SaGa Frontier
Encyclopedia
is a role-playing video game
developed by Square
for the PlayStation and released in Japan
on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment
(SCEA) in North America
on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series and the first to be released on the PlayStation. The game was directed and produced
by Akitoshi Kawazu
with aid from chief planner Koichi Ishii
and musical composer Kenji Ito
.
The plot of SaGa Frontier takes place in a science fiction
/fantasy
universe called "The Regions", a group of worlds with varying degrees of culture, unique races, technology, and magic. The game allows the player to follow the exploits of one of seven protagonists, each with his or her own storyline and goal. The game's "Free Scenario System" offers a large amount of non-linear gameplay, allowing the player to freely travel between many of the Regions, interact with other characters, and take part in turn-based combat.
SaGa Frontier enjoyed commercial success, having sold over one million copies worldwide. The game was generally well-received in Japan and has been re-released under a few best-seller labels, as well as the PlayStation Store
. However, it received largely mixed and average reviews in North America, mostly due to its ambitious Free Scenario 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 his or her own 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 even 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 the protagonist has in his or her party, a concept first introduced in Romancing SaGa 2
.
Combat in SaGa Frontier pits players against groups of enemies encountered on the field screen. The battle screen depicts 2D
-animated sprites amidst a 3D
-rotating background. Battles are turn-based, in which the player chooses his or her actions and allow them, along those of the enemies, to play out. A variety of weapons, special skills, and magic spells are at the player's disposal. Most skills are learned mid-battle, while many spells are purchased in the game's shops. If certain conditions are met within the battle, party members on either side can create combination attacks for added damage. Winning battles will increase player character statistics
such as hit points (HP), life points (LP), strength, and quickness. Outside of combat, players can equip and unequip (or "seal") weapons, armor, skills, spells, and items. First introduced in the Game Boy incarnations of the SaGa series, the game contains different races that exist within the Regions: the Human
s, the Mystics (similar to vampire
s), the Half-Mystics (half Human and half Mystic), the Monsters (shapeshifters
) and the Mecs (robot
s). Some of the game's races are limited in this system. For example, Monsters cannot equip weapons, armor, or spells, while Mecs are capable of equipping parts from other Mecs to add more abilities.
The player is encouraged to complete each of the seven scenarios one after the other. For added incentive, beating a character's game and saving its completion to the system data adds some bonuses. After beating one character's game, essentially every character in the following game starts off stronger and with better gear than before, and may depend on how many battles players fought in their previous quest that they saved on the system data. Fulfilling all seven main quests allows the player access to the "2nd Division" room, in which the player can fight all final bosses and talk to the game's programmers.
Asellus, 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. Depending on the actions the player does, there are three endings, in which she end live on as a human, half Mystic, or complete Mystic.
Blue is a young mage fresh out of magic school. His quest is to collect the "Gift" for as many magics as possible. After that he is destined to fight his twin Rouge who has gained the opposite magics. Whichever brother survives obtains the other's magic and receives the sacred "Life" magic. It is revealed they were created artificially to produce the only wizard who could master all magical powers, even the conflicting pairs, and the duel is a mere formality to establish the dominant persona. Afterwards, Blue/Rouge descends into Hell to fight the demons who attacked his home.
Emelia is a blonde ex-con and secret agent formerly working as a model. Her story begins when her fiance Ren was murdered by a mysterious villain known as the "Joker". Wrongfully accused of the crime, she was sentenced to imprisonment in Despair, where she met Annie and Liza. With their help, they complete a competition the warden created to receive a full pardon for their crimes. After their escape, Emelia was recruited by the two to join the secret organization Gradius, which was also hunting for the "Joker".
Lute is a carefree bard whose mother kicked him out of the house until Lute found a decent job. He stumbles face-first into a plot involving Trinity general Mondo and resistance leader Captain Hamilton, and the legacy of Lute's deceased father, who was betrayed and killed by Mondo.
