The 7th Saga
The 7th Saga | |
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Genre(s) | Role-playing game |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
The 7th Saga
The game Mystic Ark was planned to be marketed as a sequel to The 7th Saga in North America, but the game was only ever released in Japan.
Gameplay
The
Notable unique innovations include the use of a crystal ball "radar" in the game's
There are three
When the player is in an enemy-infested area, the Magic Crystal
Battles in the game are turn-based. When the player character is in battle, the perspective shows the character and ally, if any, from behind looking at one to three enemies. Players then select an action and take turns with the enemy and ally. The player can attack, defend, cast a
The game is particularly known for its unforgiving
Story
The game takes place on a
The seven characters are recruited from various walks of life and corners of the globe by the elderly King Lemele. After 5 years of training at his palace, Lemele dispatches his seven apprentices in a quest for the seven runes. Each rune possesses a great power that can be used by the person who wields it. The one who collects all seven runes will become Lemele's heir. To find the runes, the king gives each character a Crystal Ball to assist them in their search.
Retrieving the runes means confronting the various powerful tyrants who have come to possess them, including
After defeating a resurrected Gariso and collecting all seven runes, the player is confronted by Lemele, who reveals that he is actually Gorsia. Gorsia traveled to the present from 5,000 years in the past, killed Lemele and took his identity, then recruited the seven apprentices to locate the runes for him. The power each rune contains is actually a trapped portion of Gorsia's power. Gorsia destroys the runes, re-absorbs his lost power, and zaps the player with lightning, sending them to a strange, unfamiliar world which turns out to be Ticondera 5,000 years in the past.
After passing through several towns, the player eventually ends up in the technologically advanced city of Melenam, which was originally explored as ruins by the player early in the game. Melenam is revealed to be the origin of the Tetsujin robots, and the player witnesses the destruction of the city at the hands of a rogue super-Tetsujin created by the city's scientists for the purposes of fighting Gorsia.
The player eventually learns that although Saro had recently defeated Gorsia, Gorsia has returned from the future and fatally wounded Saro. Saro's disciples give the player the seven runes, which the player uses to seal Gorsia's powers and eventually defeat the evil being. The dying Gorsia kills the player in one last act of revenge, but 4,900 years later Saro reincarnates the player's soul as a young baby and Saro's son: none other than Lemele.
Characters
Characters in The 7th Saga run along a continuum from predominantly physical-oriented to predominantly magical-oriented. They are, in that order:
- Wilme Pelin: An alien with a fiery, lava-like spiked body. Arrogant and aggressive, he seems to want the runes for power and to prove his superiority. He is strong and has the highest HPof the seven and is tied with the casters for highest speed but suffers from a fixed set of equipment, and a low Magic rating causes his Fire magic to be quite impotent. Best used with characters very reliant on gear as using Wilme will save you a lot of gold.
- LUX TIZER: A 5000-year-old robot created by a long extinct civilization called the Tetsujin. LUX is polite, logical, and inquisitive. He searches for the runes in the hopes that their power may help him unlock the secrets of the Tetsujin's origins. LUX is physically very powerful especially in defense, but has a limited selection of magic and equipments, although he is the only one that can use those spells. Among these are the only Laser and Thunder spells usable by a non-NPC character. Along with Esuna, LUX can never be the "traitor" apprentice. Like Wilme, is great with partners who rely on equipment since he doesn't really get any equipment.
- Olvan Jaess: An extremely old warrior, with a pleasant personality. He joins the search for the runes in the hopes that they can restore his youth. Statistically, he is similar to Kamil, but with more HP and Defense, and less MP and speed, and a few differences in equipment/spell selection. Specifically Defense 1 which can help him be even tankier or help his partner.
- Kamil Dowonna: A human knight. The most average, well-rounded character, Kamil has access to a large selection of equipment and can cast both offensive and defensive magic. He wears blue armor and the instruction booklet says that he is best paired with a stronger ally. Unfortunately, the characters all-round average stats makes him the worst character in the game. His health is too low to properly tank, his mana and spellcasting are too low to be a proper mage and his speed is tied with Olvan for being the worst in the game. The equipment he can equip can make up for his lower Power and Defense stats and the spells he can learn can help his partner but there are a lot better options.
- Lejes Rimul: A power-hungry demon. Sly, manipulative and unapologetically evil, Lejes wants the power of the runes in order to rule the world. Lejes equips very strong weapons and eventually learns every single attack spell (except the LUX-exclusive Laser and Thunder spells), but his selection of armor is quite poor, and his attack spells hit with less force than Esuna. Lejes never learns any healing magic. However, he exclusively learns Defense 2 which halves the targets defense instead of doubling it like Defense 1. This increases the physical damage he can dish out significantly and any partner that is with him. Since he learns this early on (lvl 9) this makes him a lot more physically oriented than spellcasting despite his wide variety of spells.
