Best place to enter the SaGa series?

[stp602]

I just came off of a binge of the DQ3 remake, and I'm in the mood to continue with this vibe---and I'm really looking forward to some experimental storytelling and game design.

Where's the best place to enter the SaGa series?

[StoneofTriumph]

I would say that it's this game.

Many of the games tend to be rather purposefully or accidentally obtuse and hide some fundamental stuff from the player, but this one just lays most of its workings out there.

It just also goes "BTW, all of this is going to be on the test later."

[AliceShiki]

Agreed that this is a great starting point. So many mechanics that are usually non-intuitive are made much clearer now while still keeping their same unique functionality... They're just... Accessible now.

This game has tons of QoL, and you can turn most of it off if you want, so you can't go wrong with it as your starting point~

[Beezus Hrist]

Originally posted by stp602:

I just came off of a binge of the DQ3 remake, and I'm in the mood to continue with this vibe---and I'm really looking forward to some experimental storytelling and game design.

Where's the best place to enter the SaGa series?

This is the best one to start with. DO NOT play the Romancing Saga Minstrel Song before you play this one. This game will train you how to play other Saga games like Minstrel Song, Saga 3, Saga Frontier 1 &2, and The Last Remnant. There are so many QoL improvements where before this game's systems were like a black box, but this game allows you to peer inside to see the components.

[The Sylvan Learning Center]

Final fantasy legend (saga) 1 for game boy.

Then final fantasy legend (saga) 2 for game boy.

Then final fantasy legend 3 (saga) for game boy.

[AliceShiki]

SaGa 3 is nothing like the other entries, why would you even mention that one? Kawazu wasn't isn't involve in that one.

People generally say SaGa 1 is also a very underwhelming game that is not worth one's time.

SaGa 2 is the best one out of the three, but it's mostly viewed as something you should play if you have super nostalgia for it instead of something you should play because it's actually a great game.

Also... Why didn't you mention Final Fantasy 2 since you're obviously just telling people to play the games in order? Kawazu made the SaGa franchise after working on Final Fantasy 2, and the franchise obviously borrows elements from it.

[Elegnaim]

The different sub-series all play pretty differently from each other so picking an entry point is tricky in that sense.

You say you want experimental storytelling and game design. In what sense? Also how would you characterize the vibe you're trying to continue from the Dragon Quest 3 remake?

Like of the ones on Steam, Scarlet Grace is very experimental in terms of how it conveys physical space in the game -- you don't have towns or dungeons per se but also the different overworld areas simultaneous act *like* towns, dungeons, interactive puzzles, and cutscenes -- while still being pretty story focused and including a lot of tutorials on how the battle system works.

But also Scarlet Grace and Emerald Beyond very much only play like and aren't really indicative of the rest of the series.

If you want weird unique sci-fantasy *settings*, the Gameboy games, SaGa Frontier 1, and Emerald Beyond go down that route. The Romancing SaGa games and Scarlet Grace are maybe more typical fantasy settings. Sort of.

(Tangential, but if you REALLY want to go down a rabbit hole of the intersection of Dragon Quest and /being experimental/ though you should check out the original PS1 version of Dragon Quest 7. Very divisive game (it's very slow and also completely insane) but also one of my favorite PS1 RPGs. 3DS remake sped up the pacing immensely and cleaned it up but that kinda sucked a lot of the soul out of it for me.)

[Zevedeos]

To ease into the franchise this game.
The most fun(for me) from the franchise: Romancing Saga: Minstrel's Song. The remaster of it on Steam is even better and more player friendly than Playstation 2 version.

[Aegix Drakan]

Originally posted by AliceShiki:

Agreed that this is a great starting point. So many mechanics that are usually non-intuitive are made much clearer now while still keeping their same unique functionality... They're just... Accessible now.

This game has tons of QoL, and you can turn most of it off if you want, so you can't go wrong with it as your starting point~

This.

It also has a very good framing device (giant conflict, need generations of emperors to deal with it), which just makes it all have continuity, as well as keeping your power in check because your soldiers are all expendable.

Meanwhile, something like Saga Frontier was just complete anarchy, where all the things were just smushed into one game, and you were expected to figure everything out on your own (Guide Dang It levels at times), and potentially restart a run because you just built your party wrong.