Red is a teenage boy whose family is destroyed by the criminal syndicate called Black X. After being rescued from the same fate by the masked superhero named Alkarl, he is granted the identity of the superhero Alkaiser. After destroying several Black X bases and their main stronghold, Red stands at his father's grave, and Alkarl appears to take Red's powers away, making him a normal man again. It turns out that Alkarl was Red's father's friend, Hawk, and Red will not be able to live a "normal" life for long.
Riki (Known as Coon in the Japanese release) is a Lummox, a fox-like creature, and one of the last remaining inhabitants of the mysterious world, Margmel. Determined to save his homeworld, he seeks the Rings of Margmel. In his search, he starts out in Scrap, where he finds the researcher Mei-ling. Riki's quest takes him around the regions to gather the Rings until he comes face to face with Virgil, a Mystic Lord. Following the battle, Riki returns home to attempt to restore Margmel.
T260G is an ancient Mec, a model constructed from junk parts, awakened in modern times. Originally part of a combat ship with a secret mission against the RB3 (Region Buster 3), it lost its memory when it crashed into Junk. With help of Leonard, a human who transferred his memories into a Mec, and Gen, a master swordsman, it recovers its memory and finishes the job.
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 among others.
Originally, the title of this game was "Romancing SaGa 4" during early development. In that stage of development, two more heroes' quests were also being planned, in addition to the existing seven lead characters. One of them was Fuse, the IRPO agent who may be enlisted as a playable character in the actual release. In his quest, Fuse was supposed to be able to take part in other characters' scenarios, and the ultimate goal of his quest might be determined by what the player did in the course of gameplay. The "ninth" protagonist was to be the daughter of a channellers family who is engaging in a controversy as to who of them shall inherit the property of their former patriarch. This scenario seems to be dropped during the early development because of being too comedic.
Due to time constraints, some plot points of Asellus' story were removed. During those events, Asellus was supposed to visit Dr. Nusakan's clinic, Bio Research Lab, Lambda Base, and Furdo's Workshop so that she would find her true identity so that she would decide to live as a human being or as a mystic. These quests were also intended to affect her scenario's ending.
and was later reprinted by Square Enix
on February 1, 2006. On disc 3 of the soundtrack, there is a hidden track, in the pregap
, which can only be heard when rewinding the CD from the beginning; this was originally supposed to be Riki's theme. There also are alternate titles for those pieces of music which can be seen in the songlist in the in-game "2nd Division". Itō states that he wanted to create an arranged
album for the game as well, although one has yet to be released.
: The Essence of SaGa Frontier and The Complete of SaGa Frontier. Another companion book titled SaGa Frontier How To Walk In Regions was published by Kodansha
. BradyGames released its own Saga Frontier: Official Strategy Guide in North America in 1998. When the game was re-issued in Japan in 2000 as part of the Square Millennium Collection, it included a collectible teacup
set and a tee-shirt depicting the character Blue.
magazine. Due to its popularity in Japan, the game has been re-released a number of times at a budget price: in 2000 as part of the Square Millennium Collection, in 2002 as part of the PSOne Books
best-seller range, and again in 2004 as a part of Square Enix's Ultimate Hits
line. Most recently in 2008, the game was released on the PlayStation Store
in Japan.
SaGa Frontier received mostly mixed or average reviews in North America. The game currently holds a 73% on GameRankings, and an 8.0 out of 10 average at GameStats. Although many publications disagreed on positive aspects of the game, much criticism arose from its Free Scenario System. GameSpot
called the game a "solid, if not exactly stellar, RPG that'll certainly keep you busy for a while - or at least until you tire of its occasional lack of focus". The website found the combat refreshing and many of its pre-rendered visuals to be well-done, but had many negative comments, specifically concerning the game's nonlinear nature and unfocused scenarios. IGN
proclaimed SaGa Frontier to be "the only bruised apple in Square's current collection of role-playing games", similarly stating that the game's Free Scenario System can become confusing and easily cause the player to become lost. However, it labelled the story and sprite-based graphics its strong points. Game Informer
notably found that the plot of SaGa Frontier is more of an outline than a descriptive formula as seen in other Square titles such as Final Fantasy VII
and Chrono Trigger
. The publication also criticized the game's graphics, but praised its length and gameplay. Staff reviewers at RPGFan and RPGamer
agreeably noted the game's battle system to be its highlight; both websites mention that discovering combinations attacks to be "fun" and "exciting".
