/Sa·Ga/ Thread #3

[Anonymous No.2119201]

Romancing Christmas Edition

Previous Thread:>>2087484

>What is SaGa?
It's a Jrpg series produced by Akitoshi Kawazu back in the early Final Fantasy days, however it differs from most other Jrpg series by being more Wrpg oriented, it's non-linear, with multiple main characters, multiple endings and very unusual mechanics based on classic Tabletop RPGs
>What are the games?
The first SaGa games are known in the west as Final Fantasy Legends, so chances are you played those in your childhood on ye olde brick GB, then there is the Romancing SaGa trilogy on the SNES, the two SaGa Frontier titles on the PS One and Minstrel Song(a remake of the first Romancing SaGa) and Unlimited: Saga on the PS2.
>What are the games I can play in English
All the FFL titles were localized, same with the PS One and PS2 titles, there is also an english patch for Romancing SaGa 3 but unfortunately the first two titles are still in Japanese only, though there are already translation projects in the works.
>Gimme some links dammit!
http://pastebin.com/EkhdyL8p
Romancing SaGa 3 Patch FAQ
http://pastebin.com/QeD1BR5q
FAQ for people new to the series
http://pastebin.com/kRbSg6PG
>News
A SaGa 25th Anniversary livestream event will be happening on the 14th with Kawazu, Masanori Ichikawa, Tomomi Kobayashi and Kenji Ito.

live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv197730641

They'll be playing Makai Toushi SaGa from 11-18:00 Japan time, then the big anniversary event runs from 18-20:00 (for EST, the event runs 9pm Saturday to 6am Sunday, 4-6:00 being the good part). There will be a live performance by Kenji Ito and "the state of the series" which will presumably ne a lot of talk about Emperors SaGa and whatever crossover events they have planned for the future, and if a new game announcement is ever going to happen that will probably be when.

Also the official SaGa Facebook page has been updating with fun trivia every day while counting down to the anniversary.

Thanks the anons who contributed in the old thread!

[Anonymous No.2119420]

First

[Anonymous No.2119435]

>>2119420

Am i doing it rite guyz

[Anonymous No.2119690]

Is Unlimited Saga the most complicated Saga game?

[aceman No.2119720]

>>2119690
I don't know about most complicated but it does have several youtube tutorials dedicated to explain how stuff works in that game.

[Anonymous No.2120958]

oh boy

[Anonymous No.2121003]

>>2119690

Most likely, though TLR is up there.

[Anonymous No.2121014]

playing saga1/ffl piss easy because i grinded money for power/speed ups. is saga 2 better?

[Anonymous No.2121043]

>>2121014
There's no stat up items in SaGa 2.
If I remember correctly, Humans work like Mutants except their stats grow based on the weapon type you use (light weapons raises agility, etc), and they have no magic (obviously).

[Anonymous No.2121575]

Asellus is looking pretty hi-res here. HMM...

[Anonymous No.2121583]

>>2121575
Nah, that's what the sprites looked like.

[Anonymous No.2121814]

HERE WE GO

[Anonymous No.2122394]

They failed in the final dungeon.

[Anonymous No.2122457]

looks like they're talking about Imperial saga, for the PC

[Anonymous No.2122461]

>>2122457
PC browser*, dunno how I feel about it, not enough info. There's skill sparking at leas..

[Anonymous No.2122462]

>browser game
It's fucking nothing

[Anonymous No.2122464]

But what about SaGa Asterism?

[Anonymous No.2122468]

>>2122464
No info yet, the streams still goin and they moved to another panel of people.

[Anonymous No.2122471]

>>2122462

Typical of japan these days, sigh.

They wonder why japanese game development seems to be dying.

[Anonymous No.2122472]

The Japanese comments are brutal, everyone's disappointed and some are saying this is more embarrassing than the FF7 for PS4 announcement.

[Anonymous No.2122475]

>>2122472
do you know what the people are currently talking about?

[Anonymous No.2122480]

>>2122475
The Dengeki guys are just talking about the series in general.

[Anonymous No.2122493]

looks like Romancing Saga 3 followed by 2 is the most popular

[Anonymous No.2122497]

>>2122493
The second poll was asking what people wanted in terms of new game and platform. The majority wanted a new, full console game, and there were quite a few votes for a remake.

[Anonymous No.2122504]

>>2122497
How many voted for a browser/phone game :^)

[Anonymous No.2122513]

[Anonymous No.2122517]

Saga 2015 for Vita.

[Anonymous No.2122521]

Kawazu pls

[Anonymous No.2122608]

>>2121003
I found TLR to be rather easy to understand.

Complex, sure, but not complicated.

I still don't understand US to this day.

[Anonymous No.2122696]

>>2122517
>>2122521
I'm quite surprised with it being on the Vita. I figured it would be a mobile game. I'm glad it wasn't.

[Anonymous No.2122707]

>>2122696
Have you looked at the Vita's library lately? There's not much of a difference these days.

[Anonymous No.2122726]

>>2122707

Library aside, which has some decent games anyway, there is a bit of a difference. At least the vita is an actual console, as opposed to a phone you can play dumb shit like flappy birds on when you are waiting for a bus or some shit.

