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Can you feel the love?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 15
Date: October 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is avant-garde. Why just play an RPG when you can make one. The entwinement of one character to the next is miles beyond Sony's predecessor Saga Frontier. But perhaps even more intriguing than the open-ended adventuring with EIGHT different playable characters is the romance involved. The Final Fantasy series has the most timeless music ever orchestrated into a video game (with all regards to the inspiration of Nobuo Uematsu). With the accompany of this man's infectious melodies, you never knew what love was until you played Final Fantasy. But in Romancing Saga, all the love can be found right at your fingertips. Using your own series of algorhythms, you control the pace of battle. No matter where you wonder to, your story will continue to unfold. This is the game you've been dreaming about. Are you ready to journey into the unknown? Ask yourself, is the love there?

MARVELOUS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 16
Date: November 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Okay, I've been following people review for Star Ocean (the game was really linear and people were asking for less linear game), and after Radiata Stories which was a linear+sub quest... but people were complaining. Now, it's a FULL NON-LINEAR GAME WITH QUESTS. Anyway, Romancing Saga may not be the best game in graphical ways but it sure have a lot of details and gorgeous colors. Yes, the big head seems a little weird but it change from all the others RPG. Too, the complexity of the battle system don't bother me. Again, people were complaining that Radiata Stories was too simple in the battle system... and now... Arw... ! Anyway, it's like a traditional RPG and it got its style. The voice are beautiful too and the world is very complete. I hope that some of you won't listen to those who always find a trouble in a game because Romancing Saga is very interesting. Anyway, it's up to you to judge it.

SaGa as it should be

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: January 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is far more faithful to the SaGa Frontier series than Unlimited Saga. Romancing SaGa features eight possible players, each of whom is eligible to do nearly all the sidequests before attacking the game's final boss.

As any good video game sequel does, Romancing SaGa (RS) keeps the best features of the previous games and revises potential weaknesses. There are eight possible main characters, like in the first SaGa. The play is amazingly open-ended, making it incredibly different from the typically linear RPG. So in essence, many of the advantages of the first game have endured.

Also, the game has good graphics, some good sound/music, and an in-depth form of character progression. Using a "gems" system, the player buys certain skills that make them better using certain weapons or spells, or finding treasure, or climbing mountains. Unlike the first SaGa, any skill you have discovered with a player can be used in battle.

There are different habitats and sometimes the game has the potential for a little redundancy that can plague any dungeon-crawler. However, the use of Proficiencies, battle skills, and the tempering of weapons and armor keep you guessing and make the game's strategic elements more prevalent. Calculating the remaining uses you have with a weapon and the remaining Life points of a character in a dungeon maintains a significant degree of excitement in the quests and adventures.

The game has potential for literally hundreds of hours of play and also has replay value as each character's journey may have similarities, but also significant differences as well. Each character has a different type of development and no two games are the same. If you are looking for a sound RPG investment, this is it.

A Great RPG That Let's You Lead It Your Own Way!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A quick introduction to Romancing Saga and why you should have it!

Romacing Saga is a non-linear RPG game set in the world of Mardias. Mardias is made up of 10 lands with thier own people, religions, and, cultures. The ruler of all gods, Elore, once took down the Three Evil Gods Saruin, Shirach, and Death and locked them away. Death and Schirach were stripped of there powers and sent away. But now Saruin is returning and it is up to you to stop him. There are 8 players to choose from with their own unique skills and powers. I won't get into great detail about them but I think you should definetly go study up on this game and see what it is about yourself.

Just to let you know, this game might not be for you! If you are a person who likes straightforward games that tell you exactly what to do step by step this is notsuch a good game. But if you like adventerous games that let you explore and do what you want, like me, then this is a great game for you! This game does lead you through a little bit at a time by letting you go through a variety of quests. It has awesome graphics and... THE MUSIC IS TO DIE FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think the director did a wonderful job! If you decide to buy this game I would go look at a couple walkthroughs for a little bit help though! I should know, I've looked a couple times.

Now if you are ready, click that BUY button, pop it in your PS2, and step into the world of Mardias!!!

WOW ... SUPER GAME!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Thanks for such great service. Item was well packed and shipped quickly. I will be back!

If you liked Saga Frontier.....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 36 / 41
Date: October 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you liked Saga Frontier, you'll like this as well. The game is pretty much set up in exactly the same way. You start out the game, you can pick between 7 characters, and each has an individual story. Unfortunately though, the story is like saga frontier, good for some of the characters (BUT THE GAME DOESNT GIVE YOU A DAMN CLUE AS TO WHERE TO GO NEXT). However, the reason I rated the game 4 stars is because of its other qualities. I thought the battle system was awesome, I love the learning new attacks randomly, with the little lightbulb just like saga frontier. Also, combination attacks are really cool as well. The point is that the battle system isnt bad. Also you can see the monsters which is a plus.

