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Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean

What it is: An old-school, Sunsoft developed Working Designs Sega Saturn RPG that plays more like a Super NES RPG. That’s a mouth full. It was evidently originally developed for the SNES and ported to the Saturn. 
Pros: Great music. Graphics hold up in their own right. Humor is sprinkled throughout to break up the mood. All team members are on-screen while moving around. Simple, yet effective inventory system. Nice art style. The world map is 3D, and it uses an 3/4 overhead view which works pretty well.

Cons: Loading is a pain. It takes about 5-7 seconds to load each random encounter. Dialog is a little hokey these days compared to modern writing.

Overall: An enjoyable game for anyone who likes traditional RPG’s. The game doesn’t do much to advance the genre to any new heights but it does have some nice touches that were not possible on the 16-Bit generation. I really loved the 16-Bit RPG’s and to play one that evolves those with better graphics and sound made me instantly interested in this game. Personally, I really love the simple RPG’s that don’t require learning a complicated battle system, and this game is like that. It’s straightforward, and doesn’t mess around with hours upon hours of complicated storytelling. This is a breath of fresh air to anyone who hated Final Fantasy XIII for its complexity and monotony and wants to explore an older RPG.

Rating: 7/10

Do I need to play the previous game?: N/A

Worth Playing?: Obviously if you have read this review, you must have some sort of interest in old-school RPG’s. If you like those, then this is one of the better ones. It’s not spectacular, but it’s one of the few 2D RPG’s from this era, and that makes it a rarity to some degree. It plays like a Working Designs game, not an Enix game, nor Squaresoft. If you like Working Designs types of game, you will enjoy this game. Plus they always tried to make the best game possible for fans of the genre – which this game shows.

Does it hold up in 2012?: Only to fans of the genre, and those who like simple RPG’s.

*Reviewer’s Notes
Played on Sega Saturn in 1998.