Mr. Saitou is a heartwarming title that stays with you long after the credits roll. It's a great example of how to create a truly engrossing and touching RPG Maker game. It may only have a 3-hour runtime and lack the revolutionary gameplay mechanics to make this anything more than a narrative-driven adventure with a few token puzzles. However, the narrative is strong enough on its own to warrant you picking this one up at your earliest convenience!Â
- Lovable Characters
- Emotional Story
- Hilarious, Quality Visuals
- Short runtime
- Puzzles aren't challenging at all
- No value in additional playthroughs
RPG Maker games occupy a special place in my heart. From Undertale to Oneshot, these graphically minimalistic games with boundless creativity forever turn me into a crying mess or put me in a narrative stranglehold to know what happens next.
Enter Mr. Saitou, a wacky RPG maker title following an accountant thrown into a wacky world of make-believe. With office-oriented Llamaworms, talking bud sprouts, and a sphinx struggling with riddles, I was enthralled with Mr. Saitou’s superb brand of off-beat humor and silly allegories.
Even if the story is somewhat short and the gameplay is relatively simple, Mr. Saitou’s outlandish variety of character designs and moving storytelling left me feeling strongly positive and moved by its end.
So whether we’re looking for our next RPG Maker fix before Deltarune releases or want a silly reprieve from a hectic llamaworm-filled work-life, Mr. Saitou’s ready to carry through on his fluffy little head! Here’s IGC’s Mr Saitou Review!
A Llamaworm’s Midlife Crisis
Mr. Saitou offers a straightforward, absurdly lovable story. Following the dreams of an anxious, hospitalized office worker, the game pursues the titular Mr. Saitou on his quest to make peace with himself and help Brandon the sprout live his dream!
Even if our objective is whimsical, the expert blend of humor and emotional beats devasted me.Â
Whether I was listening to Robtou talk about auditing bears in the mythical land of Alaska or Brandon discussing losing elderly friends, each joke set me up for an emotional revelation that made for a worthwhile journey.
Even if the game’s narrative has a somewhat slow, contrived beginning, I was entirely on board once we entered the dream world and could experience office life as a Llamaworm. From Widetou to Shytou and even Oddou, the characterization of each Saitou is hilarious and utterly believable.Â
Even if the story ended somewhat quickly, Mr. Saitou was the right length it needed to be. No joke or plot point felt excessive, and the story it was trying to tell only got better as it went along, hitting a climax at the musical dance number with No Holds Bard.
All-in-all, up until the emotional conclusion, I walked away from Mr. Saitou feeling incredibly satisfied with its cute story, and I heartily recommend it for someone looking to cheer themselves up!
Revenge of Basic Math!
Mr. Saitou’s puzzles were adorable. While most of the gameplay consists of searching for metrics, solving math problems, and giving a particular mushroom NPC their favorite food, it was engaging enough to test me and reward me for thinking logically.
Even if we’re disappointed that there isn’t engaging combat, like in Undertale, or a branching narrative like Oneshot, I deemed this to benefit the game.
More challenging puzzles or battles would have halted the story’s lightning-fast pacing, delaying our time between Saitou lifting Miniomoris and performing silly antics with Brandon the sprout.
While I love the power of choice in RPG maker games, I felt that could have detracted from Mr. Saitou’s heartwarming message on “inner strength” and “inner length.”
Overall, while I wouldn’t enter this game for its gameplay alone, it was stimulating enough to keep me interested in Mr. Saitou’s journey and excited to see each character do a unique animation, like wiggle their llamaworm bodies or burrow underground to escape Bosstou.
So long as we are okay with a minor bit of basic math, we should survive Mr. Saitou’s gameplay.
Wiggly Worming Office Workers
Mr. Saitou’s greatest strength lay in its incredibly quirky visuals. While I was slightly bored of the real world’s character portraits and sprites, entering Mr. Saitou’s dreamland threw me into a whimsical world of lively creatures and silly office workers.
Watching the llamaworms wiggle, shake, and burrow while performing menial office chores was an utter delight, and the variety put on display between Shytou, Widetou, Oddtou, and Irritatou never ceased to entertain.
Though I was sad to bid each area farewell, I was increasingly excited to see what new mushrooms, sphinxes, and sprouts awaited me in the next room.
To be frank, Mr. Saitou is one of the most visually impressive retro-style games, and getting to behold the different sprites, portraits, backgrounds, cutscenes, and backgrounds was an utter treasure. If we’re looking for a quality RPG maker title with top-notch visuals, we’ll find few contenders.
A Wriggling Writhing UI
Like most RPG-style games, Mr. Saitou runs flawlessly with zero bugs or stuttering. Even if the game could improve with a sprint button like in Deltarune, the small environment for each area meant I was never inconvenienced or lost.
There’s even an option for us to control the character with our mouse rather than our keyboard, which I heartily appreciated when my keyboard ran out of power.
I only ran into one issue at the very start of the game after failing to find a door hidden behind a wall texture and spent 3 minutes cluelessly wandering around. Even so, the game’s mechanics were intuitive and easy to figure out.
A Lightning-fast Llamaworm
I found Mr. Saitou extremely well-paced and fun to play through. While the intro into the dream world was slow and short, playing as a Llamaworm in a fictional office environment was an exhilarating experience that only improved in each area.
Though I had no clue where the game was taking me until I woke up in Mr. Saitou’s apartment, each area had a wealth of stories and visuals to enjoy before a climatic dancing finale with No Holds Bard and Lil Budz.
