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SaGa: Emerald Beyond

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SaGa: Emerald Beyond
Developer(s)Square Enix
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Director(s)Akitoshi Kawazu
Producer(s)Masanori Ichikawa
Programmer(s)Takashi Isowaki
Artist(s)Satoshi Kuramochi
Sara Takahashi
Writer(s)Akitoshi Kawazu
Composer(s)Kenji Ito
SeriesSaGa
Platform(s)Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows
ReleaseApril 25, 2024
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

SaGa: Emerald Beyond[a] is a 2024 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. An entry in the SaGa series, it was released for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows. The story follows six protagonists as they traverse multiple worlds connected to a realm called the Beyond. The player explores these worlds completing quests and unlocking new events, with the turn-based combat focusing on timeline manipulation and skill growth dependant on in-game actions.

Beginning development in 2017 after completion of SaGa: Scarlet Grace, the development team included series creator Akitoshi Kawazu as director and lead writer, lead artist Satoshi Kuramochi, and Kenji Ito returning as composer. Kawazu's aim was to build on the mechanics of Scarlet Grace, expanding the narrative and gameplay elements. It debuted to low sales, and contributed to Square Enix experiencing a fall in revenue. Journalists were generally mixed, mostly praising the combat while being either mixed or negative about the presentation and story.

Gameplay

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Combat in SaGa: Emerald Beyond is turn-based, with turn order and character positions on the combat timeline influencing elements of battle.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond is a role-playing video game in which players take control of six protagonists, navigating a selection of seventeen worlds during their campaigns. Characters explore the worlds, with which ones visited triggering different events and influencing the path forward. Navigating worlds, players can follow different glowing lines dubbed Emerald Waves, which lead to different quests.[1][2] Worlds are navigated from a top-down perspective, with events and battles represented by cutout symbols; cutscenes play out as static conversation scenes.[3] The choice of worlds with one protagonist will impact the storyline in that world when revisited in another playthrough either as a new character or replaying as the same character.[4] There is no money in-game, with new equipment being gained through exploration, quest completion, or trading materials. A character dubbed Mr. S also grants rewards for completing in-game challenges.[3]

Combat is turn-based, with the party having access to a shared pool of points called BP for performing moves, with BP increasing with each turn or certain actions; moves are divided into attacks called Techs and spells which take time to cast. Any character not taking a move guards automatically. The party's Formation, an arrangement with different benefits and detriments, will impact BP gain. All characters are placed on a timeline, with their position influencing their fighting abilities. Adjacent characters can combine their attacks, with a high damage multiplier grant free actions; successful combos also reduce BP costs on the next turn. If a character is isolated on the timeline, they can perform a Showstopper, a chain of free attacks. Some abilities, such as move-specific counters, only activate when the right conditions are met.[3][5][4]

Similar to earlier SaGa titles, there is no traditional experience point system, with new abilities being learned through a random Glimmer system; upon being learned, the character uses that ability with no cost.[2][3] There are five different races that have different growth mechanics. Humans have access to most weapon techniques and the ability to learn unique skills. Monsters cannot have armour equipped, but can randomly learn enemy skills upon victory. Mechs have stats and abilities based on their model and attached parts. Vampires have similar growth to humans, but can also learn techniques from party members by sucking their blood. Kugutsu gain new abilities by copying attacks used on them. Ephemerals upgrade as a character class, but after reaching their highest class will die and be reborn, passing on their abilities to their new form.[4]

Synopsis

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Emerald Beyond takes place across multiple worlds connected by an interdimensional space called the Beyond, through which each of the six protagonists travel on their quests guided by an energy dubbed the Emerald Waves. The six protagonists are Tsunanori Mido, a magically gifted man tasked with restoring balance between worlds when his own is threatened; Ameya Aisling, a witch-in-training who has her magic taken away and goes to gain it back while aware of an approaching Calamity; Siugnas, a vampire king seeking to reclaim his realm from a usurper; Diva No.5, a songstress robot who loses her voice and original body after singing a forbidden song; and Bonnie Blair and Formina Franklyn, a pair of rookie police officers investigating an assassination attempt on their world's president.

