seven hidden runes
by the kingdom's best they're sought -
a race to be king!
Additional Comments:
When I first got into emulation some years back, The 7th Saga; along with notables, Flashback and Drakkhen, was the first game I plunged into guns a-blazin'. The only insight I had into the game was that it was an RPG, and very likely a turn-based one at that. Chosen haphazardly perhaps, the decision was made based on knowing the game by name, but knowing next to nothing about it. Obviously, with a veritable bounty of games at my fingertips thanks to emulation, there's so many other RPG's I could have nosedived into, but I'm also the one to veer towards those little known titles that hide in the shadows. Sorry, Secret of Mana, you've been snubbed. What a blasphemous asshole I must be?
Unlike my soured runs of Flashback and Drakkhen, I pushed on with The 7th Saga. Surprisingly, despite its flat, repetitive gameplay, I found the game enjoyable. True, it's no better than a mediocre attempt at a Final Fantasy clone, but the game had a certain quirkiness that I found myself attached to. Between the crudely drawn Mode 7 overworld, the Dada-esque collection of Engrish-named horrors, and the sort of Might Makes Right mentality among the heroes, it just felt worlds apart from any other RPG while still relying on the same stale mechanic that has plagued each and every turn-based RPG since day one. Somehow, these curious nuances elevated the game; not into something necessarily better, but something a tad refreshing.
Eventually, my emulated run hit a brick wall. Somehow I lost track of my priorities in the game and managed to corner myself in the northern confines of the continent with no inkling of where to go. (Not to mention, I think I deleted my .srm file by mistake at some point.) Ah well, until another day.
Here it is a few years later and what do I find but a physical copy in my game collection. Huzzah! Sounds to me like a perfect time to try and conquer this game once and for all. Second approach and I decided to use the exact same lineup as my first attempt: Valsu Saizer with Olvan Jaess as the companion. Not only is it a perfect balance between might and magic, but the two of them together are a total powerhouse team - surprising since white mages are rarely ever useful except in the early going. And despite Valsu only having access to a solitary offensive spell, it's still powerful enough in the end game to cause some damage - surprisingly more damage than Olvan can muster even while boosted with the aid of a Power spell. Huh. Heck, I had an easier time withstanding blows with Valsu than I did with Olvan and that...well, that just doesn't make sense!
While making my way through the game, I kept tabs on what some other people had said about this game and I saw the same two complaints time and time again: extreme difficulty and grinding abuse. On my initial playthrough some years ago, I faced the same challenges. I recall grinding a great deal after leaving Melenam and again between the kingdoms of Belaine and Telaine. Each new creature I faced proved to be the ultimate test of strength, and sadly I lost all too often. This time, however, I never truly felt challenged until the end game. Yes, I faced some tough opponents here and there that truly gave me a run for my money and I fell bravely in battle far too much - the church sure as hell got its fair share of money from me - but I don't think I ever reached a point where I'd call the game difficult. Even grinding fell completely to the wayside. The only time I ever felt as if the big toe of repetitive battle needlessly pressed down on me was before entering Gorsia's Tower, and that's only because I wanted to recoup some monetary losses I experienced during the battle with Gariso. Honestly, I had no real reason to fatten my wallet. But from a collective standpoint, I wanted the best of the best regarding weapons and armor, even if some of it wasn't wholly necessary, for example the Immortal Rod for Valsu. I never even used the thing so essentially it was an easy 40k down the drain.
Experience, ability, and power never betrayed me as I ran the course of the game. Even with my highly unorthodox route that I ended up using after landing in Dowaine, I always felt the leveling was exactly on par with the opponents presented. So I'm at a loss as to how the game lends itself towards such criticisms. Yes, most turn-based RPG's do fall victim of grinding - it's just in their nature - but I think The 7th Saga managed to find a balance to stay just a step ahead of the nefarious cycle. But then, maybe it's the combination I used. Knowing how well Valsu and Olvan compliment each other, that's a very plausible hypothesis as to how I steered clear of this horrible disease. Heck, I managed to overcome the same issue in Final Fantasy by manipulating my party's abilities in the early going and that game is wrought with the pestilence of grinding.