Also you know, there's the power of the system to consider.

[Anonymous No.2123162]

The game being on Vita is actually just a minor inconvenience.

I think the biggest hurdle is the localization still.

[Anonymous No.2124324]

>>2123162
At least it's not region locked, imagine it being on the 3DS, you'd have to buy a Jap console only for that.

I'm kinda happy to be honest, at least it won't be something focused on GRAPHICS, Handheld JRPGs in the last 10 years were usually much better than console JRPGs except for the visuals.It's

By the by, it's interesting how RomaSaGa 2 is still going strong these days even though it's so unpolished and clunky for most things, guess the game really has a lot of charm like I thought.

[Anonymous No.2126207]

Dead thread, post Robins

[Anonymous No.2126331]

I have the saga stream timeshifted so I guess I could bump with random pictures from it. Haven't been up to date with since the announcement, has their been any new info yet?

[Anonymous No.2126332]

>>2126331
>Haven't been up to date with since the announcement, has their been any new info yet?

Not really.
guess we'll have to wait and see, but damn am I hyped for the new game.
I hope it has the same style of Unlimited, 2D sprites in gorgeus 3D environments.

[Anonymous No.2126339]

>>2126207
Fat Robin is best Robin

[Anonymous No.2126347]

>>2126339
All Robins are best Robin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87YnY1fTKt8

[Anonymous No.2126349]

>>2126332
Still haven't tried unlimited, was gonna try it after I finish my run RS3 and maybe finish Asellus's route. After her's is finished, I only have riki and lute left.

[Anonymous No.2126378]

>>2126332
I'd like to see Minstrel Song's style return, but with properly proportioned characters and better environments. I liked the design philosophy of turning watercolor drawings into 3D models, but the SketchMotion thing was underutilized and probably took more time and effort than needed just for a handful of short, jittery cutscenes. Since we're talking about the Vita, I think the simplicity of the watercolor textures and pastel scheme would really look great.

Honestly I'm surprised they aren't bringing Minstrel Song to the Vita. Wouldn't that have made sense?

[Anonymous No.2126382]

>>2126349
Unlimited is fun if you like complex and hidden mechanics, the only bad thing about the game is that there's no classic map exploration, you end up in a pseudo chessboard instead.

The game's depth is astounding, it's really the most mechanically complex JRPG I played, not to mention that it's the only game where HP are REALLY weird mechanic wise.
The game's art and music are gorgeus, even though they're not in the usual style of SaGa.
>>2126378
>Since we're talking about the Vita, I think the simplicity of the watercolor textures and pastel scheme would really look great.
Agreed, a game with MinSon stle would look Amazing.
>Honestly I'm surprised they aren't bringing Minstrel Song to the Vita.
The fanbase is too small I think, SaGa is very niche nowadays even in Japan, most of the fans are in their late twenties or thirties, compared to other series like DQ and FF where the age range is much wider I don't think Squeenix is too interested in investing money on a series that is half dead atm.
I mean, look at the cameos in games such as the new Mana title, they're all from RomaSaGa or RomaSaGa 2, games that are 20 years old now.

[Anonymous No.2126397]

>>2126382
unlimited saga is more arcane than complex, really

[Anonymous No.2126408]

>>2126397
Well, arcane might be too much but it sure is weird.
The thing is that most of the classic rpg conventions are thrown out of the window and at the same time there are so many mechanics that are really tabletop games conventions such as reels being used more or less like dice rolls or character markers and exploration based on character's skills such as swim/cross obstacles proficiencies that still influence your characters' stats and growth...let's say it's not for the average JRPG player.

[Anonymous No.2126409]

>>2126408
these things aren't really that "complex" though, its more that what's there isn't explained to you and there's no clear way of intuiting it without a lot of experimentation.

arcane is the correct word. more correct than "complex"

[Anonymous No.2126434]

>>2126409
Truth to be told, the game's manual did explain how some things worked, just like MinSon did with those kids explaining you how things like classes work, but those are half truths most of the times.

Now, SaGa always had this thing of not explaining shit but Unlimited had so many things you had to understand and most importantly almost all of those were linked to each other, the actions you take in the field shape the pool of abilities at the end of a quest, which depend on what you fight and what you fight changes the ecosystem thus altering drop items etc.
On a second thought you can imagine that if they explained how everything worked you'll need to read literal bibles most of the times, and it's not like other games can be considered less arcane only because they have tutorials or things like that, hell, Vesperia kept people exploring its battle system even though things are explained much better than SaGa.

It's a complex subject, people tend to say not giving instructions is a bad design choice but don't think about the fact that all instructions and tutorials are inherently not that trustworthy most of the time, not to mention that if they really did give you accurate info there'd be no reason to play most games.

[Anonymous No.2126448]

>>2126434
Vagrant Story had some good tutorial tho

I think if anything they just need tutorials that are better written and less confusing interface and display of the information that's there, a screen or two extra to show all the values that are actually there like panel multipliers and defense values, character weight and speed adjustment on abilities and stuff

A level of transparency on par with say, Dungeons and Dragons would be great

[Anonymous No.2126469]

>>2126448
I kind of agree regarding Vagrant Story, the manual was pretty good though of course it did omit a few things and the game's design was very intuitive compared to SaGa, except forging which was coincidentially the part where the manual was very vague and explained very little about how metals and weapons combination really worked. Can't say I didn't enjoy that game though, a solid 10/10 is the least I could give.

