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 Welcome to the SaGa series! The series has been experiencing a bit of a resurgence; over the past few years the series has seen remasters and ports to modern consoles of  Ride the Emerald Wave with SaGa: Emerald Beyond! Release Date: April 25, 2024 Loved the gameplay in SaGa: Scarlet Grace but wished it was... weirder? Like SaGa Frontier-levels of genre mashup? Well your dream is about to come true with SaGa: Emerald Beyond, a game that's got a lot of hype building up around it! Featuring five(ish) protagonists and seventeen different worlds, Emerald Beyond boasts a little bit of everything for everyone. Lead protagonists this time around include: Tsunanori Mido, a magic boy who seeks to protect his city; Ameya Aisling, a shapeshifting magical girl/witch with her legion of kitty familiars; Siugnas, a dethroned vampire lord seeking to reclaim his title; Diva No. 5, a singing robot whose lost her voice and body; and the double protagonists of Bonnie Blair and Formina Franklyn, rookie cops and best friends seeking to uncover an assassination plot. Combos are back! A bunch of weirdos and little freaks in your party with wildly different gameplay implications... are back! Gals just being pals are back! It's gonna be a great time.  The Legend Begins on the Gameboy Better known in the west as The Final Fantasy Legend trilogy, these games were the first SaGa games, with series director Akitoshi Kawazu taking the lessons learned from Final Fantasy II. Yes, that FFII. That's right, where we're going we don't need experience points and character levels. The games include: The Final Fantasy Legend The first game in the series, introducing three character races with their own leveling mechanics: Humans: Can only gain HP, Strength, and Agility from drinking specific potions. Mutants: Gain stats the true SaGa way: completely at random (well, based on actions taken during battle). Designated spellcasters, they will also gain and lose spells and passive defenses/weaknesses, also at random. Spells replenish at Inns. Monsters: Can eat the meat of monsters defeated in combat, which depending on the monster's current form and the level of monster being eaten will transform the monster into new forms. These forms have set stats and abilities, which replenish at inns. The Final Fantasy Legend also introduces everyone's favorite mechanic: weapon degradation! Yep, every weapon, spellbook, and shield (which are active use items that essentially replace the "Defend" command) has a set number of uses before disappearing. Even with a lot of grinding though, it isn't that bad. Replacement weapons are usually quite affordable. As for the plot, you climb a tower and come across numerous worlds scattered throughout it, just to reach God. In typical JRPG fashion, God turns out to be a massive prick, so you kill him with a chainsaw. Later remade for the Wonderswan Color, in Japan only. Released in 2020 as part of a collection of all three FFL games for the Nintendo Switch Final Fantasy Legend II The second game in the SaGa series, and generally regarded as the best RPG on the gameboy, and for good reason. Humans now get the same semi-random stat gains as Mutants did in the first game, and they tend to level up more quickly than Mutants. On the other hand, Mutants' random spells and abilities are somewhat easier to manage now. Also introduced Robots to the series. Robots stats are based entirely on what equipment you give them, so better equipment gives them better stat boosts and HP. This, combined with the fact that all limited-use weapons put on a Robot will now replenish at inns (at the cost of half the maximum uses) makes Robots probably the easiest characters to use, especially since the monster system got quite a bit more complex. In addition to the weapon types found in the previous game (swords, guns, whips and bows) SaGa 2 also introduces Martial Arts. These come with an absolutely insane amount of maximum uses, but therein lies the rub: their power is based entirely on how many uses the art has left. The more you use them, the stronger they get, until the last few uses when the damage bonus skyrockets. This makes them a bit unwieldly to use. You can't abuse the Robot's uses recharge with them, but you can abuse them by giving your Robots permanent agility boosts.* Final Fantasy Legend II's plot and world building are fairly similar to its prequel. Climb a tower, work your way through multiple different worlds collecting macguffins to climb higher in the tower and kill gods (this time primarily from the Norse and Greco-Roman pantheons). Later remade for the Nintendo DS, again in Japan only. Final Fantasy Legend III The final game in the trilogy, this game no longer allows you to pick your party based on their race, instead saddling you with four defined characters, two human and two mutant. To compensate, the game offers the opportunity for your characters to either eat meat from monsters they slay or incorporate mechanical pieces from robots, eventually turning into beastfolk and cyborgs, respectively. Characters... <checks notes> gain... experience points? And... level up? What kind of RPG does this game think it is? Fortunately, the DS remake (yeah, Japan only) fixes that glaring issue. As for plot, rather than visit different worlds, this game has you travelling through time on your time machine, the Talon, to stop a menace that is somehow destroying all time lines, a plot that may sound suspiciously similar to another well beloved game, but don't worry, that game is way better than this one. Do you get to kill God at least? <checks notes again> Yeah, looks like you get to kill God in this one too.  