Septerra Core

I remember purchasing Septerra Core for the first time back in 2002. It was the first JRPG (even though it was developed by an american studio) that I had ever played. I was eleven years old and had no experience with titles of this genre. After a couple of hours trying to find my way around the first levels of the game, I returned the disc to the store out of frustration with its mechanics and difficulty. Regardless, Septerra's characters and world made an impression on me in an enduring fashion. A year later, I ended up buying the game for another attempt, and this time I played and pushed through until its end. Despite the flaws that annoyed me quite a bit, I still considered this one of my favorite games back in the day. Now, two decades onward, I booted it up to evaluate how well it aged in comparison to modern titles. Frankly, my opinions about it haven't really changed, so let's see why.

Looking at its graphics, Septerra heavily resembles the JRPGs released for the Playstation 1. Characters and NPCs are all made of 2D animated sprites and move around static scenarios in an isometric perspective, and key occurrences are presented by the occasional pre-rendered cutscene. At the time, the visuals here were pretty nice, I'd say, although the game's resolution might be a bit low even for the standards of the day. Most major characters are nicely designed with distinct forms and aesthetics, but ordinary NPC and enemy models are frequently recycled with alternate colors. The larger bosses tend to be unique in their appearances, at least. However, the limited resolution and technical shortcomings of the game tend to restrict the scope of the events shown on screen. My take is that the camera seems "zoomed in", in a way. You won't get to gaze at expansive landscapes, nor face monumental creatures, unfortunately.

In a superficial analysis, the world of Septerra is perhaps its most striking feature. I don't think there's anything quite like this setting in any other game released to date. The planet is composed of seven superimposed layers that rotate around a core structure, with each one possessing its own continents. Nations, factions and tribes are spread across these layers, and they are all in different states of societal, cultural and technological development. An important aspect of the lore is the existence throughout the planet of multiple species of large bony animals called Helgaks. They all have the capability to float in the air and are raised and herded by the peoples of Septerra, who use their carcasses in the manufacturing of biomechanical flying ships. It's a science-fantasy story, with magic and advanced technology closely intertwined to the energy produced by the clockwork mechanisms that keep the whole world alive and rotating. It is this unique setting that made me admire this game so much, because its gameplay can be quite problematic.

To add a quick side note, I must commend the voice actors of this game, who managed to bring the protagonists and main villains of the story to life in a very talented way, especially when you regard the limitations of the time. Voice work like this wasn't common in JRPGs back then. Not all characters are nicely portrayed, though. Most minor NPCs were probably voiced by the devs themselves.

Now, speaking of mechanics, the system here is pretty similar to those of the JRPGs of that era. Most of the time, players will pick a party of three combatants out of nine available guys. You get to explore different towns to talk to NPCs, advance the story and purchase equipment and consumable items to face the game's dungeons. The adventure is largely linear, but some minor secondary quests can be taken and completed, especially when the stereotypical airship is unlocked in the second half of the game. Battles are all turned-based, structured around the management of ATB bars — one for each party member —, which are divided in three segments. Regardless of how many segments are filled, only a single action can be performed at a time by the character, be it a physical attack, a spell or the usage of an item. Two or three segments of the bar can be accumulated to either increase the damage of your attack or spellcast, or unlock advanced special moves.

The magic system deserves special mention. It's based on unique cards that cast a single spell when used individually, like an elemental attack or a buff. They can be combined, though, by two or three characters to produce special effects. Summoning deities is done this way, and their attacks can be quite effective. Mana is displayed in a single bar and shared by all party members. Some guys are more magically inclined and will cast more potent spells — they'll also offer more points to the team's mana pool. Honestly, you'll end up using these spell-minded folks to play most levels, because casting magic is of great importance to save time in this game, and you will definitely have the desire to save time while playing Septerra Core. My only gripe with this system is that the cards must be found as you advance in the campaign, and some of the most useful ones only show up at its final stretches.

Overall, it all sounds fine and dandy in theory, but here is where the pain begins.

All combat encounters drag for an unnecessary amount of time. Common animations are morose and cannot be skipped. Summoning deities requires at least two characters' bars — their grandiose animations also cannot be skipped. ATB bars take too long to fill up, and certain party members, like the dog robot, are simply unbearable to use due to their sluggishness. Running away from battles doesn't work most of the time. Ordinary enemies have too much health and interrupt you constantly with their attacks. They also frequently appear is groups of three or four. And my fucking God, the godamn misses. You will miss your attacks constantly, like, a lot. I cannot stress this enough: missing your actions in this game is extremely common, regardless of your levels and equipment. Given the fact that most dungeons, especially those in the second half of the game, are quite labyrinthine in nature and choke-full of enemies, all the missed moves and slow battles will quickly make trudging through them an irritating chore.

Another minor issue relates to the story. Even though I like the protagonists and the plot of Septerra Core, their escapades over the course of the game can be rather frustrating. Maya, the main heroine, is a likeable, benevolent, courageous and intelligent person, but she's awfully unlucky in her quest. She often finds herself on a mission to complete an objective, but her efforts are repeatedly thwarted by the main villains, despite the assistance of her comrades. It's a cycle that repeats itself constantly, and sometimes we get this impression that progress isn't being made in her struggle. I remember this part when, after a long series of arduous tasks, Maya finally obtains the first half of a supremely important artefact, only to lose it in a rather dumb encounter at the end of a dungeon. It's not a game breaking problem, but it's kinda annoying to see the story presenting so many setbacks.

