History VideoGame / SagaFrontier

* TheAlcatraz: Despair. While no one's ever escaped, the warden gives the inmates the chance for freedom, if they can touch the Freedom rune located within the prison. Only '''one'' person's ever done it before Emilia, Annie and Liza.
** It's implied that the person who did before Emilia and company was [[spoiler: Roufas]].

* BigBadEnsemble: Each story has its own BigBad, and they mostly aren't related. ''[[AllThereInTheManual Essence]]'' indicates that [[spoiler: Mondo]] is TheManBehindTheMan to most of the others, but in the game proper there's no indication of any links between them, [[spoiler: except that Emilia's quest is tied in with fighting another Trinity commander]], and the majority of the {{Big Bad}}s logically ''couldn't'' be [[spoiler:Mondo]]'s subordinates.

** [[spoiler: Asellus's Half-Mystic ending is just a touch above a downer. She saves Gina, White Rose and probably Lion Princess, takes down Orlouge and is free of his pursuers, but is left without a place in the world and becomes a wandering adventurer, and her only tie to normality is her annual reunion with Gina, who is [[MayflyDecemberRomance growing old while she remains forever young]]. Meanwhile, in the Full Human ending, she gets to return to a normal life after saving everyone, and dies peacefully in her sleep of old age...but it's bittersweet for ''Gina'', because Asellus marries a man and never gets together with her.]]
** [[spoiler: In Riki's ending, his people lose their home, he has to fight his treacherous best friend, and his entire quest turns out to be a ShaggyDogStory because the artifact he was hoping to find was cursed to begin with. Still, his people did survive and finally learn to let go of their DoomedHometown, allowing them to move on and continue surviving even without their home.]]
** [[spoiler: In Emilia's bad ending, she kills Joker, her quest's goal, and prevented the Cube from being misused by either him or anyone else, but what is there left after? Ren is still dead, and unbeknownst to her, it was her who did it. Emilia leaves Gradius to figure out what to do with her life. Even Roufas thinks that this is too much for her, so he ordered her to forget about Gradius, her friendship with him, Annie and Liza, and tell her to live on without any more fighting. And she did, but wherever she goes afterwards, it's unknown. In the Remastered version, however, this ending becomes a DownerEnding, since Ren could have been talked out of his Joker mentality with some beating by Fuse (who also sorted out his unfair treatment with Emilia earlier) and causing Emilia to still love him and forgive his actions. Without Fuse resolving the issues, Emilia is set to unknowingly kill Ren and lead a life of solitude, completely traumatized with the events.]]
** [[spoiler: Blue/Rouge's ending. After merging, they agreed to fulfill their destiny of sealing themselves in Hell, fighting Hell's Lord for eternity. They're sealed there forever, but they know that the world outside will be spared from TheLegionsOfHell invading the realms [[HeroicSacrifice thanks to their sacrifice.]]]]

** Mystics feed and grow stronger by devouring the blood and lives of their enemies, but they're no more evil than humans on the whole. Orlouge, Ciato and [[spoiler: Rastaban]] really are wicked, though.

* {{Depower}}ing: [[spoiler: Red's powers are eventually revoked, as the purpose for which he had been given his powers was accomplished. Easy come, easy go.]]

* DoomedHometown: Riki's quest to ''save'' his, [[spoiler: Blue's, by the time he gets back]]

* FanDisillusionment: [[spoiler:Blue]] has a subtle example near the end of his game. Upon returning to [[spoiler:the Magic Kingdom,]] which is in ruins, he sees a statue of [[spoiler: the goddess of Magic]], calling it a fake, as [[spoiler: magic wasn't able to save the kingdom]]

** Lute: Fuse, placed on indefinite vacation for investigating Trinity after Mondo's promotion, is suspicious of why a calculating man like Mondo would be affiliated with someone like Lute. Fuse then gets Rabbit to leak him some reports on Mondo's connection to Lute, anti-Trinity past, and potential backstabbing and smuggling. Fuse crosses paths with Lute again while investigating the smuggling in Shrike, but they get confronted by assassins when Fuse tries to share his findings, winning with Gen's help. Fuse, Lute, and Gen then follow one of Rabbit's leads, only to arrive in Manhattan as Dr. Leonard's assassinated...except that the attack was an attempt to silence him ''and Rabbit'', who was accessing Trinity's database at the time. [[BrainUploading His mind now in a Mech]], Dr. Leonard tells them of how Mondo tried to start a war between Trinity and Wakatu, which angers Gen. It's all too much for the IRPO to handle...but [[ExactWords since he's on leave from the IRPO]], Fuse takes the fight to Mondo. Getting a lift from Captain Hamilton, they foil Mondo's plan. Fuse and Lute convince Gen to keep on living, with Fuse offering to throw Mondo into Despair and make the Wakatu files public knowledge. Lute is then hired by a now more-transparent Trinity as a special advisor who keeps wandering off, though Fuse decides to put off tracking him down.