Romance of the Three Super Famicom Sequels Romancing SaGa The first game in the series to utilize the "Free Scenario" system. Choose between 8 different protagonists to travel the world, completing side quests and recruiting characters while developing the overarching plot where you ultimately <checks notes> kill a god. In addition to the Free Scenario System, this game also introduces for the first time weapon ability "Glimmers" and formations. It also introduces a minstrel who is somewhat important to the plot. Later remade for the Wonderswan Color (Japan only) and an enhanced 3d remake was made for the Playstation 2 called Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song... and it actually made it outside of Japan! Minstrel Song got an HD Remaster release on mobile devices and modern consoles in late 2022. Romancing SaGa II This game ditches the "Free Scenario" system with a generations system that will be familiar to you if you've played Rogue Legacy. You play the Emperors and Empresses of Avalon as you use magic to pass on your abilities to your chosen successors and your characters eventually die and must be replaced. In a novel twist, you don't kill any gods this time! Instead you have to fight the Seven Heroes, who did their own bit of evil godslaying back in the days, before getting corrupted and turning into monsters. Ported to mobile devices in 2016 (its first English translation) and modern consoles in 2017. Romancing SaGa III The Free Scenario system is back, with eight heroes traveling along most similarly paths in the early game before largely converging by the end of their respective prologues. Travel the world, complete sidequests, recruit characters, glimmer abilities, you know the deal by now. This time you get a bonus character slot in your party for someone to sit out battles to recover skill and magic points. Placing your main character in this slot unleashes Commander mode, which basically makes your party act on their own based on a limited number of commands you can give them. It's as terrible as it sounds. One of the main character forces you to fight the final boss in Commander mode. As for plot, every 300 years a solar eclipse occurs, and every child born that year is destined to die within the year save one, dubbed the Child of Destiny. Past Children of Destiny have been great heroes and terrible villains. The game takes place 15 years after the previous eclipse, and the world anxiously awaits what the next Child of Destiny will do. Turns out its <checks notes> unwittingly open a portal to the abyss and bring a god of pure oblivion to life. You kill that god. Ported to mobile devices and modern consoles worldwide in 2019.  The Sony Playstation: The Next Frontier SaGa Frontier The fourth game SaGa game to see western release, and the first with the name SaGa attached. This game features 7 protagonists (the 8th got cut for time) who, in a break from past Free Scenario games, each have their own storylines and dungeons/bosses, only a few of whom eventually kill what could charitably be described as a god. The second post will include more effort posting on this game, as its remaster is set to launch worldwide in 2021, three days from when this is posted. SaGa Frontier II A more experimental SaGa game, SaGa Frontier II ditched the free scenario open world nature of the past games for a more directed experience. Choose between two characters, whose lives and descendants create major change in the world. Much more grounded in traditional medieval fantasy than its predecessor, you alternate play between an exiled prince looking for his place in the world, and an adventurer and his descendants searching for an artifact called "The Egg". Many weapon types see their return after SaGa Frontier pared the weapon variety down. I'm pretty sure you don't kill any gods in this one (the endgame is HECKIN HARD and I've never beaten it) (SOUTH MOUNDTOP  ) but you do fight quite a few obnoxious turtles. Playstation 2: Unlimited Potential, Limited Success Unlimited SaGa Did you want your Free Scenario SaGa game, but it plays out more like a board game? And all the fights use slots reels? No? You absolutely didn't want that? Well, tough, Unlimited SaGa is here to chew bubblegum and be frustrating as hell, and its all out of bubblegum. I'm not going to pretend to be able to unpack this one, but I do know that the game did have its share of defenders (it was incredibly critically and commercial successful in Japan) so somebody else can pick up the slack on this one. Do you kill any gods? I don't know. This game is Kawazu at his most Kawazu  A Graceful Return on the Vita SaGa Scarlet Grace This game feels like a spiritual successor to the Romancing SaGa series, including being a Japan-only release. Because everything was smaller on the Vita, you only get to choose between four protagonists, and all town and dungeon exploration has been replaced with menu towns and one-to-several battles and/or largely binary choices found right on the world map. Many side quests rely on progression through activating events or making certain choices. Each protagonist has their own scenario, but after completing theirs they have to do at least two of the others to unlock the final shared scenario where, yes, you get to kill a god. Remastered as Scarlet Grace - Ambitions and released worldwide on mobile and modern consoles (except XBox) in 2019. There are also a slew of largely japan-only mobile phone and browser games that are mostly both Japan-only and now defunct, which I won't be going into here, but feel free to bring up in the thread if you play! Have a question how something works in a SaGa game? Our team of SaGa-experts are pretty sure we've mostly figured them out. Only God and Kawazu know for sure. And we killed God. With a chainsaw. *Thanks to sgbyou and Arzaac for the correction and additional info on this! Ace Transmuter fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Mar 8, 2024 |