- Valsu Saizer: A human clericwho has dedicated his life to the cause of good, Valsu wishes to use the runes to bring peace and prosperity to the world. He is depicted as a young man in the Japanese game art, but as elderly in the North American release. He has excellent healing magic and one powerful Ice spell, but lacks skill in physical combat. He is the only playable character who learns the spells Agility and Elixir, making him a powerful ally.
- Esuna Busy: An magic user, Esuna seems to regard the search for the runes as some sort of fun adventure. She begins the game cocky and headstrong, but becomes more uncertain and less confident as the story progresses. She has extremely high Speed and Magic potency, and can use both kinds of magic, but her attack spells are exclusively Ice-elemental and she is physically very weak. Like LUX, Esuna never turns out to be the "traitor" apprentice.
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
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GameRankings | 64%[4] |
Publication | Score |
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Dragon | [5] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.6/10[6] |
Famitsu | 26/40[7] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 13/20[8] |
Mega Fun | 62%[9] |
Nintendo Power | 3.6/10[10] |
Video Games (DE) | 57%[11] |
Famimaga | 20.27/30[12] |
Legendra | 5/10[13] |
Power Unlimited | 90/100[14] |
Total! (de) | 2+ (B+)[15] |
The 7th Saga received moderately positive reviews. GamePro applauded the game's graphics, animation, music, sound effects, and non-linearity of the plot, but criticized the combat and puzzles. The reviewer elaborated that the enemy monsters are tactically too similar to each other, making the player's choices of action essentially meaningless, which in combination with the frequent rate at which enemies are encountered makes combat quickly become a chore rather than fun. He also felt that the limited dialogue would disappoint fans of story-driven RPGs like Final Fantasy IV.[16] Mike Weigand of Electronic Gaming Monthly was enthusiastic about its Mode 7 effects and non-linear gameplay.[6]
Proposed sequel
Enix planned to market the game Mystic Ark as a sequel to The 7th Saga in North America, under the title 7th Saga II,[17][18] but the game's localization was never completed, and it was released only in Japan under its original name.
Notes
References
- ^ "Super NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- Future Publishing. p. 14.
- ^ Lundrigan, Jeff (August 1993). "Features - The 7th Saga". Game Players. No. 31. Signal Research. pp. 81–83.
- CBS Interactive. 2019. Archived from the originalon 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ Petersen, Sandy (January 1994). "Eye of the Monitor: Rule the world in The 7th Saga - "Life is short, live it up" — Nikita Khrushchev" (PDF). Dragon. No. 201. TSR, Inc. pp. 57–62.
- ^ a b Semrad, Ed; Carpenter, Danyon; Manuel, Al; Williams, Ken; Weigand, Mike (December 1993). "Review Crew - Major Mike's Game Roundup - The 7th Saga". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 53. Sendai Publishing. p. 44.
- ^ "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: エルナード". Famitsu (in Japanese). ASCII Corporation. 1993.
- ^ "Test de The 7th Saga sur SNES par jeuxvideo.com". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. February 17, 2012. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ Appel, Markus (December 1993). "Test Super Nintendo - The 7th Saga". Mega Fun (in German). No. 15. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. p. 104.
- Nintendo of America. September 1993. p. 102.
- ^ Zengerle, Robert (December 1993). "Rom Check: Siebenschläfer - The Seventh Saga". Video Games (in German). No. 25. Future-Verlag. p. 92.
- ^ "90年11月から'93年6月21日発売までの323本を収録!! Super Famicom All Catalog '93 8月情報号特別付録 - エルナード". Famimaga (in Japanese). No. 16. Tokuma Shoten. August 1, 1993. p. 32.
- ^ MeDioN (September 22, 2008). "7th Saga: La 7ème compagnie". Legendra (in French). Retrieved 2020-07-18.
- ^ "Power Unlimited Game Database". powerweb.nl (in Dutch). 1993. Archived from the original on October 22, 2003. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
- ^ Anton, Michael (December 1993). "Import Corner - The 7th Saga". Total! (in German). No. 7. X-Plain-Verlag. p. 72.
- ^ Nightrunner (October 1993). "Role-Player's Realm: The Seventh Saga". GamePro. No. 61. IDG. pp. 28–29.
- ^ "Mystic Arc [sic]". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 71. Ziff Davis. June 1995. p. 80.
- ^ "7th Saga II". GamePro. No. 83. IDG. August 1995. p. 84.