Romancing SaGa 3 | |
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Developer(s) | Square ArtePiazza (remaster) |
Publisher(s) | Square (1995) Square Enix |
Producer(s) | Michio Okamiya |
Designer(s) | Akitoshi Kawazu |
Artist(s) | Tomomi Kobayashi |
Writer(s) | Akitoshi Kawazu |
Composer(s) | Kenji Ito |
Series | SaGa |
Platform(s) | Super Famicom, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows, Xbox One |
Release | Super Famicom
|
Genre(s) | Role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Romancing SaGa 3 [a] is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The sixth entry in the SaGa series, it was also the last developed for the platform. Originally released on the Super Famicom system in Japan on November 11, 1995, the game was released on the Virtual Console in Japan for Wii on September 21, 2010 and Wii U on February 26, 2014.
A remaster for Android, iOS and PlayStation Vita was announced on March 28, 2017. [1] On April 11, 2017, Akitoshi Kawazu tweeted that they would be working on an English version of the game after releasing it in Japan. [2] The remaster of Romancing SaGa 3 was released worldwide on November 11, 2019 for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Windows and Xbox One with the game available in English for the first time.
When the game begins the player chooses from eight characters to be the lead; additional characters can be found and recruited to the player's party throughout the game. [3] The gameplay is similar to other console RPGs of the era, but with several notable differences. For example, instead of 'level ups', character stats increase individually depending on their participation in a battle. Also, a character has a certain amount of 'LP', which decreases when the character's HP is reduced below zero or when they are hit while their HP remains at zero. If the LP of a character is zero, they are removed from the party, but they can be recruited again with the exception of the main character of the current game; if the main character reaches zero LP, it results in an automatic game over.
During battle, characters can learn ("spark") new techniques which often turn the battle in their favor; the same goes for gaining the ability to evade certain enemy attacks. There is also a Commander mode, which requires at least one character more than the lead character, with the lead character on the back lines and out of the battle. If players have less than a full party of six, they may use a smaller formations (i.e. using a four-person formation with a party of five so the main character can direct in Commander mode.) During Commander mode, techniques that involve multiple characters can be learned, depending on the formation.
When choosing to play as Mikhail, the player will start with a mini-war campaign, which continues as the game progresses. Some of these war campaigns must be won or the player loses the game. In these battles, the player controls a band of soldiers instead of individual characters. The player issues commands (forward, quick forward, rush, defend, retreat, morale up, etc.). The point of the battle is to advance to the other side of the map (the player starts on the right and must advance to the left).
In the game's backstory, an event called the Rise of Morastrum occurs once every three centuries; a solar eclipse occurs, with every newborn of that year except one destined to die; this survivor is called the Child of Destiny and receives great power. 600 years prior, the Child of Destiny became an evil ruler called the Archfiend, while 300 years prior the Child of Destiny was a good hero called the Matriarch who toppled the Archfiend. Prior to the game's opening, the Rise of Morastrum occurs again, and people begin seeking the Child of Destiny to discover their eventual fate. [4] [5] The eight main characters, all known to each other, set out on their own quests and end up involved in the hunt for the Child of Destiny. [6] They are Julian Nohl, a reckless and just swordsman; the tomboyish Ellen Carson; the shy Sarah Carson; Thomas Bent, friend to Julian, Ellen and Sarah; Monika Ausbach, sister to the Marquis of Loanne; Monika's brother Mikhail Ausbach von Loanne; Katarina Lauran, Monika's attendant; and Khalid, a wandering mercenary. They all cross paths in the village of Sinon. [5]
During their journey, the chosen protagonist learns that the Rise of Morastrum is tied to a realm called the Abyss and its ruling Four Sinistrals, which creates the heralding eclipse to manifest their power through the Child of Destiny. The Matriarch's birth and rise to heroism prompted the Sinistrals' fall, but with the latest Rise of Morastrum the Abyss Gates linking their realm to the world open again. It is also revealed that this time, two Children of Destiny have been born; Sarah and one referred to as the "Young Boy". The chosen protagonist and their party close the Abyss Gates and defeat the Sinistral clones sent through to wreak havoc in the world. Sarah tries to sacrifice herself to the Abyss to maintain peace until the next Rise of Morastrum, but the party and the Young Boy follow through a surviving Abyss Gate. In the Abyss, Sarah and the Young Boy combine their powers, awakening Oblivion, a being embodying the Abyss's power. Oblivion's death decimates reality, but the benevolence of Sarah and the Young Boy use Oblivion's energy to restore and remake the world, now free of the Rise of Morastrum.