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Apr 12, 2021 18:26
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SaGa Frontier Races Every playable character falls into one of four races: Humans Humans are the jack of all trades here. They can glimmer Sword Techs and Martial Arts, and learn both Gun Techs and Magic. They gain stats pseudo-randomly after battles based on their actions taken in battle. Humans can equip up to 8 techs, which means they are the only race that can gain a crown. If you have 6 or more physical techs (Swords, Martial Arts, or Guns) and no Magic equipped, the WP cost of every equipped tech drops by one. The reverse is true for spells. It's this reason why it's best to specialize. You have four equipment slots for weapons, shields, and consumable items, and four equipment slots for armor. Each human has their own starting stats and a unique learning set of "talents" for sword techs and martials arts. If a character has a "talent" for a certain ability, they have the normal chance to learn that tech; otherwise, it's a lot less likely (though not impossible) for them to learn it. Other than talents and max LP, which varies, all humans are the essentially the same. 5 of the 8 protagonists are humans, and a 6th essentially works the same way. These are basically going to be the bread and butter for most of your runs. Mystic Mystics replace the Mutants from the gameboy days. Rather than just being random mutants, they are largely decadent pansexual gothic vampires. The only stats they can randomly gain in battle are HP, WP, JP, and Charm. All other stat boosts must come from equipment (the same as humans, though most Mystics have an armor item that cannot be removed) and their unique abilities called "Mystic Equipment". These equipment take up three tech slots and permanently block off the fourth, effectively only giving you 4 ability slots for magic. The Mystic Glove, Sword, and Boots become unlocked over time, and finishing an enemy off with one of them absorbs the monster, giving you that monster's stat boosts, as well as granting a single ability based on which monster is in which slot. You can get some very impressive stat boosts as well as extremely powerful attacks from these, which, along with magic, is probably the most effective way to use mystics. All mystics have access to Mystic Magic, and many mystics have access to their own unique Magic schools. A lot of Mystics have a single piece of armor they can't unequip, which can be unique for a few of them. Beyond these and base stats, Mystics are all fairly interchangeable. Mystics are probably the rarest race, with many members being exclusive to one or two questlines. One protagonist, T260g, cannot recruit any mystics. One protagonist is half-mystic, which means they have the best both worlds (human growth and slots, with unequipable mystic equipment for additional stats and abilities), but how often they use the mystic stuff have as an impact on their story. Robots Robots are largely unchanged from Final Fantasy Legend II. They gain all of the stat boosts from equipment, and they have up to 8 slots for just about anything. Want to put to 8 full-body armors on them? Knock yourself out! New to SaGa Frontier are boards and absorbing. Boards are robot-specific equipment that grant pretty great stat boosts (particularly in INT, which determines how many ability slots the robot has) and also unlock the ability to use certain abilities based on what programs they've absorbed. Everytime you defeat a robot enemy, you can choose to have a robot absorb it. There's never any reason not to do this. You may learn a new technique or program. Techs for bots are the same as with others; they use WP to use. Programs, when combined with boards or other equipment, grant access to some of the Robot's best abilities. Each robot has its own frame type which is unique to them. This grants them a different number of built-in, unequipable equipment and unique base stats. Robots are fairly prevalent in two of the scenarios (including the one where the protagonist is a robot) and fairly rare in the rest. Asellus and Emilia cannot recruit any robots. Monsters Monsters are often maligned by SaGa Frontier players, and with good reason. Their racial gimmick is the most complicated, and while it's fairly easy to learn how get the forms you're looking, actually getting those forms can be a crapshoot. After a monster is slain in battle, one of your monster allies can absorb an ability from them. This replaces whatever ability was in their eighth slot (you can rearrange them), and then the monster might change form depending on what abilities they've learned and what their base HP is. A monster's Base HP constantly grows as they change forms, even if it's just back and forth between two forms, and higher base HP tends to unlock stronger monster forms with better stats. The biggest problem with monsters is that, end-game, they just don't have the same damage output that any other type of creature can provide, even with their strongest forms and abilities. If you can learn how to game the monster form system, they can dominate the middle-game while they can keep ahead of the enemy progression. Monsters have different starting forms, abilities, and stats (including max LP), but are otherwise entirely interchangeable. Monsters, like humans, are available in every quest. Techniques Techniques use WP (Waza Points), and includes the following types of equipable techs. Technically, since Mystic Equipment abilities, Monster abilities, and Robot abilities all use WP, they are techniques as well. Swords & Katanas Swords and Katanas are generally considered overall to be both stronger and have more utility than Martials Arts and Guns, though that doesn't mean that those abilities are worthless, as we'll see. Swords and Katanas are largely interchangeable, though