Riglord Saga 2

Review by: Michael Tham

Riglord Saga 2 is an improvement over its predecessor but I was hoping for bigger improvements.The game takes place the after the first game and all the original characters are dead. The CG intro is quite impressive and I watch it every time I play to get into the mood. The down side is that its not full screen. The game starts with a lot of talking (digitised speech), revealing the plot of the bad guys to take over the land or something like that. Then you are imtroduced to the two main character talking to their mentor. The baddies show up, kill the mentor and its time for revenge and freeing the land.

Riglord Saga 2 is much larger than the first game. This time you get four islands to explore and the story turns out according to your actions. Eg. to get the Centaur, you have to kill those magicians at the SAME time. If you fail to do so for two or three times, you will not have the Centaur as a character.

Graphics 7.5/10 Big improvement over the first game! The characters are more detailed and better animated but I hoped they would be more realistic like in FF7. The towns are great! You don't have the usual one street towns which I hated. The towns are like the typical RPG towns except for one thing:detail. If you look at the drains, u can see fish swimming. Sometimes, birds will fly across the screen. There are even windmills too.The battlefields are highly detailed expecially in the mountains.Before the battles, the camera scrolls all over the battlefield giving you a first hand look.

The characters do not move as smooth as I hoped and the scrolling is a tad jerky. There is a lot of pop-up during the flying sequences.I believe that they could have done more with the graphics.

Sound 8.0/10 The music is damn good! Unlike the first game, the music changes depending on where you are. Eg.arabic/indian music in the desert, Japanese music in Japanese towns. Most of the tunes are your average tunes though some of them are memorable. There is some speech in the begining and there ought to be some more in the end (i have yet to finish the game). This time, the characters say something when they do a move. The sound effects are pretty good too.

Gameplay 9/10 Why a 9/10 ? Because this is the best gameplay for a strategy RPG. In this sequel, terrain plays an even more important role and this can be used to your advantage :) You still get tones of moves and I love the fact that you get new moves by doing a move a certain number of times, not when u raise a level. The game is definetely harder and I got stuck a couple of times.

Replay Value 7/10 The only reason I'm going to play this game a second time is because I did not get one of the characters.(the sniper that looks like a monkey)I think most people (who don't know Japanese, like me) are not going to get either one of the two characters (the centaur and sniper).

Overall 8/10 (not average) This is one of the best RPGs on the saturn and 32 platforms. (I know because I see and played a lot of them) If you're into RPGs, this is a must buy. If not, maybe this game will change your mind!

PS. I need help! I've defeated those 7 bosses who are in the intro and I have no idea where to go next to fight that boos with one eye. I also need help in looking for the sniper who looks like a monkey! Mail me at cytham@pl.jaring.my