Square Enix has a plethora of RPG series under its belt, but of all of them, SaGa is certainly its most experimental, unique, and the hardest to crack into.
Starting life on the Game Boy, and initially marketed as a Final Fantasy spin-off in the West, the SaGa series is known for ditching traditional levelling mechanics and storytelling for something a bit more open. While earlier games have you selecting characters and classes as blank-slates, later entries had a set cast with their own individual storylines.
These are not easy games to get into — but those who love them really love them. And we applaud Square Enix for sticking with this series over the years to give us a whole different kind of turn-based RPG. But the real question — what is the best SaGa game?
We’ve asked you lovely readers to rank every single SaGa game you’ve played that launched on a Nintendo system. That’s 10 titles — including Collection of SaGa, which contains the three GB games, on Switch. This list doesn’t include the mobile games or the two PlayStation exclusives, SaGa Frontier 2 or Unlimited SaGa.
The results are glimmering for you down below, but remember: this ranking is governed by User Ratings for each game on our database and is subject to real-time fluctuations, even after publication. That means it’s still possible to influence and alter the ranking below. To do so, simply click on the game you wish to rate and assign a score on the Game Page.
So then, let’s find out what your favourite SaGa game is, dear readers:
Makai Toushi Sa・Ga, given the Final Fantasy label in the West, is the very first game in the SaGa series. It’s an incredibly complex game for its time, but often obtuse by today’s standards. While its two sequels improve upon the template laid down here, RPG traditionalists will still find much to like in the original game. Although it was designed to be a shorter experience more suited to a portable machine, it’s a tough little game and still worth a look all these years later.
Romancing SaGa 2 is a really intriguing JRPG. The combat system has a great sense of depth thanks to its distinctive take on levelling, the inclusion of formations and how the player is held accountable for each party member. The kingdom management aspects also provide a greater sense of player agency and helps set it apart from conventional role-playing games. Due to this design, the story and character development – including the dialogue throughout – aren’t quite as refined as other Square Enix titles. Regardless, the entire concept has aged surprisingly well – even by modern standards.
Is Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend for you? Well, that really depends on one huge factor. Did you play these games as a kid? If so, then this compilation may be worth the punt for a nice trip down memory lane. If you don’t fall into that camp, however, it’s difficult to recommend picking this up. These three games are simply okay when at their best, and rather disappointing when at their worst. The hard truth is that both your time and money are much better spent on the mountain of new or old RPGs you can buy for the Switch. There are worse games out there, but there are much better ones, too, and Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend really only has value as a curiosity or nostalgic piece.
Final Fantasy Legend III is a fitting end for the trilogy of Game Boy games; a very solid RPG experience that features a surprising degree of depth. If you like your quests long and your combat systems very basic and traditional in design, you’ll find much to like in this release, although you might find it a little tedious if you’ve got used to more modern RPG trappings. However, RPG enthusiasts are old hands when it comes for flirting with tedium in classic titles, and there’s still plenty to enjoy in this game – the final in the SaGa series to carry the ‘Final Fantasy’ moniker in the west.
Romancing SaGa – Minstrel Song – Remastered’s ambitions and achievements still feel fresh today. The open-world system is remarkably well-implemented and the multiple-protagonist approach feels modern even in a game that has been on the market for decades, but control issues, the vague nature of the game, and a slow progression system drag it down. Unfortunately, this is a cult classic JRPG that is less than the sum of its parts.
SaGa Emerald Beyond has a deep and satisfying combat system that gets its hooks into you from the jump. There’s a lot of narrative content across its five adventures, as well as a diverse collection of characters, but very little that truly grips the attention. Still, if you’re a fan of the series, you’re bound to love this one, and the combat is so rewarding that if you love tinkering, you might just fall for this one.
Final Fantasy Legend II improves on every single aspect compared to its predecessor. A brand new playable race — robots — has been added, it’s now easier to get spells on mutant characters, and humans now need to gain stats and not just buy them. This is also the most clearly-defined story of the first three SaGa games and of the trilogy — all available via the Collection on Switch — this is probably the easiest to get into.
SaGa Frontier Remastered sees Square Enix’s cult classic JRPG looking and playing better than ever, with a lovely HD lick of paint and lots of restored content and quality of life improvements providing hardcore fans with an experience they’ll doubtless enjoy. However, this is still a game that’s aged quite poorly in many respects; an idiosyncratic, eccentric and infuriating experience that refuses to guide you or help you in any way, and one that, in the end, is quite hard to recommend to anyone who isn’t already a fan.
It’s both easy and difficult to recommend Romancing SaGa 3 as it’s a title that you’ll either love or hate with very little room for a middling response. If you’re a newcomer to the RPG genre, we would recommend you pass on it and circle back later on, as this is a game that assumes a certain baseline knowledge of RPGs and it seldom explains mechanics to you in a satisfactory fashion. If you’re more experienced with RPGs, we’d give it more of a recommendation, but with the caveat that this is a game that will demand patience and careful study to fully enjoy. Either way, Square’s did a great job of prettying up this delightfully obscure RPG for western audiences.
As the first brand new SaGa game since 2002’s PS2 exclusive Unlimited SaGa, SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions absolutely delivers. The combat is thrilling, the music is fantastic, and it still has all of those SaGa quirks you know and love — or don’t love. The story could be better, but overall, this is the most-approachable SaGa game to date and the easiest recommendation we can give in this series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which SaGa game should I play first?
Good question! Like lots of RPG franchises, none of the SaGa games are connected. That means you can play the SaGa series in whatever order you like. Even Romancing SaGa and Final Fantasy Legend, while sharing titles, are not related between numerical entries.
If you’re looking to start somewhere, however, we’d recommend the two newest entries in the series — SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions or SaGa Emerald Beyond. Both are available on the Switch eShop and present a more streamlined version of the SaGa series formula, albeit with all of the tropes and trappings. So you’re getting a cleaner, more refined experience.
If you want to go a bit older, Romancing SaGa 3 is also a great place to start. Of the SNES games, it’s the most polished and most accessible. But don’t go in expecting any of the games to be easy.
Are the SaGa games difficult?
Difficult isn’t perhaps the right word for it, but they’re certainly a little hard to get into. The SaGa series forgoes traditional experience points and most of the games don’t follow a linear story. They also don’t really do a lot of hand-holding. So aside from the games that have set character stories — think SaGa Frontier or the two Switch titles — they’re very non-linear and you have to work out a lot of different things.
Is SaGa related to Final Fantasy?
Not really, but you could argue that Final Fantasy sort-of gave us SaGa.
Akitoshi Kawazu, creator of the franchise, worked on Final Fantasy II — the second NES/Famicom entry — as the game designer, coming up with many of the newer battle and levelling mechanics. While many working on Final Fantasy didn’t enjoy these new mechanics, they live on in the SaGa series.
As for Western naming conventions, Square decided to name the first SaGa game The Final Fantasy Legend to try and draw more eyes to the game. Simple as that. Otherwise, the two franchises are unrelated.
Is SaGa Frontier 2 coming to Switch?
Probably! Well, nothing is definite yet, but series creator Kawazu has long been teasing a remaster of the PS1 RPG. Which would make sense given that SaGa Frontier Remastered is on Switch.
In fact, as recently as 1st April 2024, Kawazu told fans to “Please be patient.” (via Gematsu) In the same breath, he also said that this is not a remaster announcement” but it’s about as close as you can get without saying “here is the announcement”, right?
