This game is actually the VERY first in the SaGa (Romancing SaGa/SaGa Frontier) series. Again, Square just stuck FF name on the game so it would sell. Anyway, that’s all you really needed to know before I begin a review of this game.
Gameplay in this one is fair, but not great. Because of bad translations, you don’t always know what certain abilities/attacks/items will do for you in battles, causing confusion. The dungeons can become tedious and boring, and it just isn’t all that great. However, it is by no means BAD. I still enjoyed going through dungeons and solving certain puzzles (like the “guess the right orb to fight the world boss” puzzle…there’s actually a riddle to solve to get that one). With that said, I feel my grade stands.
Graphics just suck. I realize it’s Game Boy, but there was hardly any effort put into this, even on the enemy designs. I could’ve made this game three years ago on my computer with windows paintbrush and still have made it look better. That’s how bad it is. There were times that I didn’t even know what I was looking at. Is this a dungeon, or a house? I actually had to ask myself that question a couple of times. YICH!
Story is nothing special. There is no motive or explanation as to why you set out on this quest, so that sucks. You end up meeting interesting people who have involving storylines, but you, as a main character, don’t. However, there is an incredibly intriguing and interesting twist at the end of the game. I believe this was the first “killing God” RPG to ever be created. The popular trend of denouncing religion and having humans live on their own (FF Tactics, Xenogears, even Lunar: SSSC to some extent) may have easily gotten their roots from this one. Because of this, I can’t give the story a 70%. It just wouldn’t be fair. 75% it is.
Music isn’t very memorable or catchy, and is sometimes downright annoying. Same goes with the sound effects. But some songs written in this first one went on to become themes in the other two FF Legends, meaning that the music always had “potential”. What’s more, the last battle has to be one of the best last battle themes ever. Because of this, an 83% is fair.
Overall, this game is okay, but is definitely the worst of the ENTIRE SaGa series. I recommend you buy it only if you want to get a taste of every Square RPG you can get your hands on.