I don't agree on showing more stats though, mostly because I like the fact that you need to see for yourself what that character can do instead of looking at full stat charts, it's another kind of exploration to me.
I also like it because it forces you to think and make bets or plans based on little info, it's a good way to keep up the tension.

[Anonymous No.2126856]

This tweet came out today. I can't into moon, what does it say? Something about character relationships?
>今日はキャラ関係の会議。過去にキャラクターで叩かれた作品もあるので、スタッフも色々と気にします。

[Anonymous No.2127004]

Ok Sa-Ga bros, in need of some help with RS3. How the heck do you wake up Zo the elephant guy in Rashkuta? Ive read that you have to have Shonen in your party but Ive tried that on both Katarina and Mikhails game and nothign ever happens. Ive also done the rotten sea ruins by the town but I only found a Will shield guarded by big green dragon as the payoff.

[Anonymous No.2127028]

>>2127004
Nevermind Ive been being a retard and confused Shonen with Zhi Lin. : ( ( ( (
All my spaghetti is floors.

[RS3 Retranslation Bro No.2127571]

Hate to say it, but don't expect any surprise Christmas presents, anons. Chances are RS3 won't be ready this month. However, I'll probably end up recruiting some beta testers at the end of the month, since play testing every single character is not feasible on my own and I really don't want this to take any longer than it already has. I'll announce when that starts, so until then, stay hype.

[Anonymous No.2127736]

>>2126378
>I'd like to see Minstrel Song's style return
Dear god no...
Honestly, I feel like the SaGa series LP ran out after Frontier 2. That's not to say it's a bad thing though. MinSon for me is just like SaGa's gravestone. When I played that game I had to admit to myself that SaGa's dead and they'll never top the games they already released.
Sure Unlimited is cool if you're into that sort of thing, but I wouldn't even call it a SaGa game really.

[Anonymous No.2128301]

>>2127571
You're already doing a great job Retranslation Bro, I'm sure most people here would prefer to wait more to have a better product.
>>2127736
Well, I kinda disliked the return of grindable stats as well and the fact that while Kobayashi did the redesigns they ended up very different from the original style, I think the guy who designed the models is the very same one who did the Unlimited: Saga designs, Yusuke Naora, which is not really consistent with all the previous games even though I like some of his characters like Ruby, Grace or Iskandar.
>I wouldn't even call it a SaGa game really.
What? It has most if not all of SaGa's main features, multiple MCs, sparking, non linear story, I can understand that world exploration and other few weird things like HP being not what they usually are and no WP/JP but it's a full fledged SaGa game.

[Anonymous No.2129007]

>>2127736
Sounds like you have a really weird idea of what SaGa is supposed to be. It's fine and all if you didn't like Minstrel Song, but what about it was "not SaGa" to you? I mean, realize that you're talking about a remake of Romancing SaGa. Do you not consider RS1 a SaGa game? The biggest change was the adaptation of the battle system to more modern SaGa standards. But if you take issue with that, then you're saying RS2, RS3, and Frontier aren't SaGa either. And if what you really consider SaGa is strictly the Game Boy games where weapons and spells had durability, then the DS remakes are still exactly that.

I can definitely understand people thinking SaGa was killed by Unlimited, but Minstrel Song was a return to form. I can't understand how anyone would see MS and go "Yep, this is it, SaGa is dead."

[Anonymous No.2129027]

>>2127736
I only meant the visual style, but it sounds like you're taking issue with more than that. Frankly I'd prefer a little more simplification, MinSaGa's tempering and durability system was kind of irritating and I really wish they'd drop the whole map skills/proficiencies thing. There's no reason for SaGa to be as bizarrely esoteric as it is, and while I can forgive the inherent confusion that comes with non-linearity, the whole concept of invisible battle ranks and other weird synergies and things that you can't understand without reading a guide are not enjoyable. That's not to say the game can't have complexities, but I get more of a feeling of frustration than satisfaction in having to figure out how stuff works behind the curtain. It's like playing a tabletop RPG without a rulebook, and you can only learn how the game works via the DM saying "you can't do that" every other action you try to take.

[Anonymous No.2129045]

>going home for Christmas
>get on the plain
>alright! finished SaGa Frontier last week, time to start Frontier 2!
>open bag
>PSP is in pieces, won't even start (obviously)
>5 fucking hours to go

[Anonymous No.2129329]

I've never played a Saga game, which one should I start with?