To complete their missions, each protagonist must journey through the Beyond, following the Emerald Waves to different worlds beset by troubles and with varying levels of awareness of worlds beyond their own. Across each campaign to varying degrees, the protagonists encounter agents of Quissitatum, a group of identical men who seek to merge the worlds back into a single unified whole by force. Quissitatum is revealed to be in some degree responsible for the inciting events in protagonist's story, as they have been given the power to influence events via the Emerald Waves. Each route, including Mido and Aisling's true endings, ends with a fight against the Living Anguish, a being Quissitatum summon as part of their plan to merge the worlds.

Development

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Planning for Emerald Beyond began in 2016, following the completion of SaGa: Scarlet Grace. Production started the following year.[6] Multiple SaGa veterans returned to work on the game, including series creator Akitoshi Kawazu as director and lead writer, and Masanori Ichikawa as producer.[2][6] Production was assisted by Opus Studio and Cattle Call.[7][8] After taking a minimalist design approach with Scarlet Grace, Kawazu wanted to build upon that foundation with more explicit story elements and refinements to the gameplay.[6] These adjustments included greater exploration, and the removal of in-combat healing.[9] After finalizing the game's design, full production began in 2018 after work finished on Scarlet Grace's expanded version Ambitions. Production was slowed due to both other parallel SaGa projects, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

The team's aim was to take the basic structure of Scarlet Grace, which was well received, and expand and refine it for Emerald Beyond.[10] The combat designer was Tomokazu Shibata, who had worked on Unlimited Saga (2002) and acted as battle director for Kingdom Hearts III (2019).[6] He described the combat system as having been completely redesigned despite carrying over its basic structure from Scarlet Grace while wanting to evolve the combat system rather than replicate it. They also wanted to incorporate elements from earlier SaGa titles, such as the combination attacks first featured in SaGa Frontier (1997).[10] While Kawazu often gave specific instructions on mechanics to include or remove, the battle design was otherwise left to Shibata's team. For the combat adjustment and final debugging during the last stages of development, the team used artificial intelligence to assist them as it would have taken equivalent human workers many times longer to check over the game's many scripted battles. The team found the AI useful, though Shibata noted there were difficulties prioritising game mechanics.[9]

While Kawazu wrote the main scenario, other writers were assigned to the substories of different worlds. This was to avoid the chaotic story design problems caused during the production of SaGa Frontier, which featured a similar multiple world and protagonist approach.[6] In contrast to the more hands-off approach with combat design, Kawazu was deeply involved in the storyline and checking over the writing team's work for consistancy.[9] Kawazu wanted to create a storyline that would never be the same twice for players. The character Tsunanori was inspired by Kawazu's long-standing wish to write a character with a Kansai accent.[11] The key visuals and most main characters were designed by Kuramochi, who had previously worked on SaGa projects including Scarlet Grace and mobile spin-offs. The characters were designed based on Kawazu's instructions. A notable lead character not designed by Kuramochi was Siugnas, who was instead designed by Sara Takahashi.[6]

Music

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Kenji Ito, an established composer for the SaGa series, returned to score the game.[2][6] The score was arranged by Yohei Kobayashi, and produced by Square Enix's Hidenori Iwasaki.[12] Additional arrangements were done by Ito, Noriyuki Kamikura, Tsutomu Narita, Minako Seki, Hidenori Iwasaki, Chiemi Takano, Ayame, and Koji Yamaoka.[13] Ito created the basic score on piano first, then chose a main instrument for each character.[10] Ito had comments on how to composed for several characters.[11][10] Ameya's music drew inspiration from the themes of earlier witch characters from the series, while Siugnas's themes were designed with his status as a dark king in mind. Diva No. 5's themes were written based on her job rather than being a robot.[11] Tsunanori's themes used jazz elements, Diva No. 5 featured techno, and the theme for Bonnie and Formina was described as having "a detective drama car chase vibe".[10]

For vocal pieces, the original lyrics were written by Kawazu. The soundtrack included arrangements of two pre-existing pieces; an arrangement of "Un bel dì, vedremo" by Giacomo Puccini, and a new version of "Auld Lang Syne" for the game's English release.[13] One song, "Crazy for Who", was written by Ito with lyrics and vocals by Sarah Àlainn. It was not included in-game, instead releasing as an online music video featuring Diva No.5.[14][15] A soundtrack album was released on May 1, 2024.[12]

