As much as I love Unlimited SaGa it really speaks to how non beginner friendly the game is that so many people think the battle system uses a random slot system ala Setzer in Final Fantasy 6, when it actually is a timed button press system that works more like the judgement ring in Shadow Hearts.
As someone who has made a nearly identically formatted video on the SaGa series, I can attest how difficult finding footage of Emperor's SaGa is! (Signing up for Imperial SaGa Eclipse was something too, but not nearly as bad.) Great job! And thanks for making this video and helping move more eyes to the SaGa series! I'm stoked to hear how you end up getting along with Emerald Beyond-Mido is the himbo we all need in life.
I have the entire Saga series on my backlog. I'm one those people that need to play the games in order so I'll appreciate all the easter eggs and references 😅
My first SaGa experience was Final Fantasy Legend 1, the game confused me and I never beat it but I didn't hate it. Then I played SaGa Frontier which to date is still my favorite.
It’s amazing how just yesterday on your post I had mentioned planning on getting SaGa Frontier and here we are with an awesome, in depth look at the series. I’m now more than ever willing to give this series a shot, especially seeing how gorgeous the older games look and how unique the combat system is from game to game. ☺️
I started playing SaGa thanks to your channel. I played Legends II back in the day (banging soundtrak) but didn't realize it wasn't actually Final Fantasy until just recently (again, thanks to you). 1 is hard but it's a blast.
I wasn't even aware of the SaGa series until recent years, thanks to the remasters but the revival has been amazing. It's become one of my favorite series. The FFL games are all three great trips and I love the resource management and stat growth elements in the first two. Feels like a real adventure. Third one was really fun too. I've played all the available remasters now and Minstrel Song, Frontier, and Scarlet Grace Ambitions are all phenomenal games. Scarlet Grace has the most fun and addicting combat I've experienced in an RPG, and it's not even close. The take on combat in Emerald Beyond is a nice followup to that system and already garuntees I'll enjoy myself with it next week. I have the strongest urge to replay a character on Scarlet Grace while I wait but I don't want to burn myself out before the new game comes. But yeah it's an overall clunky but ambitious experimental series, and when it does things well it does them REALLY well. I love the inherent weirdness that goes along with that.
I think one of the reasons I like your content is because we had similar childhood gaming experiences (we’re about the same age I think). I too had summer road trips where I played FF Legends 2 and 3 nonstop, which is why those two games are so nostalgic for me (especially the music). Nice to see SaGa getting some coverage and some love. Now if they would just re-release/port the SaGa 2 and 3 remakes for Nintendo DS on switch. They use the DS two screens, so they’d have to be revamped, but I’ve only ever seen these through Emulation and really want an official release.
SaGa Scarlet Grace is my favorite, it has one of the greatest turn based combat systems in gaming history. The game is also great for multiple playtroughs exploring the story.
The combat is really good, but it's all about the team attacks. That makes it less tactical than it could be. So it's let down by its balancing and becomes quite tedious. I hope Emerald Beyond improves on that aspect.
@@stinky_nut_blast Team attacs only work out well once you do the other things right. Delaying your opnonent, having the right formation, managing your BP. Once you master all the elements to pull off team atacks you got a clear advantage. I didn´t experience it as tedious, it gave me a reason to strategies instead of just attack.
SaGa Frontier is my favorite game in the series, and more or less my ideal for what I want from newer ones since it combined elements from the previous eras so well. FFL2 is up there, though.
Hi David! As an older gamer, I've heard of this series but haven't played a single game. This has been a great informational video for me. Thanks and have a blessed day! Update: As a newbie, should I begin with Romancing Saga 2 or 3? Playing on Switch btw.
I think romancing saga 3 is one of the better places to start. It is probably one of the more traditional-ish style games of the bunch. It’s also one of the most popular for a reason. Excellent game.
SaGa Emerald Beyond is a good place to start, it's easier than Scarlet Grace and Scarlet Grace was an easy place to start for new players. Other than that, SaGa Frontier is the next good starting place because the stories are short and combat is fun and fast. JUST REMEMBER TO MAKE A SECOND SAVE! 😂❤ I've had so many ended runs because I've gone into zones too hard for what one at.
Love the SaGa games so much. I actually do like SaGa Frontier 2 a lot, though I started out having most of the same issues with it you did. In retrospect, it reminds me a lot of Romancing SaGa 2, just with more linearity (the core theme being the generational system, though you obviously don't go for many CENTURIES like in RS2). So it did grow on me in time. I tend to give it a playthrough every year or so, and this time, I'm hoping to wait out the inevitable remaster :) Definitely looking forward to Emerald Beyond, too, and the return to form with all the different races and "leveling" systems coming back at last! Gonna be a good time!
Great tour through the series, David! I've only played the Game Boy trilogy; but Final Fantasy Legends I & II became lifelong favorites and big influences. SaGa is a series that's always been more experimental than the mainstay franchises, giving it a unique identity.
I am a huge fan of the SaGa series and when I finish Unicorn Overlord, I am immediately starting with Emerald Beyond. It is higher on my preority list than even Eiyuden Chronicles and I like Suikoden a lot either.
Little late watching this, but I love the Saga series! It's my favorite Jrpg series, Saga 2 aka Final Fantasy Legend 2 is my favorite still have the old school GameBoy cart! I'm super excited to try Emerald Beyond, and there's a few on this video I didn't know about that got released in the West that originally didn't. (Romancing Saga series) Def going to grab those!
I'll never forget when I was in 7th grade and I had a SquareSoft demo disc with a SaGa Frontier trailer on it. I lost count of how many times I watched it in anticipation of the game coming out. It's still my favorite game in the series by a mile, and depending on what day you ask me, my favorite RPG, lol. Also, it's interesting seeing footage of SaGa Scarlet Grace alongside SaGa Emerald Beyond, and seeing how much better Emerald Beyond looks. I enjoyed SSG plenty, but I remember my biggest complain about it was that it looked...just, really cheap, you know?