there are some techs that can only be used (or even Glimmered) with a Katana. Most techs can be learned from the basic Slash command that most swords come from (some swords replace Slash with unique techs named after the weapon; this is not Slash and is not likely to allow you to Glimmer new techs). The best swordsperson is going to have at least one sword and katana equipped, and they can learn techniques that block and/or counterattack enemy attacks as well techs that target an area of effect (or just all enemies). There are a lot of sword techs to learn, and most of them are varying flavors of single-attack damage. It's worth having at least one swordsperson in your party, if not two. Martials Arts There are fewer Martial Arts techs and they, by and large, don't quite keep up swords damage wise, and more enemies resist their damage. That said, there's still a place for Martial Arts in most parties. Martial Arts techs tend to be seperated into three categories, Punches (base tech: Punch), Kicks (base tech: Kick) and Throws (base tech: Air Throw). Everyone can use Punch (like "Slash", it isn't technically a tech). Punch can unlock Kick and Air Throw (and generally do fairly early on), but for the most part the tech Glimmer trees tend to stick within their zones (so you'll only learn better kicks by using Kick moves, etc.). There's a secret tech you can unlock by having a bunch of throw techs and one of the early kick techs called the DSC (Dream Super Combo) which is the single best damaging move in the game and is what really makes Martial Artists fully worth it. Guns Gun Techs aren't Glimmered like Swords and Martial Arts. Instead, at the end of each battle in which a character uses a gun, they have a chance to learn a new gun tech. There are very few Gun Techs (I think only 10) and none of them get that expensive or too powerful. Guns, much like, Martial Arts, are definitely still worth it at times. They've got some decent mid-game utility (a target-all, a stun attack, an attack that's decently strong against undead), and their most powerful tech can be pretty powerful in you've got endgame stats and the tech that let's you dual wield Guns. The best thing about their most powerful tech, BoundShot, has some of the best combo-ability in the game. There's a reason the gameplay footage in the Remaster trailers of combos tend to be made up almost entirely of BoundShots. Dodge Eventually your human characters will Glimmer a "Dodge" tech, which makes them immune to certain types of attacks. Depending on the quest you're on, some of these can be really useful, but they're way too finicky and rare to learn to really be relied upon. Magic Magic uses JP (Jutsu Points) and can only be used by Humans and Mystics (though some Monster & Mystic techs mimic magic spells). In SaGa Frontier, magic is broken into various schools established in pairs, each pair of which is diametrically opposed and therefore mutually exclusive. Certain spells in most schools can be purchased, but if you can learn the "talent" for a magic school, you can learn spells in a similar way to Gun Techs. "Talents" generally require quests, which can only be completed once, and the "talent" is only gained by those Human and Mystic characters that were in your party when you started the quest, which means that characters you recruit during a magic quest cannot gain the talent from that magic school. Magery: Realm & Mystic Blue and Rouge are the only characters that have the talent for Magery, which has some decent attack spells (including an instant-death spell). Only Mystics have get the gift for Mystic magic, which has some good utility spells (Confusion, a great Block-and-Counter spell, and a spell that's basically Blink). If you got it, use it. Yin-Yang: Light & Shadow These are likely the first gifts you'll be getting. Both the gift quests and purchasable spells (and you need to buy a spell in order to learn more from that school) can be found in the region of Luminous, and both quests are relatively simple for a low-level party. Light has some awesome attack spells (including an AOE instant-death spell), a decent healing spell, and a spell that summons an incredibly powerful sword that's worth teaching to your swordsfolk. Shadow has some weak utility spells, a decent drain spell, and a pretty drat good spell: ShadowServant, which doubles all of your turns without expending any extra WP or JP. It's an expensive spell to cast and it only lasts until you take damage. Symbol: Rune & Arcana These quests make up the bulk of the sidequesting to be done in this game, as each one requires you to solve four side-quests in order to gain the talent. When you go to Devon, you can find the shops for both magic types there. You can also begin their quests (the quests are mutually exclusive concurrently, but you can complete one, and then the other) by gathering blank stones and/or arcana cards respectively. A lot of really great characters can be recruited during these quests as well, so it's well worth doing both. The Rune Quest has more... actual content, I would say? Runic magic is full of awesome utility spells, from HP regen and damage buffs, to status effect, and that's just the spells you can buy. Nothing damage dealing, though. If you're looking for damage, Arcana has you covered. It also has a great team-wide defense buff and a status effect cure. It also has Tower, which does massive damage at the cost of all of your remaining JP, which is not very easy to restore mid-battle. Spiritual: Mind and Evil Mind is a human-only magic learned in Kyo. Has a strong self-heal and an insanely cheap and powerful self-buff, and a decent magic attack as well. Note that Rouge cannot learn it, because his mind is split in two. Same goes with Blue. The counterpart is Evil magic, which you cannot buy and which nobody has or can get the gift