~I'd recomend this game to anyone who just wants to have a good playing experience, but isnt looking for TOP OF THE LINE. I hope this review was helpful, all the reviewers out there giving it 5 out of 10 or 6/10, its much better than that, ive seen some pretty crappy games in my time, and although this one isnt the best, its by no means, the worst.

-ONE LAST NOTE: If any of you played "unlimited Saga" (which was the saga game that came before this) This one is nothing like it fortunately, square brought back classic style and it suites the game well.

Romancing Saga looks good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: August 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I own most of the Square(Square Enix) games and this one looks as good as the rest. I took it for a test ride, and didnt see anything to complain about. Unfortunatley, I didnt get too much time logged in on it, for i have games coming out the wazoo, and not enough time to play them all 8).

Awesome game - For those who like the style.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is everything it promises to be, and more - But what it promises is not for everyone. There are several points that are extremely well done, but only a certain kind of gamer will enjoy.

Firstly, the world itself. It is rather large, but moreover, it is ~alive~. It changes. The various characters in the world follow their own paths, and events will happen in the world, whether or not you are present. This is great, the world feels like it's a changing place. However, it has the disadvantage that you cannot complete all of the quests in the game in one (or even several) play through. If you're the kind of person that needs to complete every quest and side quest, probably shouldn't play this. If you like the living world, you'll love it. I remember completing one quest to help someone do some grave robbing, and from that point forward, he followed me from town to town, trying to sell his Mummy. :-D

Scaling. The monsters automatically scale to the relative power of the party. It makes "power leveling" a non-issue. If you like becoming the most powerful party on planet, you'll be disappointed. Furthermore, the time spent 'grinding' means you'll miss that many more quests. That said, bosses seem to not scale in the same way, so you have to gauge how much time you spend leveling with the difficulty of the bosses. You can walk straight to bosses way too difficult for you, though, so you have to be careful (I got juiced by a massive hydra deep in some dungeon after less than 3 hours of play)

You can't do everything. Seriously, you can't. Even with a party of 5 uber characters, you just can't do everything at once. The Proficiency system in R.S. forces you to only have a subset of your adventuring abilities accessible at once. For example, you're going to a dungeon, so you want to have the 'find chests' skill, and since you're concerned about locks and traps, you need 'pick lock', 'find traps', and 'disarm traps'. You also think there might be some walls to climb, so you equip 'climb' as well. That's it. You find a treasure map, or a rich vein of ore, or a pit you want to jump over, and you'll have to go back to the dungeon again later with a different set of skills to handle it. It makes you want to do more in the world than you possibly can. If you decide that the reward on the other side of the pit is worth getting, that means that the game world will have continued on while you made another trip back to the dungeon.

Quest Notes: Quests are extremely open in this game. You don't get a map pointer that tells you where to go or what to do. you have to figure it out. Sometimes, you won't know where to go, or what to do to complete a quest, and you'll fail it - the game won't wait, events in the game continue whether you join in or not. Still, if you just want some action RPG with a linear or well defined system to tell you what to do next, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Complexity: This game has a lot of complex features. Proficiencies, Techniques, Abilities, Classes... there's a lot of stuff for you to look at. It can be pretty overwhelming. If you prefer relatively simple Action RPG esque stat systems, you won't find it here. There's just a vast amount of information about each character, and tons of ways to advance each one. Fortunately (or so I think, anyway), you don't have to fully understand it to enjoy the game - Progression is more or less automatic as you're fighting, and you can easily just pick a couple of skills for each character to train up without losing anything. I'm not the kind of RPG player who makes in depth technical guides for games and considers them a necessary tool to play the game. (on a side note, have you seen the one someone did for all of the formulae and stuff for FFXII? some people have WAY too much time on their hands!) Lots of complex stuff, if you want to study it, but it really isn't necessary to understand it all to play.

So, in Summary, you need the following to enjoy the game: 1) some experience in playing an RPG. It's complex enough that this should not be your first jump into the genre. 2) an appreciation for a world that's vast enough that it doesn't let you do everything. Tangent to that, a tolerance for missing out on large portions of the game the first time through, because you certainly will. 3) Ability to enjoy a game without needing constant direction. I know I like a mindless Action RPG as much as the next guy, but this certainly is not one.

That's it. you have those 3 traits, I bet you'll really like this game. If you're not sure you qualify on any of those accounts, you may be disappointed.

Oh, one more thing. If you remember Romancing Saga 3 for the Super Nintendo (available only as a fan translated ROM, I seem to recall), this game is extremely similar in it's scope and style. If you liked that, you'll definitely like this.

