SaGa Emerald Beyond – Review

Japan has given life to many role-playing games which, over the years, have become true cornerstones of the genre. However, there are franchises that, although less famous, are particularly loved by a good portion of players due to their uniqueness. Among these we find Saga which, after a confusing launch in the West with the title of FINAL FANTASY LEGENDhas managed over the years to detach itself from its older brother to become an entity in its own right with a well-established gameplay style. And starting tomorrow, April 25, it will be available worldwide SaGa Emerald Beyond, new chapter of the franchise for consoles and mobile devices. In this adventure we will be able to choose between six different protagonists and go find out what is threatening the peace of Beyonda dimensional portal capable of connecting all the worlds of the same universe.

But will he have managed to convince us completely? Find out in our review!

In the universe there are an infinite number of worlds interconnected with each other. They are tied together by an emerald green thread that leads to the Beyond, a place from which it is possible to pass from one world to another. There are not many who know about this mysterious borderland, nor those capable of moving between worlds with ease. Unfortunately the balance of the entire universe is about to be upsetand there will be six unaware heroes trying to restore peace between the various dimensions.

Tsunanori Midoa young student gifted with extraordinary powers, is looking for a way to restore the barrier that protects him Miyako City. Bonnie Blair And Form Franklyntwo police officers who will find themselves working together to find out who made an attempt on the life of the president of Capitol City. Siugnas the Dismal Kinga vampire who has been dethroned and seeks a way to regain control of the world of Yomi. Ameiya Aislingwitch from Witchdom Pulchra in search of his lost powers. Diva No. 5a robot singer who, after losing his voice, decides to abandon his human body and go on a journey far from Avalon, his world. What dangers await them?

The green thread of destiny

From a gameplay perspective SaGa Emerald Beyond it doesn't differ too much from the most recent chapters of the franchise, simply improving the key elements that make up the game. The stories of each protagonist, separately Formina And Bonnie that they will act as a couple, they will be separated and we can decide freely which of them to start with the adventure. Once one of the five main plots is finished we will be able to keep some of the items unlockedsuch as objects and formations, also in the next one and even decide whether to increase the difficulty level of the clashes.

The game doesn't feature a real exploration system, but we will guided by the emerald threads towards some key points that will allow us to continue with the story of a particular character. In some moments of the plot before we can continue we must resolve a Ritgram, a puzzle in which we will have to fit colored tiles into a predetermined shape. In the course of each story we will not only meet lots of optional pointsbut they will also be present different ways to solve the key points giving total freedom of choice to the player. This makes the game have a very high rate of replayabilityso we can discover all the events that we didn't get to see in our first playthrough.

I believe that the possibility of replaying the plots of the different protagonists while maintaining some of the features previously unlocked is one of the greatest strengths of SaGa Emerald Beyond. The software house has implemented the different paths for each protagonist very well, and it is interesting to see how the events of each story would have unfolded by making different choices. Although it is in line with the most recent chapters of the franchise, I wouldn't have minded seeing a more defined exploration system given that interactions with the game world will be truly sporadic and, often, repetitive.

Time after Time

Among the most unique elements of SaGa Emerald Beyond there is undoubtedly the combat system and the character growth system. Before clashing with a group of opponents we will be able to choose from one of the unlocked Formations, which will allow us to have considerable advantages such as increasing the defense to a certain altered status or decreasing the consumption of resources for the use of techniques. Fights will take place following the order of the Timeline, which we will be able to influence based on the actions performed by our characters. In fact, it will be possible to move the opponent's turn by exploiting the attacks that cause Delayor anticipate that of one of our protagonists by choosing a technique with higher priority.

Based on the positioning on the Timeline we can chain together our characters' attacksgoing to unleash a United Attack capable of causing truly massive damage. Exceeding a certain percentage of combos during one of these attacks will take over Overdrive, and the characters will attack again. We will have to be careful though, opponents will also be able to influence the Timeline and use these types of attacks, so we will have to strategically choose when to exploit them and when to try to block them. During the battle, depending on the skills used, a character will be able to have a Glimmer and thus unlock a new technique of combat that he will exploit immediately.

As in the previous chapters of the franchise There will be no experience systembut after each battle the characters will be able to have an increase in statistics based on how that particular protagonist will be used during the battle. Another way to improve their performance will be to improve their equipment. In fact, it will be possible to use the materials obtained during the story, the battles or exchanged through the Item Trading system to modify the pieces of equipment in our possession and make them more powerful. Also thanks to the mysterious Mr. S it will be possible not only to obtain further objects, but also to train those characters who would otherwise remain on the bench.

I really appreciated that the fights in SaGa Emerald Beyond reward strategy more than the use of brute force, especially in the advanced stages of the game. Understanding when it's time to sacrifice a combo or a character's turn to prevent opponents from destroying us with a brutal chain of attacks makes the game more multifaceted. As much as they are now a tradition of the franchise, the Glimmers will perhaps be a little too random and not being able to have full control over character growth might be a little too frustrating.

Beyond the Rift

Unfortunately technically SaGa Emerald Beyond suffers from several problems, not so much related to performance but to the way in which some things have been handled. The graphics department offers an interesting artistic direction but a little too balletic. On the one hand we find some great character models, both protagonists and non-protagonists, with a rich variety of races and living species scattered throughout all the worlds we will visit during the adventure. On the other hand though the design of the opponents is perhaps a little too repetitiveand sometimes it will even affect boss models.

Also the soundtrack composed by Kenji Ito, although it is truly appreciable, in the long run it will perhaps be a little too repetitive. Furthermore, although the dubbing was recorded in both Japanese and English, only the latter was present in the version I tested and it is not possible to switch from one to the other. It is not clear whether SQUARE ENIX in the future will release the ability to switch between the two.

Even the narrative suffers from some problems, primarily related to the really exaggerated stereotyping of some characters. In a universe full of unknown alien races, we find ourselves faced with a character like Bonnie who speaks with a very forced Texan slang which often gives life to portions of text that are almost a bit cringe. There are also some problems related to tutorials, not only will they reappear every time we start the game even after finishing it, but we will often have textual advice of things that we have already had the opportunity to experience and which will cover part of the screen. Lastly, I strongly believe that the game could have benefited from some improvements quality of lifefor example by implementing the possibility of accelerating the speed of battles since they will sometimes require several turns to complete.

Who do we recommend SaGa Emerald Beyond to?

If you already know the franchise in SaGa Emerald Beyond will find a perfected version of the classic game system that we have discovered over the years. Thanks to the different plots and a very high replayability rate, it will be able to entertain us for a really long time. Sure, it's a gaming system not suitable for everyoneand some of the technical limitations may be less than pleasant for those looking for a more modern experience.