for, but a unique Mystic that's only available in two quests has access to a few spells from it. Has some decent attack spells but nothing all that special. Place: Time and Space The quests for these magics can be gained after completing either the Rune or Arcana quest, but you cannot get the gift for these. You also cannot go on this quest as Riki or T260g. At the end of these quests you can either purchase the base spells from them, or recruit the character who's mastered that school, who comes with all the spells (or the gift, in the case of Time magic). Space magic has some incredibly powerful attacks spell, probably the strongest in the game. Time magic has one decent attack spell but is all about the utility; delaying enemies and doubling the actions of others being the standouts. Rare Magic: Mirage and Life These magic schools are unique to specific characters and can only be obtained in a single quest each. They're both... really, really good, so use 'em if you've got 'em. Combos You can get deep, deep into the weeds on combo building, but I'm going to leave that for people with a better head for math and programming. Here a few general principles to keep in mind:
In general, don't stress out too much about comboing; it'll happen when it happens. There is one battle where where you need to trigger quite a few combos; my recommendation is to bring some heavy weapons and gun users along. Ace Transmuter fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Apr 7, 2023 |
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Apr 12, 2021 18:28
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So Who Do I Pick? The choice of protagonist is more important in SaGa Frontier than it is in any other SaGa game with the Free Scenario system. In all of the other games, they eventually converge on a shared plot, so the only thing that changes is the early game and maybe if a few characters can or can't be recruited. In SaGa Frontier, every character has their own unique storyline. Most of the side quests that power up your party are likely to be shared, but the plot (and even plot structure) are very different: Red Red's a doofus whose family has been killed and he seeks revenge, which ends poorly for him. Luckily, the only way to save his life is to turn him into a superhero. So now he's a superhero by night, ship engineer by day, on a goal for either justice or vengeance. Which will he choose? Pros: Red is unique to his story, as is his superhero transformation gimmick. He only gain stats when he fights as Red, but he can transform in certain situations (or when the plot demands) into Alkaiser, who grants huge stat boosts and the ability to glimmer unique techs, but doesn't level up. Red also has a decent number of unique characters who only join his quest, and all of them are pretty great. Cons: Not much, it's a great quest. In can be somewhat linear at first, so if you mind getting dragged around by the nose for the first hour or too that might annoy you. Asellus Asellus is a normal teenage girl who gets run over by a carriage driven by a Mystic Lord. Luckily, the only the way to save her life is blood transfusion from the mystic (I guess there wasn't anybody handing out superhero identities available). Awakened as an age-less Half-Mystic, the only one of her kind, she must figure out where she fits in with either society. Pros: Probably the best plot you're gonna find in SaGa Frontier. Asellus can be an extremely powerful character, though how much you rely on those mystic abilities might impact the scenario's ending. Speaking of, multiple endings! I think it's one of the only ones that has more than one. Hell, some of them have less than one. There's also a ton of unique and semi-unique Mystics that only she can recruit. Also, has probably some of the earliest JRPG queer characters Cons: Again, not much. You can't recruit Robots. And the middle of the quest has some random event triggers that can be hard to find and can make the middle sag a bit in the pacing. T260g T260g is an ancient robot found and repaired by an octopus mechanic and a kid. Waking up with no memories, T260g must embark on a quest to discover his true purpose and, ultimately, fulfill it. Pros: Lots of Robots! You can pretty easily screw up the difficulty curve here, in your favor. Also, you get Gen for free, easily the best swordsman in the game (and not a shabby martial artist, either). You get a lot of unique robot characters to join you, as well as a mechanic that allows you to change T260g's robot form, giving him different built-in abilities and equipment, allowing him to perform many roles. Cons: There's a lot less plot here than the previous two quests, but what's there is still pretty good. Cannot recruit any mystics. Their final boss fight is brutal. Emilia Emilia is a former supermodel who decides she's going to marry a cop, which was her first mistake. Then her fiancé is killed, and his partner decides to pin it entirely her on. She ends up in prison, where she teams up with two other women to enact a daring prison break by finding the Victory Rune. Recruited into a super-secret superspy agency by way of Charlie's Angels, Emilia and her friends get sent on various missions, most of which involve Emilia dressing up in increasingly ridiculous costumes, until she can finally track down her fiancé's killer. Pros: Fairly straightforward quest that starts you out 25% of the way through the Rune quest. She starts out with Liza, probably the best Martial Artist in the game, and Annie, who is frankly pretty terrible. She's also the only person outside of Asellus who can recruit Asellus, White Rose, and Zomza, all pretty great Mystics (well Asellus and Zozma are great anyway). Definitely the most directed and linear experience of the bunch, but they do give you room to roam around doing your own poo poo