SaGa Frontier Remastered

Full disclaimer: I like the PSX version of this game. I played it in Squaresoft's 'weird and experimental' era following the roaring success of Final Fantasy VII. So I cannot be completely impartial. Nevertheless I will try to judge this on it's merits as well as it's regrettable design choices.
The Romancing SaGa series has always prided it's self upon forcing the player to explore and experiment. This game doesn't stray far from that philosophy. It does not hold your hand in the least about how things work under the hood (the spark list, learning abilities for Mech, what Riki will transform into, the Combo System). In the remaster it removes just enough cobwebs to make it a hair easier to understand while still being on the obtuse side of things about forcing the player to figure things out for themselves.
The combat is simple enough if not a bit cryptic. You get weapon points for physical specials, you get jutsu points for magical specials. The Combo System is just a roll of the dice if the attacks you chose want to cooperate to make big numbers appear. I will purposefully not explain more than that. Part of this game that feels good is that 'oh...now I am starting to understand' moment that I wouldn't dare deny a new player.
Far as changes specific to the remake? The art style is...close to the original. Seems to have been upscaled and then hand-drawn over versions of the pixel art sprites. Oh and for screens they couldn't do 16:10 display for now has character concept art on both sides to fill in that blank space. I like both styles well enough but I can see someone being annoyed they didn't allow an opt-in for the old visuals. The music is completely 1:1 which is good. There are a few new tracks done by Kenji Ito which fit in well enough with the rest of the soundtrack. Other new features are a built-in frameskip toggle for both the overworld and combat, the ability to run from (most) battles, you can skip most airship animations and (as a small mercy for Riki) the inn in Tanzer now fully restores your party instead of LP only like in PSX.
Also new to the fray is Fuse. Long short of it is he was originally meant to be the eighth protagonist who ties all the other seven stories together. Instead they took the bones of that and allow you to see Fuse's contribution to their story upon completion. It also allows you to re-fight the final bosses with Fuse and a different party with different postscript resolutions. I would have preferred his original story to just have been put in instead but this is a decent enough compromise.
So...would I recommend this? If you want a confusing and unconventional JRPG or if you liked the original then the answer is yes. If you dislike experimental JRPG then you can safely give this a pass.

Did every scenario and was honestly getting a bit tired of the game during the last few because you can only do the exact same sidequests with the exact same dialogue with the exact same rewards so many times without it feeling more like a chore than the adventure it felt like in the first 3 playthroughs. The main stories in the scenarios also weren't all that engaging enough for me to make up for that, aside from Asellus, Emelia, and T260G. BUT... the battle system in this game is so fun to mess with that it kept me going. I wanted to pop off after killing every final boss because they really push you and even seem unfair at times. But you can win. I won.
Definitely gonna check out other SaGa games. I've been eyeing them for a while and this entry has convinced me that they're up my alley.

Pro's:
Tons of freedom of movement, party composition, battle style
Cute, endearing story lines
Fun combat system