[Anonymous No.2129606]

>>2129329
Frontier

[Anonymous No.2129631]

>>2129329
Final Fantasy Legend

[Anonymous No.2130295]

>>2129027
>There's no reason for SaGa to be as bizarrely esoteric as it is
But that's the main charm of SaGa, just like it was for old games like King's Field or Wizardry, why would there be a reason for the contrary though? Most games nowadays literally spoonfeed you everything, I prefer more the old games where there was only basic instructions on the manual and little else.
> the whole concept of invisible battle ranks and other weird synergies and things that you can't understand without reading a guide are not enjoyable.
So I guess you don't play fighting games or competitve shooters as well?
> I get more of a feeling of frustration than satisfaction in having to figure out how stuff works behind the curtain.
That's the main problem, if you don't like this then SaGa isn't for you, no offense meant.
Experimenting, understanding and breaking the game in as many ways you can find is one if not the biggest part of the fun in SaGa.
>>2129045
Shit man, how did that happen?
I'm sorry, I hope you have other ways to play it.
>>2129329
Read the FAQ, these>>2129606,
>>2129631 are the best games for beginners.

[Anonymous No.2130493]

>>2130295
I'm not talking about spoonfeeding and I don't understand the point you're trying to make with fighting games and shooters. Again, I am not opposed to unexplained mechanics and having to discover things, but SaGa doesn't do this in a constructive way. The things it makes obscure are completely arbitrary. I mentioned battle rank, for example, because that is a totally fundamental concept that drives your progression throughout the entire game, but Minstrel Song was the first time you were ever given a way to keep track of it and even then it was really roundabout and confusing. There's no reason it can't just be a simple counter in the menu; there is nothing lost from doing it that way because there's nothing inherently fun or interesting about it being obscure in the first place. Figuring out the purpose of Battle Rank should be the mystery, but instead they just make keeping track of it the mystery so that even after you know what it's for, it's a pain in the ass to manage it anyway. Having a counter wouldn't ruin the game or make it not SaGa because the mechanic itself is a defining feature, not the fact that it is invisible.

Poor design isn't "charm." SaGa has more than enough to set it apart from other JRPGs without needing to rely on arbitrary inaccessibility. It can be complicated and difficult without needing to be obtuse.

[Anonymous No.2130559]

>>2130493
>I don't understand the point you're trying to make with fighting games and shooters.
That the biggest part of the game isn't explained in those cases.
Not even games with "good" tutorials such as Blazblue or SF explain the deepest mechanics, and all of those are hidden, like proration, cancels, frame windows and such, you don't get gauges or signals for those, the best you could get are visual effects for getting out of a throw.
Shooters are even worse in some cases.
> The things it makes obscure are completely arbitrary. I mentioned battle rank, for example, because that is a totally fundamental concept that drives your progression throughout the entire game
Well, being a main mechanic is even more of a reason to keep it hidden.
> but Minstrel Song was the first time you were ever given a way to keep track of it and even then it was really roundabout and confusing.
I wouldn't say it was confusing but I agree on the fact that it was complete bullshit.
>there is nothing lost from doing it that way because there's nothing inherently fun or interesting about it being obscure in the first place.
I disagree on this, BR should stay hidden because the only thing that changes from game to game is how you progress through it, RomaSaGa simply counts the number of battles you you triggered while RomaSaGa 3 and MinSon only count those you've won, so basically you can keep running away from battles and not raise the BR as much as you can, which was a central point in MinSon.
>Figuring out the purpose of Battle Rank should be the mystery
I would agree if they ever changed the way BR affects the games' progression, seriously, the only game where BR was a bit different from the usual was MinSon and mayyyybe SaGa Frontier 2.

[Anonymous No.2130560]

>>2130559
>Having a counter wouldn't ruin the game or make it not SaGa because the mechanic itself is a defining feature, not the fact that it is invisible.
You have a point here, I guess. Can't really argue with this other than making SaGa less obscure, fact is I like it.
>Poor design isn't "charm."
I agree and disagree with this.
Mainly because I don't think hidden counters are necessarily bad design and I never had problems with those in SaGa, on the contrary I found them stimulating.
Bad design would be too many narrow counters and RNG like RomaSaGa 2 or easy stat grind like the first SaGa games, Frontier and MinSon, on those I agree that it was a bad choice that kinda made the games less enjoyable.
Also, bad designs sometimes can have charm, otherwise RomaSaGa 2 wouldn't be the second most loved game in the franchise since it is almost as clunky as RomaSaGa 1, Frontier had lots of unfinished or cut content and really unpolished mechanics and again, it's one of the most memorable games in the eyes of the fans.

I do understand your points though, and I know it is frustrating to not be able to see most of the stats and counters in the game, but I also hate how people overly rely on visual help, it's like we're back in the early 2000 when Monster Hunter came out and people thrashed it because they couldn't see the monster's health and said it was a bad design choice.

[Anonymous No.2130583]

>>2130559
>I disagree on this, BR should stay hidden
But that's the thing isn't it? Minstrel Song gave it to you, it just did it in an stupid way for no real reason.

>Well, being a main mechanic is even more of a reason to keep it hidden.
Why? Your fighting game comparison praises its "deepest" mechanics for being hidden, but now you're saying that the core mechanic which drives the entire game's progression should be hidden without qualifying that in any way.

