Romancing SaGa 3™

Romancing SaGa 3 is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) as a Japanese exclusive. A remaster was released worldwide in 2019 by Square Enix for mobile platforms, consoles and Windows. The sixth entry in the SaGa series, it follows eight characters who are drawn into the search for the Child of Destiny, a figure who could bring either salvation or ruin to the world. Gameplay has the chosen character exploring the world, completing a variety of quests and with some characters engaging in campaign-specific mini-games. The turn-based combat carries over established SaGa mechanics including usage-based statistic growth and learning new moves based on a character's weapons and combat actions. Production began in 1993 shortly after the completion of Romancing SaGa 2. series creator Akitoshi Kawazu returned as director, writer and co-designer. Other returning staff included battle designer Kyoji Koizumi, character designer Tomomi Kobayashi, and composer Kenji Ito. Kawazu returned to the world structure of the original Romancing SaGa, and took in staff suggestions when creating its character-specific mini-games. The remaster began development during 2017, with the goal being to replicate the original game on modern hardware. Due to loss of the original assets, parts of the game had to be reconstructed. Romancing SaGa 3 sold over one million copies in Japan, and saw generally positive reviews. Journalists mainly praised its open-ended gameplay design, music and graphics. Criticism focused on its storyline, and a lack of explanation of its mechanics. The remaster was further praised for its faithful graphical upgrade. The staff began developing a fourth Romancing SaGa, but it was moved to the PlayStation and renamed SaGa Frontier (1997). The setting of Romancing SaGa 3 was later used for the initial storylines of Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe (2018). A 3D remake of the game, Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United, is set for release in February 2027 for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X and Series S and Windows.