Release

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A new mainline SaGa title was confirmed in late 2021 during a livestream on the series, with Kawazu stating a hope that it would be revealed the following year.[16] The Emerald Beyond title was trademarked by Square Enix in October 2022.[17] The game was officially announced in September 2023, initially through a Nintendo Direct broadcast and later for wider release.[1] A demo was released on April 4 across Windows and consoles. Different versions of the demo covered the opening of different characters; the PlayStation versions focused on Tsunanori, the Switch version covered Ameya, while the Windows version followed Diva No. 5. Progress from the demo can transfer into the main game.[18]

Emerald Beyond was released on April 25, 2024 for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows.[2][19] The game was the first simultaneous worldwide release for the SaGa series. Commenting on the localization, its director Neil Broadley said that he wanted the team to "let loose" with modern or silly dialogue as the original script was far less serious and used more colloquial language than was expected from RPGs.[20] The localization was handled by 8-4, who had previously worked on Scarlet Grace.[21][22]

Reception

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During its debut week in Japan, Emerald Beyond sold over 18,000 units on Switch, and just over 2,800 on PS4.[32] Low sales of Emerald Beyond were attributed by Square Enix as contributing to a fall in revenue for the fiscal period in which it released.[33] The game received mixed reviews according to aggregator Metacritic, with the PlayStation 5 version scoring more positively than the PC and Switch releases.[23][24][25]

Reviewers for Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu enjoyed the science fiction tone of the narrative.[27] RPG Site's James Galizio positively noted the amount of options presented to players and how much story in some character routes was left unexplained after a single playthrough.[31] Shaun Musgrave of Touch Arcade enjoyed the writing, but felt there was not enough substance for repeated playthroughs.[30] RPGFan's Izzy Parsons felt that the dialogue and story were "disjointed" due to how the game was structured.[3] Ken Talbot of Nintendo Life enjoyed the multiple characters and worlds, but called the writing "tedious" and found some of the character narratives unevenly paced.[28] Nintendo World Report's Neal Ronaghan echoed Talbot's sentiments, and described the localization as inferior to that of Scarlet Grace.[29]

Famitsu described the cutscene and environment design as "very simple" and tailored for combat,[27] Ronaghan noted the "wacky" character variety while faulting the barren world design,[29] and Parsons disliked the minimalist design of the overworlds.[3] Talbot found the world design boring and faulted the lack of a Japanese language track as he disliked some of the English voices.[28] Parsons and Galizio both praised the soundtrack.[3][31]

Famitsu generally praised the gameplay's design, highlighting the combat system's depth, but one reviewer criticised the lack of tutorials.[27] Musgrave described the combat as enjoyable and challenging, but disliked the game's "safe" structure following that of Scarlet Grace compared to the great variety of earlier entries.[30] Galizio, while disliking the linear exploration style, lauded the additional elements added to the combat system and varied character playstyles.[31] Parsons gave praise to the combat's depth and design while noting a lack of gameplay elements outside it, and faulted the more linear progression compared to other series entries.[3]Talbot lauded the combat design for its refinement of SaGa staples and new mechanics, but like Parsons found little outside combat to enjoy.[28] Ronaghan positively noted the combat loop and stated it "saved" his experience with the game, but found overworld exploration repetitive and boring.[29] The off-putting complexity of the game was a recurring comment among reviewers,[3][27][28] with both Musgrave and Galizio finding it difficult to recommend to players outside SaGa fans.[30][31] By contrast, Ronaghan felt the series' trademark complexity had been stripped down too much.[29]

Notes

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  1. ^ Saga: Emerarudo Biyondo (Japanese: サガ エメラルド ビヨンド)