* FusionDance: [[spoiler: The duel with Blue and Rouge is used to establish the dominant personality in]] One of the 'Power Booster' variety. In addition, Mystics have the power to absorb slain enemies into their weapons to increase their stats and learn more moves.

** Blue is unable to learn Mind magic until after the duel with Rouge, because [[spoiler: his soul is split between the two of them.]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Diva, the FinalBoss of [[spoiler: Emilia's]] arc. She has absolutely nothing to do with the BigBad or the rest of the plot, and exists to give that storyline a final fight.

* GrandTheftMe: If one manages it, it is revealed [[spoiler: in Emilia's good ending, Ren wasn't dead, his body was actually taken over by Joker via a cursed mask. He begs Emilia to free him by shooting the mask off.]]

* HeroismMotiveSpeech: Asellus gives one [[spoiler: to Lord Orlouge upon her return to Fascinaturu, explaining the moral path that she's chosen and why she's returned to Fascinaturu. Depending on her choices, Orlouge can respond with bored contempt, confusion, or [[WorthyOpponent pride]].]]

* IdentityAbsorption: The end result of [[spoiler: Blue and Rouge's final battle.]]

* JackassGenie: [[spoiler: The 9 Rings of Power- When Riki wishes for Margmel to be reborn, all those that were not there when it was first created vanish.]]
** According to ''Essence'', this is also the reason Hell looks [[FluffyCloudHeaven like it does]]- Long ago, a mage from the Magic Kingdom wished for paradise, but as [[spoiler: the rings]] are evil, got something that appears to be paradise on the outside, but is, in fact, Hell on the inside.

* LaserGuidedTykeBomb: [[spoiler: The reason [=Blue/Rouge=] was SplitAtBirth, was so both halves could learn opposite schools of magic, have one kill the other and absorb his magical talent, and fight back TheLegionsOfHell.]]

* TheLostLenore: Ren for Emilia. Even after killing Joker, Emilia is still haunted by the death of her fiancé. [[spoiler: At least in the bad ending.]]

* MagicAIsMagicA: A few basic rules to it- A) No one person can learn magic from opposing schools (Light & Shadow, Mind & Evil, Rune & Tarot, Time & Space, and Realm & Mystic,) B) Without the Gift, you cannot learn more powerful spells. [[spoiler: Blue and Rouge]] were specifically created to break Rule A.

* MutuallyExclusiveMagic: As detailed in MagicAIsMagicA, no one can have the gift for both a school of magic and its opposite, though you can still buy spells from opposing schools. [[spoiler: Except Blue and Rouge, who are specifically designed to break this rule.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: As it turns out, [[spoiler: since the Nine Rings of Power are evil, wishes made with them are intentionally misinterpreted - Riki wishing for Margmel to be reborn means that anyone ''not'' there when it was born ceases to exist.]] It's AllThereInTheManual that this is also the reason Hell looks like Paradise-- a mage from the Magic Kingdom [[spoiler: wished for a paradise, but since the rings are inherently evil, got something that only looked like it.]]

* OffscreenInertia: It is implied that Blue never actually ''kills'' [[spoiler: Hell's Lord,]] but fights him eternally.

** [[spoiler: Red comments on this if you talk to her on the Cygnus, since she used to babysit him when he was a kid and she still looks the same as he remembers despite ten years passing.]]
* OminousMultipleScreens: The battle with Genocide Heart in [=T260's=] game is fought in a room full of screens, that act as a sort of health meter. The more damaged Genocide Heart is, the more screens fizzle out. [[spoiler: They're also used for mirrors for its signature attack: Carnage]]
* OneNationUnderCopyright: Trinity is a corporation that became a corrupt version of TheFederation. They're involved in some pretty shady stuff, too, though they're only significantly involved in two characters' plots (Emilia and Lute). [[spoiler: One of their most powerful leaders is the BigBad, according to [[AllThereInTheManual the supplementary material]].]]
* OpiumDen: In Kyo. [[spoiler: [=BlackX=] runs their drug operations from it.]]