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
developed by Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
for the PlayStation and released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on July 11, 1997. The game was later published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
(SCEA) in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on March 25, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series and the first to be released on the PlayStation. The game was directed and produced
Game producer
A video game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game.The earliest documented use of the term producer in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Arts in 1982...
by Akitoshi Kawazu
Akitoshi Kawazu
is a Japanese game producer who was born in Kumamoto Prefecture. He studied ceramics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Kawazu joined Square in 1985...
with aid from chief planner Koichi Ishii
Koichi Ishii
, sometimes credited as Kouichi Ishii, is a video game designer perhaps best known for creating the Mana series . He joined Square in 1987, where he has directed or produced every game released in the Mana series...
and musical composer Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
.
The plot of SaGa Frontier takes place in a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
universe called "The Regions", a group of worlds with varying degrees of culture, unique races, technology, and magic. The game allows the player to follow the exploits of one of seven protagonists, each with his or her own storyline and goal. The game's "Free Scenario System" offers a large amount of non-linear gameplay, allowing the player to freely travel between many of the Regions, interact with other characters, and take part in turn-based combat.
SaGa Frontier enjoyed commercial success, having sold over one million copies worldwide. The game was generally well-received in Japan and has been re-released under a few best-seller labels, as well as the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
. However, it received largely mixed and average reviews in North America, mostly due to its ambitious Free Scenario System.
Gameplay
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 systemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
known as The Regions, a group of planets, each with its own culture, game-level of technology, and form of magic
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
. 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 his or her own 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 even 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 the protagonist has in his or her party, a concept first introduced in Romancing SaGa 2
Romancing SaGa 2
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and released exclusively for the Super Famicom system in Japan on December 10, 1993. It is the fifth title in the SaGa series. Video game music composer Kenji Ito composed the score.-Gameplay:...
.
Combat in SaGa Frontier pits players against groups of enemies encountered on the field screen. The battle screen depicts 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
-animated sprites amidst a 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
-rotating background. Battles are turn-based, in which the player chooses his or her actions and allow them, along those of the enemies, to play out. A variety of weapons, special skills, and magic spells are at the player's disposal. Most skills are learned mid-battle, while many spells are purchased in the game's shops. If certain conditions are met within the battle, party members on either side can create combination attacks for added damage. Winning battles will increase player character statistics
Statistic (role-playing games)
A statistic in role-playing games is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. That piece of data is usually a integer or, in some cases, a set of dice....
such as hit points (HP), life points (LP), strength, and quickness. Outside of combat, players can equip and unequip (or "seal") weapons, armor, skills, spells, and items. First introduced in the Game Boy incarnations of the SaGa series, the game contains different races that exist within the Regions: the Human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s, the Mystics (similar to vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s), the Half-Mystics (half Human and half Mystic), the Monsters (shapeshifters
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
) and the Mecs (robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s). Some of the game's races are limited in this system. For example, Monsters cannot equip weapons, armor, or spells, while Mecs are capable of equipping parts from other Mecs to add more abilities.
The player is encouraged to complete each of the seven scenarios one after the other. For added incentive, beating a character's game and saving its completion to the system data adds some bonuses. After beating one character's game, essentially every character in the following game starts off stronger and with better gear than before, and may depend on how many battles players fought in their previous quest that they saved on the system data. Fulfilling all seven main quests allows the player access to the "2nd Division" room, in which the player can fight all final bosses and talk to the game's programmers.
