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Developer: Bandai
Publisher: Bandai
Genre: RPG
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 21 Feb 06
User Rating
10 (1 vote) -
- Can't get enough of those mobile suits? Bandai releases a turn-based RPG with an engaging plot, but let down by run-of-the-mill gameplay.
Overview
One thing that has been constant about Sony's PlayStation 2 is that it has not been a console that focuses on one genre. The PS2 has expanded itself outside of just normal action and sports games and used the RPG genre as one of its driving forces of success, and thus far it obviously has paid huge dividends. Well today we are going to check out a game that has come in very much under the radar, it is a game that tries and use a lot of standard RPG formulas and create one heck of an experience. So how does Bandai's MS Saga: A New Dawn turn out? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
The one part of an RPG that literally has to be good in order for the RPG to be successful is the storyline. The reason for this is because the length of the typical RPG is about twice as long as any action game, and you need something outside of just great gameplay to make you want to continue on with the game. MS Saga: A New Dawn uses a much overused plot device of the Earth being torn to literally nothing. There was this huge energy surge which led to 90% of the earth being obliterated. The Earth that MS Saga portrays was one filled with a typical RPG fashion of mobile suits. The story ends up putting you in the shoes of Tristan and Fritz brothers, who are the only ones in an orphanage that survive. The two find this g-system (creates mobile suits) and then creates their own mobile suit to go to battle. The game has a very complex story one that is obviously very hard to grasp in writing, but one that also works pretty well for the game.
The gameplay of MS Saga: A New Dawn like mentioned previously uses a lot of traditional RPG conventions and kind of sticks with what has worked in the past. MS Saga is a standard turn-based RPG that allows up to six people in a party, although three can participate at one time. So although having three characters in your party does add some extra strategy to the mix, it still doesn't feel like the developers of this game wanted to do anything extraordinary with this game. I felt throughout my experience that MS Saga: A New Dawn just wanted to stick with what has proven to work over the years, and just goes with the flow.
One of the obvious examples of this is the length in which the game places "random" battles throughout the dungeon maps. But the enemy encounter rate is not the same, as some areas are simply overwhelming with battles, while you can just take your time and stroll through other areas. The battles themselves, I should mention, feel uninspired. The game just doesn't feel like it has any new ideas to offer games. The game does try to offer some extreme customizability for your mobile suits, but this just doesn't feel as satisfying as it possibly could otherwise.
The game employs a team-style RPG that offers up a lot of strategy and just good RPG mechanics. But unfortunately there is nothing in this game that the developers tried to do different that stood out to me. I just felt throughout the experience that the developers could have done a great deal better in terms of adding new ideas to this game. MS Saga is not a bad RPG, it just won't offer anything you haven't seen done already.
Graphics
Visually MS Saga is a game that goes with the standard Japanese RPG style that we have become pretty accustomed to on the PS2. This means that the game offers up a good deal of color and some wacky character models, which are both a big part of this game. Similar however to the gameplay in MS Saga, the visuals takes a pretty distant view but gives some nice looks of the environments. In the end, MS Saga: A New Dawn is a decent looking game that has some good graphical features, but doesn't manage to do anything out of the ordinary.
Fun Factor
I enjoy RPG's, in fact I find that the strategy in these sorts of games can be some of the more enjoyable ones in gaming. With that being said, I just couldn't get over the fact that in MS Saga: A New Dawn it felt like so many other games that we have already played in the same genre. I know I am sounding like a broken record, but there is nothing wrong with this game but at the same token it doesn't manage to do anything that hasn't been done several times before. This game is what I would consider like your "standard", "run of the mill" sort of RPG.
Overall
MS Saga: A New Dawn starts off on all cylinders with an engaging storyline and some pretty novel plot devices. But what the game doesn't get down is the fact that although the game doesn't have any glaring problems, it just never manages to take itself out of a very stereotypical feel that just makes the whole game feel rather bland.
- Gameplay
6.0 - Graphics
6.0 - Fun Factor
6.0 - Overall
6.0