Even the rewarding view of the Flooded Gemstone Caverns with Brandon felt earned and cemented our fantastic journey throughÂ
Though I was sad to see our story quickly come to a close, I appreciated that the puzzles never felt tedious, and I still felt satisfied with such a well-told tale.Â
Saitou on Repeat
Unfortunately, while Mr. Saitou excels with a humorous narrative and quirky visuals, later playthroughs are nearly identical to the first.
While we can make a few choice decisions that offer different dialogue (i.e. looking for other ways to escape Irititaou or investigating the convenience store backroom before the Minimoris leave), each playthrough is a copy-paste of the last.
And yet, even on a second playthrough hunting for the last achievements (I’ll find you yet hidden fern!), I still enjoyed going through the motions of llamaworm work while listening to its quirky soundtrack.
Mr. Saitou’s short length means we can easily make our way through it in a single sitting, so it’s worth playing through again whenever the mood takes us.
Overall, playing through Mr. Saitou again is like rewatching a quirky, feel-good movie with a heartwarming conclusion to end the night. If we’re okay with repetition, Mr. Saitou offers a warm second and third playthrough to make the most of the game’s lovely experience.
Laura Shigara Strikes Again!
Coming from Laura Shigara, the composer and singer-songwriter for To the Moon, Rakuen, and a track of Deltarune, it’s little wonder that Mr. Saitou’s music hits so well.
Each area felt unique and lovable, with thematic tracks offering the perfect pitch of instruments (i.e. office music incorporating staplers and cave music feeling distant and mysterious).
There’s even a track by Toby Fox, the creator, and composer of Undertale, for the most annoying character in the game Irititaou.
For such a short game, some of the tracks stuck with me, especially Tea Party and Old Soul Young Heart, and I’m even listening to them while writing this article. Frankly, the musical talent that went into Mr. Saitou was astounding and showed with the game’s fantastic OST.
Alternative Llamaworming Escapades
To be honest, Mr. Saitou isn’t for everyone. While I loved the blend of story and music, some of us may appreciate more nuanced gameplay mechanics or a longer game to hold our attention.Â
Luckily, there are a variety of excellent RPG maker titles that offer a longer, more involved story with branching narratives or combat with a clever twist. So whether we want a longer game or more challenging mechanics, I advise checking out the titles below:
- Undertale
- Deltarune
- Spiritfarer
- Oneshot
- Omori
- To the Moon
- Rakuen
The Verdict/Score:Â Â 8 Very Good
I adored Mr. Saitou’s heartwarming tale and heartily recommend it to anyone looking for a funny, sad, feel-good game to lift their spirits.
Even if the game lacked more comprehensive gameplay than simple puzzles and was only 3 hours long, Mr. Saitou was a quality experience with excellent comedy that kept me laughing and crying throughout.
To be entirely honest, I desperately want to give Mr. Saitou a 9.5/10 because I adore RPG maker games, and any experience that brings me to tears is worth any penny. Still, that reflects my bias towards this game style, and, to be frank, RPG-maker games’ linear storytelling and simple gameplay aren’t for everyone.
All in all, I enjoyed every second I spent with Mr. Saitou and can’t wait to spend more time with everyone’s favorite overworked Llamaworm. If we want an adorable, heartwarming tale to play through in a single sitting, Mr. Saitou offers a wildly funny tale to end the evening.
Overall Pros and Cons
Pros
- Lovable Characters
- Emotional Story
- Hilarious, Quality Visuals
- Lovely Llamaworms
Cons
- Short Length
- Nearly Identical Playthroughs
- Simple Gameplay/Puzzles
- Iritataou
Mr Saitou Review: FAQs
Question: Is Mr. Saitou Related to Rakuen?
Answer: While Mr. Saitou takes place in the same world as Rakuen, the story and main characters are wholly separate from the world of Rakuen. While we’ll see some returning characters and scenery from Rakuen, we can still play and enjoy Mr. Saitou without the previous game’s context.
Question: Who is Mr. Saitou?
Answer: Referring to the story’s protagonist and the many llamaworms with the same name, Mr. Saitou is a hospitalized office worker who confronts his problems within his dreams as a fictional creature.
Despite his initial skepticism and anxiety, Mr. Saitou is friendly, agreeable, and willing to face his fears to help Brandon the Sprout live his dream of seeing the Flooded Gemstone Caverns.
Question: Who Made Mr. Saitou?
Answer: Laura Shigihara, the singer/composer/game designer behind To the Moon, Deltarune, and Rakuen, made Mr. Saitou as a stand-alone follow-up from Rakuen. We can enjoy Laura’s talented vocals in the song Tea Party by No Holds Bard.
JT’s Playlog
JT played the entirety of Mr. Saitou twice for 6 hours and managed to 100% the game, collecting every achievement and interacting with every fern (especially those with…problems).
From restoring Mr. Saitou’s self-worth to exploring the minute details of Irritatou’s dialogue, JT talked to every llamaworm, mushroom, bear, and sprout in the game and relearned basic math from a Sphinx.
After his second playthrough, JT intends to play Mr. Saitou once more over a Twitch stream and rave about Widetou being his best friend while voice-acting each character.
Even if JT has promised himself to keep it together emotionally in the next playthrough, we highly suspect him to burst into tears while screaming, “BRANDON, DON’T GO” at the game’s climax.
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