MS Saga is nothing more than an average RPG and does nothing more than that.
- Passable combat system
- Plenty of customizations
- Decent music
Negative
- Ancient graphics
- Too little voice acting
- The Mobile Suits don't look so cool
- Random encounters can be a drag sometimes
This RPG based on Mobile Suits is just an average game which has a stiff presentation and doesn't shine in any section. Besides the good customization, there is nothing worth remembering in this game. In my opinion the mobile suits aren't as good as seen elsewhere.
Years before the story, an event called the Great Fall occurred and changed a lot of things around. After this event Mobile Suits become rare, unlike before which where common probably. One day an orphanage is attacked by mysterious mobile suits and they wipe out everyone leaving only 2 survivors, Tristan the main character and his friend Fritz. When they find 2 mobile suits suited for them, they go in search for these mobile suits resulting in another normal RPG.
The gameplay is very basic, very easy and fast at least. By pressing X, X and X again at high speed, the party can attack if you have the fight button highlighted. MS Saga fighting style lets you plan your attack and then strike one after another. Some goes for the enemy of course. After you finish your attack, the enemy plays. Enemy variety isn't much mostly consisting of tanks and mobile suits. All battles are done in mobile suits so there are no fights against humans. There are techniques you can perform like repair the mobile suit or launch a grenade and others can be obtained by leveling up. These us up TP (technique points) which is basically the magic meter of the game unlike most RPG that use MP or SP no big deal. You can defend and charge for attacks as well. By having enough EN points you can perform a boost attack. The longer the battle the more the EN meter increases. Tristan needs 4 to perform one. Boost attacks deal more damage than regular attacks. Some enemies can counter attack when you hit them with punches or close attacks. You can also counter. These vary between characters. Only 3 characters can participate in battle out of the 6 you meet in your journey. The gameplay is old-fashioned turn-based strategy. There are some customizations as well to do to your mobile suits.
MS Saga's presentation is nothing to be proud of. The production values and colors of the world are pretty look making the game look old. The environments look average as well and the character models which aren't so bad but nothing special. I've never seen similar looking characters before but they could have been so much better. The cutscenes lack voice acting and the graphics don't do justice. Most of the music is passable but nothing memorable. The voice acting on the other hand is pretty good but the biggest drawback about this is that there is so little in the game making it feel like a missed opportunity. Something I didn't like is that the mobile suits I know about elsewhere are bigger and better. These look like baby mobile suits if you ask me.
A New Dawn isn't a bad game by any means; everything it has is done at average. The gameplay is simple, the graphics are dated, very little voice acting and a stiff presentation don't help at all. With so much better RPG's on the PS2, MS Saga just feels out of place, but if you are interested in these kinds of things this may not be the correct answer, but if you don't have high hopes for this game, you should be ok.
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Graphics = 6.2
Ancient graphics, boring environments and uninspiring world.
Sound = 6.3
Decent music but very little voice acting which is quite a shame. Average and repetitive sound effects consist mostly of explosions.
Presentation = 6.4
Cutscenes are ok if you don't mind the graphics and lack of voices. The production values aren't so good and the world isn't very colorful. At least the camera is good enough and the loadings are fast.
Gameplay = 6.0
Very easy, straightforward and shallow. Some battle can be won without breaking a sweat, and the lack of enemy variety isn't a good thing. The customization help the game take some shape.
Story = 6.7
A well-moving story with numerous characters. For an RPG it's not good enough though.
OVERALL = 62 / 100
MS Saga is nothing more than an average RPG and does nothing more than that.