Since a Romancing thread went awhile, how about a general discussion of the assorted SaGa games?The original gameboy series, known as Final Fantasy Legend in the west, the Romancing series on the SNES which the west didn't get until the mobile remasters and Minstrel Song remake, the Frontier series for the PlayStation... and the other stuff that has it's fans probably maybe.A hodgepodge of divergent and experimental jrpgs, from the usual Squaresoft fare and even from it's own series or within each series, made by the annoying contrarians and heretics within Square who got given shoestring budgets and left to make what they want.
>>3945497>who got given shoestring budgets and left to make what they want.It is interesting they managed to somehow hobble along.
>>3945497Explain the regions please? Is the world of SaGa like 1980s Flash Gordon?
>>3945689SaGa Frontier is just a bunch of random garbage thrown together. Awful game.
>>3945526Why do I love Scarlet Grace but hate Emerald Beyond?
>>3945742Ok, but the first three on GB?
>>3945689You know how planar travel works in D&D? It's kinda like that.You've got all these separate worlds floating in a weird sort of astral sea that you can cross with special Region ships that work kinda like a spelljammer ship, alternatively you can also just open a dimensional door and jump from one world to another if you're a powerful enough mage like Blouge or Virgil.SaGa 1, 2 and Emerald Beyond work on a system of doors built by either divine beings or some powerful civilizations.
>>3945781So…Yggdrasil?
>>3945742Fuck off filtered pleb
>>3945689>>3945742it's not a bad game, just a REALLY poor choice to start the saga franchise with.
I can't stand how people in these games just drop everything to join your party with usually no setup or explanation. It's like every actual party member has the setup of an npc summon from Octopath.
>>3945968This is yet another myth about these games, outside of a couple of exceptions like Slime in SF1 that are largely comedic or adventurer types like Gray who're explicitly in it for the thrill of the trip every recruitable always has some story behind them even if a certain main character might not see it, most recruitable characters are usually locked behind questlines too.
>>3945812The region are in about all the SaGa games
>>3946053bruh, just boot up Saga Frontier, pick a character, get to the bar or whichever place they lumped a bunch of characters into, and have a bunch of people tag along after a short banter and then act like they're close comrades in events immediately.
>>3945526Kawazu decided to get rid of dungeons for this one. Then for Emerald Beyond, how about we remove healing in combat and shops in towns? What will he come up with next for the blue-themed game?
>>3948096I was able to beat Scarlet Grace and Emerald Beyond without any healing in battle, so I guess Kawazu is already there.
>>3945497I've been enjoying the remake of Romancing SaGa 2, but for reasons different from what I typically enjoy in a SaGa game. Rather than making stuff work with what you have, you're encouraged to minmax your build and create the most optimal party composition. I enjoy this type of challenge, though this is not something that any RPG fan, let alone a SaGa fan, would also enjoy. It goes against the idea of roleplaying, and for some, that's a red flag in RPGs.
>>3945812I started with Frontier 1. What's a better starting point?
>>3950219SaGa Frontier 1 is fine to start with.
>>3945497I’ve never played any of these games. Will I ever stop seeing the logo as “Salsa”?
>>3945497SaGa 1 is still among my favorite olf rpgs. The leveling can be wonky and sometimes your mutants rock and sometimes they suck, but that always adds a different twist of challenge. I love that the story is both simple but feels poignant.
>>3950533Reminds me of The Dark Tower in a way
>>3950533Outside of being the quintessential "Kill God" story I just really like the meta side of it all
>>3952006Can’t help but feeling like opening a door and it’s just this side pocket reality
>>3952006I like that when you get to the top God thinks he's congratulating you and expecting to be praised but instead you tell him to go fuck himself and then OHKO him by chopping him in half with a chainsaw.
>>3950533Secret of Varonis is pretty good.
>>3952373Nyet
>>3952564Thoroughly elaborate or deliver a written apology.
>>3952569In short, it copies so much of Saga 1 and 2, that it’s “originally “ is thrown out the window. The combat is balanced, but the overall story is almost lifted with no real grace. It’s a mockup of 2 more than anything.
>>3952844That's the perfect description of a "pretty good" game. A copy of something great.
>>3953941That’s waste
>>3950765How so? I’m new to this saga stuff and all I’m getting from saga is that it’s like Final Fantasy but if it stayed it’s classical self, correct?>>3950765Multiversal tower that tethers reality?
>>3954884SaGa 1's about a bunch of nondescript gonzo fantasy murderhobos climbing a tower because legend says that if you get to the top you'll enter Heaven, meet the Big G himself and he'll grant you a wish, allegedly.Said tower is not only a gruesome dungeon filled with monsters but it also has doors that lead to various worlds, the story is surprisingly good for a game so old and simple so I won't spoiler you the fine details, it's best to experience it for yourself so you see what all the fuss is about.>it’s like Final Fantasy but if it stayed it’s classical selfIt depends on what you mean by classical self because most people consider FF4-10 to be classical FF and SaGa has nothing to do with that.Kawazu was the main designer for the first two Final Fantasy and SaGa branches off those two titles in particular, it polishes and greatly expands FF2's character building system while also keeping the focus on party building and non invasive main story of the first FF, there's a lot of other recurring elements and tropes from the first two FF games that Kawazu loves like pirates, fairies, emperors etc. but overall SaGa goes in a very different direction, FF focuses more and more on the spectacle, accessibility and grand narrative while SaGa keeps experimenting with complex systems, non linear world building and fuckhuge casts of characters.
>>3945497Unfinished piece of crap. Charming crap, sure. Still unfinished. Rs3 and sf2 are best.
>>3954926I thought rs1 is unfinished?
>>3954974They had to cut a lot of content because Nintendo didn't give them a bigger cartridge, to some degree this was fixed in the Wonderswan remaster but Minstrel Song (remastered) is the definitive version of the game with all the intended content and more.
>>3954884Yes and yes
>>3950533How could rs3 and ff2 leveling be improved?>>3954984Not playing bobbly head. The modern saga games like emerald are unplayable for me. I doubt they will make the rs3 remake good. The rs2 remake is much worse than the source.>>3948323Am on my third rs3 run. Never beat all secret bosses nor the mikhail mini game. What's the reward for the latter? I think I need 800hp for the super bosses, where to get? Nothing to find online for this game.
>>3945497The combat mechanics of the games are so underrated. There should be more games that play like the SaGa games.
>>3945742saga frontier is the only saga game you or anyone should ever play. and by play i mean spend 85% researching shit rather than actually play
>>3954926>complex systems, non linear world building and fuckhuge casts of characters.none of them are memorable and has as much depth as FF characters
>>3955453>none of them are memorableReally? I thought a ton of them are memorable. Literally every protagonist in SaGa Frontier and it's sequel alone were memorable. >has as much depth as FF charactersNot true if you aren't spoiled by voice-acted cutscenes and drama, the characters in SaGa Scarlet Grace are actually really dynamic and well written, same for SaGa Frontier 2... Hell there's even a lot of interesting stuff going on in the background of Minstrel Song.
>>3955453You are supposed to grow out of angsty teenage dramas like Final Fantasy.
>>3955638>2026>Seriously engaging with trolls
