SaGa Frontier

SaGa Frontier
North American cover art
North American cover art depicting the character Blue
Developer(s)Square Product Development Division 2
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Akitoshi Kawazu
Producer(s)Akitoshi Kawazu
Designer(s)Kyoji Koizumi
Programmer(s)Takaaki Tonooka
Artist(s)
  • Kouji Tsuda
  • Tomomi Kobayashi
Writer(s)
  • Miwa Shoda
  • Akitoshi Kawazu
Composer(s)Kenji Ito
SeriesSaGa
Platform(s)
ReleasePlayStation
  • JP: July 11, 1997
  • NA: March 24, 1998[1]
Android, iOS, Switch, PS4, Windows
  • WW: April 15, 2021
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

SaGa Frontier[a] is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation.[2] The game was published by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEA) in North America on March 24, 1998. It is the seventh game in the SaGa series, and the first to be released on the PlayStation. It is also the first in the series to be released under the SaGa brand outside Japan; previous overseas releases had used the Final Fantasy brand instead.[3] A remastered version featuring additional characters, events and features was released on April 15, 2021 for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows.[4][5]

SaGa Frontier was developed by Square Production Team 2 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. When development began, the game's title was intended to be Romancing SaGa 4. The focus shifted from the traditional SaGa style and began to focus on several different characters on their own journeys. Nine stories were crafted, but one of them was dropped during early development because of it being too comedic.

SaGa Frontier takes place in a science 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. 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. 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.

  1. ^ "Rascal, Saga Frontier and Broken Sword Ship". PSX Nation. March 24, 1998. Archived from the original on May 6, 1998. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  2. ^ IGN staff (June 26, 1997). "PSX Titles Flooding Japan". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
  3. ^ "TGS 1997 Spring". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 95. Ziff Davis. June 1997. p. 64.
  4. ^ Romano, Sal (November 28, 2020). "SaGa Frontier Remastered announced for PS4, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android". Gematsu. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  5. ^ Higham, Michael (February 17, 2021). "SaGa Frontier Remastered Coming In April For Switch, PS4, And PC". GameSpot. Retrieved February 23, 2021.


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