* {{Polyamory}}: The state of [[spoiler: Asellus and Gina's relationship in the Half-Mystic ending]] is implied to be incompletely exclusive. [[spoiler: Asellus can't get Gina pregnant, after all. Asellus herself is almost certainly still together with White Rose, while her relationships with Mesarthim and Lion Princess are open to interpretation.]]

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Two notable examples, as detailed in [[AllThereInTheManual "The Essence of Saga Frontier"]]. The first is that chronologically, Lute's quest is last, because he was too busy helping everyone else, but as a bonus, his new friends help him in his final battle. The second offers a more optimistic ending for Blue/Rouge. [[spoiler: Because he remembered that there were people outside who cared about him, he musters the power to break out of Hell. Technically, it's the more friendlier Rouge, but since Blue is inside him, [[{{Jerkass}} he]] probably starts appreciating friendship.]]

* ShipTease: Gina and Ildon get a bit in [[spoiler: Asellus's Half-Mystic ending. Taken out of context, Ildon would appear to be "the love of Gina's life," but only if you hadn't been paying attention to the story up till then.

* {{Sidequest}}: Notably, almost all of the sidequests are actually main quests for one protagonist or another; for a case in point, the magic quests are essentially the entirety of Blue's quest, but for everyone else they're a major sidequest. The only pure side areas are the Bio Research Lab in Shrike and [[spoiler: Furdo's workspace]] in the Magic Kingdom; both of those were ''intended'' to be in Asellus's quest before her quest was bulldozed due to time constraints.

* SplitAtBirth: [[spoiler: Blue and Rouge]]

* TailorMadePrison: The prison Region Despair was initially created to house one single prisoner: [[spoiler: the Warden]].

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[spoiler: [=T260's=] original mission is to stop Region Buster III,]] a machine capable of destroying [[EarthshatteringKaboom entire Regions]].

* UnwittingPawn: It's revealed at the end of [[spoiler: Riki's]] quest that [[spoiler: the Rings]] are evil and that [[spoiler: Mei-ling]] was the BigBad all along and was manipulating [[spoiler: Riki into collecting them.]]

* WideOpenSandbox: Any protagonist can go to most (though not all) locations and do some of the quests there (or at least loot the place and grind against monsters), with the expectation that in most quests you'll go out and do some LevelGrinding, skill grinding and otherwise buffing yourself up before you go on the final quest. Asellus and Lute deserve special mention, though: their storylines are almost completely sandbox and directionless for the majority of the game. Asellus's quest is unique because it doesn't happen on her schedule; instead, she plays in the sandbox while being chased by assassins who show up in any of a number of locations, until [[spoiler: White Rose is trapped in the labyrinth and she can go and settle the score with Lord Orlouge]]. Lute, meanwhile, only has one storyline quest, but he has to roam around at random just to find it, and he'd ''better'' build up a bit before embarking on it.

* WrongContextMagic: Some characters have very unique abilities that may even break the standard rules. Among others, [[spoiler: Blue and Rouge were created to break MutuallyExclusiveMagic]], and the HalfHumanHybrid Asellus is capable of increasing her stats both as a human and as a mystic (though she has to go into SuperMode to take advantage of Mystic bonuses), and she can use combat abilities (which are human-only), magic (which both humans and mystics share) ''and'' mystics' natural abilities.

** Riki: By arresting The Caballero Family and obtaining their ring before Riki even shows up, Fuse gets cursed to complete the set, preventing the rings from [[spoiler:being taken by Mei-Ling or used to reboot Margmel]] in the climax.

* AllThereInTheManual: It's no exaggeration to say there is more story in the companion books than in the game. [[ExecutiveMeddling Time constraints to the X-TREEM]]. There's some weird stuff there, too.
** [[spoiler: For example, the "useless" character Slime actually plays a large role in the battles against Boss X and Mondo, With Boss X he blocks his eye blinding him, and with Mondo, Slime literally corrodes him while he's piloting Spriggan]]

* DummiedOut: A '''lot''' of content didn't make it to the original version. To wit:
** At least five songs
** Two characters- "Common Mec" and "Woman"
** Five sprites- Fuse in a Despair 'janitor' costume, a differently colored Type 7 Mec, A mysterious SuperHero-esque woman, and nude sprites of Asellus and White Rose.
** Various views of the Region-ships, such as the Cygnus from beneath it, or the red ship with propellers from alternate angles
** Various unused rooms for existing places
** Unused text, much of it from Asellus's game
** "End of chapter" character art
** A few moves--some actually ''were'' used, but were categorized as spells in existing, usable, schools of magic.
** Some of these were restored in the Remastered version. But ''not all''.