From the demo, anyway, it seems like they upped their game a bit with Emerald, since it was not OBVIOUSLY developed for a mobile platform exclusively from the get-go (hence Scarlet Grace's cheap appearance). It still does seem to be a bit on the budgety side compared to Final Fantasy Anything, but they definitely did a better job with character models and animations and such, and the combat is reeeeeally nice. It basically looks like an overall sublimation of all previous SaGa titles.
i JUUUST opened my "Deck In a Box" after paying off tuition and wanted to revisit some of these and other console titles that weren't available or i didn't manage to acquire in 38 years of life. When I found out I could also play ps5 on it I almost pee'd my pants 🤯NGL. Thanks for compiling so many of these
It’s cool to see you covering this series so much lately, I’m assuming because of emerald beyond. By far my favourite “niche” series of jrpgs if not games altogether.
Having played most of them (except Frontier 2 and Unlimited) I must say I think Romancing SaGa 3 is my favorite. I think it's still very hard, but in a fair way. It also doesn't have the constant pressure to evade battles like the first two RS. Don't get me wrong, fighting too much will lead to encounters kicking your ass hard, but you won't be missing important quests or trigger a generation shift by doing so. The world is also fun to explore at your leisure, even if that means you can accidentally trap yourself in the East and get stuck behind a bunch of quests before you can return to the rest of the map. Some boss fights in the SaGa series are RNG battles of attrition and this one is no exception, but if a boss is too much, you can always leave and explore another dungeon until you spark new moves, get better equipment and overall get stronger. The final boss will give you a hard time, but defeating it is so satisfying! I love SaGa Frontier, but even with its restored content in the Remaster, it feels incomplete compared to Romancing 3. Still, I'd probably recommend Frontier to a SaGa newcomer. It's more streamlined and accessible, probably also one of the easiest in the series, especially since the Remastered version added the option to flee.
I've never actually played any of the Saga games. Attempting to jump into a new franchise is always a little intimidating so this is just what I needed. 🎉
I'd recommend either the Romancing SaGa 3, SaGa Frontier, or Minstrel Song remasters to start with. Aside from the obviously basic Gameboy games, they might be the best transitional titles, as they (all the remasters, really) have great in-game tutorials or resources to explain stuff, and are pretty newcomer-friendly. The original releases didn't really have such things, so it helps to at least know what abilities do and how to get them, etc.
I got into the series with the Frontier remaster. It's got a good amount of the weirdness the rest of the series has, but it isn't as mechanically deep as the others. That said, my absolute favorite so far has been Minstrel song. It just scratches a bunch of itches for me lol
SaGa 3, Romancing SaGa 3 and Frontier are my beloved games of the series. I know SaGa 3 isnt the best representation of saga but I LOVE the story, the music and the characters. Its such a stellar RPG for the gameboy. It and SaGa 2 actually got remade for the DS which look and play beautifully. There are english fan patches for those games and I highly recommend everyone play those after you experience the gameboy games. Romancing SaGa 3 is just peak SNES vibes with a full world of crazy characters, great music, beautiful graphics and a solid premise. Getting a Lobster, snowman, and whatever else you want on your team in that game will always tickle me in the right spots. Frontier is an A+++ PS1 RPG experience. The stories between the 8 characters (the remaster adds the missing 8th character which they cut from the original) are absolutely amazing. Each story takes you on a trip and never left me disappointed. Once you begin to new game+ the game you can start breezing through the stories in just a few hours. The first few characters you play will be hard as grasping all the mechanics and flow of the game will take some time but once you get in a groove you can easily see all the characters endings in 30-40 hours easily. These games are peak RPGs imo. SaGa 2 and Romancing SaGa 2 are JUST as good as these games so never count the SaGa series out. It shares the genetics and DNA of Final Fantasy 2 and we have that game to thank for this series. People talk crap about FF2 but what other FF game spawned an entirely unique series????? This series is truly special and while not all of the games in the series are winners the majority hit and they hit HARD.
I actually love the idea, especially when it leads to perma-death (makes you take fighting more seriously). I am relatively certain that Kawazu took it from D&D, where your HP can go below zero, and your character isn't actually DEAD dead until it gets to like -10HP or something. Meaning you basically can be "combat rescued" as long as someone else can act fast enough. It's a neat idea, and outside of tabletop RPGs, I'm not sure I've seen it used anywhere other than SaGa.
This is great; I'd never even heard of the mobile and browser games until just now! SaGa Frontier is the only one I've been able to get into, but if only the first Final Fantasy Legend forces you to use potions to grow humans (that sounded weird), you may have emboldened me to try the first 6 games again. I don't like weapon durability in a turn-based RPG, but if I could drag myself through the first Herakles no Eikou, I might be alright.
You know....you make this series sound super amazing but I have so much trouble playing through them because the difficulty is astronomical so I've never played through the entirety of them. Though I did play a decent way into Final Fantasy Legend 2 and ADORED it
SaGa Frontier was my introduction to the SaGa games and it still remains my favorite game int the series. They did a great job with the HD remake of SaGa Frontier. I really wanted to like Unlimited SaGa on the PS2 but I hate that infuriatingly random combat system. When the heart of your combat system is chaining moves to make combos but you have to roll on a random generator to even use the skill you selected it becomes unplayable.
I love most of SaGa series because of the Non-linear nature of these games Romancing SaGa to SaGa Frontiers it's good to see Emerald Beyond being the new SaGa with modern tweaks (besides Scarlet Grace I like that game also) Modern Tweaks as in being beginner friendly while of course the old SaGa games I guess you could go through a guide get to know the game's mechanics etc.
I hope Saga Frontier 2 does get re-released soon because its the only Saga game released in the US I've never owned. I jumped straight from my SNES to my PS2 but by the time I did that finding copies of the Frontier games in the wild where I lived was impossible so I didn't get Frontier 1 until the digital re-release. Saga/Final Fantasy Legend II was actually the first Squaresoft RPG I played because I got it and Final Fantasy 1 with my Christmas money in 92 but mom nd I were about to fly out to visit her family so I didn't start Final Fantasy I until we got back.