I never felt like the game was at fault at any point. Ok, maybe one thing weakened my perception of the game: the ever present Curative Moebius, but even that meagerly skewed my opinion. RPG's, especially those by Square and Enix, are notorious for cyclical healing reliance during battle to help elevate the concept of difficulty. Forcing strategy to single out a particular character as a dedicated healer is no fun no matter how much you try and sugarcoat it. Lengthening battles by these means is not difficulty; it's tiresome bullshit meant to extend the life of a game ad nauseum. Difficulty should not equate to taking massive hits from the enemy only having to use every turn to heal the incapacitated with a dedicated patron of the white arts. Having a character solely for that purpose is asinine. Yes, healing should be an essential mechanic to any magic-based RPG, but not to the extant that most game companies portray it. And I'm not complaining because of the so-called "challenge" that comes with cyclical healing - on the contrary, it's not challenging. It's nothing but tedium and an unpleasant game experience. But then you have to ask, is there an easy fix? Easy? Probably not, since we as gamers have taken for granted that healing is as easy as spending a sixpence down at the temple or loading the old pack with a plethora of curative concoctions from the local market. All in all, medicines and/or restorative practices are perhaps too easy to come by. Why should I worry about woe when I've got twenty canisters of aloe at my side? Except in this game, the ease of medicine is exploited even further which brings me to another point - not necessarily a gripe, but a worthy talking point.
A very interesting element of The 7th Saga is the Runes. Essentially, these objects of power are what drive our heroes on - those who obtain all seven shall become king of all the lands. But not only do they carry a totalitarian dream; they also carry mysterious enhancements to help augment the bearer's own powers. Now that's one sweet deal and by the time you face Gariso, every stone is worth their weight in gold as they say. There is a downside to it all however. But what really makes the whole negative impact of the runes rather curious is that you don't even realize the problem until it's too late. With the freedom to use each Rune on the fly, they sort of negate the usefulness of a white mage. Again, this bolsters my original point that white mages are typically pretty useless in RPG's except in the early going. (Makes me laugh though since my main character was a...whelp, white mage. Ha!) Why waste magic when I have my runes? And sadly, you just sort of get used to it, that is until the safety net is pulled out from under you and suddenly those numbers next to MP matter a great deal. Strategy is no longer based on infinitesimal cyclical healing but rather, how much cyclical healing can I muster before I reach the comfort of the next inn? While personal magic and pharmaceuticals are still in abundance, it does at least bring some strategy back into the game regarding usage. Unfortunately, battles are still dragged down by needless convalescing, but by this point in the game you become pretty numb to it all.
As a final kick in the pants, the Runes play their swansong in the battle against Gorsia. Once you get the hang of how Gorsia's battle works, it's not that bad, but until you do, it's bloody murder. A whole lot of luck, against your favor, plays out in this battle since Gorsia enjoys flinging a home-cooked dark attack that easily causes twice the damage of even your hardiest warrior's HP. If it wasn't for the long ass trek to reach him, I probably wouldn't complain, but the cheapness of his battle strategy frustrated the hell out of me every time I had to spend an additional ten to twenty minutes making my way back to his humble abode. Thankfully, Valsu's speed capped out so I knew I had an extremely good chance of escape if needed - especially against those godforsaken Falocks.
But despite the aforementioned grievances, none of them were enough to drag the game down for me. Yes, it's a turn-based RPG which typically bore the hell out of me, but I never grew tired of this one. Even on my first attempt several years ago, I found the game enjoyable enough to keep pressing on. Unfortunately, I somehow backed myself into a corner and deleted my save. Otherwise, I'd probably have completed the game on my initial run. There's nothing exceptional about this game by any means and I can easily see why it's become one of the neglected titles from the SNES era. On the surface, it's a mediocre clone at best, but dig a little deeper and it's a unique RPG that pits hero against hero on a quest to be king. I'd say it extends its stay for a bit too long, but after experiencing the gameplay through two different perspectives regarding the Runes, I can appreciate it sticking around.
And finally, I cannot end without giving acclaim to the music. I love the music in this game, especially the overworld themes like Lux Tizer, Kamil Dowonna, or World Map. They're all so otherworldly in a strange sort of way - almost mystical sounding. And then there's brilliant pieces like the adventurous Mecha Glider, the quaint How to Cross an Ocean, or the snooty pomp of Grand Palace. With the amount of songs listed, I should have just linked the entire OST. Yes, The 7th Saga is yet another game where the entire soundtrack is nothing but ear candy from beginning to end. (Dare I sneak in Great Achievement, if for anything, at least a good laugh? Dare I do indeed...)
Nano-Rant:
While I can appreciate the over-extended stay, I do have to say that it came at quite a surprise. For as long as it took to reach what I thought was the end, I was appalled to find that the game continued on. Of course, I came to accept it as the reasoning appeared sound, however it left me scarred enough to think that the actual end was yet another segue into the ongoing saga that is The 7th Saga, especially considering the rather disappointing, yet shocking end. Talk about crying wolf!
Nano-Win:
If only I could express how much I laughed when I was first introduced to the post-Gariso battle music, Battle in a World of Fading Hope, and what do I see but an H.R. Giger-inspired Ghoul dancing erratically while hiding his face as if to say, "Don't look at me!"
Rating: 3.5 mosquitoes out of 5
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