Early work on Romancing SaGa 3 began at series developer and publisher Square in December 1993 shortly after the release of Romancing SaGa 2 , with full production beginning in the summer of 1994. [7] The production was troublesome for series creator Akitoshi Kawazu. While he wanted to return to the narrative and gameplay style of the original Romancing SaGa , he was unsure how to do it while innovating on the design. An early suggestion was to make the game a direct sequel to Romancing SaGa, but Kawazu wanted it to be an entirely original work. [8] With this game, Kawazu became "more proactive" in designing side quests that players could enjoy and get lost in. [9] Kawazu gathered ideas from the development team, which led to the character-specific mechanics such as Mikhail's war campaign and Thomas's trading mini-game. They were originally grander than the final versions, with Kawazu intending players to clear the whole game using these character-specific mechanics. Ultimately the battle system was the strongest element out of the implemented mechanics, so it became the dominant gameplay feature. [8] The game was produced by Michio Okamiya, who was chosen by Kawazu after previously working in the company's advertising division. [10]
The scenario was designed to combine the freedom of choice of earlier titles with the overarching narrative, with all the protagonists being part of a shared world and crossing paths during the adventure. [6] [9] The original story began with the concept that humans worldwide have superstitions regarding eclipses, and built on that the premise that there is actually something to fear, and that eclipses meant death to many people, so if you survived you must somehow be special. [11] When writing the story, Kawazu decided that the heroic Matriarch should be a woman as traditionally the demonic antagonists of games at the time were male. This naturally led into the plot twist of there being two Children of Destiny, one a man and one a woman. Kawazu did not communicate this clearly at the time, so when graphic designer Hiroshi Takai created the opening cinematic, he wrote the Matriarch as a male "Hero King". A feature he had to drop was the characters realistically changing clothes during their adventure, which would have been prohibitively complicated. [8]
The characters were designed by returning artist Tomomi Kobayashi. She wanted to achieve a "classic [and] cool" look for her characters, aiming for an elegant style. [12] One of the designs she remembered as a challenge were the non-human characters such as a lobster and a snowman. Speaking of the snowman specifically, Kawasu originally wanted a European stereotypical snowman, which she created after an early draft design based on the Michelin Man was rejected. [13] Kobayashi's favorite characters to design were Leonid and Mikhail. and the style she went for was one of elegance, trying to achieve a "classic, cool" look for her characters. [12]
Kenji Ito returned from previous games as both composer and arranger. [14] Rather than approach the game with a specific theme in mind, Ito allowed his music to evolve; while the opening theme evoked dread, he also wanted the score to represent hope. As Kobayashi's art was complete by the time Ito began work, he used them as inspiration for each character's theme. [12] His favourite piece from the score was the character Robin's theme, which was written to parody an unspecified anime opening theme. [15]
Romancing SaGa 3 was released on November 11, 1995. [4] It was the last game in the SaGa series developed for the Super Famicom. [16] Three guidebooks were published by NTT Publishing between December 1995 and March 1996. [17] [18] [19] The Super Famicom version of Romancing SaGa 3 went unreleased outside Japan, due to a combination of its potentially off-putting complexity and the amount of text needing translation. [9]
Discussions of doing a remaster of the game began even before the remaster of Romancing SaGa 2 was discussed in 2016. [20] They also discussed remastering the original SaGa game, but decided to work in ‘’Romancing Saga 3’’ because it was not available in all regions. [20] There was also growing concern that game resources from the Super NES era of games would become unusable and degrade. [20] The remaster in 2019 featured updated graphics, new storylines, a new dungeon called “Phantom Maze”, and a new game + mode. [20] [21] Gameplay has been altered in several ways, including multiple game save slots, and the ability to access New Game + even if you haven't yet finished the game. [20] Players are also able to turn off the new features if they chose. [20]
Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | NS: 73/100 [22] PS4: 74/100 [23] |
Publication | Score |
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Famitsu | 34/40 [24] |
TouchArcade | [25] |
Hardcore Gaming 101 praised the original title for being able to recruit many unique characters, unlike previous SaGa games where the characters were more generic, and praised the soundtrack as “excellent”. [26]
TouchArcade reviewed the worldwide re-release of the game, praising its character development system, though cautioning that the game has a high degree of difficulty. [25] Hardcore Gamer described the games open world as being innovative in 1995, but without a clear sense of where to go or what to do on occasion leading to the aforementioned difficulty. [27] Siliconera described the game as a classic “read the manual game”, even from the beginning players must make choices of weapons and characters without much context. [28]
Nintendo World Report also cited the revamped graphics, comparing them to Final Fantasy VI , but noted that the game did require a lot of “grinding”. [29] RPGamer noted that players can become so focused on side quests that they must actively steer their characters toward the end of the game. [30] They also noted that the side quests are too brief and “underdeveloped”. [30]
The Super Famicom original sold 1.3 million units in Japan by 2002, making it the second best-selling Romancing Saga title and at that time third best-selling entry in the SaGa franchise. [31] The PC remake version was among the best-selling new releases of the month on Steam. [32] [b]
Square Co., Ltd., also known under its international brand name SquareSoft, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto, who spun off part of his father's electronics company Den-Yu-Sha. Among its early employees were designers Hironobu Sakaguchi, Hiromichi Tanaka, Akitoshi Kawazu and Koichi Ishii, artist Kazuko Shibuya, programmer Nasir Gebelli, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. Initially focusing on action games, the team saw popular success with the role-playing video game Final Fantasy in 1987, which would lead to the franchise of the same name being one of its tentpole franchises. Later notable staff included directors Yoshinori Kitase and Takashi Tokita, designer and writer Yasumi Matsuno, artists Tetsuya Nomura and Yusuke Naora, and composers Yoko Shimomura and Masashi Hamauzu.
