Granted this is an older game in Japan, but the visuals are definitely sub par. The game relies heavily on its influence from Final Fantasy Tactics. The 3D square battlefields and the 2D characters and spell effects are here to a lesser degree. The environments just aren't that enticing, and the spells are seriously lack luster. At least there is some variation in the terrain elevation that keeps it from looking too terribly plain, and the character profiles are wonderfully drawn. Too bad that didn't translate well into the actual battle screen sprites. I know as well as anyone that the graphics aren't that important in an RPG, but that's a lame excuse because the SRPG genre could look a whole lot better. I'm not even saying that it needs to move totally into the third dimension, a la Front Mission, as I'd be equally impressed by some Legend of Mana type visuals.

So, I'm over how this game looks, and I'm eagerly anticipating the addiction of the gameplay. Saiyuki: Journey West is a traditional Chinese tale of a young monk raised in a Temple by the Temple Elder. The Lady Kannon appears to this young monk in a dream and challenges him to go to Thunder Temple in India. The Elder gives the determined youth the name Sanzo, and sets him on his way. Soon after starting his journey, Sanzo arrives at Monkey Mountain where he helps the trapped Son Goku (yes, the same one from Dragonball). Lady Kannon requests that Goku join Sanzo to help protect him on his journey.

This is where we begin. In typical SRPG fashion, you shop, get part of the story, and then battle. There are no towns to walk about freely, and no non-playable characters to start a chat with.. You visit shops and do your training from menus on the world map, and from this same map, you determine where your next stop will be.

Battles have specific objectives like defeat all the enemies or save a person from dying. I think of the games in this genre as more in depth chess games, and it takes just as much forethought to be good at them. Each character is given a set amount of spaces to move and an action to perform. In Saiyuki this can be done in either order which is a blessing. Actions range from a simple attack to spells or even opening a chest or pulling a switch. Sanzo meets an assortment of characters along the way that will join your party. They are all unique, but each shares one ability with the rest. They are all Were Beasts. Goku for example can turn in to a great ape (not Grape Ape). These transformations are also among the list of things you can do in battle.

So what's the problem? This game is just tedious and boring. I think it's all caused by the simplicity. There are no mechs on which to equip parts or skills to learn like in Front Misison, and there are no jobs to attain as in Final Fantasy Tactics. There is not much "strategy" in this "strategy" RPG. The battles can be won by simply surrounding the enemy and using standard attacks. The spells don't do much more damage than the a regular attack, and they take way to long to animate. Inexcusable considering they aren't that great looking anyway. There's an option to turn the animations off, but then you can't tell what spells are even being cast on you.

Well, the Were Changes should make up for it, I think to myself. Wrong again. You're given a Were Gauge that starts at 5 bars and gets larger as your characters level up. Each Were Attack takes a certain number of bars off the gauge. All you characters share one Were Gauge, and you can't even have more than one character transform at once. Sure the Were Attacks are different from the character's human attacks and do more damage, but your gauge is gone before you know it. Then it's back to the basics for the rest of the fight. Plus, in training fights, you can't transform into Were Beasts at all.

Leveling up in done like the old days. You get enough experience points, and your stats go up. Woo friggin' hoo. The characters are each skilled in a certain element such as Sanzo using mainly Life, while Goku excels in Fire. Water beats fire, and Earth beats Water, and blah blah-blah blabitty blah. Come on people, where's the originality. Here's the big break out in customization. You get to, stay with me here, purchase scrolls that can be equipped to give you new spells and skills. You only get six slots to fill with these items, so you have to budget what you want each character to use.

Look, my sarcasm is obviously not doing you all any good reading this. So, unless you are really desperate for a new SRPG, then I suggest you wait for either Arc the Lad or Hoshigami. If you aren't playing anything else at the moment, this could pass the time for you, but be wary.