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