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One of the greatest games released on the Super Famicom has finally been released in North America and Europe. Originally released in 1995, this remake of the bizarre, obtuse masterpiece that is Romancing SaGa 3 is a real treat for JRPG fans who miss that bygone area.

The brain child of Akitoshi Kawazu, known also for his work on Final Fantasy II, the SaGa series reputation is highly divisive among gamers. Fans of the series, which launched in 1989 on the GameBoy as Makai Toushi SaGa ( Final Fantasy Legend abroad), cite its ambitious stories, prog rock-inspired soundtracks and avante garde game play as reason enough to jump in. However, detractors will say that the series is plagued by odd, poorly explained game design decisions and confusing plot progression as reasons to avoid. New players are going to have to come in with an open mind

This particular entry is last of the Romancing SaGa subseries, which were all released originally on the Super Famicom. By this point, Kawazu and team were veteran developers. They had a clear vision of what they wanted to bring to the table and the results show. The game takes place in a world that every 300 years experiences an eclipse that kills all new born children born that year… except one. During an eclipse 600 years ago, a child was born who grew up to be known as the Archfiend. He cast open the gates to the Abyss and with the help of powerful demons called the Sinistrals, terrorized humanity.

300 years passed and there was a new eclipse. Another child was born, this time growning up to be known as the Matriarch. She cleansed all evil from the planet. Since then, it has been relatively peaceful although monsters have begun to appear. The game takes place 20 years after the last eclipse and the world awaits anxiously to see if the child born was a savior or an Archfiend.

Eight characters, each with their own goals and dreams.

From the beginning, Romancing SaGa shows its uniqueness. After starting a new save file, players will have to select which character they play as. Their backgrounds and goals all vary significantly. One character, Khalid, is a famous mercenary who is recruited by a noble to save his territory. Another, Thomas, is a ambitious merchant looking to build his fortune. Each campaign has its owns quirks and perspectives, though by the end all storylines converge.

Plot progression is surprisingly non-linear, which is rare for games of its era. After the prologue concludes, players are left to their own devices. They have to track down leads, take own quests and build a party from a large cast of characters (there are 35 recruitable characters in the game) and take on the Sinistrals. While this might seem trite now, in ’95, it was groundbreaking. And even still I haven’t seen a game handle it’s story progression quite like this.

Like other games of its genre, exploration is done from an overhead view. However, this was one of the first JRPGs to eschew random battles in favor of showing enemies on the map. Speaking of which, in this version of the game the environments are gorgeous. The development team has lovingly redrawn all the maps, producing a much cleaning look than what was featured in the original version. This is a gorgeous game.

The battle system is the real star of the SaGa series, however and this game is no exception. The battle system, at first glance, might appear very similar to Final Fantasy VI due to similar character sprite work and perspective. But that is only a surface level assessment. Characters are ability to equip multiple weapons in Romancing SaGa. Which weapons a character has equipped determines what abilities that character has access too. The coolest part of this set up is characters learn abilities mid-battle through what is called the glimmer system. A certain times in the heat of battle, a little electric bulb will appear above a character’s head. They’ll then proceed to try out a previously unknown ability. There are several factors at play in determining when a character will spark a new technique so it is somewhat unpredictable, but characters are more likely to gain new abilities fighting stronger monsters.Also noteworthy is that Romancing SaGa 3 does not have character levels! Instead, characters gain stat increases occasionally after battle. During the victory fanfare, a speech bubble will appear a character’s head indicating which stats went up. These two systems would continue to be built upon by future SaGa games, becoming part of its core identity.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention this game’s amazing soundtrack. Composed by icon Kenji Ito, if you are a fan of fast paced symphonic rock, you will absolutely adore this soundtrack. I’d go as far as to say that the game is worth playing just to experience it. The boss battle theme is especially a highlight.

If you want to explore a classic game that is finally available to English speakers, now is your chance. Romancing SaGa 3 is available now on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Steam, Vita, Google Play and Iphone for $29.99. Square Enix is currently 20% on all platforms from now December 4th. Also worth mentioning is that Nintendo opened up their website for SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions for Nintendo Switch, set to be released December 2nd, 2019. Stay tuned to Weeabuds for more coverage next month.

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