A better analogy would be if fighing games had no meters at all and you just had to figure out how close you were to winning by keeping track of all the hits you landed. You'd have no frame of reference for how much damage each move does, either, so you'd have to figure that out too. And no relying on the super bar to know when you can use supers, have to keep track of that yourself too. Everybody would be used to playing fighting games that way, and then I come along and say "Why can't they just show you meters?" and you'd argue that not being able to see the meters is part of the "charm." It's completely arbitrary.

[Anonymous No.2130606]

The way I see it there are two options.

1: you can make all the numerals visible.

2: you can make all the numerals invisible and find another way to convey the necessary information.

I'd prefer the second one, but I'd still prefer the first over the way it is.

Making the series less accessible to the greater number of people who might try playing it doesn't seem advantageous in any way. It could be made more accessible without harming the complexity.

[Anonymous No.2130653]

>>2130583
>Minstrel Song gave it to you, it just did it in an stupid way for no real reason.
Yeah, that was my point, looking at my post now I see I've phrased a lot of things wrong.
>Why? Your fighting game comparison praises its "deepest" mechanics for being hidden
Those mechanics are core mechanics as well.
>A better analogy would be if fighing games had no meters at all and you just had to figure out how close you were to winning by keeping track of all the hits you landed.

Not quite though I see your point.
Keep in mind that FG work on a different mindset for certain things though they share a steep learning curve together with certain other competitive games. SaGa has a few things in common with those imho, that's also why Emperor's SaGa was turned into a semi competitive card game while keeping some of the classic mechanics of the series.

Also, I don't quite see how Super/Health bars being hidden can compare to things like BR or Spark charts, also because we're comparing games with different purposes, one is a single player game based on exploration, FGs are games based around interactions between players so the design and choice on what can be hidden or not is different.
I believe a more apt paragon would be giving players frame counters or in the case of cancels give players info on active frames in which you can cancel or buffer moves.
>>2130606
>1: you can make all the numerals visible.
With this option the game could be less cryptic but I think you'd lose the surprise effects of certain things like BR shifts. Not to mention that it wouldn't really help much at the end of the day, even if you knew what BR you're at you still wouldn't know easily know what causes the BR to increase
2: you can make all the numerals invisible and find another way to convey the necessary information.
This will make the game a bit overly cryptic though, can't say it wouldn't be interesting, you mean something like King's Field but without menus to show your actual stats?

[Anonymous No.2130664]

>>2130653
well some RS games already do the thing with like circle/triangle/X to indicate whether an armor has good or bad defense against a category, you could basically extend that to everything and just say that, this gear is stronger than the gear you're wearing in these categories, and weaker in these other ones, and write something like "these gauntlets increase your dexterity", and you equip them and your dex goes from "great" to "excellent".

[Anonymous No.2130671]

>>2130664
>you could basically extend that to everything and just say that, this gear is stronger than the gear you're wearing in these categories

I see, that's an interesting point since RomaSaGa 2 for instance gives you "precise" stats for armors but doesn't give you info about damage type modifiers so it kinda make you fall into the trap of following basic numeral stats while damage type is also a big factor, that's why many think that putting suits on everyone is the best option even though most tentacle attacks or magic will literally rape you even with the strongest suit but will be greatly dimished by other pieces of armor with lower numerical stats. While you're not given precise numbers you'll have to infer which piece of equipment is more suited for certain situations.
>and write something like "these gauntlets increase your dexterity"
This usually is written though, and in most cases you also see the precise numbers of the stat bonus.

I think it's a good idea overall, Anon.

[Anonymous No.2130945]

How do I go about getting Emperors SaGa? I have a jailbroken device but only a US iTunes account.

[Anonymous No.2132059]

>>2130945
According to the stream for the 25th anniversary is coming to PC too as a browser game, I wouldn't worry too much about the phone version.

I'm afraid you'll need a JP account to download it though.

[Anonymous No.2132176]

>>2132059
I think Emperor and Imperial Saga are different games though.

[Anonymous No.2132345]

>>2132059
Nevermind, I managed to get ES, and holy shit this game is awful. Like, I expected it to be a bad game with a decent presentation, but this is like trying to play a fucking Powerpoint presentation. It's not even a proper mobile game, it just runs in Safari with really awkward scaling and poor performance and no sound. How does Japan put up with crap like this? My god.

[Anonymous No.2132408]

>>2132345
We told you man.

There are some funny dialogues though, if you've played the games you can kind of enjoy the fanservice, but yeah, the game itself is utter

[Anonymous No.2132975]

>>2121014

>This JRPG is easy because I grinded

anon pls

[Anonymous No.2132993]

You know what was super fucking cool about FFL that I haven't really seen elsewhere

The non-main worlds in the tower. Everyone wants to reach paradise through the tower, and there are those extra floors, like the one where everyone's being tortured by demons and they're like "we have to suffer through this to reach paradise", or that tropical island one that everyone thinks is paradise, but it's just a comfy island.

Or most infamously, that room full of dead children near the top.

It added so much to the lore/world building and the feeling that you weren't the first person to climb the tower, that hundreds of people had been doing this for hundreds of years all in pursuit of that same nebulous goal.

And this was in a fucking GAMEBOY game.

[Anonymous No.2133918]

I don't want this thread to die

So do we onow anything at all about the Vota SaGa game? This might be the straw that finally makes me buy a vita.

