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83-453: The SaGa series was created by game designer Akitoshi Kawazu , whose contributions prior to the franchise's introduction include Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II . At a time when Nintendo 's Game Boy was becoming popular worldwide due to the puzzle game Tetris , then-Square president Masafumi Miyamoto requested that a development team create a game for the handheld console. Kawazu and fellow designer Koichi Ishii suggested that

166-647: A 3D remake of Romancing SaGa 2 , entitled Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven , would be released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows on October 24, 2024. As of November 24th, the remake has sold over 100k copies. In Japan, the game topped the Famitsu sales chart in December 1993 . Romancing SaGa 2 went on to sell nearly 1.5 million copies worldwide, as of March 2003. It

249-484: A battle system similar to that of Final Fantasy II and the first two SaGa games, where character development is determined by the player's commands in battle. If the player commands a character to cast magic spells frequently, for example, then that character will grow in magical power. This installment was both the first SaGa game to be released in North America since Final Fantasy Legend III in 1993 and

332-470: A campaign against the Seven Heroes which is passed down to his younger son Gerard after he dies, then on to subsequent heirs named by each ruler and inheriting their abilities through a special spell. Over time, Avalon expands into an empire, with its ruler and a chosen group of warriors killing each of the Seven Heroes. When six of the seven are defeated and the final Emperor or Empress takes power, it

415-406: A chest or dismantling a trap. While in the original Romancing SaGa , scenarios were changed according to dialogue choices during conversations, Romancing SaGa 2 further expanded the open-endedness by having unique storylines for each character that can change depending on the player's actions, including who is chosen, what is said in conversation, what events have occurred, and who is present in

498-518: A combination of 2D and 3D graphics known as "Sketch Motion" and a complicated battle mechanic called the "Reel System". It greatly resembles a board game . It was praised highly in Japan, but garnered heavy criticism elsewhere. Announced in December 2014, this title was released in Japan in 2016 and in North America in 2019, making it the first entry in the franchise to be released outside Japan in over

581-503: A complete guide in February 1994. A manga adaptation was released in three volumes by Tokuma Shoten between August 1994 and April 1995. The first volume was written by Hiroshi Morimoto, while the rest was written by Mayumi Hazuki. All volumes were illustrated by Kazuki Mendo. Like the other Super Famicom SaGa titles, Romancing SaGa 2 was never released outside Japan. Square localization staff member Ted Woolsey attributed it to

664-456: A decade. A new standalone title featuring a cast of six protagonists in 17 interconnected worlds with initially separate stories (note: two of the six main characters are a pair working together). These characters possess the ability to see "emerald waves" that connect the 17 worlds through the "Beyond," a hub of the emerald waves. The game features a freeform scenario system with branching story possibilities based on player choices and actions and

747-412: A generation though after accepting the offers to start the public works. In the backstory of Romancing SaGa 2 there was a group of seven warriors, dubbed the Seven Heroes, who saved the world from monster invasions but vanished immediately afterwards. After a millennium, the Seven Heroes have returned, but are now corrupted by dark powers and begin attacking the continent. Leon, ruler of Avalon, begins

830-545: A lack of manpower and the wish to keep staff on the production of Final Fantasy VII and Trials of Mana . In a later interview, Kawazu attributed the lack of localization both to its unconventional gameplay and the large amount of text in need of translation. The game received Virtual Console re-releases on the Wii in 2010, the Wii U in 2014, and the New Nintendo 3DS in 2017. The Wii version became unavailable with

913-451: A life simulator for mobile devices which ran from 2009 to the close of Square Enix's old mobile services in 2018. He currently works as general producer for the SaGa series, serving in an executive role on projects including the mobile spin-offs Imperial SaGa (2015) and Romancing SaGa Re:Universe (2018). Kawazu is noted in his game design for using mechanics seen as unconventional in

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996-649: A liking for sword and sorcery settings in his scenarios. A characteristic of his games is a non-linear design for storylines and exploration, and systems that are not actively explained to players. He also has a deep involvement in each project beyond his credited roles, and tries something new with each game he develops. Kawazu was born on November 5, 1962, in Oguni , a town in Aso District , Kumamoto Prefecture . Talking about his early life in Oguni, Kawazu said that he

