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Well, what do you know, folks? The US Saturn finally has a traditional RPG. Yes, the Saturn has been out in the US for about two years now and we finally have our first traditional RPG. When I say traditional, I mean games like Final Fantasy and Lunar. So, how does it stack up to those classics? That's what I'm here to tell you about in my review of Albert Odyssey.

The game tells the story of Pike, a young boy who was orphaned at a young age when his parents were killed in a goblin raid. Fortunately, Pike survived the raid and was left for dead along with his father's magic talking sword. One day, both Pike and the sword were discovered by Laia, a young Harpy girl who lived in the nearby tree village where all the other Harpies live. Laia adopted Pike as a brother and they have lived peaceful lives together for many years. But of course, this peace cannot last since it wouldn't be a very interesting game if it did.

One day, an evil wizard named Belnard comes down to the village to get something called the Power Crystal, an ancient crystals which the Harpies have long worshipped. Pike and Laia try to prevent the crystal from being stolen, but Belnard casts a spell on them which turns them both to stone. Fortunately for Pike, his magic talking sword uses it's magic to revive him and break the spell. Unfortunately, Laia cannot be cured. (Why the sword can cure Pike and not Laia is never really explained, so you just have to live with that minor detail.) Anyway, Pike must then set out on a journey to find a cure so Laia can be revived. Along the way, he gathers a party of youthful companions, some who are humans like Pike and some who are Dragonmen and Birdmen. Together, Pike and his friends try to stop the evil force which is currently threatening their world.

The first thing you notice about this game are the beautiful hand-drawn graphics. I'm a huge fan of 2D and playing Albert was like a dream come true. Everything in this game is so detailed and beautiful. There's lots of animation. Your characters don't just run up to an enemy and hit them like in most RPGs. They actually go through a different animation right before they attack. And the animations change depending on which weapon your characters are using. Even the backgrounds in the battle scenes are animated like sparkling water on the beach and passing clouds. One thing that impressed me is how the battle backgrounds change depending on where you are. For example, if you're close to a mountain on the map, the background on the battle scene will be that mountain. If you're close to water, the battle background will be a beach. It's little things like this that make the game enjoyable, but there's a lot more to it.

The sound is excellent as well with some of the best music I've heard the Saturn produce. The only other games that can rival it are NiGHTS and Rayearth. The little voices for your characters during the battle scenes are cute and the acting during the opening introduction is excellent, as is to be expected with Working Designs. (It's fun to listen to the voices and see if you can recognize any of them from past Working Designs games.) Some people really hate the music during the battle scenes, but I don't really mind it. I don't love it, but it's never really gotten to me.

The storyline is great. There are lots of surprises and it keeps you interested. What also keeps you interested is the writing in the game. I know lots of people don't like Working Designs' humor because of the famous Lunar: Eternal Blue fiasco, but I happen to like their jokes and they are abundant in this game. There are even a few modern day references in the game. For example, one character brings up Eubonics, the infamous Black English that they tried to get taught in schools. The story itself is very serious, so the jokes never ruin the serious mood of the game. All of the humor comes when you are talking to villagers walking around in the towns.

As for gameplay, it doesn't really offer anything new to the RPG genre. Battles are done in a turn-based format similar to Final Fantasy and Lunar. You rest at inns and save at save points, nothing that we haven't seen in just about every other RPG. Still, I'm glad they didn't try to do anything too radically different with this game. This game has the feeling of an old fashioned 16 Bit RPG, probably because this game was originally designed for the Super Famicon but was ported over to the Saturn about half-way through the development process. In a way, the transfer was a smart move. With Albert on CD, we get a fully orchestrated soundtrack and awesome animation.

Now for the negatives. The loading time before and after battles can get on your nerves. Also, it has to load every time a monster dies during a battle, which I think is kind of ridiculous. Sure, the loading is nowhere near as bad as it is in the import, but it might turn some people off from this game. However, the loading is only a minor flaw since I quickly got used to it. You just have to accept that it's part of the game and that in the end, we're playing a faster version than the Japanese got, so we should consider ourselves very fortunate.

My other gripe is the speed of the characters. Once again, it's faster than it was in the import, but the speed at which you walk still can be kind of slow sometimes. I really wish there was a run button like in Wild Arms. But like the loading time, this doesn't really hurt the game too much. And if you're a true RPG fan, you won't complain about it for too long.

In the end, Albert Odyssey is a God-send to Saturn owners. We've finally got a real RPG that has a great story, excellent music, memorable characters, and beautiful character designs by Toshiyuki Kubooka, the character designer for the Lunar series. Despite it's minor flaws, this game is fantastic from beginning to end. It won't challenge long-time RPG players for very long, however, but they will enjoy it while it lasts, I assure you. This is a great game for people who have never played RPGs before, but are interested in getting into them. The challenge is at just the right level and it never gets so hard that it becomes frusterating.

So it all comes down to this. If you own a Saturn and are into RPGs, you must own Albert Odyssey. There's really no other way to put it. And with Rayearth and Lunar on the way, we have a reason to hold onto our Saturns for just a little bit longer. Sigh...It's sad to think that WD will soon be gone. They've brought a lot of joy to many Sega owners. But, we must enjoy games like Albert while we can. Albert may not be a classic RPG, but it's a very good one and is sure to bring hours of enjoyment.