Con's:
Steep learning curve
Some fights overly difficult for new players

SaGa Frontier Remastered is both a faithful recreation and a thoughtful enhancement of one of the most unconventional RPGs from the original PlayStation era. Developed by Square Enix and based on the 1998 cult classic, the remastered version brings a forgotten gem of the SaGa series into the modern spotlight with upgraded visuals, quality-of-life improvements, and long-awaited content additions. While the game still retains many of its quirks and complexities—some of which may feel foreign to players more accustomed to linear or traditional JRPGs—it also showcases the boldness of its design and the originality that has earned it a devoted following over the decades.
At its core, SaGa Frontier Remastered is a non-linear, multi-protagonist RPG where players choose from one of eight characters, each with their own story arc, motivations, and starting point in the sprawling world of The Regions. These Regions are varied locales connected by mysterious means and governed by different cultures, technologies, and ideologies, offering a rich and unpredictable setting for adventure. This structure means that each playthrough can feel completely different, encouraging exploration and experimentation rather than guiding the player through a singular narrative path. The remaster introduces a new playable character, Fuse, who was cut from the original release, allowing players to experience additional storylines and outcomes that were once inaccessible. This addition alone makes the remastered version feel more complete and narratively cohesive.
The most distinct feature of SaGa Frontier has always been its open-ended nature. Unlike many RPGs that provide clear direction and progression, this game often throws players into its world with minimal instruction, expecting them to learn through trial, error, and curiosity. While this design philosophy can be alienating at first, it’s also deeply rewarding for those who embrace it. The feeling of organically uncovering secrets, finding hidden quests, or stumbling upon powerful abilities through experimentation is a hallmark of the experience. The remastered version softens some of these harsh edges by adding a useful in-game map and a scenario log that helps track progression and goals, making it more accessible without diluting its unique approach.
Combat in SaGa Frontier Remastered is turn-based and deceptively deep. Characters learn new abilities through use rather than leveling up in the traditional sense, with skills unlocking during battles based on weapon type, character class, and enemy encounters. This spontaneity gives each battle the potential to evolve, especially when characters “spark” new techniques mid-fight. A major feature is the combination system, where characters can chain their moves into powerful combo attacks if used in the correct sequence. This adds another layer of strategy to party composition and ability selection. Magic, martial arts, guns, and monsters all function differently, and players are encouraged to build varied teams to exploit these systems to their fullest. The remaster includes a speed toggle and optional autosaves that help streamline grinding or experimentation, a welcome feature for modern audiences.
Visually, the remaster preserves the original’s distinct 2D sprites over pre-rendered backgrounds while enhancing them with higher resolution and smoother animations. Character sprites are crisp, and environments retain their eccentric charm—though the blend of old and new elements may feel inconsistent in places. The UI has been modernized for better clarity, and menus now support both controller and mouse navigation. Overall, it strikes a delicate balance between nostalgia and modernization, allowing longtime fans to feel at home while making the game more palatable to new players. The soundtrack, composed by Kenji Ito, is another standout. Remastered audio tracks breathe new life into the compositions, ranging from serene town themes to high-energy battle anthems that capture the diverse tone of each Region and story arc.
One of the most impressive aspects of SaGa Frontier Remastered is how it manages to present eight interwoven storylines without redundancy. Each protagonist—be it the amnesiac Blue, the rebel superhero Red, or the tragic mechanical entity T260G—offers a different tone, objective, and gameplay nuance. Some stories are short and focused, while others are sprawling and open-ended. The addition of Fuse adds a meta-narrative element, letting him comment on and connect with the other characters' stories, effectively acting as a narrative bridge and giving the game a stronger sense of cohesion. This new content, combined with bug fixes and restored scenes that were previously incomplete, elevates the experience beyond a simple visual overhaul.
That said, SaGa Frontier Remastered still bears the marks of its experimental origins. Not all mechanics are fully explained, difficulty spikes can be abrupt, and players who don’t take the time to engage with the deeper systems might find themselves overwhelmed or underpowered. Some regions feel underdeveloped, and the pacing can be inconsistent depending on the route you choose. While these issues are inherent to the game’s legacy, they also highlight the tradeoff of ambition over polish—a hallmark of the SaGa series as a whole.
In the end, SaGa Frontier Remastered is a celebration of creative risk-taking in RPG design. It refuses to follow the formulaic structures that define much of the genre and instead offers an open-world anthology of personal stories, mechanical depth, and exploration. For players willing to embrace its eccentricities, it delivers an RPG experience that feels genuinely different—even decades after its original release. The remaster is both a preservation and an expansion of a cult classic, and it sets a new benchmark for how to reintroduce older titles to a modern audience without sacrificing their soul. Whether you’re a longtime fan or a curious newcomer, SaGa Frontier Remastered offers a rich, challenging, and unique journey worth undertaking.
Rating: 9/10

Spectacularly unhinged in every way. Poorly explained mechanics, nonsensical world, obscene difficulty spikes, unrealistic character motivations, plot points that can only be summed up as going from A-Z...I could keep going. SaGa Frontier is an unmitigated mess, but if you can get past that and enjoy the ride without necessarily understanding why - you might just have a great time. These 90s RPGs have charm and ambition that still blows me away more than most stuff that comes out now.

I have had two previous experiences with the SaGa series. The first was way back in the day, but I had no idea it was a SaGa game yet. I was playing Final Fantasy Legend on Gameboy. My friend let me play his Gameboy in like 4th grade and I thought it was cool because it was Final Fantasy (even though I now know it WASN'T!) My second experience was SaGa Frontier 2, which I have consistently named in the Top 3 of my most hated JRPGs of all time (Shadow Madness and Suikoden III being the other two if you're interested.)

So, with this being said, I didn't expect to like SaGa Frontier. It intrigued me, however. Everyone kept talking about how hard it is, and I love challenging JRPGs. Also, you get to pick between 7-8 different characters/mini-JRPGs, which is cool. I decided to give it a chance and:

LOVED IT. First, it IS a bit harder than most JRPGs. However, with Battle Rank, it kinda discourages grinding, so it's not tedious, and ends up just being fun and having challenging boss fights. You gain stats or skills constantly, which makes the lack of levels work really well. I like when I get a new character, and I can't just look at their Level to see who is more powerful, I have to look at their stats. Wow, King Sei is way more powerful than Riki, good to know...

The game ends up being like a Hard Mode Live a Live, but fails in one major area. Unlike Live a Live, which had fully fleshed out plots and characters for each of its mini-JRPGs, SaGa Frontier has a few characters that have no plot or direction. They call it open-world, I call it lazy. Blue's quest is my absolute least favorite. Your plot is literally, "Go learn magic. Kill this dude with it." Lute's is even worse, but people were acting like Blue's quest didn't suck so I made a point to mention that one haha. However, some quests are really fun and have that quirky Japanese feel, like Red and T260's quests.

It's addictive for anyone interested in RPG character building, and also fun to kill a Saturday morning with. It can be played in bite-sized chunks.

If you've never played a SaGa game before... don't go into it without a walkthrough. Some of the campaigns are easy, some are fairly balanced, others are borderline impossible. As a whole though, SaGa Frontier is a blast. This game is still very obviously unfinished, even with all the remaster's additional content, but it has a lot of heart. It perfectly captures that odd transitional period between 2D and 3D games.
Completed the game on Switch back when it came out and I'm about to start my 2nd run on PC. Don't let my playtime on Steam at the time of posting confuse you.