1079-543: A race of monsters that mutate depending on which fallen foes they consume. The early games in the series also feature some common gameplay elements and themes first established in Final Fantasy , such as random enemy encounters , but most of these disappear with the Romancing SaGa games, providing a unique gameplay experience. It also features a similar turn-based battle system, where a character's prowess

1162-431: A staff of around twenty people. The staff included planner Akihiko Matsui , who joined the project following work on Final Fantasy V and would go on to co-direct Chrono Trigger ; and future composer Yasunori Mitsuda as a sound designer. Another new team member was Kyoji Koizumi, who helped design the battle system. Kazuyuki Ikumori acted as graphic designer, with his work focusing on background environments, and

1245-498: A turn-based combat system. Japan North America PAL region Announced in September 2011, the game features a combat system utilizing digital playing cards. As of April 2017, the game is no longer available. Announced in December 2014 for release in 2015. A single-player game played in the user's internet browser, it features a new story within the SaGa setting. Smartphone title released in 2018 in Japan and released in

1328-422: A very different experience during each run through the game, something that later non-linear RPGs such as SaGa Frontier and Fable had promised but were unable to live up to. It also introduced a combo system where up to five party members can perform a combined special attack, and required characters to pay mentors to teach them abilities, whether it is using certain weapons or certain proficiencies like opening

1411-508: Is choosing the next ruler of Avalon, who will inherit the abilities of the previous ruler. Production began in 1992 after a prolonged concept period during which original staff were working on the Final Fantasy series. Returning staff members including series creator Akitoshi Kawazu as director, lead designer and writer; illustrator Tomomi Kobayashi ; and composer Kenji Ito . The delayed start to production allowed Kawazu to rethink

1494-713: Is chosen, what is said in conversation, what events have occurred, and who is present in the party. Several of the game music tracks were featured in Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call as downloadable content. PCGamesN credits Romancing SaGa 2 for having laid the foundations for modern Japanese role-playing video games . The game's progressive, non-linear, open world design and subversive themes influenced modern Japanese role-playing video games such as Final Fantasy XII (which Akitoshi Kawazu worked on), Final Fantasy XV , Nier: Automata and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of

1577-515: Is driven by numerical values called " statistics " which, in turn, increase with combat experience. Given the open-ended aspect of gameplay and the ability to play through multiple character scenarios, heavy emphasis is placed upon the replay value of SaGa games. Since the original Makai Toushi SaGa , much of the series has relied on loosely connected stories and sidequests rather than an epic narrative. Makai Toushi SaGa allowed players to travel through different worlds. Romancing SaGa expanded

1660-516: Is revealed that the Seven Heroes faced up to this point were copies, and the seventh copy has gone to protect the Heroes' original bodies. The final Emperor or Empress, whose inheritance magic has worn off, defeats first the final copy, then the true Seven Heroes. The story is bookended by a minstrel retelling the game's events and concluding that the Empire of Avalon was turned into a commonwealth after

1743-486: Is the best-selling entry in the original Romancing SaGa trilogy, followed by the original game and Romancing SaGa 3 . Famitsu gave it a score of 26 out of 40. GameRevolution reviewed this title for the Nintendo Switch , saying that the game at first appears like a very average game from the time it originally came out, but praised the system of choices that changes and guides the gameplay, as well as

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1826-471: The Dungeons & Dragons franchise, the video game Wizardry , and the products of Avalon Hill . Unlimited Saga was his most literal expression of this, with mechanics and presentation directly emulating tabletop games. Its divisive reception caused Kawazu to create more conventional titles in the future, though they continued to use his gameplay philosophies. Throughout his career, regardless of

1909-539: The Mana series. Nobuo Uematsu , responsible for a large portion of the music of the Final Fantasy series , solely composed The Final Fantasy Legend and co-composed Final Fantasy Legend II with Ito. Ryuji Sasai and Chihiro Fujioka worked on Final Fantasy Legend III together. SaGa Frontier 2 and Unlimited Saga are credited to Masashi Hamauzu . Games in the SaGa series have been popular in Japan, with many of them selling over 1 million units. As of March 2011,

1992-744: The SaGa series. Interested in games since his high school days, his first project at Square was a graphic designer for Rad Racer ; he then acted as battle designer for Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II . He has since worked on nearly every SaGa title, in addition to creating the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles subseries, smaller projects including The Last Remnant , and serving in an executive role on multiple Square Enix projects. Kawazu has drawn much of his design inspiration from Western role-playing titles such as Dungeons & Dragons and Wizardry , admitting

