Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Unlimited SaGa

Written by Matt Partington on December 11, 2002

First Impressions: A Monet comes to life.

Next to Final Fantasy, the SaGa series is one of Square's longest running. Even though not even half of the games have made is stateside, the SaGa franchise has earned its respect among even the most casual RPG gamers. Some might say that Romancing SaGa, and SaGa Frontier I and II on the PlayStation may have been a bit lackluster, but Unlimited SaGa shows potential to become a triple-A title.

If you get even the smallest glance at Unlimited SaGa, you'll immediately notice the peculiar but strikingly beautiful art style. The game looks more like pastel painting than a video game. Unlimited SaGa has been classified as Уnot 2D or 3D.Ф Given, the game is neither fully symmetrical nor flat like a traditional old-gen RPG. Even though this art style might seem like something totally new, each SaGa game (especially those on the PSX) have tried to create this pastel and surreal environment, only Unlimited SaGa seems to be the most successful. Yusuke Naora, the art designer, and Masashi Hamauzu, the character designer and illustrator, have created a very inspiring and original atmosphere. The game is also directed by series veteran Akitoshi Kawazu.

Even though Square has been sketchy on story details (and most of the game at that), we do know that there will be eight playable characters throughout your journey with two main ones. The male lead is Henry, who we meet at a village festivity early in the game. Along with him is Laura, a widowed ex-pirate. The game will switch you in between each roll often while in search of the Seven Wonders of the World. Few other characters have been announced aside from those two except Vent, Armick and Ruby of which individual status and details we're unsure of.

The battle system of an RPG is one of the most crucial elements. Without a good one, original or not, an RPG can fall into pieces right in front of you. For this SaGa addition, Square has brought in the Reel systemЦone unlike seen before in a SquareSoft title. This system might sound vaguely familiar if you've played Midway's PlayStation 2 RPG Shadow Hearts.

When you have a battle, no matter what characters or how many are in combat, your team is granted five УspinsФ or moves. On a roulette-like spinner at the top of the page exists several different opportunities for attack such as a combos, magic spells, enhancing skills, and so forth. Once you've stacked up the five commands in whatever order you choose and the spinner has randomly selected them, the game let's you unleash them with УGo.Ф Even if all your characters have been killed with only one remaining, you'll still be given five commands. Unlimited SaGa will only have Hit Point and Life Points. Certain spaces on the spinner will decrease your HP or LP, such as magic. This is where the strategy comes into play. It truly sounds like an addictive system that will constantly stay fresh throughout the entire adventure.

Unlimited SaGa will not use the traditional Square world map that we saw in such games as Final Fantasy VIII, where the character walks around on truncheons of open plains until falling across the given city or area (exploration rather). Instead, US will have something similar to Final Fantasy X or Suikoden III. Different areas on the map will be defined by small icons or which will be available to travel to once a road of whatever sort is visible. Therefore it only takes seconds to travel from one place to the next. Once you leave a city you will only be given one or two choices (usually, but there's always exceptions) where to go. So ultimately it's like having no world map at all.