[Anonymous No.2134067]

>>2133918
Nothing yet, but apparently there's an interview in the latest Playboy JP. Kawazu has been tweeting random shit and apologized for not giving more info on SaGa 2015.

If we don't hear anything throughout Jump Festa, then we probably won't until next year. Considering they haven't even given us a name, I wouldn't count on there being much to show.

[Anonymous No.2134287]

>>2134067
wow

so in japan they also read it for the articles?

[Anonymous No.2134923]

>>2134287
Well when you figure what Japan considers porn, Playboy probably barely counts as adult.

[Anonymous No.2135154]

>>2132408
Wait, is this supposed to be Kujinshi?

[Anonymous No.2136495]

Welp, no more SaGa 2015 info. See you next year, guys.

[Anonymous No.2137103]

>>2128301
holy shit it's David Bowie

[Anonymous No.2137487]

I've never played any SaGa games, but I've been playing some PS2 JRPGs that I missed and next on my list is Minstrel Song. I heard this game is hard as balls, are there any tips for first time players?

[Anonymous No.2137563]

>>2137487
Yes . Here's a tip: This is a big game with lots of mechanics. Too many to list. However there are whole internet write ups and game forums dedicated to the game. Try using google more.

[Anonymous No.2138781]

>>2137487
Combination attacks are great since only the last attack can possibly miss; so enemies with high dodge are easier. Downside is that you can't spark new techs while doing combination attacks. Also only certain moves have a chance of comboing with other moves, so either learn from experimenting or look in a guide. Also having a couple people as a healer is also nice. Can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

[Anonymous No.2138854]

>>2137487
use the techniques that decrease enemy stats.

sometimes status effects work on bosses

go ahead and teach every character some form of healing spell.

if you give them defense mode martial arts they can learn a self-healing ability that gives them regeneration as well. get that and a healing spell on every character.

Try to do quests and search for treasure more than you fight monsters, especially early on. improving your equipment and earning jewels will go a long way towards helping you survive the harder fights.

[Anonymous No.2140774]

>>2138781
>>2138854
Thank you. I picked Grey, and I'm having fun.

[Anonymous No.2140783]

So Saga Frontier counts as part of this series right? It's the only one I played. It was good.

[Anonymous No.2140842]

Should I play Frontier 1 or 2? I've never played a SaGa game before, I think I remember 2 being more noob friendly. Also, dat artstyle.

[Anonymous No.2140852]

>>2140783
That tends to be everyone's favorite in the west since we did not get the Romancing SaGa series.

[Anonymous No.2140856]

>>2140842
1 is the friendly one, 2 is pretty complicated.

[Anonymous No.2142319]

Looks like there's going to be a SaGa 2015 special in Famitsu.

[Anonymous No.2144514]

bump

[Anonymous No.2144598]

>>2126349
Why did you leave the worst two scenarios for last? At least do Lute's before Riki's.

[Anonymous No.2144614]

>>2126856
Here's a machine translation for you:
>The meeting of the character relationships today. Because some work was beaten in the past in the character , also in various and care staff .

[Anonymous No.2144631]

>>2130493
I'm joining this conversation a bit late, but I just want to say that I myself don't have a problem with the Battle Rank system since it helps with leveling up easily, but when Quests aren't available or are failed just because I got caught in a narrow hallway with 20 zombie encounters, that's pretty lame. Having to avoid all enemies because not doing so makes you skip out on content is really dumb. It's understandable that Minstrel Song had that since it was a remake of an older game, so removing something that integral would have been nearly impossible, but for the next game(s), I really, really hope that they do something more like Frontier with more of the content from the older games.

[Anonymous No.2144635]

>>2132993
Has anyone played the remakes for, correct me if I'm wrong, Wonderswan and DS? I was thinking of picking them up eventually if I get more serious about sharpening my skills in reading moonrunes, but I am really tempted to just get the GB originals.

[Anonymous No.2144703]

>>2127736
here
>>2129027
I also only meant dead in terms of visual style. But in general MinSon is so vastly different from the original RS it seems like an entirely different game to me.
>>2129007
MinSon is a fine SaGa game, Unlimited is the one that I think is questionably SaGa >>2128301
Unlimited is too weird for me. It just plays and feels more like a gaiden game, and yes the "world exploration," if you can even call it that, is not fun at all. I can understand why some people might be into it though, but regardless I'll shut up now because not retro

[Anonymous No.2144772]

I decided to try out a bit of Minstrel Song to see what its like and I can't help but feel like that I messed up somewhere along the line with all of these quests that can be locked out because of silly things like hallways filled with enemies.

Contemplating on restarting since its only 6 hours and not 15+

[Anonymous No.2145080]

So I'm playing SaGa Frontier II and I'm loving it so far, but I heard that the final boss and final dungeon are an absolute bitch and would fuck over the unprepared. What should I do to prepare for it? I'm at Ginny's Adventure. I already unlocked most arts and spells, but I can't be assed to grind for rare drops so I haven't.

My Final Party would be Ginny, Wil, Gustaf and Primiera. Any suggestions for how to develop them? Wil's locked in to being a mage, but I have no idea what to do with everyone else. I'd like at least one person to go full steel though.