Thank you David! I played FF Legend II a bunch like you as a kid. I have tried to play some of the other Saga games but they have always been so difficult to follow. I think I will try the remasters of the SNES games. I emulated them back in the day, but could never figure out what was happening.
Loved the playthoughs you did of the DS remakes of saga 2 and 3. It's a shame we never got thoses here. Was disappointed when the collection only had the GB versions
Great video, David! I wish they would release English translations of the remakes of the Gameboy Saga games. I think that would be something really cool. Romancing Saga really killed my interest in the series. I played the 1st 3 games and thought they were all really enjoyable, but the non-linear nature of Romancing Saga made it really hard for me to get invested in the game. It felt like I was meandering aimlessly, doing a bunch of quests in a random order with no end in sight. I'm not sure if the Minstrel Song remake has a percentage tracker to let you know how close you are to triggering the endgame, but that would be a welcome addition. I really don't like not knowing how much progress I'm making (or not).
> I'm not sure if the Minstrel Song remake has a percentage tracker to let you know how close you are to triggering the endgame, but that would be a welcome addition. It does. It's a sundial in the bottom left hand corner of the menu screen.
Final Fantasy Legend is one of the big formative games that got me into RPGs alongside FFVI and Mario RPG, and needless to say I was over the moon when Collection of SaGa was announced. Recently, I've been inspired to check out the rest of the series, I even managed to snag a PSone copy of SaGa Frontier 1! I really wish Square would release the modern games physically internationally though >:V
SaGa Frontier 1 is top five for me personally and probably nostalgia. I like to compare the series to seinfeld its kind of about nothing every character and story is unique
SaGa Frontier has always been my favorite in the franchise. I've only ever played through as Blue, but it's one of my best JRPG memories. SaGa Frontier 2 I never beat because I couldn't figure out the event triggers for how to unlock the next chapters, which made it similar to Phantasy Star 2 for me, since I never beat it for the same reason. Unlimited SaGa made me thankful to be a poor college kid during its release, allowing me to only have experienced it because I rented it from Blockbuster instead of wasting my money on buying it. SaGa and Mana were both victims of Square's early 2000s experimental era, but at least they seem to have course corrected since then. Looking forward to Visions of Mana 🙂
The only SaGa's I've played are Frontier 1 & 2 and wasn't the biggest fan of them, so having this video as a history lesson before I give Emerald Beyond a shot is greatly appreciated it and I would've watched this video regardless of what you used as the thumbnail for the video, but I have to admit, that thumbnail did get my immediate attention. Ha.
The saga series is a very complicated series. My first one was the final fantasy legend games back on the GB and I adored them. The first real saga game I played was frontier on the PS1 and I absolutely loved it. With that said they're definitely a very difficult series to enjoy because they're less on the story and the journey you take as a player. The quests you find, the bosses you fight and the path you take. It won't be the same each time you play the games especially with the romancing saga games. Yes the series has been more streamlined as the years have progressed. But in a lot of ways it was and will always be the Indy series that square makes. They're low budget games that are always sold cheaper then squares big games
Frontier 2 was my favorite, I think for the generational thing... u got to see the story of these 2 great people... I could see it as a TV show even. To Your Eternity reminded me of this. Thinking of Egg in particular. Frontier 1 was cool too... blue and rouge story and alkaiser in particular though I started with the robot. Romancing 3 had me in stitches with Robin. Only thing I didn't care for in the saga sagas were the random enemies or unavoidable enemies. The super random stat gains and monsters eating meat to become something random..... it hurts my brain... like a cat eats a wolf.... become robot? I felt like Digimon 😅
As someone else alluded to (either on GameFAQs or Reddit, can't remember), there are really three eras of SaGa games: 1) The Gameboy SaGa/portable SaGa era. 2) The "Romancing Frontier" era. 3) The "post-Frontier era"
If your new to the series Saga frontier 1 or 2 are great games to start with. Once your a little more familiar I strongly recommend playing Romancing saga minstrel song remastered and then if you need another game after that try Unlimited Saga! I played unlimited saga for the first time a month ago and once you get used to the strange board game style movement ,the actual combat and character skill building is fantastic. The music is also the best in the series which is a nice treat as you battle or explore dungeons. Unlimited Saga gets a bad wrap for the lack of tutorials and board game movement but it’s honestly my favorite saga game of them all now after beating it with 2 different characters, give it a fair chance sometime!
I have only played saga frontier 1, but messed up my file by trying to do too many routes at once, rather than sequentially (I think there was some sort of extra ending). I've tried other games off and on, but haven't been able to get into them like I did SF1 back then. I hope the series really catches me one of these days
I'm like you a longtime JRPG fan but believe our not, the only saga game I played was one on PS1. One that had a cute cartoony look, something like legend of mana. Off topic, you could do a video sharing your workout routine because you're looking awesome!
David, dunno why I took forever to subscribe, but I've been really getting into your videos lately. Just wanted to tell you thank you so so much for doing what you do! I love your enthusiasm for games you love and your well thought out criticisms and flat out honesty about games you don't love. It's so obvious you are a true gamer and somebody who I wish I could have grown up next door to, as I think we would both have got together to play and beat a lot of RPGS together! I'm currently working on my own retro style 2D RPG game, and I hope someday you'll review it and I can earn your respect. I feel somehow that would mean something. You really are fun to watch. Thank you so much! My favorite game, by the way, is Dragonquest 3, and I would even say Ultima: Exodus for the NES (This one is a fav because it was the very first game I ever bought for the NES when I was a kid. I used all my birthday money to buy it! And then promptly didn't understand at all what I was supposed to do, but it was still a lot of fun to get lost in that world). Looking forward to all your future vids!
@@davidvinc I don't expect a reply to this comment... I just really want you to know that I see you do so many of these videos regularly and you are always giving updates about RPGS and overall just keeping so much excitement going for games both old and new. It's just really frickin impressive to me. I am sorry I took this long to even write this to you, but just know, you have a fan in Japan (I live in Tokyo) who looks forward to every video you release. Please don't ever lose your happiness for what you do.
