Saiyuki: Journey West

Saiyuki: Journey West is a PlayStation strategy RPG adaption of the Chinese novel, Journey to the West. The Japanese name is Saiyuki (西遊記) which is the Japanese pronunciation of the novel's title. The character designer is Akihiro Yamada.

Due to the open gender of Xuanzang commonly found in Japanese translations of the original novel, the hero can either be male or female. Choosing to play as either gender does not change the overall story, though causes minor alterations to the dialogue. Originally, the real Sanzo is a male as depicted in the opening.

Plot
Genjo, a sixteen year old monk, was raised in Gold Temple without knowing his/her real parents. One day, Genjo had a dream of Lady Kannon, who bestowed a staff to the youth. She told the monk to seek the assistance of divine Guardians and deliver the staff to Thunder Temple in India. Once an Emperor's messenger visits the temple with a similar order, Genjo is appointed as the temple's representative. Donning a proper monk's garb, Genjo is named Sanzo and begins his/her journey with two escorts. Along the way, Sanzo loses his/her guards and frees Goku from his boulder prison. Gaining Goku as his/her first companion with his element of Fire, Sanzo continues his/her travels while guarding the staff he/she carries from several entities.

After Goku joins the party, Sanzo meets Cho Hakkai. Hakkai was ousted from the restaurant he worked at because he got caught eating the food for customers. Nowhere to go, Hakkai joins Sanzo's party, as his element is Earth. Next, the party meets Shu Ryorin, the daughter of the Dragon King. Ryorin attacks the party as she thought that they were her father's subordinates trying to capture her. After the misunderstanding, Ryorin joins the party with Metal as her element.

Next the party come to a small village which is under the control of monster named Nyoi. There, the party meets Sa Gojo who despises his own nature as a were, but trying to save the village. it is revealed that nearby the village, there was a star fell down and the villagers built a shrine on it. The star was revealed to be the first Guardian, Mother, with her element of Wood. As Nyoi attacks the village again, the party saved the village from Nyoi's grasp. Gojo then joins Sanzo and party, with the element Water.

As the party continues their journey, Sanzo has a dream of a woman asking for help and asks Sanzo to go North. As Sanzo and the party ventures to North, they arrive at Cherry Plains and it is revealed that the woman is Lady Kikka, a dryad who is captured by a mysterious man named Mahoraga in a dream world. After the party defeats Mahoraga and saved Lady Kikka, it is revealed that another Guardian resides inside Lady Kikka, a Guardian named Warrior with his element of Metal. Expressing her gratitude, Lady Kikka joins the party with her element of Wood.

With 6 party members and 2 Guardians collected, the team continue their journey to the Westland. The Westland is under the control of Lord Taurus, a Were-Bull who is trying to capture Sanzo and eat him/her. On the team's adventure in Westland, the team occasionally meets Taurus' henchmen and his wife, Lady Tessen, who are trying to fulfill Taurus' order.

The party collected Guardian Fool, with his element of Fire and a friend of Goku when Goku attacked the Heaven, and Guardian Luna with her element of Earth. Along their way, the party meets Prince Reikan, a WereTurtle who is Ryorin's fiancé and the reason Ryorin ran away from her home. The party also meets So Kinrei and So Ginrei, twin sisters who drinks a mysterious liquid from a gourd and become Golem monsters with element of Metal. Kinrei and Ginrei are optional party members.

After Kinrei and Ginrei joins the party, Sanzo gets the last but not least Guardian, Cavalier. Surprisingly as Sanzo got Cavalier, they are attacked by Lady Nagini, a senior of Ryorin from Dragon Clan. The party also meets Chin Genshi as they're trying to save Lady Kikka from her illness. It is revealed that Chin Genshi is Lady Kikka's grandfather and Hakkai's mentor. Chin Genshi is also another optional party member.

As the team gets larger and closer to Taurus, Mahoraga tries to get Kid Pyric, Taurus & Tessen's lost son to join the Devils. Along their way, Ryorin is abducted by Reikan. After the team gets Ryorin back, Ryorin tries to reason with Reikan, only have Reikan to join the team as another optional party member.

The team finally arrives at Taurus' lair. Tessen gets softer after Sanzo offers to find her son, but not with Taurus. The team then defeats Taurus, only that Sanzo gets his staff gets stolen by Pyric as Pyric needs to prove he's worthy to be a devil by stealing Sanzo's staff. Got mad at their son's behavior, Taurus and Tessen decides to join the party as the last optional party members.

Continuing their journey to India, the party finally defeats Pyric and have Sanzo gets his staff back. On their journey to Thunder Temple in India, the party meets some of the Devils again, including their leader, Deva. On their way to Thunder Temple, the party meets Asha, a lost boy who ran away from monsters as he came from Thunder Temple. As the party gets Asha back to Thunder Temple, the team is surprised to find that Thunder Temple is destroyed by Asura, the true leader of the Devils.

It is revealed that Asura leads the Devil 8, 8 Devils who tries to attack Heaven and take control of Heaven, only to create a new world of Hell. Following Asura to the Heaven, the team meets Deva again, defeats him, and Deva reveals Asura's weakness for the team to defeat Asura. In the final fight, Asura merges with Pits, to reveal that he is a Devil with 3 heads and six arms.