So, yes, judging this game is a complicated endeavor to me, considering its importance to my childhood. I'm giving it a positive review, but I believe that this is one of those titles that warrant the creation of a "neutral" recommendation tag on Steam. It's a creation of an era, and possesses many of the flaws that marked the products of those years. As I said before, the main attraction of this title is the creativity of the world of Septerra and the charm of its characters and whimsical plot. Be advised, though, that the game mechanics here are indeed quite dated. If you choose to play it, you'll be transported to 1999, and this is going to be a hardcore old school experience in all senses of the expression.

Broken movies. Seriosly? I have to fiddle with QuickTime and stuff in a rerelease of an ancient game? Beyond lazy.

While the game itself was and is still fun, I regret giving money to the hacks that made the steam release.

A classic, it may be slow,
you may need to make a couple jump in logic to hit the next story point
But a classic, the world, the design, the character the story and it music all hit home for me.

Septerra Core is so nostalgic. If you can handle how slow some battles can be (mostly due to the animations), it is a good bang for your buck.

We're making it back to last millennium with this one

Genuinelly, some of the greatest voice acting from the nineties. i have no idea how this hasent blown tf up.... the world is so original, as are the characters and plot....could you imagine an open world game with the graphics/tech we have now in 2024?..... theres literally no game like it. the lore, the creatures and enemies. the extremelly underrated voice actors. not to mention some pretty badass cutscenes for 99' .... buy the game. 11/10.

I wish they made more games like this. Wheres the sequel. The story is peak. The art is peak. The art is peak. love it.

Septerra core is an immersive game where the player is expected to waste time in figuring out where to go by talking to people, exploring the game by clicking on things or doing anything to see if it works. That style of gameplay has fallen out of favor for a very good reason. It disrespects everyone’s time and just frustrates them into playing something else instead.

Some people insist that the game is a forgotten gem. So I’m going to assume that they’re wearing emerald glasses which were gifted by the grand wizard of OZ personally when they bought the game. As for me, I don’t enjoy sluggish combat while trudging through another unavoidable fight again and again. You have no way of speeding it up or skipping the battle animations unlike other rpgs released before it managed to do. What's even more baffling is that the game manages to make what was already terrible into something even worse with the zombie enemy. Zombies are very slow and have to walk towards you to attack, which means that everything stops to display their walking animation every single time. I believe it was done so that the player had to admire the cool graphics and the hard work of the dev team. All I’m admiring is the fact that no one thought to cut this and that’s what I’ve been doing since I started playing the game.

Playing through the game reveals so many flaws that I wonder how none of this was caught during playtesting. Can’t bank charges for skills which means that you should just use high level skills, no equipable core regeneration items, no permanent run option, dungeons are too large, lots of loading screens, heavy usage of backtracking instead of using a cutscene to transition the player to the next objective, and doesn’t guide the player to next objective. Instead the game insists that the player talks to everyone to guide them to the next objective, which is par for the course of RPGs of that time period but is now considered a flaw by today’s standards. And when that doesn’t work then it’s the time to solve the bizarre puzzles that the developing team designed. Apparently, the player is supposed to realize that they need to fill a vial with acid from a puddle in the graveyard’s grounds to cut off the head of a statue in Wind City. After that the player needs to put that head on a different statue in the graveyard to unlock a boss fight which opens up the catacombs that you need to go through to get to the Holy guard.But to get the vial in the first place is to buy one from a shop in South farms. The only reason that I knew how to do this was because I used a guide out of frustration at the lack of no progress.

The magic system doesn’t allow the player to experiment or use it regularly during fights due to the high cost of all spells. And skills rely on it, which is bullshit. Punishing the player for trying to experiment to make the game fun is just bad design. Also, it doesn’t help that the game never bothers to teach the player how to use the cards. I got it by clicking on a card three times and calling it good.

Bragging about your voice cast might have been ground breaking in 1999 when voice acting was in its infancy. But now, it just makes the developer look like a tryhard braggart. Most of the acting ranges from so-so to f listers. There are some standouts in the cast like Maya and Grubb but even they’re not great by modern standards. You can turn off the voices if you’re not a fan of them.



Septerra core is a game that should be forgotten and. The only reason that one would seek it out is to read the developer’s blog about its creation. It’s a very interesting read if you’re an enthusiast of video game development history like myself. The website is called https://twilighttangents.com. Anyways, there are better classic rpgs out there that respect your time and are exciting to play through even with dated mechanics.

Long but well thought out game! Fun to play and way ahead of its time.

I absolutely love this game <3 I grew up playing Septerra Core and it helped me a lot with learning proper English pronunciation thanks to the voice acting. The game itself may have not aged well when it comes to its graphics or sometimes clunky / overdrawn gameplay, but the world building, charming characters and overall unique ideas make it worth awhile. If you're a sucker for old games and have some free time on your hands, I recommend trying out Septerra Core.

k

This game is a favorite of mine for nostalgic purposes: I first bought this game (bundled with "Shogo: Mobile Armor Division") in mid-November of 1999 from a local Media Play store. It's definitely not the best game I've ever played...but the story and the characters have stuck with me for literally 25 years, come November.

Note: This was the ONLY game released by Valkyrie Studios, but don't let that make you believe it's a BAD game...it's just EXTREMELY dated now, and has been rough-around-the-edges since '99.