Scenarios
At the outset, the player can choose any one of seven main characters to play as, each with their own storyline.Asellus, 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. Depending on the actions the player does, there are three endings, in which she end live on as a human, half Mystic, or complete Mystic.
Blue is a young mage fresh out of magic school. His quest is to collect the "Gift" for as many magics as possible. After that he is destined to fight his twin Rouge who has gained the opposite magics. Whichever brother survives obtains the other's magic and receives the sacred "Life" magic. It is revealed they were created artificially to produce the only wizard who could master all magical powers, even the conflicting pairs, and the duel is a mere formality to establish the dominant persona. Afterwards, Blue/Rouge descends into Hell to fight the demons who attacked his home.
Emelia is a blonde ex-con and secret agent formerly working as a model. Her story begins when her fiance Ren was murdered by a mysterious villain known as the "Joker". Wrongfully accused of the crime, she was sentenced to imprisonment in Despair, where she met Annie and Liza. With their help, they complete a competition the warden created to receive a full pardon for their crimes. After their escape, Emelia was recruited by the two to join the secret organization Gradius, which was also hunting for the "Joker".
Lute is a carefree bard whose mother kicked him out of the house until Lute found a decent job. He stumbles face-first into a plot involving Trinity general Mondo and resistance leader Captain Hamilton, and the legacy of Lute's deceased father, who was betrayed and killed by Mondo.
Red is a teenage boy whose family is destroyed by the criminal syndicate called Black X. After being rescued from the same fate by the masked superhero named Alkarl, he is granted the identity of the superhero Alkaiser. After destroying several Black X bases and their main stronghold, Red stands at his father's grave, and Alkarl appears to take Red's powers away, making him a normal man again. It turns out that Alkarl was Red's father's friend, Hawk, and Red will not be able to live a "normal" life for long.
Riki (Known as Coon in the Japanese release) is a Lummox, a fox-like creature, and one of the last remaining inhabitants of the mysterious world, Margmel. Determined to save his homeworld, he seeks the Rings of Margmel. In his search, he starts out in Scrap, where he finds the researcher Mei-ling. Riki's quest takes him around the regions to gather the Rings until he comes face to face with Virgil, a Mystic Lord. Following the battle, Riki returns home to attempt to restore Margmel.
T260G is an ancient Mec, a model constructed from junk parts, awakened in modern times. Originally part of a combat ship with a secret mission against the RB3 (Region Buster 3), it lost its memory when it crashed into Junk. With help of Leonard, a human who transferred his memories into a Mec, and Gen, a master swordsman, it recovers its memory and finishes the job.
Development
SaGa Frontier was developed by the then-Square Production Team 2 (referred to as 2nd Division in the game) with Akitoshi KawazuAkitoshi Kawazu
is a Japanese game producer who was born in Kumamoto Prefecture. He studied ceramics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Kawazu joined Square in 1985...
as director and producer, Koichi Ishii
Koichi Ishii
, sometimes credited as Kouichi Ishii, is a video game designer perhaps best known for creating the Mana series . He joined Square in 1987, where he has directed or produced every game released in the Mana series...
as planning chief, Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
as composer, and Tomomi Kobayashi as illustrator. Square Production Team 2 included Kyoji Koizumi, Miwa Shoda, Kazuko Shibuya, and Minoru Akao among others.
Due to time constraints, some plot points of Asellus' story were removed. During those events, Asellus was supposed to visit Dr. Nusakan's clinic, Bio Research Lab, Lambda Base, and Furdo's Workshop so that she would find her true identity so that she would decide to live as a human being or as a mystic. These quests were also intended to affect her scenario's ending.
