With SaGa Frontier 2 being remade and released this month, I started thinking back to the franchise’s beginnings. I had missed out on the SaGa franchise when I was younger. Instead, I found myself playing games in the Final Fantasy, Valkyrie Profile, and Star Ocean franchises. Now that I’m a little older though, I wanted to go back and revisit SaGa Frontier, one of the games that started it all and ultimately inspired experiences like Octopath Traveler.

SaGa Frontier Remastered is a remastered version of the 1998 PS1 classic, which was the first SaGa game to release under the SaGa brand outside of Japan. Others had been released in North America under the “Final Fantasy Legend” banner, linking them to the Final Fantasy franchise though they actually were not. By that timeline, it was the Fourth SaGa game to release in North America.

Because this is a remastered version of a PlayStation 1 classic, I’m going to mention some concepts that haven’t aged well. However, I don’t think this review should be taken as a review of the original game because I am more expressing how this remastered version builds on the original. People’s viewpoints and outlook on games have changed since 1998, so there are obviously some choices that won’t have aged well.

SaGa Frontier Remastered is a rather lengthy experience. The remastered version not only contains a brand new playable character/storyline (who must be unlocked) that was cut from the original release, but it also contains other content cut from the original game such as scenes and story elements. You are able to start as one of 8 playable characters. Each one has its own storyline and motivations. However, you can’t tackle more than one storyline at a time.

Despite this limitation, you can recruit characters to your party under certain conditions. Some require a side quest to be done, others require you to be pursuing a certain branch of the main quest. SaGa Frontier offers branching choices for certain characters, so there is replay value even without playing all 8 characters’ to completion.

Each character’s story can last anywhere between 10-20 hours, but I actually think you could spend longer, mostly because the game offers very little guidance in a few of the scenarios on how to progress. This was a common thing back in the days of older RPGs, offering only small hints of direction and leaving you to your own devices.

SaGa Frontier Remastered not only allows you to save anywhere but also has autosave as well. I’m almost positive that the saving-anywhere thing wasn’t a thing in the original release. I know for a fact that autosave is totally new, but feel free to correct me in the comments. There are also options to speed up gameplay if you want battles to go faster.

On the topic of battles, combat is fairly simple to understand. It is somewhat standard menu-based fare, with elemental attacks, different types of damage, etc. Your characters can equip multiple weapons, and as they use the weapons they gain abilities for them. Some characters are more suited for some weapons than others. Not using a weapon gives you martial arts skills, and having a character equipped with only one type of skill in all of their slots will give them mastery over it.

In terms of magic, to learn new types of magic you have to undergo side quests to acquire the “gift” for them. Then, you can learn new abilities and purchase higher-level ones. The big issue with progression and learning how character skills and magic work is that they don’t really explain much. Enemies also drop incredibly small amounts of money too. This ties back into the game being from that era of gaming where they didn’t really give you much information.

Overall, there’s not much to complain about with this remastered version. I’d say that if you really wanted to sink your teeth in, there are well over 100 hours of gameplay, probably closer to 150 or more for completionists. While I do get annoyed at the aimless lack of guidance in some spots, I wouldn’t say that’s a fair thing to complain about, when this is a remaster and not a remake.

The graphics are unique and interesting, the autosave and option to save anywhere are fantastic, and there are all kinds of new content exclusive to the remastered version. If you are new to the SaGa franchise I’d recommend looking up a few details when you pick the game up. Otherwise, if you’re a SaGa veteran, then you can’t go wrong with this remastered release.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of SaGa Frontier Remastered was provided by Square Enix for this review.

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SaGa Frontier Remastered

$24.99 USD

7.5

Score

7.5/10

Pros

• Classic, Strategic RPG Gameplay
• QoL Add-Ons Like Autosave
• Tons of Content and 100+ Hours of Gameplay
• Lots of Customization of Party Dynamics

Cons

• Certain Storylines Have Very Little Guidance
• Progression is Difficult to Understand for Newcomers