I have a super strange relationship with the Saga series since the beginning. There are ones I absolutely LOVE like Romancing Saga 2 and 3, Minstrel Song and Saga Frontier. But then there are also saga games that I despise. Saga Frontier 2 and Unlimited Saga make me ill to even think about. Scarlet Grace, loved by many for reasons that are perfectly valid, is one I also do not like because of the exploration system. Looking back, I think thats why I probably hate SF2 and US too.
I've been looking for a breakdown of this series and the mana series for a while now! Thank you. One thing, I'm sure I read that the last remnant is pretty much a saga game in all but name, is this true? Great video!
SaGa! A series that has some of my favorite games ever, and the game I hate THE MOST. I met SaGa on the Gameboy, too. Legend II is my favorite Gameboy game~!!
Most of the exposure to the SaGa series was reading about them in Nintendo Power and, much more recently, seeing your let's plays for FFL/SaGa 1-3. Those were a fun watch!
I played Final Fantasy Legend when it released in 1989-90 on a friend's Game Boy, but didn't finish it until a few years later when I had bought a used Game Boy Color from FunCo Land (Remember them?) I managed to beat the game, and bought a copy of Final Fantasy Legend 2, which I fell in love with, playing it to the end multiple times with different party combinations. I tried Final Fantasy Legend 3, but couldn't get into it. A few years later I bought Unlimited SaGa for PS2. Suffice to say I had no idea what was going on. Unlimited SaGa is terrible; the mechanics kept interrupting my enjoyment of the story. I recently bought the SaGa Final Fantasy Legend collection on Steam, and will try to make an effort to beat Final Fantasy Legend 3 once and for all.
I own four Saga remasters: 2,3, Frontier, & Minstrel Song. Yeah, these games are DEFINITELY non-linear. Unbelievable a few years ago I never even heard of this series despite its legacy in the RPG community. Whatever you have to say about the remaster's quality, damned if Square isn't trying to appease the western fanbase. Unlike Bandai Namco and the Tales fanbase.
I can't seem to get into anything beyond Saga 3, which is my favorite. I actually think I prefer the gb version too. I also prefer to grind. If I can't grind, I can't get into it.
What gameplay issues did you experience in SaGa Frontier 2, out of curiosity? I know the extreme linearity compared to other titles is disappointing and I am never a fan of weapon durability, but was there anything else you didn't care for? Just curious!
@@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama I know that the saga games tend to have systems that are hard to understand, but enjoyable if you get into them. But imo the gameplay on frontier 2 was even more confusing than the other saga games, so much so that you needed a guide to succeed. Maybe a remaster could explain more things ingame or so.
@@stoeckli11 Yeah, I can understand that. I had the same issue with SF 1 & 2 both when I first played them. If they do a good job like with Minstrel Song (as far as in-game explanations and stuff goes), I think it will be a lot smoother for everyone.
I actually liked unlimited saga once I learned it. I think with a few changes and tweaks, they’d be able to do a remake in the style of Scarlet Grace. A lot of things need to be changed in a potential SF2 remaster. Way too confining for a SaGa game. I also didn’t like the soundtrack. Kenji Ito is the proper sound for the series. They had some amazing systems in place though. The ability to restore HP with LP was nice, so were alternate ways to learn arts instead of the usual lightbulbs.
The only one I ever played was unlimited saga unfortunately. Only reason I brought it was because with an ffx demo and a really nice fold out cardboard box case. Soiled me on the series and haven't played another since. The game made no sense!!!
I've been playing tyeougy the collection on the switch. I like the first game but I got soft locked cause it let you throw away key items so I couldn't finish world 4...thankfully this game is pretty short even with all the money grinding and I still enjoy it. I can't wait to get to the other 2 games since I heard they're a lot better.
Saga Frontier 1 is one of my favorite games of all time! Nothing like seeing that light bulb pop up!
David is cool because he's one of the only youtubers I know that adores Final Fantasy Legend 2.
The Emerald Beyond hype got me playing Romancing 2 again and I'm loving it. It's great to see the series getting more love these days.
The Saga Frontier remastered is so well done. That game is special. I need to finish it.
I never knew how much lore was in this series. I really enjoyed your commentary David!
As much as I love Unlimited SaGa it really speaks to how non beginner friendly the game is that so many people think the battle system uses a random slot system ala Setzer in Final Fantasy 6, when it actually is a timed button press system that works more like the judgement ring in Shadow Hearts.
David is an absolute UNIT 😊
As someone who has made a nearly identically formatted video on the SaGa series, I can attest how difficult finding footage of Emperor's SaGa is! (Signing up for Imperial SaGa Eclipse was something too, but not nearly as bad.)
Great job! And thanks for making this video and helping move more eyes to the SaGa series! I'm stoked to hear how you end up getting along with Emerald Beyond-Mido is the himbo we all need in life.
Loved the open world format of the first one for playstation. Inspired me to go around the world and meet people in search of adventure.
I have the entire Saga series on my backlog. I'm one those people that need to play the games in order so I'll appreciate all the easter eggs and references 😅
My first SaGa experience was Final Fantasy Legend 1, the game confused me and I never beat it but I didn't hate it. Then I played SaGa Frontier which to date is still my favorite.
It’s amazing how just yesterday on your post I had mentioned planning on getting SaGa Frontier and here we are with an awesome, in depth look at the series. I’m now more than ever willing to give this series a shot, especially seeing how gorgeous the older games look and how unique the combat system is from game to game. ☺️
FFL2 was my favorite game boy game!
It was my first JRPG
I started playing SaGa thanks to your channel. I played Legends II back in the day (banging soundtrak) but didn't realize it wasn't actually Final Fantasy until just recently (again, thanks to you). 1 is hard but it's a blast.