* BonusBoss: The Earth Dragon at the Bio Research Lab, Jotnar and the dragons in Mosperiburg, the Abyss Bat in Shingrow can be fought by anyone. A few can only be fought in specific characters' games, like the Big Diggers in [=T260's=].
* BonusDungeon: The Bio Research Lab has no plot linked to it (there was ''going'' to be, but it got axed with the rest of Asellus's plot). It's just a place where you can do battle against increasingly-powerful monsters and the [[BonusBoss Earth Dragon]].

* BossRush: Near the end of Red's game, you fight the major bosses all over again. Each has double their initial HP.

* BrainUploading: [[spoiler: Leonard]].

* CuttingOffTheBranches: Some of the recruitable characters can be bought to your party the same way (for example, you can always have Emilia join your party in the other scenarios after you complete one of the Arcane quests) in several scenarios, with some only changing if you play as a certain character (some of the mystics that can be sought after in other scenarios are recruited automatically during Asellus's scenario). On the other hand, Red and Blue are mutually exclusive to their scenarios, and cannot be recruited in any of the others.
** ''Entire races'' cannot be found in some scenarios; for example, both Asellus and Emilia cannot recruit any Mecs. [=T260G=] likewise cannot recruit any Mystics.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Asellus gives one [[spoiler: to Lord Orlouge upon her return to Fascinaturu, explaining the moral path that she's chosen and why she's returned to Fascinaturu. Depending on her choices, Orlouge can respond with bored contempt, confusion, or [[WorthyOpponent pride]].]]

* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: As it turns out, Asellus's accident was twelve years ago, and she'd been presumed dead for the whole time.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: You can only enter Despair once. If you miss anything, you don't get another chance. This means that in Emilia's quest, only Emilia, Annie, and Liza can learn Rune Magic (because they're the only ones present to get the Freedom Rune), and Riki can't finish the Rune quest at all because his quest takes him to Despair for a different purpose.
** Likewise, Tanzer is a one-time-only dungeon. For most characters, that's not an issue, because you're locked in until you complete it. But Blue can teleport out before getting the Rune by using his Region Map... at which point he's boned because he can't go back for it.

** Even better with guns, as the 'TwoGun' ability[[note]]Renamed to GunsAkimbo in ''Remastered''.[[/note]] makes any other gun attack use two guns, some of which even have different animation!

* FightWoosh

* FlunkyBoss: Master Ring, Death Lord, Quakeworm
* ForegoneVictory: In Blue's game, if you actually ''do'' lose to Rouge, [[spoiler:he absorbs you instead, and you play the remainder of the game as Rouge.]]

* TheLostLenore: Ren for Emilia. Even after killing Joker, Emilia is still haunted by the death of her fiance. [[spoiler: At least in the bad ending.]]

* SecretFinalCampaign: Averted in the original, and [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] in ''Remastered''. Fuse's scenario (exclusive to the Remaster) is unlocked after you complete any character's storyline, and expands as you complete additional storylines, eventually allowing you to fight all of the final bosses and recrute nearly every party member in the game.

* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Many, MANY of the stronger sword moves. Notable is Gen's ability to cut rope with a lead pipe. [=T260G=] [[{{Lampshade}} momentarily comments]] [[BeyondTheImpossible on the impossibility]].

* UniqueProtagonistAsset: Excepting Lute who's instead [[StandardizedLeader being the most]] [[TheGenericGuy basic character for a leader]], each protagonist has something ''special'' that makes them stand out or being very powerful than other characters. Riki has the Rings, Emilia has her ability to switch costumes to manipulate her learning tree, [=T260G=] can change bodies and get the ultimate body form that no other Mecs can access, Blue can obtain ALL magic gifts in the game at once except Mystic, Evil or Mirage Magic [[spoiler:but only after he beats or is beaten by Rouge]], Asellus is a Half-Mystic thus can combine Human growth and skills with Mystic's buffs and Red can turn into Alkaiser and gain Alkaiser-only techs. Fuse also has nothing special either, but he has the ability to put all those unique protagonists in one party.

* WasItReallyWorthIt: Mei-Ling asks "Do we have to put up with this just to acquire the gift?" after Blue gets the gift for Space Magic. Seeing as how Kylin maintained a paradise for children, that you just [[NoOntologicalInertia destroyed by killing him]], it's a valid point. Of course, [[spoiler:[[{{Hypocrite}} this is the same Mei-Ling who puts up with seeing the Margmel suffer the same fate after manipulating Riki to make a wish from the Ring just to obtain more power to rule the world.]] [[HypocriteHasAPoint But the point still stands.]]]]

