Proud to Have Been a Saturn Fan
RKeefe
RKeefe1032@aol.comAs we keep hearing of the new Sega machine and stores start clearing out the Saturn, I am proud to have stuck with Saturn. In the past week, I finished Grandia and Shining Force 3 and they were both the best games of the year in their particular class.
Christmas was good at my house and I lucked into Tales of Destiny, Chocobo Mystery Dungeon and the above Saturn games. Needless to say, Grandia and SF3 blow both of those games out the door. The PSX RPGs have suffered from the same problem from the beginning. No Heart! Great techicial work but no heart. In contrast, Grandia, Lunar, Far East of Eden, Rayearth, Terra Phantastica and Albert Odyessy all had and emotional story that you felt through the story and the music. Some of them had some minor techinical imperfections but you cared about the characters and that's why I got into RPGs in the first place.
Let's rate the games by class for the last time and see were the Saturn stood.
RPGs 1. Grandia 2. Lunar 3. Far East of Eden 4. Wild Arms 5. Albert Odyessy
Final Fantasy was beautiful and the best technical game of all time but was "dry as toast" to play. My simple rule in rating a game is would I play that game again. FF7 - lock me in a room with that and Wayne's World and FF7 is smokin'. Suikoden was nicely done but it was on my table with Far East of Eden and that was no contest. Beyond the Beyond was better than the critics said but again, it had no feeling. In summary, PSX RPGs were like a job. You knew you had to play FF7 and Breath of Fire 3 but both should have come with a lunch box and a time card.
Action RPG's 1. Rayearth 2. Legend of the Oasis 3. Alundra
Obviously this is an area that was sorely lacking for good product. Alundra was well done but the pale colors and the idea that it was a follow-up to Landstalker (a true hall of fame game) were ludicrous.
Strategy RPG 1. Shining Force 3 2. Terra Phantastica 3. Vandal Hearts 4. Dragon Force
All these were great games with terrific battle scenes but nothing compares with the one-on-one of SF3 and the battle of the masses in Dragon Force. Dragon Force battle scenes were incredible! Nothing from the PSX came close to that effort.
Honorable Mention
Blue Seed - truely addictive and unique anime game Sakura Wars - the realism in the battle scenes was outstanding
I have played the Beta of Xenogears RPG from Square for the Saturn and everyone I talked to asked the same question: Is this a first draft? According to the Japanese magazines that I have seen, this is all there is folks! The colors are drab, the polygons are poorly drawn, the outdoor walkaroung is dull and looks like it was painted with my left hand after a night on the town. It will get rave reviews and will be held up as another success of the PSX. Note: I like my PSX but when it's time to devote a few days to an RPG, plug in the Saturn.
So why are we in last place and having to constantly defend our love for the Saturn? This race was not even close when it came to RPGs. So as we head into the sunset, I for one will hold my head up and tell you right to your face: "The Saturn ruled the RPG market".