DESCRIPTION

Ubi Soft, responsible for such racing titles asMonaco Grand Prix, Speed Devils and Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing, is the first company to release an RPG for the Sega Dreamcast. Evolution: The World of Sacred Device follows in the traditional paradigm of a role-playing game.

As with most RPGs there really is only one way to play the game and that is to act out the adventure and let the storyline unfold. The story revolves around Mag, the main character who was born into a long line of adventurers. One day, after Mag's parents departed for an adventure, a lone girl appeared at the house with a letter from Mag's father. Only one sentence appeared on the letter and it requested that Mag take care of the girl who delivered it, Linear.

The cast of characters includes Mag, Linear, Gre, Chain and Pepper. As the story progresses each of the characters will eventually join your party. Your party's status will be organized into several categories. Hit points, fighting points, technical points, Attack value, defense value, evasion, agility, hits, luck, total money and debt are all kept track of and play an important part in each character's development. There is also the ability to reconfigure the formation of your party as to maximize their efficiency in either fighting or traveling through mazes.

Much like RPGs of the past, fighting is done in a way that does not include real time action. Rather, attacking enemies is done via a selection process; first you pick who you want to do the attacking, then you choose the target of the barrage.

Various items can be found and used by each character, and or discarded. Weapons, armor and accessories are also available that increase in strength as the adventure progresses. There are also special skills that can be learned by each character. During their travels, gamers will find stores that offer items for sale or trade. Amongst these are a general store, an upgrade shop, a society store and a saloon. Each store specializes in different items and will be visited frequently by the cast of characters.

A unique aspect of Evolution's adventure is the ability of your characters to become afflicted by an abnormality. Abnormalities include: falling, sleeping, paralyzed, confused, brainwashed, poisoned, blocked, berserk, recovering, blind or cursed. Each of these abnormalities will affect your character's behavior a great deal and must be heeded to.

The game can be saved at any time throughout the adventure and will take up very little space on the VMU. Other options include the ability to toggle text speed, sound (there is no voice acting, only sound effects) and controller configuration. ~ Jonathan Licata, All Game Guide