I wasn't even aware of the SaGa series until recent years, thanks to the remasters but the revival has been amazing. It's become one of my favorite series. The FFL games are all three great trips and I love the resource management and stat growth elements in the first two. Feels like a real adventure. Third one was really fun too. I've played all the available remasters now and Minstrel Song, Frontier, and Scarlet Grace Ambitions are all phenomenal games. Scarlet Grace has the most fun and addicting combat I've experienced in an RPG, and it's not even close. The take on combat in Emerald Beyond is a nice followup to that system and already garuntees I'll enjoy myself with it next week. I have the strongest urge to replay a character on Scarlet Grace while I wait but I don't want to burn myself out before the new game comes.
But yeah it's an overall clunky but ambitious experimental series, and when it does things well it does them REALLY well. I love the inherent weirdness that goes along with that.
I think one of the reasons I like your content is because we had similar childhood gaming experiences (we’re about the same age I think). I too had summer road trips where I played FF Legends 2 and 3 nonstop, which is why those two games are so nostalgic for me (especially the music). Nice to see SaGa getting some coverage and some love. Now if they would just re-release/port the SaGa 2 and 3 remakes for Nintendo DS on switch. They use the DS two screens, so they’d have to be revamped, but I’ve only ever seen these through Emulation and really want an official release.
From what you showed I think my favorite was FFL3 and least favorite was one of the ones on the PS2. I think it was the first one you talked about.
I'm so glad Square is finally giving the SaGa series the attention it deserves.
SaGa Scarlet Grace is my favorite, it has one of the greatest turn based combat systems in gaming history. The game is also great for multiple playtroughs exploring the story.
The combat is really good, but it's all about the team attacks. That makes it less tactical than it could be. So it's let down by its balancing and becomes quite tedious. I hope Emerald Beyond improves on that aspect.
@@stinky_nut_blast Team attacs only work out well once you do the other things right. Delaying your opnonent, having the right formation, managing your BP. Once you master all the elements to pull off team atacks you got a clear advantage. I didn´t experience it as tedious, it gave me a reason to strategies instead of just attack.
SaGa Frontier is my favorite game in the series, and more or less my ideal for what I want from newer ones since it combined elements from the previous eras so well.
FFL2 is up there, though.
Nice Video David. Love The SaGa Series ❤ I have Finished The SaGa Trilogy GB Games. I well Finish The other Games As Well.
Hi David! As an older gamer, I've heard of this series but haven't played a single game. This has been a great informational video for me. Thanks and have a blessed day!
Update: As a newbie, should I begin with Romancing Saga 2 or 3? Playing on Switch btw.
Glad it was helpful!
I think romancing saga 3 is one of the better places to start. It is probably one of the more traditional-ish style games of the bunch.
It’s also one of the most popular for a reason. Excellent game.
SaGa Emerald Beyond is a good place to start, it's easier than Scarlet Grace and Scarlet Grace was an easy place to start for new players. Other than that, SaGa Frontier is the next good starting place because the stories are short and combat is fun and fast. JUST REMEMBER TO MAKE A SECOND SAVE! 😂❤ I've had so many ended runs because I've gone into zones too hard for what one at.
Love the SaGa games so much. I actually do like SaGa Frontier 2 a lot, though I started out having most of the same issues with it you did. In retrospect, it reminds me a lot of Romancing SaGa 2, just with more linearity (the core theme being the generational system, though you obviously don't go for many CENTURIES like in RS2). So it did grow on me in time. I tend to give it a playthrough every year or so, and this time, I'm hoping to wait out the inevitable remaster :) Definitely looking forward to Emerald Beyond, too, and the return to form with all the different races and "leveling" systems coming back at last! Gonna be a good time!
Great tour through the series, David! I've only played the Game Boy trilogy; but Final Fantasy Legends I & II became lifelong favorites and big influences. SaGa is a series that's always been more experimental than the mainstay franchises, giving it a unique identity.
I loved Scarlet Grace, cant wait for this new one!
I am a huge fan of the SaGa series and when I finish Unicorn Overlord, I am immediately starting with Emerald Beyond. It is higher on my preority list than even Eiyuden Chronicles and I like Suikoden a lot either.
Little late watching this, but I love the Saga series! It's my favorite Jrpg series, Saga 2 aka Final Fantasy Legend 2 is my favorite still have the old school GameBoy cart! I'm super excited to try Emerald Beyond, and there's a few on this video I didn't know about that got released in the West that originally didn't. (Romancing Saga series) Def going to grab those!
I'll never forget when I was in 7th grade and I had a SquareSoft demo disc with a SaGa Frontier trailer on it. I lost count of how many times I watched it in anticipation of the game coming out. It's still my favorite game in the series by a mile, and depending on what day you ask me, my favorite RPG, lol.
Also, it's interesting seeing footage of SaGa Scarlet Grace alongside SaGa Emerald Beyond, and seeing how much better Emerald Beyond looks. I enjoyed SSG plenty, but I remember my biggest complain about it was that it looked...just, really cheap, you know?
From the demo, anyway, it seems like they upped their game a bit with Emerald, since it was not OBVIOUSLY developed for a mobile platform exclusively from the get-go (hence Scarlet Grace's cheap appearance). It still does seem to be a bit on the budgety side compared to Final Fantasy Anything, but they definitely did a better job with character models and animations and such, and the combat is reeeeeally nice. It basically looks like an overall sublimation of all previous SaGa titles.
i JUUUST opened my "Deck In a Box" after paying off tuition and wanted to revisit some of these and other console titles that weren't available or i didn't manage to acquire in 38 years of life. When I found out I could also play ps5 on it I almost pee'd my pants 🤯NGL. Thanks for compiling so many of these
I never knew there was so many SaGa games!
I have never played these games but it looks like Romancing SaGa 2 up to Frontier is the best time for this game
It’s cool to see you covering this series so much lately, I’m assuming because of emerald beyond. By far my favourite “niche” series of jrpgs if not games altogether.
David!! I glad you touch on one my favorite series I am big fan of it psx entries.
Thanks so much!!
man, saga from PS1 was so random and weird game, and i loved it so much! haha, was my favorite rpg in that time...
