Romancing SaGa

"Truly Romancing"

I've been a fan of the SaGa series back since they were given the Final Fantasy Legend name on the Game Boy, albeit with a pretty big hiatus in my adoration between FFL3 and SaGa Frontier but that's more a fault of how market economics works in terms of why they were all in the language I couldn't read for a good long time and not ported over here. Anyways, I adored SaGa Frontier, enjoyed SaGa Frontier II, and enjoyed Unlimited Saga (after I got the hang of it, that is). I was pretty interested in hearing that Romancing SaGa was getting a remake, but a little on the wary side. The track records of most remakes that get really nice visual makeovers isn't exactly on the stellar side, since the fun seems to be replaced by particle effects nine times out of ten.

Happily, Romancing SaGa didn't fall into this trap. In fact, it's far superior to the original in every way, not just graphics.

Story

The story of RS is pretty much as old as the hills. Evil god got pwned in the good ol' wayback and sealed up with the pretty magic stones by the hero of the good gods. Now, he's baaaaaaack and it's all up to [insert name of character selected] to kick him while he's down before he's able to get back up. Pretty standard stuff, but it's done in a very nice manner. Of the eight characters available for selection as a hero for a playthrough, they all have their own distinct stories and personality. And not in that SaGa Frontier way where Blue had the personality of the average Borg drone and Lute was the conglomeration of everything a major (and I use the term loosely in his case) character should avoid being to not be a failure. They're fleshed out, they're different, and they all have decent enough sides to them that the player can discover through the game. While the story is not as extensively forced on the player as most modern RPGs, it's more than sufficient to get the meaning across, and the lack of over-information is very refreshing, as it gives the player a chance to draw their own conclusions on matters.

Gameplay

First, forget about Unlimited Saga if you've played it. We're back to the old SaGa style of battles, sans rings. As such, it's damn fast. Turns are efficiently and quickly executed through no-nonsense menus, and easy to grasp. Unlike past games, there are tutorials available for things with actual explanations that can help a confused soul, and when something new pops up in battle, a helpful description of it follows. Definitely a step in the nice and user-friendly direction, and one that the SaGa series has sorely needed for some time. That said, the battle system is also far more intricate than most of the past versions, and the work that went into the refinement of it is apparant from the get-go. With the addition of being able to live even after dying to some bosses, as well as multiple types of combinations as well as modifiers to combinations based on formation, type, and the like, RS has seemingly achieved the impossible in creating a battle system that's familiar and as great as the ones that SaGa fans have come to love from the series, yet not as unforgiving and harshly stringent as the past iterations that have turned off people.

The quest system is handled quite well, with time constraints being measured in terms of battles fought rather than time progressed in quests or on the game clock. It creates an interesting situation for the player, making them weigh their choices on whether they want to do one quest before another in case that one's window is ending soon or can become invalid. Some of these quests are disturbingly difficult to pull off in the proper window of time, but for the most part, it works well to keep the story moving while preserving the essence of the freedom of the game.

And, really, freedom is the name of the game. More than any other in the series, the player can do whatever they want when they want in RS (as long as it's available). Feel like taking on a monster-killing quest to change the ecology of the plains for a while instead of doing yet another dungeon crawl? Go for it. Don't like the quests relating to one nation's situation? Go to another. The game becomes very open very fast for the player, if they're looking to go that way, and generally allows for whatever they want. In that way, it's like a vacation more than anything else, since there's no real strict 'do this!' parts to the game outside of the character-specific sections for a playthrough and the final end-areas, which make up a small amount of the total experience. Unlike, say, SaGa Frontier, though, the quests don't get tedious when trying to get as many done as possible over the playthroughs. That's because there's LOTS of quests in RS, more than enough that the average player wouldn't activate more than 50-60 of them in three playthroughs, and still have new ones for another game. Completion requires patience as well as skill, since while the game is very engaging, to complete quests and get through all of the trigger events can require a lot of exploring and trial and error. Though, definitely a plus for a game that wants eight playthroughs, in my opinion.

Graphics

RS is beautiful. That's how I feel about it. Some people may not like the watercolour-esque style of the world and character models, but I love it. It gives the game a storybook feeling that just feels right. It doesn't overshadow the game itself, but complements in and makes the world feel more realised. The occassional cutscene is done in much the same way as the normal in-game graphics, only even more fluid and storybook in feel. Really, if I had to find a way to describe the tone that it gives the world of Romancing SaGa, that way would be just to say it makes it feel innocent. It gives the nations of the game's world a feeling of myth and legend and existing in that idyllic pan-simpler time that all generations look back wistfully to. Which fits with the old SNES-era story that's presented, since, in a way, it is sort of like going back into childhood for this generation of RPGers.

The models are also a source of contention, but that's another bit in the realistic VS super-deformed debate. Personally, I don't care. I prefer realistic, but SD just feels right in Romancing SaGa, so I think that it was the absolute right choice. Even in their doll-like states, the characters act and feel human and look the parts that they play, which just adds to the entire positive experience. Unless you can't stand anything but realism in everything, but then again, someone that's so steadfastly set in their ways probably won't have the patience for RS anyways so it's moot.

Music

The OST is easily up to the standards set by Hamauzu in the previous two SaGas, and surpasses them in some ways. Kenji Ito and Tsuyoshi Sekito have shown their effort well in the work, with the character themes coming off lovely and calming to listen to, while battle themes such as Awakening Memories and Written Invitation to Death are rousing and listenable both in-game and out of game. As well, there's a variety of styles and instruments used, ranging from full orchestral to piano-centric to hard electric guitar. Beautiful work, and very solid overall, giving the game the final piece it needed to feel like its own world.

Others

Despite the accessability of this game, this is still a SaGa game, and SaGa is still a synonym for "punish the player if they are ignorant of facet X of the battle system with nasty bosses". That wasn't really expected to change, though, and remains as true as ever in RS. This time, though, with the explanations given to the player in game and easy reference, it's not quite as nasty overall. As well, even the traditional super-uber killer end boss tradition of the SaGas has been given a modification, with the final boss having a normal form, as well as a 'true and unsealed' form, akin to Indalecio and unlimited Indalecio of Star Ocean 2. This gives the player the ability to take on the challenge that they want to (if they can unlock the harder form, that is), while not outright destroying most casual players like the SaGa Frontier II final boss did.

All in all, Romancing SaGa is a valient effort of a game, and is the first SaGa that doesn't have a jarring, unfinished feeling to it. It's solid and beautiful, through and through, and everything comes together to give the entire experience an organic feeling rather than something that was built out of binary. Quite a surprise for something that looked like it might have just been a mindless goof for nostalgia's sake, and a pleasant one at that in finding depth and substance as well as fun. Oh, and nostalgia, too.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/22/05