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Romancing SaGa
| Romancing SaGa | |
|---|---|
 | |
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ロマンシングサ·ガ | |
| Developer(s): |
Square |
| Publisher(s): |
Square |
| Artist(s): |
Tomomi Kobayashi (character design) |
| Composer(s): | |
| Platform(s): |
Super Famicom, WonderSwan Color, Mobile |
| Release date: |
Super Famicom JP January 28, 1992 WonderSwan Color JP December 20, 2001 Mobile phones JP March 5, 2009 (i-mode) JP March 18, 2009 (SoftBank) JP July 9, 2009 (EZweb) |
| Genre: |
Role-playing |
| Modes: |
Single-player |
Romancing SaGa is a role-playing video game originally developed and published by Square as the fourth game of their SaGa series in 1992 for the Super Famicom. The game was designed by Akitoshi Kawazu who had served as head developer for the previous SaGa titles, with fellow series veteran Kenji Ito providing the game's soundtrack. The original Super Famicom version sold over a million copies worldwide and was voted by readers of Japanese Famitsu magazine as the 53rd greatest game of all time in a 2006 poll.
The game was later ported to the WonderSwan Color handheld system in December 2002, being exclusive to Japanese players. In April 2005, an enhanced remake of the title for the PlayStation 2 called Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song was released in April 2005 in Japan, and in English for the first time in North America the following October simply under the title Romancing SaGa. In 2009, the original Super Famicom version was ported to mobile phones and the Wii Virtual Console service in Japan.
The game serves as the basis for most of the series that comes after, featuring the ability to choose between eight different characters to play as, a non-linear adventure with free access to the whole world, dozens of quests to embark on, and a unique leveling system. It is also the first entry that Tomomi Kobayashi did character designs for, and established her as the main character designer for the franchise.
Gameplay[edit]
Romancing SaGa is a non-linear RPG more in line with Western RPGs than Final Fantasy. At the start of the game, the player is given the option of assuming the role of one of eight main characters, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and starting points throughout the game's world. In addition, the player must select the profession of the character's parents from a list of eight choices each, which go towards determining their stat growth and roles in combat.
Romancing SaGa begins a staple of the SaGa series, both gameplay and story are largely open-ended, giving the player the ability to play through scenarios in a number of different orders, with some areas and portions of the narrative only becoming available once they have spoken to specific characters or performed certain tasks. The Event Scenario System is a hub of different quests lines the player can choose to partake in to advance the game. Completing quests will advance the time of the game unlocking new quests and tallying up Karma points by your actions to determine which of the two final scenarios you unlock. Some quests are exclusive to certain party members, while others can only be completed within certain time windows within the game. Battling monsters will also advance in-game time as well with weaker monsters not so much but more difficult monsters advancing by a fair bit. The player must then balance out battling and quests to see all the content the game. By completing story objectives and meeting new characters, the player is brought closer to the game's end, leading to the final confrontation where they must use all of their acquired skills to succeed.
While traveling through dangerous environments, the player's party can do battle with enemy monsters which roam around the screen and will enter combat when touched. Using a turn-based approach to combat, battle scenes are played out by having the player input commands for each individual party member at the start of each round, with the selected actions taking place in accordance with a character's "speed" statistic.
The player can have up to six characters in a party including their "main character" they chose. Characters can be equipped any of the ten available weapon classes, and four of the eight magic classes. Weapons will gain proficiency levels as the character uses them and can learn up to four Weapon Skills depending on weapon class and the strength of the weapon. Unlike most installments, weapons do not degrade, but Weapon Skills have a limited amount of uses and equipping a new weapon, even of the same weapon class or simply equipping and unequipping the same weapon will erase all weapon levels and skills.
Magic must be purchased in shops or shrines, with only certain places containing the highest level spells. While the the game appears to use a Vancian Magic system, the game actually calculates magic through an MP type system common to other Square RPGs. The actual spell uses one sees simply shows you how many times a spell can be used, but using any spell of the same magic type will lower the uses of other spells of that same type. All magic have their own MP pools though, so using up one type will not hinder a characters ability to use other spell types. Unique to SaGa, a character cannot use two magics of opposite types. Trying to teach Water Magic to a character using Fire Magic will erase all of their Fire magic ability unless relearned. This means that while characters are free to use any of the eight magic types, they can only use four types altogether.
Romancing Saga also utilizes a unique 3x3 grid formation system. The player assembles their team in one of three rows available in order to make the most of the characters weapons, magic, and stat build. Most weapons can only be used in the front row with spears being usable in the second row, while bows and magic can be used in any row including the back row. Certain Weapon skills also have ranges, so the player should set up their team accordingly. If the player is engaged in a battle with monsters by having the monster touch them from the side or behind on the dungeon map, the row configuration of the party will be scrambled. The player should either outfit the team with multiple weapons or give everyone magic in order to battle from any formation, or they can use the Forward and Backwards command to fix the placement of their team at the cost of that characters turn.
