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Saiyuki: Journey West[a] is a tactical role-playing video game released for the Sony PlayStationbyKoei. It is based loosely on the Chinese novel Journey to the West.
| Saiyuki: Journey West | |
|---|---|
North American cover art
| |
| Developer(s) | Koei |
| Publisher(s) | Koei |
| Director(s) | Minoru Honda |
| Designer(s) | Minoru Honda |
| Artist(s) | Akihiro Yamada |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Tactical role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
The game follows the basic outline of the Journey to the West's plot, in which the main character, a Buddhist practitioner named Sanzo, travels from ChinatoIndia on a religious mission and has a variety of adventures along the way.
Sanzo can be played as either a male or a female character at the player's choice. Every character except Sanzo can transform into a monstrous form for a limited time. Instead of transforming, Sanzo has access to summon spells that each boost the party's stats in different ways for a number of rounds and allows him/her to use an extra spell at will. Furthermore, each character has a native element that powers their spells and weakens them to opposing elements.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 73/100[1] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame |    [2] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 8/10[3] |
| EP Daily | 7.5/10[4] |
| Famitsu | 31/40[5] |
| Game Informer | 8.5/10[6] |
| GameSpot | 8.1/10[7] |
| IGN | 8.4/10[8] |
| Next Generation | [9] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [10] |
| RPGamer | 7/10[11] |
The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[1] Eric Bratcher of NextGen said that the game "won't dazzle your eyes, but with compelling characters, a unique setting and plot, and nice tactical depth, it's still a grand experience."[9] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.[5] However, Four-Eyed Dragon of GamePro called it "an unsuccessful attempt to make a popular Chinese literary legend come alive."[12][b]
The game was nominated for "Best Game No One Played" at GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2001 Awards, which went to Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory.[13] It was also a nominee at The Electric Playground's 2001 Blister Awards for "PSX Game of the Year", but lost to Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past.[14]