Having played most of them (except Frontier 2 and Unlimited) I must say I think Romancing SaGa 3 is my favorite. I think it's still very hard, but in a fair way. It also doesn't have the constant pressure to evade battles like the first two RS. Don't get me wrong, fighting too much will lead to encounters kicking your ass hard, but you won't be missing important quests or trigger a generation shift by doing so. The world is also fun to explore at your leisure, even if that means you can accidentally trap yourself in the East and get stuck behind a bunch of quests before you can return to the rest of the map. Some boss fights in the SaGa series are RNG battles of attrition and this one is no exception, but if a boss is too much, you can always leave and explore another dungeon until you spark new moves, get better equipment and overall get stronger. The final boss will give you a hard time, but defeating it is so satisfying!
I love SaGa Frontier, but even with its restored content in the Remaster, it feels incomplete compared to Romancing 3. Still, I'd probably recommend Frontier to a SaGa newcomer. It's more streamlined and accessible, probably also one of the easiest in the series, especially since the Remastered version added the option to flee.
I've never actually played any of the Saga games. Attempting to jump into a new franchise is always a little intimidating so this is just what I needed. 🎉
I'd recommend either the Romancing SaGa 3, SaGa Frontier, or Minstrel Song remasters to start with. Aside from the obviously basic Gameboy games, they might be the best transitional titles, as they (all the remasters, really) have great in-game tutorials or resources to explain stuff, and are pretty newcomer-friendly. The original releases didn't really have such things, so it helps to at least know what abilities do and how to get them, etc.
I got into the series with the Frontier remaster. It's got a good amount of the weirdness the rest of the series has, but it isn't as mechanically deep as the others.
That said, my absolute favorite so far has been Minstrel song. It just scratches a bunch of itches for me lol
Thanks for these explanations, I was kind of lost with all the different titles
Glad I could help!
SaGa 3, Romancing SaGa 3 and Frontier are my beloved games of the series. I know SaGa 3 isnt the best representation of saga but I LOVE the story, the music and the characters. Its such a stellar RPG for the gameboy. It and SaGa 2 actually got remade for the DS which look and play beautifully. There are english fan patches for those games and I highly recommend everyone play those after you experience the gameboy games. Romancing SaGa 3 is just peak SNES vibes with a full world of crazy characters, great music, beautiful graphics and a solid premise. Getting a Lobster, snowman, and whatever else you want on your team in that game will always tickle me in the right spots. Frontier is an A+++ PS1 RPG experience. The stories between the 8 characters (the remaster adds the missing 8th character which they cut from the original) are absolutely amazing. Each story takes you on a trip and never left me disappointed. Once you begin to new game+ the game you can start breezing through the stories in just a few hours. The first few characters you play will be hard as grasping all the mechanics and flow of the game will take some time but once you get in a groove you can easily see all the characters endings in 30-40 hours easily. These games are peak RPGs imo. SaGa 2 and Romancing SaGa 2 are JUST as good as these games so never count the SaGa series out. It shares the genetics and DNA of Final Fantasy 2 and we have that game to thank for this series. People talk crap about FF2 but what other FF game spawned an entirely unique series????? This series is truly special and while not all of the games in the series are winners the majority hit and they hit HARD.
I had a lot of fun with the PS5 emerald demo. I barely beat the bull boss he kept blocking my attacks and cycloning it was crazy!
Epic video! I'm pretty keen for Emerald Beyond, and we won't have long to wait for its release!
I still listen to Romancing Saga 3 Year of the Holy King theme
The Super Famicom Romancing Saga games have something that runs a chill up my spine: Life Points.
I actually love the idea, especially when it leads to perma-death (makes you take fighting more seriously). I am relatively certain that Kawazu took it from D&D, where your HP can go below zero, and your character isn't actually DEAD dead until it gets to like -10HP or something. Meaning you basically can be "combat rescued" as long as someone else can act fast enough. It's a neat idea, and outside of tabletop RPGs, I'm not sure I've seen it used anywhere other than SaGa.
I love the SaGa series so much, I really appreciate how experimental they are and how each game feels like a puzzle that you have to solve.
This is great; I'd never even heard of the mobile and browser games until just now! SaGa Frontier is the only one I've been able to get into, but if only the first Final Fantasy Legend forces you to use potions to grow humans (that sounded weird), you may have emboldened me to try the first 6 games again. I don't like weapon durability in a turn-based RPG, but if I could drag myself through the first Herakles no Eikou, I might be alright.
It's a series I still need to try.
You know....you make this series sound super amazing but I have so much trouble playing through them because the difficulty is astronomical so I've never played through the entirety of them. Though I did play a decent way into Final Fantasy Legend 2 and ADORED it
SaGa Frontier was my introduction to the SaGa games and it still remains my favorite game int the series. They did a great job with the HD remake of SaGa Frontier.
I really wanted to like Unlimited SaGa on the PS2 but I hate that infuriatingly random combat system. When the heart of your combat system is chaining moves to make combos but you have to roll on a random generator to even use the skill you selected it becomes unplayable.
I love most of SaGa series because of the Non-linear nature of these games Romancing SaGa to SaGa Frontiers it's good to see Emerald Beyond being the new SaGa with modern tweaks (besides Scarlet Grace I like that game also)
Modern Tweaks as in being beginner friendly while of course the old SaGa games I guess you could go through a guide get to know the game's mechanics etc.
I hope Saga Frontier 2 does get re-released soon because its the only Saga game released in the US I've never owned. I jumped straight from my SNES to my PS2 but by the time I did that finding copies of the Frontier games in the wild where I lived was impossible so I didn't get Frontier 1 until the digital re-release. Saga/Final Fantasy Legend II was actually the first Squaresoft RPG I played because I got it and Final Fantasy 1 with my Christmas money in 92 but mom nd I were about to fly out to visit her family so I didn't start Final Fantasy I until we got back.
Yet another great video from you! :) Thanks for making me a little more knowledgeable on JRPGS.
Glad to hear it!
I still play Final Fantasy Legend 2, and every so often I pull out SaGa Frontier and play either T260G's or Red's campaign.
