quest arc itself. In fact, about three quarters of the way through the plot the player is transported to an area where equipment upgrades don't exist, there's no way to return to fight weaker monsters, and either you're strong enough to continue-or you reset the game and start over.

• Direction – "The 7th Saga" strives to be an open-world experience but lacks the direction and foresight to pull it off. Rather than being prompted towards the next adventure after a current quest is completed, the player is often left with no direction in a game that doesn't play straight forward. Oftentimes a missed conversation with a obscurely located villager three villages back will bar a player from advancing without the slightest notification or hint to seek that certain NPC out. The lack of direction, flow, and assistance makes "The 7th Saga" even more difficult and frustrating than it should be.

• Mana Management / Spells – Playing a caster is hard but when you don't have enough mana to even cast yours spells it's all but impossible. The mana management and balancing in "The 7th Saga" is by far the worst I've ever seen in any game, both old and new, and the limited offering of offensive spells per character only makes the issue worse. Also, if bad wasn't bad enough, there's a part later in the game where the player is "cursed" and loses the ability to even cast magic. Yup, have fun.

• Repetitive – The same sound effects, the same attacks, the same strategies, and the same battle backgrounds steal the appeal and fun factor right out of game just like a health drain spell from an overpowered boss.

The Ugly:

• Leveling – The time you'll spend leveling, either on purpose or because you're lost, is as frustrating as it is ridiculous-even for RPG standards.

• Restarting the Game: If you didn't catch it before there's a part about three quarters of the way through the plot where the player is transported to an area where equipment upgrades don't exist, there's no way to return to fight weaker monsters, and either you're strong enough to continue-or you reset the game and start over.

-Saigo- Says: Avoid it. There's too many good old school RPG's out there to waste your time on this broken mediocrity. "The 7th Saga" was only a decent game back in 1993 when it was first released and time hasn't been favorable in making it any better. Good graphics and a decent plot just aren't enough to look past its horrible technical issues and broken difficulty curve.