Audio
The musical score for SaGa Frontier was composed and arranged by Kenji Ito, who provided music for many previous entries in the SaGa franchise. SaGa Frontier Original Sound Track comprises 75 tracks spanning three compact discs. It was released in Japan on April 21, 1999 by DigiCubeDigiCube
DigiCube Co., Ltd. was a Japanese company established as a subsidiary of software developer Square on February 6, 1996 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The primary purpose of DigiCube was to market and distribute Square products, most notably video games and related merchandise, including toys,...
and was later reprinted by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
on February 1, 2006. On disc 3 of the soundtrack, there is a hidden track, in the pregap
Pregap
The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
, which can only be heard when rewinding the CD from the beginning; this was originally supposed to be Riki's theme. There also are alternate titles for those pieces of music which can be seen in the songlist in the in-game "2nd Division". Itō states that he wanted to create an arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
album for the game as well, although one has yet to be released.
Merchandise
Two guidebooks for SaGa Frontier have been published in Japan by ASCIIASCII (company)
was a publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, and became ASCII Media Works. The company published Monthly ASCII as the main publication...
: The Essence of SaGa Frontier and The Complete of SaGa Frontier. Another companion book titled SaGa Frontier How To Walk In Regions was published by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
. BradyGames released its own Saga Frontier: Official Strategy Guide in North America in 1998. When the game was re-issued in Japan in 2000 as part of the Square Millennium Collection, it included a collectible teacup
Teacup
A teacup is a small cup, with or without a handle, generally a small one that may be grasped with the thumb and one or two fingers. It is typically made of a ceramic material. It is usually part of a set, composed of a cup and a matching saucer. These in turn may be part of a tea set in...
set and a tee-shirt depicting the character Blue.
Reception
As of 2008, SaGa Frontier has sold over one million copies in Japan. It was the 5th top-selling game in Japan in 1997 and is currently the 15th top-selling PlayStation game for the region. In 2000, SaGa Frontier was voted the 18th best PlayStation game of all time by the editors of FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine. Due to its popularity in Japan, the game has been re-released a number of times at a budget price: in 2000 as part of the Square Millennium Collection, in 2002 as part of the PSOne Books
The Best range
The Best is a Sony PlayStation budget range in Japan and parts of Asia. For the PlayStation, The Best was followed by PSone Books when the PSone was released in 2000...
best-seller range, and again in 2004 as a part of Square Enix's Ultimate Hits
Ultimate Hits
The Japanese video game company Square Enix publishes budget range titles under three labels: , "Legendary Hits", and "Eternal Hits".- Ultimate Hits :...
line. Most recently in 2008, the game was released on the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
in Japan.
SaGa Frontier received mostly mixed or average reviews in North America. The game currently holds a 73% on GameRankings, and an 8.0 out of 10 average at GameStats. Although many publications disagreed on positive aspects of the game, much criticism arose from its Free Scenario System. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
called the game a "solid, if not exactly stellar, RPG that'll certainly keep you busy for a while - or at least until you tire of its occasional lack of focus". The website found the combat refreshing and many of its pre-rendered visuals to be well-done, but had many negative comments, specifically concerning the game's nonlinear nature and unfocused scenarios. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
proclaimed SaGa Frontier to be "the only bruised apple in Square's current collection of role-playing games", similarly stating that the game's Free Scenario System can become confusing and easily cause the player to become lost. However, it labelled the story and sprite-based graphics its strong points. Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
notably found that the plot of SaGa Frontier is more of an outline than a descriptive formula as seen in other Square titles such as Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
and Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
. The publication also criticized the game's graphics, but praised its length and gameplay. Staff reviewers at RPGFan and RPGamer
RPGamer
RPGamer is a media and news website dedicated to covering computer and video game RPGs. Its coverage includes North American game news, European game news, Asian game news, gaming industry news, game reviews, game previews, hands-on game impressions, gaming conventions, game merchandise, release...
agreeably noted the game's battle system to be its highlight; both websites mention that discovering combinations attacks to be "fun" and "exciting".