2075-586: The Nintendo DS . The first of three Japan-exclusive Super Famicom titles, the game allows the player to choose from one of eight character scenarios to follow. The game was ported to the WonderSwan Color in 2001. An enhanced remake of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, which was released outside Japan. That version bears the title Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song in Japan, but

2158-519: The SaGa series as one ruined in the transition to the PlayStation 2 , citing primarily Unlimited SaGa . Akitoshi Kawazu Akitoshi Kawazu ( 河津 秋敏 , Kawazu Akitoshi , born November 5, 1962) is a Japanese game designer , director, producer and writer. After joining Square (later Square Enix ) in 1985, he went on to become a central developer for the first two Final Fantasy titles, then acted as creator and lead developer for

2241-492: The Seven Lucky Gods . As with other SaGa titles, the gameplay mechanics were laid out first before the storyline and worldview, with the leading mechanic this time being the inheritance of skills through a lineage. The inheritance mechanic was part of a scrapped concept for the original SaGa . The central concept was that while the game's ending was set, what happened during the intervening millennium of history

2324-406: The sword and sorcery subgenre of fantasy, which he greatly enjoyed in his youth. The SaGa series has consciously moved away from the typical storylines of other series such as Final Fantasy . When working on games, Kawazu often has duties and input beyond his credited role; an instance of this was SaGa Frontier II , where he was credited as producer and co-writer but ended up writing almost all

2407-525: The Fighters are weak in. The Formation Soldiers demonstrate any battle formations the player happens to know and will collaborate with the player to make new formations. If the heir the player chooses knows a formation, it is recommended that the player consult the Formation Soldiers. Throughout the game, the player will be able to expand the capital. They will not appear until the player cleared

2490-616: The Japanese release, popular demand prompted a Western release of the port. Part of the wish behind the localization in addition to a Japanese release was requests from fans worldwide to revive the SaGa series following a prolonged period of dormancy. The remaster's producer Masanori Ichikawa noted that releasing the game across so many platforms was a new challenge to Square Enix, as Xbox and Steam are not as popular in Japan but are popular worldwide. The Western version released first on iOS and Android on May 26, 2016. The Western Vita version

2573-620: The RPG genre, such as usage-based ability leveling, non-linear storytelling, and open worlds or similar freely-explorable environments. Speaking specifically about the SaGa series, Kawazu described his philosophy for it as always trying something new with each entry and pushing at the perceived limitations of RPGs. His games are also noted for obscured mechanics and higher-than-average difficulty, something Kawazu ascribes to his love of challenging gameplay. Many of his design sensibilities and game tastes were drawn from Western video games, particularly

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2656-585: The Seven was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows in 2024. Set during the history of the kingdom of Avalon, the player takes on the role of a dynasty of rulers as they fight the Seven Heroes, former saviors of the world corrupted into demons. Gameplay features nonlinear exploration and expansion of the game world and narrative, with the turn-based battles featuring group formations. As with other SaGa titles, there are no experience points and character attributes and skills are dependent on actions taken in battle. A key mechanic

2739-476: The Seven Heroes' defeat; the still-living Emperor or Empress listens to the minstrel. Later versions of Romancing SaGa 2 include an optional dungeon revealing that the Seven Heroes were betrayed by their people, the Ancients, due to fear of the power they gained by absorbing monsters with an earlier version of the inheritance spell, returning from the realm of monsters to exact revenge on the Ancients. Following

2822-520: The basic systems of the first game. Following the success of Tetris for the Game Boy , Square president Masafumi Miyamoto wanted to make their own version of it for the console, but the staff instead designed an RPG, the first for the platform; Kawazu acted as director and designer. The game was Makai Toushi SaGa , released in the West as The Final Fantasy Legend . It proved hugely popular and

2905-464: The company and Kawazu could create a production team. Kawazu acted as director, lead designer, and scenario writer. The only returning staff besides Kawazu were programmers Yuki Anasawa and Hiroshi Takai, illustrator Tomomi Kobayashi , and the sound team of composer Kenji Ito and sound designer Minoru Akao. The mostly-new staff meant that Kawazu's sometimes-drastic changes to the game mechanics were easily accepted. Production lasted one year, and had

