SaGa Frontier is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation. A remastered version featuring additional characters, events and features was released on April 15, 2021, for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows.

The Story Behind SaGa Frontier

Square Production Team 2 included Kyoji Koizumi, Miwa Shoda, Kazuko Shibuya, and Minoru Akao. Due to time constraints, some plot points of Asellus story were removed. Due to a change in hardware from Super Famicom to PlayStation, Kawazu changed the title.

SaGa Frontier was developed by the Square Production Team 2 (referred to as 2nd Division in the game) with Akitoshi Kawazu as director and producer, Koichi Ishii as planning chief, Kenji Ito as composer, and Tomomi Kobayashi as illustrator. In the earliest stages of development, two more heroes' quests were also being planned in addition to the existing seven lead characters. One of them was Fuse, the IRPO agent who may be enlisted as a playable character in the actual release.

How SaGa Frontier Plays

For added incentive, beating a character's game and saving its completion to the system data adds some bonuses. Winning battles increases player character statistics such as hit points (HP), life points (LP), strength, and quickness. The basic concept of SaGa Frontier is based on its Free Scenario System, in which one can play as any of seven different protagonists, all of whom exist in the same setting, a solar system known as The Regions: a group of planets, each with its own culture, game-level of technology, and form of magic.

If certain conditions are met within the battle, party members on either side can create combination attacks for added damage. The battle screen depicts 2D-animated sprites amidst a 3D-rotating background. The player is encouraged to complete each of the seven scenarios one after the other.

Why Players Still Load It Up

In 2000, SaGa Frontier was voted the 18th best PlayStation game of all time by the editors of Famitsu magazine. The publication also criticized the game's graphics, but praised its length and gameplay. Boyer, his three co-reviewers with Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Next Generation all said that the sprites are dated and poorly animated, and that the prerendered backgrounds are flat and non-interactive, and at times make it difficult to see where an area's exit is.

They gave it a 4.5/5 for both sound and control and a perfect 5.0 for both graphics and fun factor. In his later review for GameSpot, Boyer made much the same comments but emphasized the problems with the non-linearity more and gave it a 6.9/10. SaGa Frontier Remastered for the PlayStation 4 received generally favorable reviews.

SaGa Frontier — Frequently Asked Questions