SaGa: Emerald Beyond: Tactical JRPG at its finest

It will be available on April 25, 2024 SaGa: Emerald Beyonda strategy JRPG that publishes and develops square enix on consoles and PC. This title has a barbaric strategy and a certainly interesting context. It is not your typical turn-based role-playing video game. It is a production designed for a very specific niche and we had the opportunity to start playing it in advance so we could tell you about it.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond is the new installment in the SaGa series, a Square Enix franchise that dates back to 1989 and that we first learned about in our region as The Final Fantasy Legend on the Game Boy. Over time, the series evolved and then we knew it as Romancing SaGa, then Frontier and now we have this new installment.

Those who have been following this series for a while – which by the way are not few – already know more or less what they are going to face because they have in front of them a proposal whose basis is well defined and based on the strategy. Newbies will find a different video game that at first glance looks very hardcore and that little by little will welcome them with wide open arms.

The premise that this video game exposes is very particular. The question is whether you are ready to face a different challenge that will test everything from your patience to your attention to the smallest details.

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The joke is the choice of both a protagonist and the paths to follow

SaGa: Emerald Beyond It is a JRPG whose presentation seems a little old, if not obsolete. There are no animations, just static images. Much less a showy or open exploration. Its grace is in the narrative and its game system. Yes, it's about judging a book beyond its cover, which is very difficult to do these days.

The premise of SaGa: Emerald Beyond is that you take control of six protagonists and then wander through a selection of seventeen worlds. The characters will explore these scenarios in which different events take place. From this point the magic of the game comes as routes are generated. All your decisions have a consequence.

Now, this title is far from being some kind of straight line, which can make things much more complicated for you, especially because sometimes you can face fights that you are not ready for yet – and all for not paying attention -. It is a fact that you must pay close attention to everything you are going to do and not jump into every duel, unless the easy one is in front of you.

Now, what you need to understand is that all the characters have their story and a very clear personality. You will even feel that there are some who have a very pedantic attitude, but with the passage of time all the questions you ask yourself get an answer. And that's good, because it makes the experience much more interesting and even gives you the idea that the game will have more than one turn depending on what you have said or done.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond and its characteristic strategic level

SaGa: Emerald Beyond It can be a very overwhelming experience because it's nothing more than the typical turn-based combat where you choose an action, hit, and wait for your opponent. The strategy certainly becomes complex from the beginning and works as follows:

First: When you start a fight you see that you have a certain amount of stars. These are spent for each attack of your characters. Your team members have several attacks that spend from one to more stars. If at the beginning you only have 4 stars, then you have to distribute the attacks. Now, the strength of the attacks does not depend on the number of stars, sometimes it depends on the offset or waiting for a turn to connect.

Second: A turn revolves around all actions, not just yours, but also those of your enemies. This makes the game very strategic, because you must choose who you are going to attack first, whether the enemy who goes on the offensive first, or perhaps the one at the end who could have a really powerful attack. That is, you can think about receiving minor damage that is not so lethal and better concentrate your punishments on that enemy who is preparing much greater damage.

Third: This is the most important one. There are many factors involved in attacks. A movement that includes a chain causes several of your teammates to join the offensive. And that can be repeated several times. It's nothing more than “one does a hit, then the next one does another” and so on, there is a combo bar that makes the experience much more entertaining. That is why it is also important to consider even who you are going to attack first so that a continuous chain develops and you are not suffering later.

A very special presentation for a SaGa

As it says a few paragraphs ago, SaGa: Emerald Beyond It is based on its entertaining and challenging game system. Come on, we are not facing a production the size of Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy. This game shines most for what it offers when you take control and start to enjoy all the systems around you, from the combat itself to the way the characters progress and the fine points that make them specials (dodge, be fast, use a special weapon, etc.)

However, SaGa: Emerald Beyond Perhaps it is one of the games in the series that takes better advantage of the platform on which it is released or, failing that, it has a very well detailed visual presentation. At the beginning we mentioned that this game does not have animations, it even seems a bit weak in terms of a lot of text, some voice acting and static drawings. The thing is, the character design is really unique.

Something that the SaGa series will always shine for is that it has very detailed and aesthetic characters. Of course, there will be those who say that “there cannot be a body like that in this world”, however, we must point out that the art base used to create the game's protagonists is unique. It is an unprecedented creation that perhaps falls into some clichés, but that does not detract from its merits.

The enemies in SaGa: Emerald Beyond They also have a really good visual presentation. They range from the grotesque and perhaps vulgar, to those that appear to be ruthless/dark and evil. Come on! There is a congruence from beginning to end and that is something that not all games achieve.

Beyond the aesthetics, the animations during combat are well executed, the music is compliant and goes with the gaming experience. Overall, it is a very complete package.

Play the demo!

SaGa: Emerald Beyond It will have a demo on PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch, so the best thing you can do is download the game to give yourself a good idea of ​​what to expect.

With what we tell you, you should already know more or less what is waiting for you so you won't lose when you start playing.

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