2988-431: The company develop a role-playing video game , thus making Makai Toushi Sa·Ga , later released in North America as The Final Fantasy Legend , the company's first handheld title. The gameplay was designed to be difficult, described by Kawazu as the main difference between the SaGa and Final Fantasy series. The character illustrations in all the games in the SaGa series were done by Tomomi Kobayashi, who has also done

3071-545: The completion and release of Romancing SaGa in early 1992, almost all staff from the title were recruited to work on the latest Final Fantasy title, meaning production on any SaGa sequels were halted. Ultimately series creator Akitoshi Kawazu was pleased, as he would otherwise have had no time to innovate on the Romancing SaGa design and might well have left Romancing SaGa 2 mechanically similar to its predecessor. Production began in April when new employees had joined

3154-563: The fact that Kawazu had already remade Romancing SaGa for the PlayStation 2 . He approached multiple companies in Japan and overseas, but abandoning the idea as phone technology at the time was still not able to handle that type of game. The remaster was produced by ArtePiazza , who had previously worked on ports of the Dragon Quest series. Kawazu was introduced by ArtePiazza based on this work, and while initially concerned about there being too many changes, ArtePiazza's enthusiasm for

3237-486: The first game and executive producer for subsequent entries. For the fifth entry The Crystal Bearers , he acted as a producer and writer. In 2005 he took over as executive producer of Final Fantasy XII after Yasumi Matsuno withdrew. He played a key creative role in The Last Remnant , a standalone RPG designed by veterans of the SaGa series. He also acted as concept creator for It's New Frontier ,

3320-560: The first of the series to be released in North America as a SaGa game. Similar in style to the earlier games in the series, SaGa Frontier allows the player to choose from multiple characters, each with his or her own unique storyline and scenario. The game was the first SaGa title to reach PAL territories and was one of Square's last RPGs produced for the PlayStation. The game shuns 3D graphics in favor of traditional 2D hand-painted watercolor sprites. The game features two separate storylines spanning three generations. The game features

3403-416: The first two rulers Leon and Gerard. Leon was originally designed with dark skin and a dour look, but this was scrapped, with the current version being designed around a long-haired flamboyant type. Gerard's role and personality resulted in a more youthful and "boyish" design, though she had hoped to design a more unconventional protagonist after her work on Romancing SaGa . Her favorite character designs were

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3486-406: The game design, changing the multiple protagonists of Romancing SaGa to focus on a single dynastic line with associated gameplay elements. The remaster, which was initiated by Kawazu, adjusted to remove bugs while preserving the sprite artwork. Romancing SaGa 2 is the best-selling of the three Romancing SaGa titles, having sold over 1.5 million copies in Japan. Reception of the original version

3569-440: The game was released in Japan in 2009 for the Nintendo DS . The game eliminates the non-level-based individualized growth system of the previous two installments; instead, the title introduces "experience points" and across-the-board stat leveling in the style of Final Fantasy , introducing two human and two mutant characters with predetermined backgrounds. An enhanced remake of the game was released in Japan on January in 2011 for

3652-426: The games receiving mixed reviews from printed and online publications. It has been suggested that this is due to the series' seemingly experimental gameplay and allowing the player to freely roam with little direction or narrative, atypical of what many North American gamers usually expect from Japanese role-playing games. In their September 2004 "Overrated/Underrated" article, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine cited

3735-540: The illustrations for the MMORPG Granado Espada . Although it has been a long-running series, as of 2008, none of the ten production teams at Square Enix is assigned to the franchise. Akitoshi Kawazu and Production Team 2 are devoted to the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series. The SaGa series emphasizes nonlinear gameplay and open world exploration, with its open-ended branching plot and free style of character development separating it from

3818-687: The more challenging ones, such as the android character Coppelia. Following his work on Romancing SaGa , Ito was left feeling completely burned out. Recalling his work on the game, Ito said he had worked through feelings of suffering from that creative exhaustion. He worked as both composer and arranger on the title. As with Romancing SaGa , Ito differentiated the soundtrack from the music of Final Fantasy by adding more percussion instruments. The soundtrack includes arrangements of tracks by Nobuo Uematsu ; "Heartful Tears" from The Final Fantasy Legend , and "The Legend Begins" from its sequel . Two music albums were published by NTT Publishing in 1995,

