In many ways Romancing SaGa 3 shows its age, but it remains one of the most fascinating JRPGs of the 1990s. This new edition allows us to rediscover it in the best way.
Although Romancing SaGa 3 is a wonderful game, I hesitate to recommend playing this game without any prior knowledge of the series or knowing what to expect. The obtuse nature of the game is very different from many other traditional RPGs, and I advise interested new players to go into the game with an open mind. Veterans of the series, on the other hand, will know what they're getting into, which is essentially the definitive version of Romancing SaGa 3: a port that improves aspects of the game without ruining the appeal of the original. Hopefully, Square Enix can give some of their other retro titles the same treatment they gave for this game.
It is fascinating that a very old JRPG offers more content and depth of play than many other AAA games today. But beware, you really have to grind a lot. But it's worth it, because the gameplay and the events change with the smallest decision and you really experience a lot in a Walktrough. The soundtrack is very good again and the combat system has not changed much since the second part. The function to accelerate the game is unfortunately still missing and you notice it especially with the long grinde. JRPG fans will definitely have a very long time of fun with this beautifully polished masterpiece.
Europe has been waiting 24 years for a playable version of Romancing SaGa 3, and the wait is finally over: what we have is a unique and challenging RPG, which is worth playing today, even if for a hefty price.
Fans of old-school RPGs who love open-ended campaigns will have a fantastic time with Romancing SaGa 3. Just keep in mind; the adventure within will contain plenty of frustrating moments, especially if you don't use a guide.
Overall, Romancing SaGa 3 was a fantastically wonderful game. Aside from the few issues I had learning the game, I found myself thoroughly immersed in the story. Since the player has such control over how they play the game, every player will have a unique experience. The remaster offers added content as well as a New Game+. I would recommend Romancing SaGa 3 to anyone looking for a fantastic older game that has such high replay value.
Romancing SaGa 3 looks and sounds just like the very best RPGs the 16-bit era had to offer, particularly with its rerelease facelift. But its approach is far different from what many RPGamers of that time are used to, and it takes quite a bit of adjustment, research, and grinding to make the jump. Changing gears mid-race is made more frustrating than it needed to be, particularly since the game itself is built around tinkering with party builds, and then scrapping it all and going the route of New Game Plus if it doesn’t work out. Underneath it all, however, lies an engaging combat system, though it’s a shame the story and writing under-serve what could have been an interesting world and cast of characters. Romancing SaGa 3 is certainly worth a shot, but it’s best enjoyed by those who come prepared.
Extremely fun remaster of the all time classic from 1995. Funny how a 30 year old game, gets an english translation, a fresh coat of facepaint, a whole bunch of extras and it's still way more fun than most contemporary AAA titles.
One of the worst RPG's I've played in the last 20 years. Everything starts promising, Interesting characters and story development, unique RPG mechanics, open world. Sadly, everything falls apart as soon as you start to realise how loose the story and plot development is. The game gives you zero direction and many times you will find yourself backtracking and speaking to every single person just to find a way to advance the story, and there are some story plots and areas which will not be revealed until you have progressed in a very particular order. Also, because some of these missions are optional and only available at select times, without direction you will find yourself missing very important items, characters and skills which are oblivious to you unless you have resorted to a guide in order to discover everything the game has to offer. This also means that you will be woefully underpowered and under skilled if you reach the endgame boss area without understanding the need to explore, upgrade and heavily manage your items, skills and spells during the normal story mode Problem is, the pace of story does not reflect your progress, and again, unless you were already in the process of massive grinding to level up your characters, you will quickly realise that all is actually in vein if you reach the end boss stage not being strong enough to proceed. Sadly, the game does not have enough quality and immersion to be worth grinding your way back through the average storyline over and over to find small quality of life upgrades for your team, and ultimately, the fact you need to even go ridiculously out of your way to obtain things which make the game remotely playable in latter stages says it all.
There is almost nothing that comes new, upgraded or fixed about Romancing Saga 3 remake; just an added graphics pack on its SNES version and a new game + option and nothing else. The scattered stories don't really help you get anywhere in the game, you are almost always stuck at some part in the story progress or just missing out essential information or losing the chance of recruiting characters without even knowing you did something wrong during the gameplay. The connecting events between the quests could be explained simply just to help the player navigate better and build up the characters in time but no, that's still not possible on this remake which is a very lazy attempt of remake done for the sole purpose of grabbing your wallet. Not recommending it to anyone.
SummaryThe classic 1995 RPG comes west in a remastered version. Your choices matter—from your choice of hero, to branching story paths, to recruiting party members, to which skills you’ll develop. Every game, a new adventure.