[Anonymous No.2145217]

>>2144598
I hardly use monsters and that caused me to hold off on riki's scenario which I plan to use all monsters. I was going to do Lute last to use characters I haven't used yet/hardly use.

[Anonymous No.2145221]

>>2145217
>which I plan to use all monsters
Have fun with Virgil, ha ha

[Anonymous No.2145223]

>>2145080
Don't have anybody go full steel. Get your SP Enhance as high as possible on everyone and don't ever let your SP drop below 50%.

[Anonymous No.2145224]

>>2145221
Yeah you really only ever want one monster no matter what. Full monster Riki quest is probably one of the hardest play throughs possible. If you don't know what you're doing you're really probably not ready for it. Magma Slimes especially will fuck you up.

The best way to do Riki's quest is to use Riki, Gen, T260G, Rouge, and one more of your choice. (Time Lord would be good but I don't know if Riki can get him)

Probably another sword user (Fuse or Emilia is a really good choice, since they spark Haze-to-Wheel which is arguably a lot better than Lifesprinkler against what Riki has to deal with)

[Anonymous No.2145421]

So what's the best magic class in Minstrel Song for a fresh playthrough?

I heard that one of them has access to Overdrive but requires a lot of minmaxing for it to be effective.

[Anonymous No.2145425]

>>2145223

>Don't have anybody go full steel.

But it's the closest I can get to fighting with Gustave in the final battle. ;_; Also, my Cinderforge is gathering dust with no one to use it.

Why shouldn't I let SP drop below 50%? I know spells get stronger the lower the SP pool gets, and since SP refills to the amount given as bonuses by equipment, I've been spamming high cost spells the entire game since I never run out.

I think I remember someone on GameFaqs, saying current SP is tied to magic defense but he didn't elaborate.

[Anonymous No.2145527]

>>2145421
Overdrive is one of the fusion spells, so you would want Imperial Scholar/Rosalian Mage.

[Anonymous No.2145584]

New bokuno hack version released

[Anonymous No.2145630]

>>2145527
Aren't those advanced classes that he wouldn't have access to until much later in the game?

[Anonymous No.2145795]

>>2145584
So they expanded the Subier event?

[Anonymous No.2145816]

>>2145527
So which one has better fusion spells?

[Anonymous No.2146390]

>>2145816
I think both of them gets access to just about everything but in different combinations.

Just that one fuses 2 spells and the other fuses 3.

[Anonymous No.2146414]

>>2145425
No. Spells do not get stronger the lower your SP is.

Techniques get stronger the lower your WP is, and SP Enhance is the factor by which you better resist Spell effects based on how much SP you have remaining. SP Regen is something separate entirely.

Steel equipment does basically nothing to resist spells even though the game pretends otherwise, and reduces SP Enhance and your total SP, so it actually makes you weaker against spells. Most of the bosses in the final dungeon, and really almost everything the final boss does is completely devastating spell-rape and your steel character will get destroyed. The only steel armor that's good is the Silver Chain, and that's because it nullifies sonic attacks, which are the means by which the final boss will hit you with devastating status effects. Its definitely still going to cripple you with status effects anyway, but sonic protection helps a heck of a lot.

The best gear you can equip in the end game is all Lake Robes, and the Stardust Robe, the Blackstone Armor, Crystal Wings, Titus Greaves, Water Mirrors, Mystic Veils (which only drop from the Lich), and whatever Quells that will give you any sort of magic immunity.

The Cinderforge sword is crap, and does not compare favorably to say, absolutely nothing, because you can do just as much damage with your bare hands.

[Anonymous No.2146420]

>>2146414
Gustaf, the character who inherits Gustave's sword, is best used as a pure Mage, because he's the best character to lay down incinerates and all the best Fire/Beast/Tree/Tone buffs, like Soul Hymn and Reviva. I usually give him the Stardust Robe and put him in the back row, giving him the Commander uh, thingy. Tactics? I forget what they called it.

[Anonymous No.2146464]

>>2146414
>>2146420

This definitely helps a lot. Thank you!

[Anonymous No.2146921]

>>2145795
Not really, just changed the cave around so master of ocean isn't small fish anymore. Also some other event changes. Seems like author debates around battle rank - events relation. The patch is mostly focused around Vampire event, which usually starts early. I don't know enough moon to understand the author notes. One thing from notes is that it looks like author is working on more red events (even mentioning BossX (true leader)). Also there's Albert/Diana flashback added.

[Anonymous No.2147768]

>>2145421
Me again, doing pretty okay so far although the Saruin Minion at the temple and the Assassin boss fight were pretty hard.

I'm starting to see why people love Defense Mode now. Probably make a character or two into one of those tank classes.

Probably my Martial Artist and Foil user since their damage is a bit on the low side.

[Anonymous No.2150180]

http://www.dlsite.com/ecchi-eng/work/=/product_id/RE114271.html

[Anonymous No.2150759]

>>2146414
>>2146420
>>2146464

I finally beat the Egg! I thought I grinded my stats too high (high 30s in their anima and weapon skills and 700 HP), but the Egg did damage in the 100-400 range which is really fucking insane compared to how easy the rest of the game was, so I just grinded enough to get by apparently. Great game, but I'm just gonna cheat my stats the next playthrough. That was way too much grinding.

