Lost Classics: Romancing Saga 3 (Super Nintendo)

Romancing Saga 3 is the sixth game in the Saga series. While the Saga series is quite popular in Japan, only a handful of games in the series have made it over to the US. The three game boy games were re-christened Final Fantasy Legend, while the Super Nintendo games (including this one) weren’t released over here at all (of course, I have it on good authority that a translation exists somewhere on the internet) outside of a poorly-received Playstation 2 remake of Romancing Saga 1. It’s a shame too, because despite its differences to Square’s flagship RPG, Final Fantasy fans in the U.S would eat this up.

Whereas the Final Fantasy games had a linear plotline and a set cast of characters, Romancing Saga 3 has somewhat of an open world and several main characters to pick from, each with their own storyline. The plot is to stop the Devil Lords from opening the gate to the abyss, and you will recruit several characters during the course of the game. The stat building system is different as well. Instead of gaining levels, attributes increase depending on how frequently you use them, and you can learn new skills in battle. The music isn’t bad either.

While this game has been available on the Japanese Virtual Console for a while, there is little to no chance of an official U.S translation of this game, which is a shame, because a 3DS remake or a simple reissue could do wonders for this classic entry in the Saga franchise, especially since newer entries have failed to resonate with players as much.