The Final Fantasy Legend, originally released in Japan as Makai Toushi Sa・Ga is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. It was originally released in Japan in December 1989 and North America in September 1990. It is the first game in the SaGa series and the first role-playing video game for the system. Square translated the game into English for worldwide release and renamed it, linking it with the Final Fantasy series to improve marketing. Sunsoft re-released it in North America during 1998; Square followed with a Japan-exclusive remake released for the WonderSwan Color and mobile phones in 2002 and 2007 respectively, it was also ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2020 and later ported to Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows in 2021.
SaGa (サガ) is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the PlayStation 2 to mobile phones, PCs, and modern multi-platform console releases. The series is notable for its emphasis on open world exploration, non-linear branching plots, and occasionally unconventional gameplay. This distinguishes the games from most of Square's other franchises.
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Unlimited Saga is a 2002 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation 2 as the ninth game in the SaGa series. It was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America and Europe; its European version was published by Atari Europe. The story follows seven characters as they explore mysteries connected to the Seven Wonders, artifacts left by an ancient civilization said to be capable of triggering a golden age. Battles carry over the skill-based levelling systems and nonlinear structure of earlier SaGa titles, with an exploration structure similar to a board game.
SaGa Frontier is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation. The game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA) in North America on March 24, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series, and the first to be released on the PlayStation. It is also the first in the series to be released under the SaGa brand outside Japan; previous overseas releases had used the Final Fantasy brand instead. A remastered version featuring additional characters, events and features was released on April 15, 2021 for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows.
Romancing SaGa is a 1992 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fourth entry in the SaGa series. It was subsequently released for the WonderSwan Color in 2001 and mobile phones in 2009. A remake for the PlayStation 2, subtitled Minstrel Song in Japan, was released in both Japan and North America in 2005 by Square Enix. A remaster of Minstrel Song was released worldwide in 2022 for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows.
Final Fantasy Legend II, known in Japan as SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The second entry in the SaGa series, it was released in 1990 in Japan, and in 1991 in North America. A remake for the Nintendo DS was released in 2009 by Square Enix, remaining exclusive to Japan. The Game Boy version was later ported to the Nintendo Switch and released worldwide by Square Enix in 2020, with later ports to Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows in 2021.
Final Fantasy Legend III, known in Japan as SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Game Boy. The third entry in the SaGa series, it was released in Japan in 1991 and in North America in 1993. A remake for the Nintendo DS was released in 2011 by Square Enix, remaining exclusive to Japan. The Game Boy version was later ported to the Nintendo Switch and released worldwide by Square Enix in 2020, with later ports to Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows in 2021.
Akitoshi Kawazu is a Japanese game designer, director, producer and writer. After joining Square in 1985, he went on to become a central developer for the first two Final Fantasy titles, then acted as creator and lead developer for the SaGa series.
Romancing SaGa 2 is a 1993 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fifth entry in the SaGa series. It received an expanded port for Japanese mobile devices from Square Enix in 2011. This version was remastered by ArtePiazza and released worldwide between 2016 and 2017 by Square Enix for Android, iOS, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One. A 3D remake entitled Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows in 2024.
SaGa is a series of science fiction role-playing video games produced by Square, now Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the PlayStation 2, and like the Final Fantasy series, the story in each SaGa game is independent of its counterparts. The music of the SaGa series consists of musical scores and arranged albums from various composers. Some of these composers have created soundtracks and pieces for other Square Enix franchises including the Final Fantasy series and Mana series. The SaGa series is divided up between the original series, released as the Final Fantasy Legend series in North America, the Romancing SaGa series, the SaGa Frontier series, and Unlimited SaGa.
Tomomi Kobayashi is a Japanese illustrator. She is best known for her character design and illustration work in the SaGa series of video games by Square Enix. Kobayashi has been termed an "iconic" artist for Japanese role-playing games, and has had multiple artbooks published.
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