Remake of a Classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This review was written by my son, James Shea

A remake of the 1983 Square RPG classic, "Romancing SaGa" for the PS2 attempts to recreate the old-timey charms and deliver them in a new graphic system. While many of the game's story segments seem cliche now, since this is a remake of such an old game these can be forgiven.

The game takes place in Mardias, a mystical world. Long ago, a battle raged between the dark gods and the light gods. The light gods gave 8 "fatestones" to heroes, who then died in battle defeating the dark gods. Now those dark gods have risen again, and 8 new heroes must rise up. The player (who enters his name and gender) must lead the 8 heroes through battle; during the course of their stories, the heroes' paths intersect, and the final chapter is the united group fighting against the dark gods and their avatars.

The 8 characters come from 8 different parts of the globe. Albert is a young knight with a naive viewpoint. Jamil is a vagrant accustomed to stealing. Claudia is a ranger in the deep woods. Aisha is a nomadic herbologist for her tribe. Hawke is a famed pirate. Sif is a powerfully built barbarian warrior woman. Gray is an amoral adventurer who desires freedom above all else. Barbara is a traveling dancer. These 8 characters are drastically different in terms of their abilities, their viewpoints, and their adventures. Because the characters are not united until late in the game, the characters also have their own companions, ranging from story characters to mercenaries recruited in taverns to secret characters that must be unlocked by doing quests. These companions also have their own ability sets.

The gameplay is of an RPG style. There are some magical elements, but these vary depending on the character. Certain characters are better with certain weapons, and can learn a wider variety of moves with those weapons. Picking the right people for the right job is an important part of the game. Because it is based on such an old system, it is only expected that it would take this relatively simple path.

The designs are, stylistically, incredibly neat, but the big-heads/small-bodies mismatch of proportions (seen also in Final Fantasy IX, but it was a little more cartoony there) throws it off. The costumes and character designs are very well done, with unique styles for each civilization (more than just "these guys are European", for example), but the characters themselves look sort of weird because of their mismatched proportions. The music is pretty good for an RPG of this type. For the most part, it is well-composed. The voice acting, especially on the part of the Minstrel who tells the story, is also surprisingly good.

Despite the drawbacks of remaking such an old game, Romancing SaGa for the PS2 has managed to pull it off pretty well. Even though elements like the story and gameplay are now cliche, the remake manages to do a decent job of bringing that spirit into more recent terms.

Rating: 7/10.

Non-Linear Madness

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 26 / 34
Date: December 30, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Squaresoft (or Square-Enix) has had a long-standing habit of releasing a majority of its titles on a certain console right before its major release in Final Fantasy. They follow tradition again, and release Romancing Saga, Dragon Quest VIII, Radiata Stories, and Kingdom Hearts 2 (soon to come) only a few months before FF 12 will hit stores. In the past, this hasn't been a bad thing. Square has always been able to put originality in all their games, to try things that other games haven't. With this formula, they've been able to stay on top of the RPG market. Now, though, that's fading. Since PS2 released, only about half of the games Square has released has been any good, and the releases are too far between for anyone to really follow Square.

Romancing Saga is one of those titles that just isn't that good. Or, to be fair, it isn't up to Square's usual standards. Though visually it's a beautiful game, the story is difficult to follow because of just how non-linear the game-play is. After the first few quests for each character, you can go in nearly any direction you want, and more than fifty percent of the quests actually advance the plot of the game. They are simply ways to get what is needed to progress. Plus, actually finding quests can be difficult. Talking to everyone gets hints and will unlock some quests, but knowing what to do after that can be very irritating.

The in-game features, such as the battle system, are recycled from previous games. The actual battles can get so difficult that even minor creatures are bosses, and you can't avoid fighting them or else your characters will stay weak or won't have the abilities to compete with the even tougher enemies to come. There are ways to make your characters stronger, but that involves spending either money or jewels, things you only get from quests or battles, and quests are long and with small rewards, while battles reward so little as to seem almost pointless. I will say, however, that gaining the new abilities and finding newer, more powerful characters to recruit can be fun for a while. Once you get a good party together, though, do everything in your power to keep it that way, because it can be frustrating training weaker characters to fill the place of your older characters. To be honest, I'd recommend picking up a Gameshark or an ActionReplay to play this game, because the constant battling and building becomes tedious and boring. Usually, I hate using these cheats, but since I did so I was able to find enjoyment in the game.

Though this formula worked well for the other Saga games (at least one, the original Saga Frontier), it no longer works here. It seems to me it was a quick money-maker for Square, as they know that Square fans are loyal. But constant mediocrity has left me a little jaded of this powerhouse company. Likewise, I can't recommend this game to the average gamer. Only veterans of the Saga series will find anything in this game worth playing.

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