Review: SaGa: Emerald Beyond – Cold, calculating and very entertaining

square enix it's nothing more Dragon Quest either Final Fantasy. Their franchises extend quite a bit and sometimes beyond any RPG. We could even say that they have role-playing titles for all tastes. Those with very specific tastes and desire for a quality strategy will see that SaGa: Emerald Beyond It's not just any game.

Eye, SaGa: Emerald Beyond AAA budget, but somehow, you can tell that it is made with great care with everything there. The studio did not complicate its life by making ultra-detailed games or a novel visual presentation. Their specialty is making you think with game mechanics that require a lot of attention.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond It is not the typical RPG of exploration from one place to another, with dozens of meaningless dialogues with generic NPCs, here every dialogue counts and if your attention is worse than that of a consumer of microvideos, then you are going to quickly lose everything that they tell you. Now, that seems like a kind of punishment: “why is a game going to demand my attention?” you're probably wondering. The answer is simple: because he has something valuable and fantastic to tell you.

This is one of those occasions when I was truly enthralled by a game that at first seemed complicated to me, but as time went by I learned to feel its love. Of course, it is not about the experience being one of “tryharding” all the time, but one in which your senses are attentive all the time and that “combo” manages to defeat the boss who puts up infinite resistance.

We also recommend: Final Fantasy XIV is updated, check if your computer can run it

You have to pay attention to the game mechanics

If you follow my reviews, I first talk about the context of the game's story. It is even ideal when you describe an RPG, however, the first assessment will be on the side of the game mechanics, since perhaps they are what generally supports the concept of SaGa: Emerald Beyond.

You see, this is a strategy-focused RPG. It doesn't have continuous action-like combat like in Final Fantasy VII Remake or even FFXVI, this one is more about taking your time and knowing what's happening in the moment. In short, you have your team of 5 or more characters who will face various enemies. On the screen there is a turn line and you will see who starts first and who last.

Combat actions affect who goes first or next, as well as combos between more than one character. Your characters' actions have a star expenditure that, let's say, can be 1 or more. The first turn has – let's say – 5 stars and you distribute the cost of them among the actions of your characters. That is not the real complexity, since each movement can do minimal damage or affect the opponent's status – as in any other RPG – but it also affects the position in the turn, generating a chain for the available characters to attack over and over again. time, rather than turn by turn.

It is not so easy to understand this precept that seems basic, especially since you can start in a hurry, wanting good action. You don't do that here, you have to think that maybe you can hit the enemy with all your characters, but you also leave the rest of the “bad guys” exposed to attack you too. To all this you must add skills that are activated both alone and together. Come on, after playing several times I kept getting tutorials for things that could be done, so it's impossible to consider all the variables.

The reality is that the game system is very complex, even overwhelming, but that doesn't stop it from being entertaining. Those outside of SaGa will feel like they have a thousand-headed monster in front of them, while those who have been with the series for a long time understand that it has always been a complex, even experimental experience, because what we see here does not always happen in other SaGa franchises. Square Enix. It is a unique game and you have to respect it for that.

Many stories aligned

Well, now we have to get fully into the story. The narrative of SaGa: Emerald Beyond It's not as friendly as we might say, especially since it doesn't focus on just one, there are quite a few of them and that can be a bit complicated for some players because where do I start? which is the main character? What is this whole adventure about? Does the order of the factors alter the product?

The first thing you should know is that you can start however you want. Yes, there are many diverse stories and that's what matters. What is a reality is that there will be some narratives with greater development than others. Come on, it is a challenge to have several protagonists at the same time and the possibilities of convincing the user to experience them all is not so simple.

Likewise, we have a game with a budget that is not equivalent to that of a AAA production. We don't have great animations that adorn the story. What there is is extraordinary voice acting. Here SaGa: Emerald Beyond The fence is blown and in an incredible way. The performances in English are remarkable and that helps a lot to follow the story.

Now, when you finish a story, you go with another and so on. It is a kind of forced “replay” so that you discover everything that SaGa: Emerald Beyond it can offer. It wouldn't be fair to say that this is a new system, especially since this premise is similar to Live A Live where you follow different stories that ultimately come together into one. Of course, it is a real and applaudable effort. The result is satisfactory and each of the characters' stories are worth visiting.

Meticulous progression and very exact combos

Progression is a key section within an RPG. From there it depends on whether you feel that your characters are a kind of burden or that thanks to a developed specialty skill they can make a difference during a fight. In Saga: Emerald Beyond After defeating an enemy, you will see the characters' stats go up. It's not all about increasing health points, there are also the parameters of magic, speed, defense, etc.