between missions. She's got a unique gimmick where she can choose to wear the costumes she's unlocked in previous missions, which are supposed to alter her Talent Trees list. Cons: Cannot recruit Robots. Emilia's starting stats are pitiful, and it can take a while to get her going. The costume gimmick doesn't really work, at least not in the original. Riki A monster who comes from the dying world of Margmel, he's sent on a quest to gather up some magic rings. Collecting them all will allow him to make a wish, which he can use to restore his homeworld. At least, so he thinks... Pros: Uhhh... there's not much. It's fairly linear, if that's a concern. The story's not bad, as far as SaGa Frontier goes, even if it's mostly a series of vignettes. The rings themselves are actually really useful equipment that are fun to use. Recruits Dr. Nusakan, a fairly hard to recruit Mystic, along the course of his plot. Cons: Getting the last ring is brutal. The final boss is brutal. Monsters are just not very good. You don't get to keep the treasures from King Sei's tomb. It's just a really painful experience, especially by the endgame. Blue A wizard with incredible magical potential, who is told to venture out and earn the gifts for other kinds of magic, namely Yin-Ying, Symbol, and Place. He knows that his twin brother, Rouge, is on a similar quest, and to finally unlock their full potential, they must kill the other. Pros: Blue has access to the Gate spell, which makes travel SO.MUCH.EASIER. His storyline is mostly straightforward in that it's the same magic side-quests you've been doing in the other games. Blue eventually becomes, hands down, the more powerful character in the game. Cons: There's not much story here, though what does come at the end is pretty neat, I guess. His final dungeon is his only really unique dungeon, though he does get a few unique boss fights before that happens. There is no ending. I'm serious, this one doesn't actually have an ending. Lute Lute is a lazy bum who's mom kicks him out of the house. He hitches a ride with his dad's old friend before falling in with some space pirates who know more about his own past than he does. Pros: Really nothing much. This is the baseline SaGa Frontier experience, for good or ill. At least Lute has a pretty great unique character to recruit, and his quest has an actual ending, so that's a leg up on Blue right there. Cons: There's not much story here, like I'm literally overselling it there in the description above. Figuring out how to actually trigger what story is actually there (without also triggering the point of no return) seems unlikely without a guide. Just aimless rambling. Lute also suffers from the Emilia problem of starting with really poor stats, so he takes a while to bring online (but he's ultimately a decent sword fighter and/or martial artist... just... don't give him a gun or magic). So, Who Should I Play As? Depends on what you're looking for. Do you care about the story and worldbuilding? Well, first off, you're playing the wrong franchise, but you should probably play: Red -> T260g -> Asellus If you like the gameplay and want to keep with it, then move on to: Emilia -> Blue You can also play Riki if you hate yourself, but you should probably stay far away from Lute. Are you a brand new player and want to get a handle on the gameplay first? I'd say: Red -> Emilia -> Blue -> Riki -> T260g -> Asellus -> Lute And if you just want to screw around and do your own thing, story be damned... Lute -> Blue -> Red -> T260g -> Emilia -> Asellus -> Riki What about this new guy? Okay, so the new guy is actually an old guy, and was always planned to be an 8th protagonist, potentially trying everything together. His name is Fuse, and he's an IRPO agent and generally an asshat and ostensibly a detective as well. He can recruited in every quest normally (you gotta do the Arcana quest to get him) and it sounds like as a protagonist he's going to be able to recruit everyone, and potentially even participate in their storylines. As of now, it's probably a tossup as to whether Fuse is probably meant to be the last scenario, tying everything together; or whether Fuse's scenario exists so you can feel like you can play most of the game's content without having to start over 7 more times. It'll be interesting to see, but I think consensus is that his scenario is likely going to be closer to the former than the latter, so it may help to put him off until the end. We'll know more once the game is actually out, naturally. Links to more SaGa Frontier Effort Posts: Character Guide Harrow's Magic Guide Notes on Glimmers and Talents Junk Shop & Takonomics Exploits Mystic Absorb Guide Ace Transmuter fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Apr 7, 2023 |
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Apr 12, 2021 18:28
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Ace Transmuter posted:In case I need two posts for SaGa Frontier effort posting. Yeah, it's that kind of game. 
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Apr 12, 2021 18:37
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My greatest shame in my life is that Scarlet Graces is one of my favorite games but I still haven't completed a playthrough.
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Apr 12, 2021 18:38
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I appreciate you, Ace Transmuter, for making this thread. Good OP.
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Apr 12, 2021 18:43
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Saga frontier was one of my favorite PSX games. Beyond the fact that the different storylines felt very different from one-another, the gimmicks a bunch of the scenarios had kept it extremely fresh. I don't remember all that much about 2 but the graphics were really, really good for a PSX game.
