/vrpg/ — SaGa series

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>>3945497 (OP)
>who got given shoestring budgets and left to make what they want.
It is interesting they managed to somehow hobble along.

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>>3945497 (OP)
Explain the regions please? Is the world of SaGa like 1980s Flash Gordon?

>>3945689
SaGa Frontier is just a bunch of random garbage thrown together. Awful game.

>>3945526
Why do I love Scarlet Grace but hate Emerald Beyond?

>>3945742
Ok, but the first three on GB?

>>3945689
You know how planar travel works in D&D? It's kinda like that.
You've got all these separate worlds floating in a weird sort of astral sea that you can cross with special Region ships that work kinda like a spelljammer ship, alternatively you can also just open a dimensional door and jump from one world to another if you're a powerful enough mage like Blouge or Virgil.
SaGa 1, 2 and Emerald Beyond work on a system of doors built by either divine beings or some powerful civilizations.

>>3945781
So…Yggdrasil?

>>3945742
Fuck off filtered pleb

>>3945689
>>3945742
it's not a bad game, just a REALLY poor choice to start the saga franchise with.

I can't stand how people in these games just drop everything to join your party with usually no setup or explanation. It's like every actual party member has the setup of an npc summon from Octopath.

>>3945968
This is yet another myth about these games, outside of a couple of exceptions like Slime in SF1 that are largely comedic or adventurer types like Gray who're explicitly in it for the thrill of the trip every recruitable always has some story behind them even if a certain main character might not see it, most recruitable characters are usually locked behind questlines too.

>>3945812
The region are in about all the SaGa games

>>3946053
bruh, just boot up Saga Frontier, pick a character, get to the bar or whichever place they lumped a bunch of characters into, and have a bunch of people tag along after a short banter and then act like they're close comrades in events immediately.

>>3945526
Kawazu decided to get rid of dungeons for this one. Then for Emerald Beyond, how about we remove healing in combat and shops in towns? What will he come up with next for the blue-themed game?

>>3948096
I was able to beat Scarlet Grace and Emerald Beyond without any healing in battle, so I guess Kawazu is already there.

>>3945497 (OP)
I've been enjoying the remake of Romancing SaGa 2, but for reasons different from what I typically enjoy in a SaGa game. Rather than making stuff work with what you have, you're encouraged to minmax your build and create the most optimal party composition. I enjoy this type of challenge, though this is not something that any RPG fan, let alone a SaGa fan, would also enjoy. It goes against the idea of roleplaying, and for some, that's a red flag in RPGs.

>>3945812
I started with Frontier 1. What's a better starting point?

>>3950219
SaGa Frontier 1 is fine to start with.

>>3945497 (OP)
I’ve never played any of these games. Will I ever stop seeing the logo as “Salsa”?

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>>3945497 (OP)
SaGa 1 is still among my favorite olf rpgs. The leveling can be wonky and sometimes your mutants rock and sometimes they suck, but that always adds a different twist of challenge. I love that the story is both simple but feels poignant.

>>3950533
Reminds me of The Dark Tower in a way

>>3950533
Outside of being the quintessential "Kill God" story I just really like the meta side of it all

>>3952006
Can’t help but feeling like opening a door and it’s just this side pocket reality

>>3952006
I like that when you get to the top God thinks he's congratulating you and expecting to be praised but instead you tell him to go fuck himself and then OHKO him by chopping him in half with a chainsaw.

>>3950533
Secret of Varonis is pretty good.

>>3952373
Nyet

>>3952564
Thoroughly elaborate or deliver a written apology.

>>3952569
In short, it copies so much of Saga 1 and 2, that it’s “originally “ is thrown out the window. The combat is balanced, but the overall story is almost lifted with no real grace. It’s a mockup of 2 more than anything.

>>3952844
That's the perfect description of a "pretty good" game. A copy of something great.

>>3953941
That’s waste

>>3950765
How so? I’m new to this saga stuff and all I’m getting from saga is that it’s like Final Fantasy but if it stayed it’s classical self, correct?
>>3950765
Multiversal tower that tethers reality?

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>>3954884
SaGa 1's about a bunch of nondescript gonzo fantasy murderhobos climbing a tower because legend says that if you get to the top you'll enter Heaven, meet the Big G himself and he'll grant you a wish, allegedly.
Said tower is not only a gruesome dungeon filled with monsters but it also has doors that lead to various worlds, the story is surprisingly good for a game so old and simple so I won't spoiler you the fine details, it's best to experience it for yourself so you see what all the fuss is about.
>it’s like Final Fantasy but if it stayed it’s classical self
It depends on what you mean by classical self because most people consider FF4-10 to be classical FF and SaGa has nothing to do with that.
Kawazu was the main designer for the first two Final Fantasy and SaGa branches off those two titles in particular, it polishes and greatly expands FF2's character building system while also keeping the focus on party building and non invasive main story of the first FF, there's a lot of other recurring elements and tropes from the first two FF games that Kawazu loves like pirates, fairies, emperors etc. but overall SaGa goes in a very different direction, FF focuses more and more on the spectacle, accessibility and grand narrative while SaGa keeps experimenting with complex systems, non linear world building and fuckhuge casts of characters.

