I think Final Fantasy Legend 2 / SaGa 2 could be even more approachable than romancing saga 2, depending on your kit and preferences.
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There’s a boss in SaGa Frontier 1 that you can only defeat with a full party combo and if the internet didn’t exist that would have been the end of my SaGa Frontier 1 playthrough lol. Very cool system, but not one I was prepared to drill down like that.
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I was buying SaGa Frontier 2 last night and got Minstrel Song recommended to me, and… Steam, what is UP with the header here? It looks like a bad PowerPoint slide.
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I kinda fw it
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Something I want to say as a fledgling SaGa fan is: if you try one and you don’t jive with it, try another one! I bounced hard off Minstrel Song as my first SaGa because I had no idea what to do. SaGa 1 and SaGa Frontier helped me to start to understand the series better.
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My only experience with SaGa is from Final Fantasy Legend as a child, and I should probably rectify that someday…
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At times Kawazu subverts just to be subversive. I think it was for crystal chronicles where he told artists “do not make cat girls. They are overdone. Make like weird onion guys instead”
He seems to do a lot of ents/plant people which I really like. And the elemental affinities?? It’s cool that, iirc, there’s a “wood” element instead of plant type.
It feels like everything is set in stone nowadays, so I think as time goes on kawazu’s forced innovation for innovations sake will be appreciated more. Kind of like how in AAA’s the right analog stick is always camera nowadays. You’ll never have a game like kingdom hearts 1 where the right analog controls the battle menu.
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Guide to Playing SaGa in English
The SaGa series has seen a variety of releases, re-releases, remakes, and fan translations over the years. For someone new to the series, it can be a little bit dizzying. So I thought I’d compile a guide on how to play each SaGa game in English!
I’ll try to be as objective as possible, as I’m not writing reviews of the games as I haven’t played many of them myself. I just like compiling information and researching them in preparation.
Some aspects worth noting before we dive in:
- The first three games were made for Game Boy and were titled Final Fantasy Legend in North America as part of Square attempting to connect various RPGs to the known Final Fantasy series. They technically aren’t Final Fantasy games, even though they have very clear lineage. Future entries in the series drop that naming paradigm.
- Each game is a standalone entry and there are not connected stories. While there are similarities, they can be played in any order.
- SaGa is getting new entries and lots of remasters and remakes of the older games, all seeing worldwide release. Most entries in the series are easily accessible and reasonably priced.
- Most of the new SaGa releases don’t see physical releases in North America, but there are usually international releases with English included if you prefer owning the games physically.
The Final Fantasy Legend / Makai Toushi Sa・Ga
Released for the Game Boy in September 1990 in North America.
Loose carts of the Game Boy version seem reasonably priced currently at ~US$30 loose.
The Game Boy version was also released in the collection titled Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend for Steam, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. The first release of this collection was in December 2020.
The collection is regularly priced at US$19.99 but often on sale for less. It doesn’t include a ton of options or filters, but it does include increased game speed while not speeding up the music. It’s a nice way to play the games since it includes this game and the two that follow. It plays well on Steam Deck!
The first SaGa game was also remade for the WonderSwan Color in 2002. It features color sprites unlike the Game Boy grayscale palette.
The WonderSwan Color version has an English fan translation, and the sprites look quite nice.
Recommended way to play: Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend or WonderSwan Color fan translation!
Final Fantasy Legend II / SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu
Released for the Game Boy in November 1991 in North America.
Also included in Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend.
Loose carts seem to go for about ~US$40 right now, with CIB being much more. A little bit more expensive than the first at least at first glance.
A full 3D remake for the Nintendo DS was released in Japan in September 2009 with the subtitle Goddess of Destiny. It wasn’t released outside of Japan, but luckily it has a fan translation. I’ve heard great things about the remake. Stylistically, it looks very similar to Dragon Quest IX on the DS.
Recommended way to play: Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend or DS remake fan translation!
Final Fantasy Legend III / SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha
Released for the Game Boy in August 1993 in North America. Notable for not having the involvement of series creator Akitoshi Kawazu. The least highly regarded of the three Game Boy games.
Also included in Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend.
Loose carts are again in the ~US$40 price range.