Thank you David! I played FF Legend II a bunch like you as a kid. I have tried to play some of the other Saga games but they have always been so difficult to follow. I think I will try the remasters of the SNES games. I emulated them back in the day, but could never figure out what was happening.
Loved the playthoughs you did of the DS remakes of saga 2 and 3. It's a shame we never got thoses here. Was disappointed when the collection only had the GB versions
Great video, David! I wish they would release English translations of the remakes of the Gameboy Saga games. I think that would be something really cool. Romancing Saga really killed my interest in the series. I played the 1st 3 games and thought they were all really enjoyable, but the non-linear nature of Romancing Saga made it really hard for me to get invested in the game. It felt like I was meandering aimlessly, doing a bunch of quests in a random order with no end in sight. I'm not sure if the Minstrel Song remake has a percentage tracker to let you know how close you are to triggering the endgame, but that would be a welcome addition. I really don't like not knowing how much progress I'm making (or not).
> I'm not sure if the Minstrel Song remake has a percentage tracker to let you know how close you are to triggering the endgame, but that would be a welcome addition.
It does. It's a sundial in the bottom left hand corner of the menu screen.
Final Fantasy Legend is one of the big formative games that got me into RPGs alongside FFVI and Mario RPG, and needless to say I was over the moon when Collection of SaGa was announced.
Recently, I've been inspired to check out the rest of the series, I even managed to snag a PSone copy of SaGa Frontier 1!
I really wish Square would release the modern games physically internationally though >:V
SaGa Frontier 1 is top five for me personally and probably nostalgia. I like to compare the series to seinfeld its kind of about nothing every character and story is unique
SaGa Frontier has always been my favorite in the franchise.
I've only ever played through as Blue, but it's one of my best JRPG memories.
SaGa Frontier 2 I never beat because I couldn't figure out the event triggers for how to unlock the next chapters, which made it similar to Phantasy Star 2 for me, since I never beat it for the same reason.
Unlimited SaGa made me thankful to be a poor college kid during its release, allowing me to only have experienced it because I rented it from Blockbuster instead of wasting my money on buying it.
SaGa and Mana were both victims of Square's early 2000s experimental era, but at least they seem to have course corrected since then.
Looking forward to Visions of Mana 🙂
The only SaGa's I've played are Frontier 1 & 2 and wasn't the biggest fan of them, so having this video as a history lesson before I give Emerald Beyond a shot is greatly appreciated it and I would've watched this video regardless of what you used as the thumbnail for the video, but I have to admit, that thumbnail did get my immediate attention. Ha.
The saga series is a very complicated series. My first one was the final fantasy legend games back on the GB and I adored them. The first real saga game I played was frontier on the PS1 and I absolutely loved it. With that said they're definitely a very difficult series to enjoy because they're less on the story and the journey you take as a player. The quests you find, the bosses you fight and the path you take. It won't be the same each time you play the games especially with the romancing saga games. Yes the series has been more streamlined as the years have progressed. But in a lot of ways it was and will always be the Indy series that square makes. They're low budget games that are always sold cheaper then squares big games
Frontier 2 was my favorite, I think for the generational thing... u got to see the story of these 2 great people... I could see it as a TV show even. To Your Eternity reminded me of this. Thinking of Egg in particular.
Frontier 1 was cool too... blue and rouge story and alkaiser in particular though I started with the robot.
Romancing 3 had me in stitches with Robin.
Only thing I didn't care for in the saga sagas were the random enemies or unavoidable enemies. The super random stat gains and monsters eating meat to become something random..... it hurts my brain... like a cat eats a wolf.... become robot? I felt like Digimon 😅
As someone else alluded to (either on GameFAQs or Reddit, can't remember), there are really three eras of SaGa games:
1) The Gameboy SaGa/portable SaGa era.
2) The "Romancing Frontier" era.
3) The "post-Frontier era"
Uh didn't you skip some?
@@AlastorShadow0 Which ones did I skip?
@@killerb255 the 3 Romancing Saga games.
I love the frontier duology, specially 2...I know. 😅
Love you David!
I was only able to play 1,2 and 3 because I never learned about the others until Unlimited Saga was out then I didn't recognized it's name.
If your new to the series Saga frontier 1 or 2 are great games to start with. Once your a little more familiar I strongly recommend playing Romancing saga minstrel song remastered and then if you need another game after that try Unlimited Saga! I played unlimited saga for the first time a month ago and once you get used to the strange board game style movement ,the actual combat and character skill building is fantastic. The music is also the best in the series which is a nice treat as you battle or explore dungeons. Unlimited Saga gets a bad wrap for the lack of tutorials and board game movement but it’s honestly my favorite saga game of them all now after beating it with 2 different characters, give it a fair chance sometime!
Literally was asking my self I wonder what SaGa was about. Perfect timing.
This reminds me we still need a physical collection of final fantasy legend on switch and other consoles :)
Final Fantasy Legend 2 was epic
I have only played saga frontier 1, but messed up my file by trying to do too many routes at once, rather than sequentially (I think there was some sort of extra ending). I've tried other games off and on, but haven't been able to get into them like I did SF1 back then. I hope the series really catches me one of these days
I'm like you a longtime JRPG fan but believe our not, the only saga game I played was one on PS1. One that had a cute cartoony look, something like legend of mana.
Off topic, you could do a video sharing your workout routine because you're looking awesome!
me like saga series , me don't know the lore, me watch this video, me very happy finally knew the lore
David has a long one here and we need to strap ourselves in. Yep
I’m gonna buy the collection on steam
I only have Minstrel Song but I haven't really gotten to it yet.. I did play the beginning however.. It reminds me a lot of Dragon Quest
You know so much I didn't know ff legend was saga
Thanks so much for this video. I've played a few of these games, but have been lost with the sequels and which games go in which order.
David, dunno why I took forever to subscribe, but I've been really getting into your videos lately. Just wanted to tell you thank you so so much for doing what you do! I love your enthusiasm for games you love and your well thought out criticisms and flat out honesty about games you don't love. It's so obvious you are a true gamer and somebody who I wish I could have grown up next door to, as I think we would both have got together to play and beat a lot of RPGS together!