Another unique mechanic is the Jewel system. A player's team can only hold up to 9999 Gold at which point they won't collect anymore money from battles or treasure. If the player sells an item while their money is at max, the money will be converted into a Jewel, which will allow the player to acquire money again until they need to convert it back into a Jewel. Some items like the Ice Sword require more money than the player can technically hold, so acquiring Jewels is imperative. Jewels still act like normal money otherwise.
Plot[edit]
Romancing SaGa takes place in the fictional world of Mardias, created by the god Marda. Ages ago, a fierce war ravaged the heavens, pitting three malevolent gods—Death, Saruin, and Schirach—against Elore, the supreme deity. The conflict was so destructive that many gods perished, leaving only Elore and Nisa to face the remaining three. Eventually, Death and Schirach lost their powers, while Saruin was sealed away by the combined power of the ten Fatestones and the ultimate sacrifice of the hero Mirsa. For his noble act, Mirsa was elevated to godhood. In the aftermath, Nisa and Elore vowed to restore the world, and all gods swore an oath to avoid future wars.
A millennium later, the Fatestones are scattered across Mardias, and the forces of evil have grown stronger, intent on freeing Saruin from his prison. As these dark agents sow chaos across the land, eight heroes—each leading their own lives—are brought together by fate to confront the impending return of Saruin.
Main Characters[edit]
The game features eight central playable characters. At the start of a new game, the player may choose which of these characters to follow as the main protagonist, and customize that character's attributes. Characters not chosen by the player cannot be directly customized, but can still be encountered and added to the player's party.
- See also: List of Romancing SaGa characters
- Albert - The son of Lord Rudolf of Isthmus Keep, which protects Rosalia from the Bafal Empire, wishes to prove his worth as a knight and aspires to lead the Frontier Guard. He is insecure about his lack of skill compared to his older sister Diana.
- Aisha - A member of the nomadic Taralian Tribe who make their home on the Steppes of Galessa. Despite her grandfather's warnings, Aisha is bored and wishes to see the world that her tribe spends so much time avoiding, so she sneaks away from her village.
- Hawke - A pirate who sails the seas on his ship the Lady Luck with his Geckling first mate Guella Ha. A fearsome pirate by reputation, he is in conflict with a fellow pirate known only as Butcher.
- Sif - A warrior from Valhalland in the frigid south. A renowned warrior, she is tasked by Gato, the chief of her hometown, to investigate the rising temperatures of the region and its connection to the surge in monster activity.
- Gray - An adventuring swordsman whose story begins with a dangerous treasure hunt on Ligau Island, alongside Galahad the paladin and Myriam the mage.
- Claudia - A young girl raised alone in Mazewood by the witch Eule. She has befriended many animals and is adverse to other humans due to her isolation, but even she is unaware of the true secret concerning her past.She is always accompanied by her animal companions Brau the Bear, and Sylvan the Wolf.
- Jamil - A cunning thief from Estamir always accompanied by his friends Dowd and Farah. His world is turned upside down when he helps his friend Farah escape the retribution of a loan shark.
- Barbara - A dancer and part of a traveling troupe of performers who are currently making their living on the New Road into the Frontier. She is given the Amethyst necklace by a traveling Minstrel.
Other Versions[edit]
WonderSwan Color port[edit]
In September 2000, Square announced it had begun development on an enhanced version of Romancing SaGa for the Bandai WonderSwan Color handheld system. According to the company, some of the original Super Famicom version's planned material was unable to be added during its original release due to memory restrictions, and that the new hardware would allow for a more "complete" version of the game. The newly added material includes an additional story scenario, as well as a side-quest that allows the player to gather all ten "Destiny Stone" items where previously only a few were accessible. While gameplay and audio are identical to the original release, the game's graphics were enhanced to accommodate the system's larger color palette. The game was later released on in Japan December 20, 2001.
PlayStation 2 Remake[edit]
Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song was developed in 2005 and featured several changes to the game such as adding in gameplay mechanics from later installments, a new redesign of the characters, 3D Graphics and Voice Acting. It was released in the West the following year and marks the only version of the game released outside of Japan. In the West it was simply called Romancing SaGa.
Gallery[edit]
Super Famicom
WonderSwan
Guidebook
Original soundtrack
Official art of all 8 main characters of Romancing SaGa.
The map of Mardias.
External Links[edit]
- Official Super Famicom version info page and an Archive (link now redirects to the main RS page)
- Official WonderSwan version info page and an Archive (link now redirects to the main RS page)
- Official Mobile Phone version website and an Archive (Square's mobile game service shut down)
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Romancing SaGa. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SaGa Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Share-Alike license. The content might also be available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. |
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