I take a look at the extraordinary adventure of an old classic that comes before me again. One year after the release of Japan, it is the renewed version of SaGa Frontier, which was presented to the western players in 1998 and attracted attention with its different structure than the usual games. Let's find the answers to the questions such as what has changed in the intervening 23 years, what innovations the game has brought and which features has been preserved, and is it worth trying after so long.
SaGa Frontier shows that it is different from other games at the beginning. When you come to the main menu of the game, you see 7 different characters and when you want to start a new game, you are asked which character you want to play. The story of each character is different, but they all take place on the same system, and we also have the chance to meet other characters during adventures and recruit them to our team.
Pros
+ Eight different stories with eight different characters
+ Gameplay that frees the player
+ Almost 40 different team members
+ Musics
+ Unique style of play of each character type
+ Game acceleration feature
+ New content not added to the original game
Cons
- Needing too much grind
- Difficulty setting seems unstable
- Insufficient task prompts
- Some stories seem to not offer their potential
One Game Eight Different Adventures
Red who is attacked by an evil organization and unintentionally becomes a superhero, the supermodel Emilia accused of killing his fiancee, Asellus trapped between the worlds of humans and mystics, Blue struggling to become the most powerful magic user, the monster Riki looking for a way to save his homeland. We have characters who do. There are also those whose purpose is not clear, such as the T260G, a robot struggling to find its purpose in life, and the musician Lute, who quit laziness and left his home for the first time.
SaGa Frontier Remastered also brings the script of Fuse, a character who had to be removed from the original game because of time. Opened when you complete the story of one of the other characters, Fuse is an impatient detective investigating unnatural events. In terms of the integrity of the story, it is most logical to play after completing the scenarios of the other characters, but the choice is left to the player.
The game offers an average of 8 hours per character. The characters do not have a specific order to play, but some characters offer a more "user-friendly" experience for new players. Although the main story is clear, the game sets you free, even so much that you may not find where to go. It is said what you need to do but it may not sound clear enough Finally, it is possible to quickly advance the story and reach the end without developing your character, without enough people on your team. When you realize that you are dead when the enemies cough on you, it can be too late to come back and you may have to go back to the beginning if you don't have a proper save point. So it is not healthy to rush too much on story missions.
Powerful Team Requires Solid Grind
The free script style story isn't the only thing SaGa Frontier Remastered differs from similar genre games. We can also see the differences in the gameplay part. In the story, we usually say what you have to do and what you will do afterwards is completely left to you. It is a bit open-world logic, you can go straight to the story zone, or there are options like walking around to strengthen your character and recruit new members to your party.
The combat system is implemented in traditional JRPG logic as a turn-based, but character development is a bit different. Your character develops abilities instead of leveling up. The more human and humanoid characters use a weapon or ability, the more experience they can acquire in that area and new abilities. In addition, at the end of the fight, his abilities such as "health" "stamina" "charisma" increase. While robots get stronger with their equipment, mystics have an interesting ability to turn monsters into equipment. Finally, the monster class members we can get to the party can gain special abilities by taking the power of the monsters they defeated in the fight and changing their shape.
If we count the main characters who can join the party of other characters, there are about the party members in the game. Some characters can only be included in the group if certain conditions are met. You can create 3 teams of 5 people and choose which one you can switch to before the fight. The enemies level up and get stronger with your team. You can see your opponents on the map and depending on your running speed there is a chance to avoid the challenges. The opponents you will encounter in boss fights have a fixed power. If you give the game your hours and grind, it is possible to beat these opponents easily.
You really need to pay attention to strengthening the characters. For example, Red, one of the most suitable characters for the beginning, becomes a very strong warrior after his hero return, but he cannot transform when there are other members in his team, so he can be destroyed in one hit. That's why you have to get them into battle as a human being with simple fights and team tactics and make them stronger. You can also transform when the rest of the team is destroyed or blinded by the enemy, but leaving it to chance can be too risky.
What Innovations Has Remaster Bred To Us?
SaGa Frontier Remastered was presented to us by Square Enix as a renewed version of the PlayStation 1 game that came to the west in 1998. We have a 24-year-old game, isn't it necessary to offer innovations while presenting it to the new generation of players? Let's take a look at what's new.
All character images have been re-drawn and background images have been upscaled. The interface has been made more accessible. In the PC version, the opportunity to play with keyboard + mouse is provided. It is a feature that I have never used except the menus, but it is nice to have options. The New Game + option, which has become a standard in new generation games, is also here.
The most functional features added to the game are the addition of the "Story" section where you can follow where you are in the story and what you need to do, the speed boost option and the autosave feature where you can increase the speed of the game 2 or 3 times as you wish. Increasing the game speed really works. Fights, animations, transitions between maps are good at first, but you can benefit from the acceleration feature while doing the same things to grind. For example, when playing with Red, it saves you from the thought of "Okay, you are the most hero, return now I will beat them". Just keep in mind that when you increase the speed, monsters have the same speed increase. When you try to escape, you are very likely to go head to head.
The improvements made in the game are not limited to visual or systemic changes. There are also things that were planned to be added to the original SaGa Frontier game but were dropped due to budget and time constraints. The cut scenes that cause gaps in the stories of some characters are added to the game with Remastered. In this way, the story was made a little more meaningful. Fuse, a completely new character, has a script that will allow us to see the stories of other characters from a different perspective. The new soundtrack of the Fuse script was composed and added to the game by Kenji Ito, who made the music of the original game.
Result
SaGa Frontier Remastered, which has been renewed visually, has been improved in terms of gameplay, comes with a brand new character and the deficiencies of the old character stories, has succeeded in being a successful version that appeals not only to the players who will just start the game, but also to the fans who have taken the juice out of the game before. It is a game that has successfully preserved its roots from the PlayStation 1 era, but has been renewed in a way that can attract new generation players.
I enjoyed playing a game that gathered around certain audiences in time and reached a level that can be considered as classic. SaGa Frontier Remastered is definitely a very well revamped game, but it is not a game that can appeal to all players.
If you are interested in JRPG genre, old-fashioned games, and an experience where the game does not hold you by your hand and tell you everything to do, give this game a try if it appeals to you visually as well. It has features that we do not encounter much, such as its non-linear structure, each character having its own story, and still being included in the stories of other characters.
The price is acceptable for the game that promises an adventure of at least 70 - 80 hours. But if you want a game that has graphics suitable for the new generation, dazzles with its gameplay, and you can fight against enemies even without grind, I cannot recommend SaGa Frontier Remastered. You can still give it a shot.
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