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Apr 12, 2021 18:49
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I will continue to die on the hill that SaGa Frontier 2 is a great game, and South Moundtop and the Egg are nowhere near as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Anyways, love SaGa. Loved it ever since it was just the Final Fantasy Legend 2 cart I got for my birthday or something.
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Apr 12, 2021 18:51
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I loved SaGa Frontier when it came out and am unreasonably hyped for the remake. SaGa as a series is one I find endlessly fascinating, they're often a lot more narratively thing than I would like but they're quite beautiful and the often-opaque gameplay makes them interesting to come back to. I'm not sure if I hope the junk shop and gold selling glitches are fixed or not.
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Apr 12, 2021 18:55
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Great thread timing - I'm in the middle of playing through this series for (mostly) the first time. I did collection of saga earlier in the year and I've started Minstrel Song, but I've taken a break to do other things. I'm trying to decide if I want to continue chronologically or skip ahead and play the SF remaster, as it is a game I rented a ton as a kid but never owned. CoS is great though - I think all three games hold up surprisingly well (so long as you have any tolerance for old rpgs) and all of them have tons of love.
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Apr 12, 2021 19:01
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Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song (the ps2 remake) was the game that got me into the series. I’d still recommend it for people who are curious about the series and have a way to play it, its tutorials are on par with Scarlet Grace and it has lots of cool stuff to do. Hopefully it’s in line for a modern port! Also, gimmie an Unlimited SaGa 2 that builds on the first one.
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Apr 12, 2021 19:02
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I absolutely loved Minstrel Song. Dumped a ton of hours into that when it came out. Really cool game all around. I'm interested in the different ways that SaGa Frontier and RS: Minstrel Song handle making different playthroughs unique. Minstrel Song's main characters don't really have different main stories--ultimately they all have the same main plot and final boss, with just a few different scenes along the way--while in SaGa Frontier, each main character's story is totally separate. Minstrel Song makes much more aggressive use of the Event Rank thing to determine when side quests are available, though, to the degree that you're going to have access to different sets of side quests in each playthrough just based on where and when you get into a lot of battles. Some side quests in Minstrel Song have pretty small windows of availability, too, so if you don't know how to track your Event Rank, sometimes one showing up on a subsequent playthrough can be a total mystery. It's kinda neat. I think Frontier mostly uses the battle rank system for combat difficulty rather than side quest availability but I don't clearly remember.
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Apr 12, 2021 19:17
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corn in the bible did an absolutely rad LP of Unlimited SaGa that does a good job explaining how the whole game actually works: https://lparchive.org/Unlimited-Saga/
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Apr 12, 2021 19:31
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Ace Transmuter posted:
Isn't it the less you have of a martial art the stronger they get?
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Apr 12, 2021 20:31
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ctrl+f "the last remnant" "the alliance alive" "the legend of legacy" where are they 
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Apr 12, 2021 20:40
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sgbyou posted:Isn't it the less you have of a martial art the stronger they get? Yeah, it's this. You get bonuses with less uses, and specifically the final hit gets an even bigger bonus. To prevent abuse, Robots don't get this, nor do they get the usual durability halving/recharge at inn thing. However, this just opens up a glitch, where if you deplete a martial art on a robot, they keep the agility bonus from it. This can be abused to some pretty incredible results.
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Apr 12, 2021 20:43
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I got a used copy of legend ii for the gameboy when I was a kid. I didn't have the manual so the the game was completely impenetrable for me. I remember thinking that it was bullshit that your swords ran out of uses
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Apr 12, 2021 20:58
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Has anyone pointed out that SaGa music kicks rear end? Because SaGa music kicks rear end. FFL2 on the gameboy is probably the best soundtrack for the system. SaGa Frontier just has Kenji Ito ripping out sick tunes the entire time.
