Long-time players like me
associate the word Square with the legendary first incarnation of the quintessential role-playing game software house,
the Squaresoft
that gave birth to masterpieces like Final Fantasy VII (the original, unique and
only): today instead, after various mergers and reorganizations, Square Enix spans a much wider range of titles, and with SaGa Emerald Beyond, also coming to
Nintendo Switch on April 25, 2024, it offers a range of
new features that will at least not fail to intrigue new and veteran
gamers.
Ma let’s go in order. The SaGa series comes from far back in time, precisely from 1989, when the first title in the series was released with the evocative name The Final Fantasy Legend: the most famous role-playing franchise of all time was not chosen by chance to give the game its name, since it was produced by the very Squaresoft mentioned earlier.
Attraverso generations of
different consoles, passing from the Super Nintendo up to the
PlayStation with the beautiful SaGa
Frontier, which I personally devoured like a Tamagotchi in candy withdrawal, the SaGa saga, forgive the pun, stood out for its
always highly tactical turn-based combat system, the possibility of
discovering new narrative paths depending on the choices made and the
characters used and, last but not least, the presence of open worlds
that are innovative and classic at the same time, capable of satisfying every palate.
SaGa Emerald Beyond presents itself
as a standalone game, disconnected from the events that took place in
all the other chapters of the series, even if I’m almost certain that there will
be no shortage of more or less veiled links to the worlds already explored in
the past.
Square Enix promised users that they would once again find, as always, tons of possible branches and side quests to experience, complete, and play with the enthusiasm of those who have loved the series. However, to attract and intrigue even those who have never played a game in the series, Square Enix has put together a cutting-edge title that promises sparks from a technical standpoint.
The characters seem painted by a hand imbued with considerable inspiration, and the structure of the turn-based battles, in which it will be essential to know how to choose the ideal arrangement of party members, in itself constitutes a major point of interest for fans of war strategy with a fantasy twist.
As already seen in Romancing SaGa
and Unlimited SaGa, which among other things was the last title of any real significance released
for PlayStation 2, multiple endings are guaranteed for each of the six
available characters: not only that, each of them will have multiple unlockable endings,
thus exponentially increasing the game’s longevity if we consider that the
worlds to visit to complete the main quest (which promises to be
huge: take time off, guys!) are no fewer than seventeen.
The complexity of its
layered plot is perhaps one of the most defining and fundamental aspects of Square Enix’s saga: in a sea of RPG titles where the otherworldly graphics of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reign supreme and
giant titles like Diablo IV and Baldur’s Gate 3 set the rules with the
strength of their legacy, the standalone SaGa Emerald Beyond puts all, or
almost all, of its chips on its immense wheel of narrative possibilities.
And we are sure that it will make a difference, after all
those who play role-playing games don't want to discover absolutely everything about their favorite heroes, do they?
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
TGMGrading
Grade your titles
Inspection, sub-grades, seal and display case: every grade comes with the method behind it, written down in full.
