<![CDATA[Three Strikes and You’re Out, Unlimited SaGa]]>While compiling my backlog–and figuring out which games I’ve beaten and which I haven’t–I stumbled across a game that really gets on my nerves. And I’ve never played it for more than twenty minutes. Total. After three attempts to get into it, as well. Crazy, right?

I’m talking about Unlimited SaGa, of course.

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A gorgeous looking game, much like previous entries in the series, with such heart devoted to style and character design and color tones. It’s hard not to be initially intrigued, really. Alas, Unlimited SaGa looks too good to be true. The gameplay is tedious, the once-involved battles are now confusing and dominated by luck and the spin of a wheel (which I never really understood, and this Reel system isn’t just assigned to combat, frustratingly), and moving around within the world–if you can call it moving–is just annoying and unclear.

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I can’t really be completely objective though. I’ve never gotten far into the game, and heaven knows I’ve tried to at least three times. Each time I power on the PlayStation 2, grip my controller, and think, “Okay, this time we’re doing it!” Yet it never happens. No matter who I start with, no matter which plotline to follow, within the first few battles and inching around on the boardmap I’m already angry. And games shouldn’t really make people angry. They are entertainment, after all; entertainment paid for, expected, desired for something.

But yeah. Pretty horrible game. Can’t get into it, never will. Maybe it’s too old-fashioned, if that makes any sense. It’ll be the bane of my backlog, along with Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, another RPG that tries something new and ends up being a crawlfest.

Penny Arcade sums it all up pretty well, actually. Well, panels one and two that is.

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