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Apr 12, 2021 21:05
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SaGa music kicks an incredible amount of rear end. The main battle theme for Unlimited SaGa frequently shows up on my spotify playlists and I jam out every time. Also, Minstrel Song easily has my favorite song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1OsApDSIw
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Apr 12, 2021 21:12
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Orcs and Ostriches posted:Has anyone pointed out that SaGa music kicks rear end? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1OsApDSIw ^^^GODDAMN YOU
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Apr 12, 2021 21:14
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kenji ito and tsuyoshi sekito are gods
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Apr 12, 2021 21:18
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It's kind of funny that Passionate Rhythm is relegated to some fairly chump fights, but it was absolutely a "spend a while in the menus" song when it came up. Thankfully there's a lot of other rad music in Minstrel Song as well. On other pieces, I'm looking forward to this place getting some story relevance back in the Remaster for Frontier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbKd41QsHE
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Apr 12, 2021 21:23
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  so happy to see we have a tomomi kobayashi appreciation station
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Apr 12, 2021 21:25
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I can't listen to Passionate Rhythm without seeing that one touhou video in my mind's eye
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Apr 12, 2021 21:26
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There are so many good tracks from these games, but Booby Trap from SaGa Frontier might be my favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4rZEUvxXLg
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Apr 12, 2021 21:35
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I'm forever on the team of Fight! Alkaiser However, I can't say it's not improved by dialing up the super robot/super sentai stylings up to 11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxquOGtG8iM or hell, just jazzing it up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZxKF1GxeOs
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Apr 12, 2021 21:48
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Some of my favourites are the Koorong streets theme that just fits that nighttime urban area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-oSUIEn218. Most of the battle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_0PGtHbd7Y) and boss songs are bangers, but T260 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBaoMKoABlY) and Emelia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4db-Z5voJrY) stand out. My favourite track in the whole game thought is the Bio Research Facility. It's just so mysterious and atmospheric, and just fits the weird, mostly pointless zone entirely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGXCGjMeNk
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Apr 12, 2021 21:56
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Orcs and Ostriches posted:Some of my favourites are the Koorong streets theme that just fits that nighttime urban area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-oSUIEn218. Heard the first notes of the research facility and immediately shunted into flashbacks of getting destroyed
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Apr 12, 2021 22:04
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Chaotic Flame posted:Heard the first notes of the research facility and immediately shunted into flashbacks of getting destroyed The song really sells a "You shouldn't be here" feeling. Here are some from FFL2, just because they kick rear end. Burning Blood - a random event theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04T-pUYN1bA Battle Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z32puPoyLbA Overworld Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuKg6DCfal0 And the entirely too rad for Gameboy, Save the World - Final boss theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuzHEDYHsjU
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Apr 12, 2021 22:08
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Oh yeah SaGa music owns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5wJMKmtbkU
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Apr 12, 2021 22:13
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Are any of the other SaGas comparable in content/quality to SaGa Frontier 1? I tried 2 and it didn't have any of the elements that I liked about SF1. EDIT: I'll also mention that it's not just the music in SF1 that's great, the SFX are incredible. Nothing sounds as good as SF1 battles, you remember the sound of double slash, implosion, mega windblast, rosaria impale, the combo sound, and the lightbulb forever. No Wave fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Apr 12, 2021 |
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Apr 12, 2021 22:26
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TurnipFritter posted:
Hell yeah  quote:He’s supposed to be from ancient Japan, especially with the tomb and three sacred treasures, but I accidentally made him look European. I thought he would be lonely in the ancient graveyard, so I gave him a snake companion. And as if he wasn’t flashy enough, I added roses, too. Then he ended up looking charming (laugh) one of my favorite SaGa Frontier tracks is the one that plays in Nelson (and also the Junk arena): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3HkJM0lGn4
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Apr 12, 2021 22:28
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Gyoru posted:ctrl+f I mean, sure these are spiritual successors to varying degrees (the last remnant is a bit of a stretch), but I mean, you also left out Octopath Traveler.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:33
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the real downside of monsters is the change in appearance. recruit a cool skelly king and he's a skelly king for about one battle. there's not really much to distinguish one monster from another.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:33
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Ace Transmuter posted:I mean, sure these are spiritual successors to varying degrees (the last remnant is a bit of a stretch), but I mean, you also left out Octopath Traveler. The Last Remnant was SaGa Frontier 3 at some point in development.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:35
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last remnant was a saga game in every way except visually. that is, the character design kind of sucked.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:38
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gimme the GOD drat candy posted:last remnant was a saga game in every way except visually. that is, the character design kind of sucked. I love my giant four-armed cats and tiny rabbit-frogs.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:38
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No Wave posted:Are any of the other SaGas comparable in content/quality to SaGa Frontier 1? I tried 2 and it didn't have any of the elements that I liked about SF1. It'll depend on what you're looking for but I'd check out the Romancing SaGa remake on PS2, it's the closest in structure (8 different main characters, open world, most content is optional sidequests, towns and dungeons you travel between by boat, etc) and has a similar battle system. There's only one type of character instead of the human/robot/monster/mystic types you had in Frontier, but there's more variety in weapon types and a simple but neat class system for customization, so there's still plenty of different team structures you can mess with on replays.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:41
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I'd actually argue that Final Fantasy Legend II is the nearest analogue to SaGa Frontier, though Romancing SaGa or maybe even Legend of Legacy might scratch those itches better in terms of glimmers.MonsieurChoc posted:The Last Remnant was SaGa Frontier 3 at some point in development. I guess that makes sense, you are fighting against a god.
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Apr 12, 2021 22:50
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| # ? May 5, 2024 16:48 |
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Play romancing saga 3
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Apr 12, 2021 22:57
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