SaGa Frontier

The basic concept of SaGa Frontier is based on its Free Scenario System, in which one can play as any of seven different protagonists, all of whom exist in the same setting, a solar system known as The Regions: a group of planets, each with its own culture, game-level of technology, and form of magic. The game is considered non-linear, in that from the beginning many of the characters are free to go almost anywhere and interact with almost anyone. Travel through most of the Regions is easy due to inter-regional ships traveling regularly between them. The player controls the protagonist on the field screen, a set of interconnecting pre-rendered backgrounds, and is able to speak with a slew of other characters in order to gather information, recruit party members, and initiate quests.

Each character has a storyline and a main quest to fulfill, but there are also several optional quests that any of the characters can participate in. Some of the main characters encounter each other during their quests. The storyline of each character also changes depending on who is chosen, what is said in conversation, what events have already occurred, and who is in the adventuring party, a concept first introduced in Romancing SaGa 2.

At the outset, the player can choose any one of seven main characters to play as, each with their own storyline:

Asellus (アセルス), formerly a human girl, was run over by a carriage and given a blood transfusion by the Mystic Lord Orlouge. Chosen as the Charm Lord's heir, she is despised by human and mystic alike due to her status as the only half-Mystic in existence. She escapes Orlouge's castle with the help of the Princess White Rose. Asellus and White Rose remain on the run from Orlouge's many servants, but after White Rose sacrifices herself to save Asellus's life and freedom, Asellus decides to return and defeat Orlouge, to end the struggle once and for all.

SaGa Frontier was developed by the Square Production Team 2 (referred to as 2nd Division in the game) with Akitoshi Kawazu as director and producer, Koichi Ishii as planning chief, Kenji Ito as composer, and Tomomi Kobayashi as illustrator. Square Production Team 2 included Kyoji Koizumi, Miwa Shoda, Kazuko Shibuya, and Minoru Akao. The musical score for SaGa Frontier was composed and arranged by Kenji Ito, who provided music for many previous entries in the SaGa franchise. Production began in December 1995.

The title of this game was "Romancing SaGa 4" during early development. Due to a change in hardware from Super Famicom to PlayStation, Kawazu changed the title. The team did not use 3D graphics, as they were unaware of the hardware capacities at the time.

Saga Frontier sold over 1.05 million copies in Japan by the end of 1997, and 1.1 million as of 2008. It was the 5th top-selling game in Japan in 1997 and is currently the 15th top-selling PlayStation game for the region.

SaGa Frontier for the PlayStation received mostly mixed or average reviews, and held a 71% on GameRankings. Much criticism arose from its Free Scenario System; critics generally remarked that while the non-linearity of this system is conceptually impressive, it leads to the individual scenarios being shorter and weaker than most contemporary RPGs and to players wasting time exploring dungeons intended for a different protagonist or otherwise wandering around the vast game world without direction. Three of the four critics in Electronic Gaming Monthly's review team saw no problem with the Free Scenario System, praising the storyline and combat, though Shawn Smith said battles are too frequent. The fourth critic, Crispin Boyer, disliked both the non-linearity and the varying difficulty between protagonists, but dismissed these as "minor gripes" and gave the game an 8/10, particularly remarking that the combat system is innovative.