I'm currently working on my own retro style 2D RPG game, and I hope someday you'll review it and I can earn your respect. I feel somehow that would mean something. You really are fun to watch. Thank you so much!
My favorite game, by the way, is Dragonquest 3, and I would even say Ultima: Exodus for the NES (This one is a fav because it was the very first game I ever bought for the NES when I was a kid. I used all my birthday money to buy it! And then promptly didn't understand at all what I was supposed to do, but it was still a lot of fun to get lost in that world).
Looking forward to all your future vids!
Thank you so much for the kind words and compliments, that means a lot to me! and I love dragon Warrior 3 too!!
@@davidvinc I don't expect a reply to this comment... I just really want you to know that I see you do so many of these videos regularly and you are always giving updates about RPGS and overall just keeping so much excitement going for games both old and new. It's just really frickin impressive to me. I am sorry I took this long to even write this to you, but just know, you have a fan in Japan (I live in Tokyo) who looks forward to every video you release. Please don't ever lose your happiness for what you do.
This video got me to check the PSN store and it looks like Romancing Saga 2 & 3 and SaGa Frontier Remastered are on sale rn
Oh good catch!
You should have mentioned the DS remakes too
I have a super strange relationship with the Saga series since the beginning. There are ones I absolutely LOVE like Romancing Saga 2 and 3, Minstrel Song and Saga Frontier.
But then there are also saga games that I despise. Saga Frontier 2 and Unlimited Saga make me ill to even think about. Scarlet Grace, loved by many for reasons that are perfectly valid, is one I also do not like because of the exploration system. Looking back, I think thats why I probably hate SF2 and US too.
I've been looking for a breakdown of this series and the mana series for a while now! Thank you.
One thing, I'm sure I read that the last remnant is pretty much a saga game in all but name, is this true?
Great video!
A remake of the first game for wonderswan color has been translated. It looks really good.
Yup I did an LP of it on my channel back in the day
Finally a reviewer that actually understands SaGa.
SaGa! A series that has some of my favorite games ever, and the game I hate THE MOST. I met SaGa on the Gameboy, too. Legend II is my favorite Gameboy game~!!
Most of the exposure to the SaGa series was reading about them in Nintendo Power and, much more recently, seeing your let's plays for FFL/SaGa 1-3. Those were a fun watch!
David, have you done a fitness video?!? How can I get in that shape? What’s your regiment look like?
I played Final Fantasy Legend when it released in 1989-90 on a friend's Game Boy, but didn't finish it until a few years later when I had bought a used Game Boy Color from FunCo Land (Remember them?) I managed to beat the game, and bought a copy of Final Fantasy Legend 2, which I fell in love with, playing it to the end multiple times with different party combinations. I tried Final Fantasy Legend 3, but couldn't get into it.
A few years later I bought Unlimited SaGa for PS2. Suffice to say I had no idea what was going on. Unlimited SaGa is terrible; the mechanics kept interrupting my enjoyment of the story.
I recently bought the SaGa Final Fantasy Legend collection on Steam, and will try to make an effort to beat Final Fantasy Legend 3 once and for all.
I own four Saga remasters: 2,3, Frontier, & Minstrel Song. Yeah, these games are DEFINITELY non-linear. Unbelievable a few years ago I never even heard of this series despite its legacy in the RPG community. Whatever you have to say about the remaster's quality, damned if Square isn't trying to appease the western fanbase. Unlike Bandai Namco and the Tales fanbase.
Prob I will play Minstrel song and Romancing SaGa 3 after Romancing SaGa 2
I can't seem to get into anything beyond Saga 3, which is my favorite. I actually think I prefer the gb version too.
I also prefer to grind. If I can't grind, I can't get into it.
I had Final Fantasy Legend 3 and I loved it as a kid. I still play it sometimes to this day!
Final Fantasy Legend 2
The price point is what’s keeping me from getting back into it. $50 for each h remaster is a bit steep.
Say what you will about Final Fantasy 2..... But without it we ironically wouldn't even HAVE SaGa
In a way, it was the first SaGa
I really hope they fix the gameplay if they remaster both SaGa Frontier II and Unlimited SaGa!
What gameplay issues did you experience in SaGa Frontier 2, out of curiosity? I know the extreme linearity compared to other titles is disappointing and I am never a fan of weapon durability, but was there anything else you didn't care for? Just curious!
@@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama I know that the saga games tend to have systems that are hard to understand, but enjoyable if you get into them. But imo the gameplay on frontier 2 was even more confusing than the other saga games, so much so that you needed a guide to succeed. Maybe a remaster could explain more things ingame or so.
@@stoeckli11 Yeah, I can understand that. I had the same issue with SF 1 & 2 both when I first played them. If they do a good job like with Minstrel Song (as far as in-game explanations and stuff goes), I think it will be a lot smoother for everyone.
I actually liked unlimited saga once I learned it. I think with a few changes and tweaks, they’d be able to do a remake in the style of Scarlet Grace. A lot of things need to be changed in a potential SF2 remaster. Way too confining for a SaGa game. I also didn’t like the soundtrack. Kenji Ito is the proper sound for the series. They had some amazing systems in place though. The ability to restore HP with LP was nice, so were alternate ways to learn arts instead of the usual lightbulbs.
hi Davidvinc RPGs
The only one I ever played was unlimited saga unfortunately. Only reason I brought it was because with an ffx demo and a really nice fold out cardboard box case.
Soiled me on the series and haven't played another since. The game made no sense!!!
I've been playing tyeougy the collection on the switch. I like the first game but I got soft locked cause it let you throw away key items so I couldn't finish world 4...thankfully this game is pretty short even with all the money grinding and I still enjoy it. I can't wait to get to the other 2 games since I heard they're a lot better.
So saga to me is foreign. Outside of the Final Fantasy Legends, I never even tried one of these. Saving the video for future reference