Just like SaGa 2, SaGa 3 got a full 3D remake for Nintendo DS, which released only in Japan in January 2011 with the subtitle Shadow or Light. It received a fan translation as well and is highly regarded. Akitoshi Kawazu was involved in this remake.
Recommended way to play: Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend or DS remake fan translation!
Romancing SaGa
The first jump to home consoles! Released for Super Famicom only in Japan in January 1992. The original SFC version does have a fan translation though.
The first Romancing SaGa game was ported to WonderSwan Color, but that version hasn’t seen a fan translation.
The game was remade for Sony PS2 and got released in North America in October 2005. In Japan, the remake got the subtitle Minstrel Song, but in NA it was just titled Romancing Saga.
You can find used copies of Romancing SaGa for PS2 for ~US$30. But it also got an HD remaster that released in December 2022 for modern platforms (Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, iOS, and Android) with the title Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered.
It has been well-received, but it’s worth noting that the 3D models have odd proportions as a stylistic choice. To me, they almost seem like what if a team took the proportions of 2D pixel art sprites and applied them to 3D.
Recommended way to play: Minstrel Song Remastered since it’s easily accessible and in crisp HD or the fan translation of the Super Famicom release if you prefer pixel art.
Romancing SaGa 2
Released for Super Famicom only in Japan in December 1993. One of the more beloved entries in the series. A fan translation for the SFC release does exist.
A 2D remaster of the game was released in North America in December 2017 for Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC, iOS, Android, and even Vita (still available as of Apr 2025). Very much in the same style as the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster releases.
Then in October 2024, a full 3D remake was released with the subtitle Revenge of the Seven, which has received positive reviews.
Recommended way to play: honestly, all seem quite good, whether you go with the remake or the remaster! But the Steam release of the 2D remaster has some negative reviews surrounding some crashes and lack of robust controller support (but I haven’t verified this myself).
Romancing SaGa 3
Released for Super Famicon only in Japan in November 1995. An English fan translation does exist.
A 2D remake by the same company as the Romancing SaGa 2 also exists, released for the first time in North America in November 2019. It’s available on modern platforms (Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC, iOS, and Android) It was released on Vita too, but is no longer available on the PSN store.
Recommended way to play: Remaster seems like the way to go!
SaGa Frontier
Released for the Sony PS1 in North America in March 1998. Sold well, coming off of the heels of the success of Final Fantasy VII. It was the first release of the series in North America on its original console since Final Fantasy Legend III.
Incomplete versions of the PS1 release can be bought for ~US$25, a little bit more for CIB.
A remastered version of the game was released in April 2021 for modern consoles (Switch, PS4, PC, iOS, Android), with fleshed out storylines that were previously incomplete, updated visuals, menus, and increased speed modes, while maintaining the visual identity of the original release.
Recommended way to play: Remaster is the way to go due to the completed storylines, increased speed options, and updated menus.
SaGa Frontier 2
Released for the Sony PS1 in North America in February 2000. Deviates from the rest of the series in that there are only two character storylines to follow. But unique and innovative in other ways. It features pixel art sprites with painted watercolor backgrounds using a pastel color palette, giving the game a distinctive look.
Used copies of the PS1 release go for about ~US$40 right now.
A remastered version of the game was released in March 2025 for modern consoles (Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, iOS, Android), with updated visuals, menus, and increased speed modes, while maintaining the visual identity of the original release.
Recommended way to play: Remaster is the way to go due to increased speed options and updated menus.
Unlimited Saga
Released for Sony PlayStation 2 in North America in June 2003. Largely viewed as the black sheep of the series due to its strong adherence to tabletop-esque game mechanics. As unique in look and gameplay as ever. Weirdly does not capitalize the “g” in Saga in the title. SaGa then went pretty dormant for over a decade after this release…
Has not seen a remaster or remake or release on modern consoles. Used copies go for around ~US$20.
Recommended way to play: PS2 version, as it’s your only option.
SaGa: Scarlet Grace
SaGa’s return to console releases with this Vita game originally released only in Japan in December 2016.
It eventually saw a port to modern platforms (Switch, PC, PS4, mobile) with North American release in December 2019 titled SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions.
Recommended way to play: your platform of choice.
SaGa: Emerald Beyond
The latest release in the SaGa series, released worldwidein April 2024 for modern platforms (Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, mobile).
Recommended way to play: your platform of choice.
