Senkutsu Katuryu Taisen Chaos Seed is the Saturn version of Chaos Seed (originally on the SFC). It was published by Never-Land Company on 29 January 98.
The game is essentially the same game as the SFC version, so you may refer to the SFC review for a long, detailed description of the game.
In additional to better graphics, there are also a number of improvements and changes in the Saturn verion, most of which made to smoothen game play. Some examples: the "Digging" window now scrolls, under two methods; Animal types and Items have been revised; combat spells are more powerful and more varied (more on this later); in terms of play balance, some of the less useful, less popular or less effective elements have been given more power or less cost (examples are the Attack room, the Summoning room, and the Fung-shui required Improvement "Auto HP Recovery"); a large set of on-line help has been added to help out beginners; and many others. The result is that Saturn Chaos Seed is significantly smoother to play than the SFC version, for new players and experts alike. There are a couple of new scenarios, and some of the old scenarios have been revised for smoother story and game play. There are also a new set of "puzzle stages" (nazo kutu); some of the puzzles have been very cleverly designed, and are quite challenging. However, this is not to say that there is nothing that has yet to be deserved, fine points here and there in the game, especially when Item manipulation is involved. Also, there are several scenarios in which the construction of Storage rooms is prohibited. The Storage room serves three functions: to provide access to powerful items accumulated in previous scenarios, to offer more space for holding items found in the scenario, and to increase the amount of energy one can channel to the Ryuketuro at once. I feel that (while the first function is the most powerful) the last two functions, especially the last one, are integral to the game, and that taking them away is too tight a straitjacket.
Chaos Seed has very impressive spells for an action game, and I'm not talking about mere graphics or sheer power. Most of the spells are attack spells, but there is some real variety in there. Many of the spells are in effect summoned creatures which stay for a short while and keep attacking while everybody is going on with their actions. The Saturn version seems to be able to handle a lot of characters and such simultaneously in a battle: when I summon a few Boars into my player's group, often spells (friendly and enemy) fly all over the screen in such a chaos that I can't see clear enough to fight physically ...
In the first release version, the game also comes with an omake (extra) disc, which contains music, graphics, comics, and voices, plus a draw poker game, for those who are interested in those.
To players who have not experienced Chaos Seed, I give the same recommendation as I did for the SFC version: if you can read Japanese and don't mind some complexity in a game, and you like innovation and playability in games, Chaos Seed is a game not to be missed, definitely. With the on-line help, the game is now more friendly towards less experienced gamers, too. To players who have enjoyed the SFC version, there are a number of improvements and fine-tuning, and the game may be worth buying it over again - but also keep in mind that this is just the same game, in essence.
Copyright 25 February 1998 Alan Shiu Ho Kwan
Alan Kwan / tarot@netvigator.com / created 25 Feb 98 / last modified 5 Mar 98