SaGa Frontier Remastered

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

.

Review:

When it comes to Square Enix’s long-running JRPG franchises, the SaGa series is among my least favorite, and none of the games I’ve sampled in the series have reached the heights of the publisher’s headliner JRPG franchises like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, or Octopath Traveler, or even one-off experiments like I Am Setsuna or Harvestella. However, I’m always ready to be surprised by a game I underestimated, so I looked forward to trying out Saga Frontier Remastered, a remaster of the seventh game in the franchise, released in 1997 on PlayStation, with this remaster releasing in 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.

In a way, SaGa Frontier is a precursor to the Octopath Traveler games, as it has players select one of seven heroes to follow, each with their own, with this release adding a new unlockable eighth character, who was cut from the original release of the game. These characters vary wildly in their personality, outlook, tone, and situation, with Emilia the convict aiming to break out of prison and get revenge on the masked man who killed her husband, Blue the magician sent on a quest to learn different kinds of magic and kill his brother to claim his place as a master… and then you have T260, a robot trying to find the missing data letting them know what their mission is supposed to be, and Riki, a fox-like monster tasked with finding magic rings to save his homeland.

Having this many characters is an idea that mostly worked well in the Octopath games (though even there it had its issues), but in SaGa Frontier dividing the attention among these characters seems to have resulted in rushed stories, with characters often not getting proper introductions, or suddenly appearing in their starting area without a clear indication how they got there.

However, this game’s problems run far, far deeper than that. Players are given no introduction to this game’s mechanics. Items are apparently only for use in battles, yet I can’t seem to find a way to use them there? I just got a shield, but somehow can’t find any way to equip it on any of my characters? I normally don’t feel it’s necessary to explain the basics of how to play a Turn-Based JRPG given how universal these often are, but when those basics are different than the norm in some way, I think at least a quick primer is called for.

Another issue is a problem a fair amount of PlayStation-era JRPGs suffered from, using pre-rendered backgrounds that often have disorienting perspectives and layouts, compounding this confusion with odd mazelike level design. Things are made even worse here with doors that can’t be used that look identical to doors that can, and one-way passages.

However, the thing that absolutely kills this game is the absurd difficulty. I started the game by playing through as one character, working my way through the game until I got to a boss, who promptly killed me since I had no idea how to use healing items. Undeterred, I selected a different character… and then proceeded to die in the very first fight I got into. Let me be clear: I am no stranger to RPGs, and in my years the number of them I have played may well number in the hundreds at this point. And I can say that this is the most insane early-game difficulty I have ever encountered in the genre.

When it comes to presentation, this game’s 2D visuals have been smoothed out and presented in a higher resolution, and the user interface has been updated as well. SaGa Frontier still looks extremely dated, but it’s an improvement all the same.

In addition to that, this release includes a number of additional improvements. I already mentioned the restored eighth character campaign, but there are also added cutscenes, customizable controls, a fast forward feature, a music test mode, and a gallery of art assets. If you enjoyed this game when it first released, I think you’ll be pleased with the treatment this game has gotten in this release.

That said… oof. Even for a series I generally dislike, SaGa Frontier hits a new low in my opinion. The somewhat dated visuals I can forgive, but the lacking storytelling, the confusing labyrinthine level design, the lack of proper tutorial, and the absolutely insane difficulty all join together to make this a game that seems like it’s trying to make you hate it. And if that’s the case… well, mission accomplished.

And let me just take a moment to say… Square Enix, if you’re listening, you have an absolute wealth of great classic games that still haven’t been ported to Nintendo Switch. Chrono Trigger, Bahamut Lagoon, Chrono Trigger, Einhander, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, Brave Fencer Musashi, Chrono Trigger, Dewprism/Threads of Fate, Chrono Trigger, Parasite Eve, and… let’s just add Chrono Trigger to that list as well. So next time you’re considering remastering a game for release on modern platforms, maybe instead of bringing over an absolute garbage game, you could consider one of those instead? Just a thought.

tl;dr – SaGa Frontier Remastered is a modern remaster of a 1997 Turn-Based JRPG, and such a terrible one that I have to wonder if it’s actually trying to make the player hate the game. Terrible storytelling, confusing level design, and an absolutely insane difficulty that resulted in one character getting a game over in the first battle… I honestly don’t know what they were thinking with this one. But I definitely don’t recommend you pay to find out.

Grade: D

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Jamie and His Cats, Ben, Ilya Zverev, Andy Miller, Johannes, Jaka, Jared Wark, Gabriel Coronad-Medina, Francis Obst, Kristoffer Wulff, Seth Christenfeld, and Vince Verrinoldi. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}