Review by: J.M. Vargas

I recently purchased a Game Shark so I could have access to the plethora of codes the kind folks at Interactive keep making for Saturn. Most of you are probably aware of it, but for those who don't know yet: the Saturn Game Shark has the undisclosed feature of enabling your American Saturn to play Japanese imports via a code. Have you noticed that in this race for next-generation gaming supremacy the two systems that have so far failed, the 3DO Multiplayer and Nintendo's Virtual Boy, were the only ones with software that was compatible regardless of territory? Maybe import aficionado's wish of hardware without territorial lock-up isn't a good one, as it seems such feature unofficially has an omen over the machine that provides it. But I digress.

With the Game Shark came the offer of a free import game from a select group of discounted imports; I had little interest in "VF Remix", "D" or the original "Daytona U.S.A." (a version even more rushed than the one that ended in the U.S.? No thanks!). So I went with the Microcabin RPG "Sword & Sorcery", which I had already played under the title "Lucienne's Quest" when Panasonic released it for the 3DO back in March of 1996. Translation notes were included with the game (a feature importers use to attract hardcore gamers with no knowledge of Japanese, like mua), so there I went on my quest to see if the 3DO experience had been improved by Saturn power. In short: O.K. game, cute story, nice music,...and that's it.

The story, in a nutshell (and we all know that, when it comes to RPG's, a good story and likable characters can overcome a mediocre visual show): Lucienne is a young girl, working as the apprentice to the mage that oversees a large territory. While her master is away on business, a visitor named Elgort comes by and requests help for the plight of his people (and himself), who were attacked by werewolfs and cursed with lychanthropy (the werewolf disease). Lucienne could help Elgort find a cure, or she could make up an excuse and embark with him on a quest to find adventures that will keep her away from the master's castle (which is boring her sick!). Guess what? Lucienne and Elgort (who isn't too happy with the arrangement) go for the adventure, and in the process assemble a party of non-human characters, each with an individual motivation behind their joining the group. Example: Miminaga is the son of the leader of the molebears, and his desire to overcome his cowardice is what motivates him to join Lucienne's quest. And the game is underway.

GRAPHICS / VISUALS: B

Japanese developer MicroCabin developed 3DO's first RPG, the surreal "Powers Kingdom" ("Guardian Wars" in the U.S.); that engine was tweaked and revamped for the Saturn RPG-strategy "Riglord Saga" ("Mysteria"/"Blazing Heroes" in the U.S.). "Sword & Sorcery" for 3DO used a third revision of that engine which gives us an all-polygon world with nice but rough-looking worlds that vary in look and texture. The characters are super-deformed sprites that move around the world (only Lucienne when moving around the map or the locations; the turn-based mechanics allows for all party members to be seen during battle...duh!), and are visible from several camera angles that don't vary in effectiveness; they're all a slight variation of an overhead perspective used to mask the draw-in and pop-up visible only when using the behind-the-character perspective. During battle scenes, the overhead view turns into a 3/4 isometric perspective (your party on the left side of the screen, enemies on the right).

That perspective is what gives "Sword & Sorcery" a unique personality (more on that later). The terrain looks beautiful and the polygons, although a bit choppy and rough around the edges, are adequate. The magic spells are adequate and the bosses' magic is tremendous (on a pre-"Final Fantasy VII" level of quality). The Saturn version, however, isn't as good as the 3DO version released in the States (ironic?). The special effects that looked neat on the 3DO are badly emulated on Saturn with mesh-like place-holder special effects. The frame-rate in certain places goes way down from the already-choppy original, which may not kill an RPG but it certainly diminishes the joy of exploration. Water and clouds-over-the-map-world have been removed from the Saturn, and other similar omissions are all over the game. I can only speculate that MicroCabin didn't have the time, patience or know-how to reprogram the game to take advantage of Saturn.

The only obvious improvement over the 3DO version was a gorgeous kick-ass anime intro that introduces the characters and story with more style than the stale rendered opening of the 3DO game. A lot of resources went into those cinematics, and I can't help but think that those funds could have been used for the betterment of the game. Oh well.

MUSIC / SOUNDS: A-

Great all-around tunes! Musically pleasing, and not distracting at all (I regretted leaving the village of Colony because I wouldn't be able to hear the tune until much later...now that's music!). There are musical tunes that grate (particularly the battle scenes), but on a whole the musical experience with "Sword & Sorcery" is a good one that will make you think about getting the musical CD.

Magical spells, fireballs, swords clashing, Earthquakes... you've heard them once, you've heard them all. Average all-around. Voice-overs (ala "Rayearth") could have added something more to the characters, but only the new cinematic FMV has voices for them (but they are of high quality; anime voice-over superstar Megumi Hiyashibara's voice is here).

GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: C+

Remember the 3/4 isometric perspective I mentioned was used when the game switched to battle mode? Although a turn-based RPG, the terrain in the battle has to be taken into consideration when placing your character. There are rocks, trees, bushes and other obstacles that could deflect and/or absorb the damage that was to be taken by an enemy. You could move your character to the side in order to circumvent the obstacle and hit the bad guy from the side, but what prevents the enemy from also moving around the obstacle and attacking the party member (a consideration when Lucienne is used for her powerful attacks, since without her party member's blocking she absorbs tremendous damage)?. This use of lite-strategy elements on a turn-based RPG makes the game's battle scenes more vexing that your "Beyond The Beyond"-type whack-a-thon. Think of it as a Fisher Price "My First Little Strategy RPG".

Beware: if you exit a dungeon and re-enter it, you'll have to fight the same battles you fought when you first visited the level. When you consider you may need to battle enough monsters to acquire the experience points and gold needed to break through previously unavailable levels, it translates into an enormous pain. It's bearable, though.

Storywise, the import of MicroCabin's game is better than the 3DO version released in the States (if the translation from Japanese provided to me with the game is accurate). If you played the 3DO game Panasonic released here you'll remember the translation was lousy and the character of Lucienne seemed to behave with the emotional complexity of a doodle; she kept going from mission to mission, accepting other people's request for help with reckless abandon. The story was also butchered for the 3DO translation: there wasn't a single thread of a story pulling the game together; it was more like a series of conversations linking together several battle scenes. The Saturn import I played (which I assume uses the same storyline for the Japanese version of the 3DO original) has more coherence and a feeling of consistency thru the entire game; the character of Lucienne seems more brash and less stupid than the American 3DO version would have led you to believe. Using the Sailor Moon scale of personalities: playing the Saturn (or 3DO) import versions of "Sword & Sorcery" is like using Rei/Sailor Mars, while playing the 3DO Americanized version is like using Serena/Usagi/Sailor Moon (that noise you are loudly hearing right now is the clicking of mouses and servers all across the country, switching off this page the moment a mention of "Sailor Moon" is made...sob, sob!)

OVERALL: C

If you are an RPG nut who happens to stumble upon a cheap version of "Sword & Sorcery", and aren't jaded yet by visually stunning eye-candy like "Shining of the Holy Ark" or "Rayearth", I say give it a shot if you don't mind having a game with very little or no replay value. It took less than 15 hours for yours truly to defeat the game, and it was a painless and thrill-free ride. Nothing from this game will upset your taste, but you'll see plenty of wasted potential all around. The 3DO version can still be found, if you can stomach the butchered translation; and the MicroCabin RPG "Mysteria"/"Blazing Heroes" recalls "Sword & Sorcery" minus the lite-strategy and the cute storyline. You could do much worse, but you'll be definitely flirting with disaster...a close call, but I'll stick with my 3DO version. This import isn't Saturn-quality; "Sakura Wars" and "Grandia"...now those look like da bomb.