References

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  1. ^ a b Romano, Sal (2023-09-15). "SaGa Emerald Beyond announced for PS5, PS4, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2023-09-16. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e Torres, Jason (2023-09-15). "Square Enix reveals SaGa Emerald Beyond for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Mobile". RPG Site. Archived from the original on 2023-09-16. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Parsons, Izzy (2024-04-24). "SaGa Emerald Beyond Review". RPGFan. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  4. ^ a b c 『サガ エメラルド ビヨンド』本日発売！ シリーズで最も変化する物語と進化したタイムラインバトルを楽しもう！. PlayStation Blog (in Japanese). 2024-04-25. Archived from the original on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  5. ^ ［プレイレポ］「サガ エメラルド ビヨンド」綱紀編，ディーヴァ編，アメイヤ編の序盤を紹介。バトルはTL上の駆け引きと連携を組む楽しさが両立. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2024-04-01. Archived from the original on 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h 『サガ エメラルド ビヨンド』最速インタビュー。6人5組の主人公や、『サガ』シリーズにおいてもっとも変化する物語の見どころを河津秋敏氏に訊く. Famitsu (in Japanese). 2023-09-15. Archived from the original on 2023-09-15. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  7. ^ "Opus Studio" 製品情報 (in Japanese). Opus Studio. Archived from the original on 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  8. ^ Product (in Japanese). Cattle Call. Archived from the original on 2024-06-03. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  9. ^ a b c 「“回復”はプレイヤーの時間を奪う要素だから要らない」──『サガ』生みの親・河津秋敏氏が語る、超鋭角な「攻める」ゲームデザイン論。最新作『サガ エメラルド ビヨンド』では短くかつヒリつくバトルを追求、「プレイヤーに同じような体験を何度もさせない」ことを目指した. DenFamiNicoGamer.jp (in Japanese). 2024-05-27. Archived from the original on 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  10. ^ a b c d e Madnani, Mikhail (2024-04-24). "'SaGa Emerald Beyond' Interview: Akitoshi Kawazu, Kenji Ito, and Tomokazu Shibata Discuss Global Success, Combat, the Worldwide Launch, Music, and Coffee". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  11. ^ a b c ［TGS2023］「サガ エメラルド ビヨンド」では，クリアするたびに世界が変化する。新情報が続々と飛び出した「サガ」スペシャルステージをレポート. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2023-09-23. Archived from the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  12. ^ a b 「SaGa Emerald Beyond Original Soundtrack」，5月1日に発売決定。スクウェア・エニックス e-STOREなどで予約受付も開始に. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2024-02-26. Archived from the original on 2024-02-27. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  13. ^ a b SaGa Emerald Beyond Original Soundtrack Collector's Edition (booklet) (in Japanese). Square Enix. May 1, 2024. SQEX-11121~3.
  14. ^ サガ エメラルド ビヨンド Original Soundtrack (in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  15. ^ Crazy for Who？ / Diva No.5【SaGa Emerald Beyond official MV】 (Web video). YouTube. Square Enix. 2024-05-01.
  16. ^ Romano, Sal (2021-12-15). "New SaGa series package title in development: 'We hope to announce it in 2022'". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2023-06-09.
  17. ^ Romano, Sal (2022-10-20). "Square Enix trademarks Emberstoria, SaGa Emerald Beyond in Japan [Update: Europe, Australia]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  18. ^ Fuller, Alex (2024-04-03). "SaGa Emerald Beyond Demo Available Tomorrow [Updated]". RPGamer. Archived from the original on 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  19. ^ Romano, Sal (December 15, 2023). "SaGa Emerald Beyond launches April 25, 2024". Gematsu. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  20. ^ White, Lucas (2024-04-24). "Akitoshi Kawazu and the SaGa Emerald Beyond team discuss the latest (and weirdest) Square Enix RPG". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  21. ^ "Gameography - 2024". 8-4. Archived from the original on 2024-04-28. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  22. ^ Lada, Jenni (2019-12-10). "8-4 Talks About SaGa Scarlet Grace: Ambitions' Avante-garde Nature and Localization". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  23. ^ a b "SaGa Emerald Beyond for Nintendo Switch". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  24. ^ a b "SaGa Emerald Beyond for PC". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  25. ^ a b "SaGa Emerald Beyond for PlayStation 5". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  26. ^ Romano, Sal (2024-04-17). "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1846". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2024-04-17. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  27. ^ a b c d e サガ エメラルド ビヨンドのレビュー・評価・感想情報. Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-10-21.
  28. ^ a b c d e Talbot, Ken (2019-12-16). "SaGa Emerald Beyond Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  29. ^ a b c d e Ronaghan, Neal (2019-12-16). "SaGa: Emerald Beyond (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  30. ^ a b c d Musgrave, Shaun (2024-05-21). "'SaGa Emerald Beyond' Mobile Review – A Lot Of Role-Playing Game For A Lot Of Green". Touch Arcade. Archived from the original on 2024-05-21. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  31. ^ a b c d e Galizio, James (2024-04-24). "SaGa Emerald Beyond Review". RPG Site. Archived from the original on 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  32. ^ Romano, Sal (2024-05-09). "Famitsu Sales: 4/22/24 – 5/5/24 [Update 2]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-19. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  33. ^ McEvoy, Sophie (August 7, 2024). "Square Enix's Q1 profits rise 68% to $72m despite sales decline". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 2024-08-29. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
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