3901-538: The more linear Final Fantasy series, which was ahead of its time Like the Final Fantasy series, however, the stories in each SaGa share little to no continuity to one another. The SaGa series is also considered a successor to Final Fantasy II , which introduced a more open-ended activity-based progression system that was abandoned by later Final Fantasy games but embraced by Makai Toushi SaGa ( The Final Fantasy Legend ), which expanded it with weapons that shatter with repeated use and added new ideas such as

3984-525: The most frequent issues with updating the graphics was creating sharper background designs while preserving the pixel art of players and enemies, while also accounting for the gameplay display and mechanics around enemy encounters. Through all these adjustments, the remaster includes all the code from the Super Famicom original. The game was first released in Japan on March 24, 2016 for Android , iOS and PlayStation Vita by Square Enix. Following

4067-495: The multiple disparate protagonists of Romancing SaGa , the narrative and gameplay instead focused on a ruling dynasty over several generations. Written as a traditional fantasy, the narrative was designed to advance based on the number and order of bosses defeated, with almost all other elements being a wide selection that player could choose from freely. The Seven Heroes were portrayed in-game as former allies who had drifted apart to pursue their own goals in subsequent years. Subier

4150-624: The next several years. After the troubled production of Legend of Mana , where he took on a supervisory role in keeping the project from cancellation, Kawazu decided that his main talent lay as a producer overseeing projects. Following SaGa Frontier 2 in 1999, Kawazu's team were originally employed on a numbered Final Fantasy project. When production was halted due to internal issues surrounding PlayOnline , Kawazu's team switched to supporting production for The Bouncer and developing multiple WonderSwan Color titles including original titles and ports. The 2002 SaGa title Unlimited Saga

4233-467: The non-linear gameplay of its Romancing SaGa predecessors, with a setting that spans multiple planets and an overarching plot that becomes apparent after playing through each of the different characters' quests that tie together at certain places. Japan North America PAL region The first RPG on a handheld video game console, and the first handheld game with a battery save feature. The game introduces new systems of developing characters. The game

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4316-487: The official soundtrack and an arrange album. A remastered album was released in 2014 by Square Enix , which included the original main battle theme which had been left out of the original album release. The remaster was supervised by Ito. A reissue, which included an interview with Kawazu and Ito, was released in 2020. Romancing SaGa 2 was released on December 10, 1993. Three guidebooks were published by NTT Publishing in association with Square; two in December 1993, and

4399-421: The open-endedness by offering many choices and allowing players to complete quests in any order, with the decision of whether or not to participate in any particular quest affecting the outcome of the storyline. The game also allowed players to choose from eight different characters, each with their own stories that start in different places and offer different outcomes. Romancing SaGa thus succeeded in providing

4482-409: The opening and ending sequences. This was his only work on SaGa as he was transferred into the Final Fantasy series later on. It was produced by Tetsuo Mizuno, then-president of Square who would go on to found AlphaDream . Kawazu wrote the scenario in parallel to the gameplay system development, with some planned story elements needing to be dropped due to cartridge limitations. Changing from

4565-412: The original were fixed, with a new area included to replace a popular exploit to increase in-game funds. New character classes were distributed as paid downloadable content . This version shut down in 2018, when the services for older mobile titles were shut down. Kawazu had been considering remaking or remastering Romancing SaGa 2 since 2012 for smartphones. It was chosen due to its popularity, and

4648-524: The party. Romancing SaGa 3 featured a storyline that could be told differently from the perspectives of up to eight different characters and introduced a level-scaling system where the enemies get stronger as the characters do, a mechanic that was later used in Final Fantasy VIII , The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion , Silverfall , Dragon Age: Origins , Fallout 3 , and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . SaGa Frontier further expanded on

4731-476: The pixel art resolution was left unaltered, with the team instead enlarging and multiplying the pixels used to bring the Super Famicom sprites up to modern graphical standards. This was done partly for budgetary reasons, and partly due to fan love of the original. While it was considered to adjust the game balance to make the game easier, the team decided instead to directly port the earlier mobile re-release. The only adjustments made were further bug fixes. One of

4814-582: The player the fund reserve in their castle treasury. Development of new equipment and spells, and establishment of services in Avalon will consume funds. The Treasurer also fills the Emperor with walking about funds if the player needs it. Also in the throne room is the Accountant. He tells the player how much money they collect per battle. When the player controls more land on the map, the amount increases. In

