Square screws up AGAIN.....Romancing Saga gets failing grade.

[X-EvansBasher-X]

This is getting a bit stupid. SquareEnix royally hosed the last remake of the Romancing Saga series on the PS2 (Unlimited Saga) and they have release another pile of dog doo. Read on, for the sad details

Review link



Romancing SaGa is ultimately a role-playing game without any substance.
By Greg Mueller
Posted Oct 10, 2005 5:44 pm PT

Role-playing games face the challenge of taking what is usually rather tedious and boring gameplay and making it interesting through the use of compelling characters and an interesting story. After all, Final Fantasy VII didn't sell millions because of its brilliant use of random encounters. Over the years, the element of storytelling has been approached in a variety of ways, from the strictly linear to the entirely open-ended. Regardless of the way the story is told or how it ends up, it has to keep moving at a discernable pace in order to keep you playing for the 20 or 40 (or more) hours it takes to finish the game. Romancing SaGa, the latest role-playing game from Square Enix, removes the story almost entirely and replaces it with a myriad of inane fetch quests in a dull world full of lifeless characters. The game gets some of the basic role-playing mechanics right, but the pacing is all wrong.

Romancing SaGa is actually a remake of the 1992 game of the same name that was released on the SNES in Japan. The game is set in the world of Mardias, which is populated by a wide variety of people, including plains-roaming nomads, seafaring pirates, stately nobles, cave-dwelling lizardmen, and rugged barbarians. The main story goes like this: Long ago there were three gods of evil who waged war against the other, more benevolent gods. Two of the evil gods were defeated, but the third, known as Saruin, was much stronger and was only able to be defeated by Elore, the most powerful god of them all. Somehow, Elore was able to use the power of several destiny stones to seal away Saruin. When we pick up the story 1000 years later, Saruin is on the brink of breaking free of his magic bonds to unleash his evil brand of havoc upon the weak and unsuspecting people of the world.

/snip

Read the rest at the website.

*cries...
that was one of my favorite SNES roms translated by the great Gideon Zhi. Why does Square continue to screw this series up?! Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhhh

[Springer]

meh I'll still get it. Gamespot tends to be way harsh with scores anyway.

[Gulcasa]

I'll get it, aswell. Though, I hate how the characters look.

[Roux!]

Y'know... I've enjoyed 6'ers myself in the past... Hell, GS gave Gauntlet Legends (N64) an apathetically low 4-point-something, and I thoroughly enjoyed that game...

Rent the game and try it out for yourself... Then buy it if you like it...

[Ragnar]

This is getting a bit stupid. SquareEnix royally hosed the last remake of the Romancing Saga series on the PS2 (Unlimited Saga) and they have release another pile of dog doo.

Uhh, it's not as if the original was a great game to start with. Prettymuch every SaGa has been weak. I'll just wait for it to get cheap and pick it up like I did with every other one.

[Krakenheim]

Most people can't understand the magical atmosphere that surrounds SaGa games.

[crusher]

Unlimited SaGa does not suck at all. It's an interesting concept and rather fun if you actually try to get into it.

[Toto]

Crusher, we've been through this before. I don't know why it is you enjoy all these mediocre RPGs, man. You must really be a genre fan or something. But if you like it, that's cool, because it'll be in the bargain bin within 2 weeks of its release

[X-EvansBasher-X]

...You must really be a genre fan or something...

I'm a genre fan as well and love my RPGs and anything with mecha.
With that said, not everyone has hours and hours to play. Even with a good paycheck, there's only so much time to play. Here in the U.S., despite our high standard of living we are stretched thin with work. You go home, you have "homework". Your boss calls you, says a project needs completing and to "help out" on it. WE KNOW what they mean. The day doesn't start at 9am. And it doesn't end at 5PM. Americans may be called lazy by many Europeans, but we are constantly working and being forced to use our free time on company BS. If I could, I would live outside these borders because the demands they make on people are maddening. Atleast a worked in China gets to stop work when they get home. Even if the day lasts 14-16 hours.
Here in the U.S., there's just always 'something' they come up with to, you know, do later. There's an unwritten rule that you must do as they say. 40 hour workweek? LIES! And my standard of living hasn't increased enough to justify 'workining' about 65+ hours/week & only getting paid for about 38. It doesn't stop w/ordinary workers either. The managers, the upper management, and the CEO have to be on call for when something goes wrong. I'm sure you some of you heard about Donald Trump getting married to one of his ex's. He was called within minutes of the ceremony to deal with some bad company news. He had to cut things short, as business is his life. Too much work, too little time. It's not a complaint, it's the truth. For many of us.
So when a company releases a game that takes 40+ hours to complete, it had better be good. Damn good! I'll knock SquareEnix or any company that puts out a TURD. Simply because I've come to depend on some for making only quality games. The bad ones catch me by surprise, and really disappoint me. That's a bigger waste of time than $$. I'm not w/an unlimited amount of gameplay time anymore!

[Shadow X]

I really don't care about the review, but to me, the game just looks weak. I don't care for it.

[crusher]

Crusher, we've been through this before. I don't know why it is you enjoy all these mediocre RPGs, man. You must really be a genre fan or something. But if you like it, that's cool, because it'll be in the bargain bin within 2 weeks of its release

You always butt in when I talk about a mediocre RPG!

There are plenty of RPGs I dislike, and RPGs are far from my favorite genre. So yeah. Did you ever give Unlimited SaGa a chance, Toto?

[Megalith]

I never trust an american gamer's opinion on RPGs and such. Frankly, shooters are the only thing that they enjoy. Too much of a generalisation, I'm aware, but there's a degree of validity to it.

That said, RPGFan gave it a decent score. 87% isn't too bad. I'm at least going to give it a try before throwing it off as a mediocore game.

[Mikey_]

87% is more than not too bad. its pretty damn good if you go by that number. a mediocre game would have gotten a 50 or 60%, as in, average, which is the same thing as mediocre.

[Skinner8]

87% is more than not too bad. its pretty damn good if you go by that number. a mediocre game would have gotten a 50 or 60%, as in, average, which is the same thing as mediocre.

How many games do you see getting a 50-60% score? I think the average is a bit higher...

[X-EvansBasher-X]

Too much of a generalisation, I'm aware, but there's a degree of validity to it.

Americans are crazy over fighters (we kind of started the whole Street Fighter II craze I believe...) and MMORPGs actually. As far as the later goes, quite a number are dysfuctional blokes who you wouldn't want to meet in real life. As for the former, they either grew up and started playing Halo & Doom/Quake, or they're wasting away their lives on the couch in front of Everquest.
Happy to clear that one up for you. G'day.
<-- a former Kiwi resident himself and damn'n proud!