>>3945497 (OP)
Unfinished piece of crap. Charming crap, sure. Still unfinished. Rs3 and sf2 are best.

>>3954926
I thought rs1 is unfinished?

>>3954974
They had to cut a lot of content because Nintendo didn't give them a bigger cartridge, to some degree this was fixed in the Wonderswan remaster but Minstrel Song (remastered) is the definitive version of the game with all the intended content and more.

>>3954884
Yes and yes

>>3950533
How could rs3 and ff2 leveling be improved?
>>3954984
Not playing bobbly head. The modern saga games like emerald are unplayable for me. I doubt they will make the rs3 remake good. The rs2 remake is much worse than the source.
>>3948323
Am on my third rs3 run. Never beat all secret bosses nor the mikhail mini game. What's the reward for the latter? I think I need 800hp for the super bosses, where to get? Nothing to find online for this game.

>>3945497 (OP)
The combat mechanics of the games are so underrated. There should be more games that play like the SaGa games.

>>3945742
saga frontier is the only saga game you or anyone should ever play. and by play i mean spend 85% researching shit rather than actually play

>>3954926
>complex systems, non linear world building and fuckhuge casts of characters.
none of them are memorable and has as much depth as FF characters

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>>3955453
>none of them are memorable
Really? I thought a ton of them are memorable. Literally every protagonist in SaGa Frontier and it's sequel alone were memorable.
>has as much depth as FF characters
Not true if you aren't spoiled by voice-acted cutscenes and drama, the characters in SaGa Scarlet Grace are actually really dynamic and well written, same for SaGa Frontier 2... Hell there's even a lot of interesting stuff going on in the background of Minstrel Song.

>>3955453
You are supposed to grow out of angsty teenage dramas like Final Fantasy.

>>3955638
>2026
>Seriously engaging with trolls

>>3955151
>Not playing bobbly head
Sure, you can do that. For me it's easily the best RPG I've played so far.

>>3956508
Everyone or nearly everyone says so. Some artstyle repell me successfully.

>>3955638
Personal tastes differ I guess.
>>3955639
>not appreciating angst in JRPGs
>>3955640
>dismissing any statement as trolling while simultaneously not contributing anything to the discourse

>>3956579
You're not here to contribute anything, go back.

>>3956596
If you can't handle a hint of discourse, reddit might be more suitable

>>3956598
Dropping insults while also dismissing other people pointing it out is not discourse, go back to your final fantasy threads, nobody wants you here.

>>3956604
Who was being dismissive in the first place?

I own the following:
RS2 (HD, not the remake)
RS3 HD
Minstrel Song Remastered
Scarlet Grace (PS4)
Frontier
Collection of SaGa
Which one is the best to start with? Saga 1? RS2?

>>3956987
Frontier is an easy one to start with and many recommend it for your first Saga game.
Minstrel Song is the one I started with and it was incredible, but it could be a bit overwhelming for a first game.
Saga 1 is a lot of fun, it's very simple and easy to understand, just dont make something like a 4-Mutant party until you understand the game more. It was also ported to the Wonderswan if that interests you.
Honestly it depends on which one catches your eye more, these games are not very long and theyre extremely replayable so the time investment isnt big if you just intend to play each of them once.

>>3945742
>>3945750
Dont listen to him. Saga Frontier is pure magic. Every single character experience. It's amazing. Just block the light take a week off and consume the magic. You might have to take breaks between 6-12 hr sessions I did it right after launch as a kid during a 3 month summer break from school.

>>3956987
IMO the only two games you might not want to start with are Minstrel Song and Scarlet Grace, the former because it's very mechanically dense and sort of a collection of mechanics from nearly ever game that came out before that, the latter because it's a very different format compared to every previous game and doesn't do a great job at immediately showcasing the series' strong points like other entries, both are more oriented towards the hardcore side of the userbase, they also have a lot more cameos and throwbacks to older games than everything else on your list if that's a problem to you.

I got the RS2 Remake on sale and started it as my first SaGa experience
Fantastic so far
I really enjoy the openness of it all, but the tutorialization they added is just enough to explain concepts which I believe translate somewhat to other titles

>>3952373
I looked it up and quite like the idea, but wish they hadn't also tried to mimic the gameboy graphics style. Not to say I'd need it to be a full HD graphics fest, but the aesthetic of the old SaGa games are the least appealing thing about them for me and it feels a little lazy. Still, going to put it on my list of it ever comes to Switch or I eventually get a steam deck.

Is there any point to using the Hunter shift formation in RS2 over the Free fight 1? Free fight 1 just seems better in every way.

>>3959823
https://romancing-saga-2.blogspot.com/p/gameplay.html#formations
Always consult this for formations because the game doesn't explain shit.

Sometimes a series is obscure for a reason.
SaGa favors innovation over literally anything else related to the game, and without regard to considering maybe there's a reason why games do recurring things.