4897-425: The poor translation into English and the lack of Mifi game controller support. Romancing Saga 2 expanded the non-linear gameplay of its predecessor. While in the original Romancing Saga , scenarios were changed according to dialogue choices during conversations, Romancing Saga 2 further expanded on this by having unique storylines for each character that can change depending on the player's actions, including who

4980-499: The project and their wish to remain faithful to the original assuaged his doubts. While generally faithful, the remaster included animated sprites for the Seven Heroes boss characters, and redesigned and adjustable UI which allowed for touchscreen operation and player customization. The remaster was designed using the Unity game engine , chosen for its convenience when porting to other platforms and user-friendly technology. Similarly,

5063-527: The reception, Kawazu has striven for originality in his game design, drawing from unconventional sources compared to other video games. He played with Western tabletop games in his youth, and also manually translated them as they were frequently in English rather than Japanese. His favourite video game is Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar . For the visual and narrative style of his games, he drew influence from

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5146-414: The rest of the world in 2020. It features a new story set 300 years after Romancing SaGa 3 , characters from previous games and some of the characteristic elements from the series. As of November 2019, the game has been downloaded more than 15 million times. Music in the SaGa series have been composed by a number of people, the most prominent of which is Kenji Ito , who also composed some soundtracks for

5229-488: The same character classes used in its predecessor, but introduces a fifth ally that often helps the player's party in combat . The game's story is more developed than the first SaGa game, with a journey that spans across more than a dozen worlds. GameSpot 's "History of Console RPGs" touts Final Fantasy Legend II as the best of the Game Boy SaGa games, calling it a "portable gaming classic". An enhanced remake of

5312-669: The scenarios himself, but he ensures staff were given proper credit. Romancing SaGa 2 Romancing SaGa 2 is a 1993 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom . It is the fifth entry in the SaGa series. It received an expanded port for Japanese mobile devices from Square Enix in 2011. This version was remastered by ArtePiazza and released worldwide between 2016 and 2017 by Square Enix for Android , iOS , PlayStation Vita , Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows and Xbox One . A 3D remake entitled Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of

5395-442: The series has sold over 9.9 million units. In 2006, Famitsu readers voted Romancing SaGa as the 53rd best game of all time , and SaGa 2 as the 94th best game of all time. Games in the series also received generally positive reviews from Japanese publications such as Famitsu and Dengeki . As of 2019, the series has sold over 10 million units. However, the series has remained decidedly less popular in North America, many of

5478-495: The shutdown of Wii's online services. For these versions, the game received a higher-than-expected CERO rating due to references to alcohol and drugs. The game was ported to mobile phones. It originally released for i-mode on November 1, 2010; an EZweb version followed on March 3, 2011. The port included a new dungeon called the Maze of Memories, featuring the background lore for the Seven Heroes. Several bugs and exploits from

5561-512: The southeast corner of the throne room is the Chancellor. He tells the player what problems need to be solved in the world and where to solve them. Solving the problems he points out aids the player to advance to the next generation. The Fighters are the default characters that join the player early in the game. They are not the best characters, but as the player advances through the game, they will get other characters who specialize in areas that

5644-486: The time, Kawazu had no idea how popular the title would become; his role was designing the battle system. He returned as battle designer for its sequel Final Fantasy II . As part of a drive to create something different from the original, he created a notorious system of use-based statistic gains. In the wake of internal discussions and a lack of outside understanding of Kawazu's systems for Final Fantasy II , future titles beginning with Final Fantasy III went back to

5727-501: The traditional process of leveling up characters potentially hurt the player as the bosses grow stronger as you do. Reviewing the iOS version of the game, TouchArcade loved how radically different it was from what kinds of games Square Enix had released in the Apple App Store until then. Despite enjoying the game, they noted the game's unexplained play systems and called its balance system "atrocious". They also mentioned

5810-432: The unique aspect of ruling an empire and eventually being about to issue commands to followers. Nintendo World Report said the game lacked interesting stories or characters, but called the gameplay system rewarding with many weapons to choose from and skill points to use. Reviewing the PlayStation 4 version, Push Square disdained the menu system taken from the previous mobile remake, and noted balance issues that made

5893-421: The video games industry. While he had never heard of the company Square , he became interested in working for them upon seeing an advertisement for Suishō no Dragon , featuring artwork by the game's illustrator Gen Sato. Despite his lack of video game development experience, he applied for a job there. Originally he was told the deadline for applicants had passed, but he was asked in for an interview anyway. He

