The 7th Saga

Did You Know?

• Enix planned to market Mystic Ark as a sequel titled 7th Saga II in North America, but the localization was never completed and it was released only in Japan.
• LUX TIZER is the only non-NPC character who can use Laser and Thunder spells.

Story

The game is set on the world Ticondera. Five thousand years before the story begins, the divine being Saro defeated the evil entity Gorsia using the power of seven runes, which were later scattered across the globe. Lemele (Remeer in the Japanese version), Saro's son, was born 100 years before the game and became a hero by defeating the demon Gariso. Now 100 years old, Lemele rules the world benevolently. He recruits seven characters from various walks of life and corners of the globe, trains them for five years at his palace, then sends them to find the seven runes. Each rune holds great power, and the one who collects all seven becomes Lemele's heir. The king gives each character a Crystal Ball to aid the search. Retrieving the runes requires confronting powerful tyrants such as wizards, kings, and dragons who possess them. The apprentices are also hunted by a bounty hunter named Pison (Python in the Japanese version), hired by one of the apprentices (the traitor's identity is randomized each game). After defeating a resurrected Gariso and collecting all seven runes, the player confronts Lemele, who reveals he is actually Gorsia. Gorsia traveled from 5,000 years in the past, killed Lemele, took his identity, and recruited the apprentices to locate the runes, which contain trapped portions of his power. Gorsia destroys the runes, reabsorbs his power, and sends the player to Ticondera 5,000 years in the past. The player eventually reaches the technologically advanced city of Melenam, which was earlier explored as ruins, and witnesses its destruction by a rogue super-Tetsujin created to fight Gorsia.

Characters

The seven playable characters range from physically oriented to magically oriented. Wilme Pelin is an alien with a fiery, lava-like spiked body, arrogant and aggressive, seeking the runes for power. He has the highest HP and is tied for highest speed, but has fixed equipment and low Magic rating, making his Fire magic weak. LUX TIZER is a 5,000-year-old robot from the extinct Tetsujin civilization, polite and logical, searching for the runes to learn the Tetsujin's origins. LUX has high physical defense, limited magic and equipment, and can never be the traitor apprentice. Olvan Jaess is an extremely old dwarf warrior with a pleasant personality, hoping the runes will restore his youth. He has more HP and Defense than Kamil but less MP and speed, and can use Defense 1 to aid tanking. Kamil Dowonna is a human knight, the most average character with access to a wide selection of equipment and both offensive and defensive magic. His all-round average stats make him the worst character: low health for tanking, low mana and spellcasting for a mage, and speed tied with Olvan as the worst. His equipment can compensate for lower Power and Defense, and his spells can help a partner.

Reception

Famitsu reported first-week sales of 5,144 copies and lifetime sales of 9,064 copies in Japan. A 1993 readers' poll by Super Famicom Magazine gave the game a 20.27/30 score, ranking it 179th among Super Famicom titles. Review aggregator GameRankings recorded a 64.38% rating from four reviews. GamePro praised the graphics, animation, music, sound effects, and non-linear plot, but criticized the combat and puzzles, noting that enemy monsters are tactically too similar, making choices meaningless and combat a chore. The reviewer also felt limited dialogue would disappoint fans of story-driven RPGs. Mike Weigand of Electronic Gaming Monthly was enthusiastic about the Mode 7 effects and non-linear gameplay.