As the team defeats Asura, the team finally save the world from Asura's grasp and restores Heaven as it was. As the team decides to go back to Golden Temple, Lady Kannon gives Elder Homei the Dharma as a gratitude for Sanzo saving the world. The rest of the team finally part ways to their places before, promising that they will always be friends, as Sanzo will start a new journey.

Gameplay
The game plays in a similar manner as Fu-Qi's Fengshen Yanyi.

The overworld map is shown in a similar manner and training spots have been adjusted to dojos in select towns. Players now have the choice to select their next location.

Battles take place on a 3D isometric map with animated 2D sprites. Turns are determined by the speed of each character present, and each action is determined by a length of squares.

Treasure boxes can be found on the field and other gimmicks –such as dropping log bridges and stepping on elevators– can now be used. The ability to shape the land has been removed and it is replaced with a few new features to separate the titles.

Elements are assigned to each character. This attribute determines the strengths and weaknesses for the individual, as well as their proficiency with spells of a particular element. The five elements are Fire, Nature, Metal, Earth and Water. Taking advantage of an element's weakness can increase or decrease the damage a party member can deal and may additionally award more experience for each character. The following lists the element chain present in the game.
 * Earth defeats Water
 * Water defeats Fire
 * Fire defeats Metal
 * Metal defeats Nature
 * Nature defeats Earth

Every party member but Sanzo has the ability to shapeshift into a larger beast dubbed Wereform. Only one Wereform can be in the field at at a time. The length of their transformation is dictated by the length of the Were Gauge located at the upper left corner of the screen. One bar is needed to transform, and the rest maybe used for attacks which guzzles a preset amount of bars from the Were Gauge. Earn experience while in this state to level up the Were Gauge.

Wereform attacks can destroy certain obstacles which may reveal hidden treasures or new walking paths for characters. Transformed characters cannot be healed through common means but gain a substantial boost in life points and immunity to all negative status.

Sanzo's counterpart to the Wereforms is his/her ability to summon the Guardians he/she has collected during the story. These Guardians require magic points to bring into the field but each comes with their unique, no-cost abilities. Sanzo can only summon one Guardian at a time and each lasts for a maximum of three of Sanzo's turns. Each Guardian has unique combat traits that separate one from the other.
 * Mother - Nature element, can attack in a two square radius; restores party HP per turn
 * Warrior - Metal element, can attack in a two square radius; increases physical defense
 * Fool - Fire element, has a linear attack; increases physical offense
 * Luna - Earth element, attacks with a bow's range; restores party MP per turn (except for Sanzo's)
 * Cavalier - Water element, hits in a one square area near Sanzo; increases movement and allows Sanzo to float
 * Emperor - No element, attacks in a three square radius from Sanzo; grants the traits from all other Guardians

Towns can be visited during the journey, and each has at least a store for equipment and spells and chemist for curative items. Some villages may have a dojo for training sessions marked with beginner, advanced or master difficulty. Dojo sessions are free level grinding, except that Wereforms cannot be used. Defeat the dojo master on master difficulty to get a dojo license; collect all of them to receive a special prize.

Characters keep the same weapons throughout the game and can improve their arsenal by visiting blacksmiths. Sanzo is the exception; his/her staff can only be improved by acquiring Guardians.

Larger cities have Posts, a building that offers part-time jobs and monetary awards. If the player encounters a battle while on these miniature quests, they may use the opportunity to increase their Were Gauge. Posts also offer an optional card mini-game. The player starts by purchasing medals from the dealer. Bet on the card stack with highest single digit number to win. Medals can be exchanged for unique prizes, and each card dealer has their own set of items.

Game extras include Sanzo's diary from the main screen and the bonus section unlocked when the game is cleared once.

The Japanese version has characters speak with limited audio clips during cutscenes and battle. The staff roll movie is different in both languages. Voices are omitted in the English version.

Main Party

 * Sanzo
 * Son Goku
 * Cho Hakkai
 * Shu Ryorin
 * Sha Gojo
 * Lady Kikka

Optional Party Members

 * So Kinrei and So Ginrei
 * Chin Genshi
 * Prince Reikan
 * King Taurus
 * Madame Tessen

Guardians

 * Sei Oubo - Mother
 * Hei Reiko - Warrior
 * Nata Taishi - Fool
 * Kano Usenko - Luna
 * Jiro Shingun - Cavalier
 * Kyuten Raitei - Emperor

Taurus's Allies

 * Old Man Nyoi
 * Rhinon
 * Roku Jiko
 * Master Tigra
 * Windy
 * Ko Horo
 * Master Baa

Eight Devils

 * Asura
 * Mahoraga
 * Yaksa
 * Vala
 * Apsara
 * Deva
 * Nagini
 * Garda

Others

 * Lady Kannon
 * Elder Homei
 * Kid Pyric
 * Asha

Related Media
A two volume novelization of the game was authored by Akira Nanao in 1999. The covers of both books were illustrated by the game's illustrator and they can be combined to form one image.

Image Song

 * Magic Goku
 * Performed by Yukihide Takekawa from GODIEGO.

Allusions

 * All of the Guardians are characters from Fengshen Yanyi. King Zhou, Huang Feihu and Chi You receive small references in the game. Some of the game's rarest equipment were items used by the characters in the novel.
 * Buddha, Heilong, and other mystical/religious figures in Chinese culture form the names of some the game's equipment. The Eight Devils are all based on Hindu gods.