Anything I should know about SaGa Frontier 1? Any pitfalls like the Battle of South Moundtop or a super hard final boss?

[Anonymous No.2150801]

>>2150759
Don't do Lute's quest first. Or Riki's. Both are pretty hard.

Starting with any of the others is pretty okay though. None of them are too bad. Asellus is probably the next toughest one so maybe not her.

[Anonymous No.2150879]

>>2150759

Oh yeah and anyone know what the credits meant about AI level being 15/22 when I finished the game? I saw no mention of this in the FAQs or any of the data dumps. I kinda want to max it out for a challenge.

[Anonymous No.2152792]

>>2150759
SaGa Frontier is pretty easy compared to the other SaGa games I've played, but make sure you explore dungeons for phat loot because you'll need to find good equipment for most of the game. You can also abuse an exploit/ do the gold trick to get money for some good equipment, but the stuff you find usually has cooler effects like stat gains on mecs, bonus abilities, etc.

Also, keep in mind that when you do the Light/Shadow and Arcane/Rune magic quests, whoever is in your party gets the gift for that magic if they do not have spells of the opposite school. If you get someone new afterwards and want them to get the gift, you're out of luck if you already did the magic quest, but they can still buy the spells at the magic vendors; however, they cannot learn the higher level spells of that school.

[Anonymous No.2155168]

Bump

[Anonymous No.2155378]

I have never played SaGa besides the three Final Fantasy Legend games, which are some of my favorite RPGs of all time.

Where do I go from there? Can't into moon.

[Anonymous No.2155428]

>>2155378
The next obvious step would be SaGa Frontier, I think. You already know the basic mechanics, thanks to FFL.

[Anonymous No.2156778]

>Slots and reels=Dice rolling
>Monsters have ecosystems

I'm from /tg/ and this actually sounds brilliant and fun. There has to be a legit reason as to why Unlimited Saga is so hated right? People being afraid of randomness is silly. Rolling dice (or using slots in this case) is really fun.

[Anonymous No.2156903]

>>2156778
I think it was mostly the fact that it was so unexplained that even basic things like "How do I open a treasure chest" would take you 30 minutes if you weren't using one of those specialist "How to learn to play US" FAQs

[Anonymous No.2157246]

>>2156778
US is Kawazu's tabletop game fetish taken to an extreme. A lot of its mechanics are excessively obtuse, and most people are turned off by how little control you seem to have over its randomness. Players are only willing to put up with so many deaths that they have no apparent way to avoid before just giving up. If you can understand how it all works and enjoy the system for what it is, it's a great game.

That said, don't be tricked into thinking the game is all about dice rolls. Apart from the reels, there are plenty of elements that seem to rely on randomness but can actually be manipulated in your favor, and you are fully expected to master this.

[Anonymous No.2157259]

>>2157246
I think the thing that bothers me the most is how ridiculously time consuming it is to learn any kind of magic

[Anonymous No.2157495]

Hey guys, I know it's not really /vr/ related but I want to ask, what are your opinions about the DS remakes?

[Anonymous No.2158116]

>>2157495
SaGa 2: Mostly just a graphical upgrade of the GB game with some very minor additions, warts and all. If you liked the original, you're sure to like this.

SaGa 3: Much much much MUCH better than the original GB game, which was basically just a renamed Final Fantasy game.

Added a lot of stuff that makes it feel more like a SaGa game now, like Sparking. Also tries to fix a couple of annoying stuff from SaGa 2, such as trying to grind Defense - there are weapons where using them trains the Defense stats now, as opposed to S2 where you had to pointlessly spam Shields.

True ending requirements are kind of moronic FAQ bait though. Luckily most people don't play SaGa for the plot but jeez.

[Anonymous No.2158125]

>>2158116
How is it compared to Romancing games, especially Minstrel Song(my fav)? The difference in gameplay and all. Sorry, I'm still new to SaGas.

[Anonymous No.2158139]

>>2158125
It's more similar to SaGa Frontier, if you have played that, especially the race setups (Human/Monsters/Espers/Robots)

Not sure how to compare it using MS as a basis, really. They're a lot less non-linear (which I guess might be a system thing) but if you liked the complexity of MS, SaGa 3 DS can feel sort of like a miniaturized version of it on the go.

[Anonymous No.2158143]

>>2158139
I only played Frontier for a while. Want to play it again, though.

Linearity sure is a disappointment, but really, I'm in for more SaGa. From what I read it seems it's worth a try. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.2159423]

>>2150801
>>2152792

In Saga Frontier 1 are Arts/Techniques/Magic in a shared list between all characters or are learned abilities limited to the guy who learned them?

[Anonymous No.2159891]

>>2159423
Techs are individual, but once a character has a tech it becomes easier for other members to spark it. Magic has to be purchased for each member individually, and members who have the gift have a chance to learn advanced spells at the end of battle (don't know if observational inheritance applies to magic).