5976-460: Was Square's first title to sell a million copies. Kawazu subsequently worked on Final Fantasy Legend II , then upon request from Nintendo started production on Romancing SaGa for the Super Famicom ; another production team in Osaka designed a third Game Boy title without his involvement. He would continue working on SaGa titles for the Super Famicom, and multiple PlayStation titles for

6059-596: Was a "rowdy" type who wanted to be in the limelight and did not hesitate to voice his opinion to adults. He studied and graduated from Kumamoto Prefectural High School, then later studied at the Science School of the Tokyo Institute of Technology . During high school and college, he was deeply interested in games; he first became a dedicated player of Space Invaders , then later developed a love of tabletop role-playing and tabletop strategy games. He

6142-509: Was designed based solely around Kawazu's tastes, using his position within the company to get his way. The title was divisive, and was the last original SaGa title until the release of SaGa: Scarlet Grace in 2016. He also created the concept for the anime series Final Fantasy: Unlimited during this period, which originally had a narrative link to Unlimited Saga . From 2004 to 2007, Kawazu served as one of Square Enix's board of directors alongside Yoichi Wada and Yosuke Matsuda. He

6225-411: Was generally positive, while its worldwide remaster also saw praise from critics for its battle system and inheritance mechanic. The original Japanese release was supplemented by multiple guidebooks and a manga adaptation. In Romancing SaGa 2 , the player plays as the Emperor or Empress of Avalon , a castle located in the northwest corner of the game's world map. The Treasurer, in the throne room, tells

6308-426: Was initially delayed due to unspecified issues. On December 15, 2017, it released on Vita, Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows and Xbox One . These later versions included auto save, Xbox Play Anywhere support, cross save between Vita and PS4, as well as an option to turn off the remastering content and play it just like it was originally made. During the 2024 Nintendo Direct , Square Enix announced that

6391-456: Was interviewed first by Hiromichi Tanaka , then by Hironobu Sakaguchi , and Kawazu was taken on as a part-time employee in 1985. Kawazu's first job at Square (later Square Enix ) was as a graphic designer for Rad Racer . Following that, he was asked by Sakaguchi to work on the company's new role-playing game (RPG) project Final Fantasy , begun by Sakaguchi after the genre was proven as commercial viable by Enix 's Dragon Quest . At

6474-433: Was originally scheduled to enter a job with Sony from the Science School, but due to unspecified circumstances in his private life he was forced to drop out. His first game-related job was as a part-time journalist for Beep , a general gaming magazine published by SoftBank , at the invitation of a school friend. He started out writing product reviews, and during his time with the magazine he gained exposure to games and

6557-428: Was released as simply Romancing SaGa in North America. A mobile phone version was released in 2009. The second installment in the Romancing SaGa series and the fifth in the SaGa series in general, the game places a greater emphasis on storyline than its predecessors. The story plays out across generations, so the player cannot keep one party of warriors throughout the game. The third Romancing SaGa game features

6640-542: Was released in North America less than a year later as The Final Fantasy Legend to boost sales on the strength of Final Fantasy' s name, something also done with the Mana series. An enhanced remake of the game was released exclusively in Japan in 2002 for the WonderSwan Color and 2007 for mobile phones, sporting more advanced graphics than those displayed by the Game Boy's four-color set. The game retains

6723-639: Was the first of the Seven Heroes to be created, with his name being a double meaning pun on the Japanese god Ebisu and the Ebisu neighbourhood where Square was based. The names of male members in the Japanese versions were anagrams of station names along the Yamanote Line . The one female member Rocbouquet was a challenge, with Kawazu eventually making her name an anagram of Ikebukuro , a commercial center in Tokyo. Their concept and number drew inspiration from

6806-484: Was the only game developer among them, and returned to development following his resignation from the board. During this time, Kawazu acted as executive producer for both the Ivalice Alliance , a series of titles set within the fictional world of Ivalice ; and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles , a subseries he created through the partially-owned shell company The Game Developer Studio, acting as producer for

6889-492: Was up to the player. As with other entries, the gameplay was designed to be open-ended and influenced a great deal by player choices. Kobayashi was surprised at hearing of a sequel to Romancing SaGa , and being asked back to design the cast. Compared to her book illustrations with at most six characters, Romancing SaGa 2 had dozens of characters to design. She began with characters from the Avalon Empire, particularly

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