Other Releases
There have been mobile and browser games released in the SaGa series, but they’re sadly either no longer playable or were never released in English.
- Emperors SaGa - mobile game released in Japan in September 2012, shut down in April 2017
- Imperial SaGa - Japan-only browser game released in June 2015 and shut down in December 2019
- Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe - iOS & Android free-to-play game that saw an English release in June 2020 but shut down December 2024
- Imperial SaGa Eclipse - Japan-only browser game released in October 2019 as a sequel to Imperial SaGa
SaGa-Likes
If you’re curious about more games inspired by and similar to SaGa, here’s a list I’ve compiled:
- The Last Remnant - executive produced and with scenario by Kawazu, this RPG for the Xbox 360 and PC saw a remaster for Switch and PS4 somewhat recently; it was developed by many SaGa team members and features unique combat systems
- Legend of Mana - a PS1 entry in the Mana series, produced by Kawazu and developed by the SaGa team
- Final Fantasy II - Kawazu was the battle designer for FF 1 & 2, and it’s the game that preceded the first SaGa game
- The Alliance Alive and The Legend of Legacy - two games developed by ex-SaGa team members at FuRyu and other various collaborators. Initially released for the Nintendo 3DS but then remastered for modern consoles. The Alliance Alive is generally regarded as FuRyu hitting their stride.
- Live-a-Live - another Squaresoft RPG where you can choose from many different character storylines to play from; saw its first English release for Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC.
- The Secret of Varonis - indie RPG for PC inspired by the Game Boy SaGa games
- Octopath Traveler 1 & 2 - similar in the ability to play the story of many different characters, which is present in many of the SaGa games; available on modern consoles
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Very nice write-up and very helpful. I didn’t know about that Wonderswan remake, that’s cool. From what I’ve seen, the DS remakes of 2 and 3 are pretty substantially different from the Gameboy originals to the point it’s worth playing both. Or at least, I personally plan to play both.
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Lord, Legend of Mana is like my game and I had no idea it was the SaGa team. I always joke it was my first Yakuza game, but maybe it was really my first SaGa.
Except I did play one of the Final Fantasy Legend games a bunch as a child. You could eat pieces of monsters and become those monsters? Right?
I played the wheels off the Romancing 2 remake late last year, and it got me to buy Emerald Beyond, which I have not finished but have enjoyed thoroughly every time I fire it up. What a weird little game! Pure Turn Based Content.
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Yep! That’s in a bunch of them and the way they grow might be the most incomprehensible part of the whole series to me.
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well, you know, you are what you eat
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in case it’s relevant to anyone here, the SaGa 3 remake’s copy protection remains uncracked at time of writing and playing a translated copy on Twilight Menu or nds-bootstrap does not work. the game will crash during the first battle or upon loading a saved game. you need a flash cart or an emulator to run the patched game properly. pls do not make the same mistake i did :(
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Oh wow, I didn’t know that! Thanks for the information. I’m glad I held on to my original DS with the old R4. I do most of my DS playing on a hacked DSi now, so I would have run into this exact problem.
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i hacked my 3ds specifically to play this game (i can’t bear to emulate DS/3DS games for neurotype reasons) and was amazed to find out i had fixated myself on one of like three games in the entire DS library that don’t work
i have heard that this may have been fixed in the christmas update to TM++, currently updating to verify
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Super curious to hear how it goes, please share! I want to play this in the same way as you and Mnemogenic!
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i was wrong! it was fixed! we are in business :3
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Oh heck yes, I need to update my TM++
SaGa Frontier 2 is the type of game where it’ll put a bunch of extremely high level 22000 HP enemies in an area that dive bomb at you that would literally take 60 minutes to beat on first play through. And then gives you nothing in return. You can run away but these birds are fast. The game is just so unhinged.
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I think I tried the saga 2 remake translation way back when it released, using my cyclo DS evolution, and it also crashed.
Yeah, it feels like I’ve experienced this on a smaller scale every time I play the game. That difficulty gradient is something.
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Neat look at the recording of the Roma 2 remake OST:
Sounds great and cool to see the process. Loved them joking about making fun of Ito wearing shades lol! It’s interesting how the SaGa series has their own band—Destiny 8. Sort of reminds me of Falcom’s sound team in a way.
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