Saiyuki: Journey West

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 China to India 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.

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]