Now, this last section is simplified into SaGa: Emerald Beyond, not that it is overwhelming. You just have to pay close attention to what the characters in your party are earning. Then comes a very special detail and that is to delve into the weapons, armor and other items. As you win battles, you obtain items, which you place on your – let's call them – warriors who end up in a kind of Isekai. These objects affect the stats of each of the combatants and can have very specific details that are key during those battles that can be complicated.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond It can be as simple and complicated or as deep and agile as you want. If you don't spend a while finding out how each section works, you may get bored and tired, since the satisfaction is not so immediate. But if you find out that one hit can poison the enemy or rally more teammates to deliver a devastating combo, you're in for a very entertaining experience that will feel very solid.

The issue of combos and more complex skills is very important, because that is where SaGa: Emerald Beyond It explodes and you feel like you are really taking advantage of the system. You may even feel that you are over and that the challenge is no longer so complicated. The truth is that dominating SaGa: Emerald Beyond It makes you a hardcore gamer of strategy titles.

It is to give it more than one turn

The premise of having so many characters and stories can confuse more than one person, especially if you think that playing with a protagonist, well, you've already seen everything and the truth is that there will be no shortage of people who say: the game only lasts 2 and a half hours? No, the experience does not have that focus. Now the joke is that you understand where the objective of replayability is going.

Giving more than one spin to the stories can be a section that is certainly confusing and not very understandable. It is not very clear that you have to start from scratch and not grab the last save point in a new game. The joke is to proceed little by little to get to know each of the available characters and their different stories. You will even notice that sometimes they intersect.

The execution of this section in SaGa: Emerald Beyond It may be better – although it is somewhat difficult for them to adjust or change it at this time -. It is not to say that the damage has been done, it is rather to admit that this title is intended for a very specific market and that is the Japanese who do not mind seeing graphic presentations with full HD cinematics, but rather something more to read, with static characters and pay close attention to all narrative aspects.

That is, if you are one of the consumers of old-school RPG games, then this is a title for you. If you don't have patience and want everything digested and with movie cinematics, then no. This game shines for its game mechanics when it comes to combat and how the stories intersect with each other. You don't need anything else.

Very respectable visual section and decent quality

SaGa: Emerald Beyond it clearly doesn't have the budget of a AAA game. That can be seen from miles away. Is that a negative thing? Not at all. Lately we have games that do not need an exaggerated graphic presentation in order to shine. Let's just look at the example of Helldivers 2, which turned out to be a very complete and above all entertaining game, despite the fact that it has some deficiencies in its execution.

The critical Western eye will feel that the presentation of SaGa: Emerald Beyond It is lazy, we are no longer in video games where conversations between characters must be with static images, however, many times less is more and that way we can focus more on the narrative of the game, which is very interesting.

Now, the combat animations in SaGa: Emerald Beyond Yes, they can be somewhat limited. There are times when we do have spectacular attacks and outstanding combos that look great, but in others simplicity abounds. Here a greater effort could have been made. The systems for which this game was developed are not so poor that we cannot get the most out of them. The same happens with some lighting and special effects.

But back to the same. It is clear that there was not so much budget that the focus was aimed at providing a gaming experience focused more on tactics and strategy than on getting crazy with graphics that blow up the wall. What should be applauded is that the character design is certainly diverse. There is a little bit of everything and some very entertaining surprises that you don't see coming.

Should you buy SaGa: Emerald Beyond?

We are in a time where we really have to know how to value the efforts of games that do not stop at being attractive, but rather try to entertain you perhaps with a more humble aspect. There are expensive productions that fall short of what they are supposed to offer and some much more humble ones that want you to have fun, either with a direct and simple proposal or with a thoughtful challenge and that is what it offers. SaGa: Emerald Beyond.

Without the need to exploit the graphics of the consoles where it is available, SaGa: Emerald Beyond focuses its efforts on delivering a strategy game with solid combat mechanics and an entertaining and deep narrative at the same time. The way the different protagonists' stories intersect is very good and the element of replayability is impeccable. Fans of the genre will really appreciate it.

Do you agree with the rating? Join our community at Discord and subscribe to our Google news so you don't miss our news.

We played SaGa: Emerald Beyond on PS5 with a code provided by a Square Enix representative in our region.

(Visited 6 times, 6 visits today)

Post Views: 14