** ''Entire races'' cannot be found in some scenarios; for example, both Asellus and Emilia cannot recruit any Mecs.

* UniqueProtagonistAsset: Excepting Lute who's instead [[StandardizedLeader being the most]] [[TheGenericGuy basic character for a leader]], each protagonist has something ''special'' that makes them stand out or being very powerful than other characters. Riki has the Rings, Emilia has her ability to switch costumes to manipulate her learning tree, [=T260G=] can change bodies and get the ultimate body form that no other Mecs can access, Blue can obtain ALL magic gifts in the game at once except Mystic, Evil or Mirage Magic [[spoiler:but only after he beats or is beaten by Rouge]], Asellus is a Half-Mystic thus can combine Human growth and skills with Mystic's buffs and Red can turn into Alkaiser and gain Alkaiser-only techs.

* WasItReallyWorthIt: Mei-Ling asks "Do we have to put up with this just to acquire the gift?" after Blue gets the gift for Space Magic. Seeing as how Kylin maintained a paradise for children, that you just [[NoOntologicalInertia destroyed by killing him]], it's a valid point.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The remaster adds a "Story" section to the party menu, which provides an ongoing journal for the character's quest along with [[NowWhereWasIGoingAgain a summary of the goal to be accomplished]] in any given section.

* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Fifteen, in three parties of five. Only one party can take part in any given battle. If you would go over fifteen, someone has to leave - which can be a problem when people automatically join in some quests.

* TimeStandsStill: The Overdrive spell, which lets one character act while time stands still for eight turns.

* ButThouMust: Gen tells T260 to tell him when he's ready to leave the Pub. If you try to tell him you're ready to go, he tells you to get him another drink.

* FantasticRacism: Mystics seem to be old-fashioned as they dislike technology of all kinds. The Mystic who sells items for life points will turn his back on [=T260G=], not interested in doing business with a Mec.

* BuxomIsBetter: Emilia [[DefiedTrope doesn't think so]]. When she reads the porno mag, she's disgusted by the star's disproportionate assets. Red, on the other hand, is quite thrilled, and [[StraightGay Asellus]] is more attracted than she wants to be. [=T260G=] simply calculates the model's measurements, then nearly crashes when trying to calculate her IQ level. Riki innocently mentions to Meiling that the model is not wearing clothes and asks if she's hot or something. Blue/Rouge [[NotDistractedByTheSexy just finds the book useless to him]]. Lute looks really thrilled at first, but then remarks that he'd rather see the real thing than just looking at the mag.

** [[spoiler: In Emilia's bad ending, she kills Joker, her quest's goal, and prevented the Cube from being misused by either him or anyone else, but what is there left after? Ren is still dead, and unbeknownst to her, it was her who did it. Emilia leaves Gradius to figure out what to do with her life. Even Roufas thinks that this is too much for her, so he ordered her to forget about Gradius, her friendship with him, Annie and Liza, and tell her to live on without any more fighting. And she did, but wherever she goes afterwards, it's unknown. In the Remastered version, however, this ending becomes a DownerEnding, since Ren could have been talked out of his Joker mentality with some beating by Fuse (who also sorted out his unfair treatment with Emilia earlier) and causing Emilia to still love him and forgive his actions.]]

* DummiedOut: A '''lot''' of content. To wit:

** [[spoiler: In Emilia's bad ending, she kills Joker, her quest's goal, and prevented the Cube from being misused by either him or anyone else, but what is there left after? Ren is still dead, and unbeknownst to her, it was her who did it. Emilia leaves Gradius to figure out what to do with her life. Even Roufas thinks that this is too much for her, so he ordered her to forget about Gradius, her friendship with him, Annie and Liza, and tell her to live on without any more fighting. And she did, but wherever she goes afterwards, it's unknown.]]

** In the Remastered, Fuse has multiple routes depending on which protagonist case he takes, not to mention his own personal quest's ending. In each part, they chime with the original endings above. In Blue's case, [[spoiler:Fuse also gets to choose who does he want to win the duel and eventually going to Hell between Blue and Rouge... and then he saves them]]. In Emilia's case, [[spoiler:it depends on the Trinity base mission, Fuse can focus on his IRPO duties to arrest Yaruto, or track down Emilia and put her into his protection. The latter plays the scenario as the bad ending of Emilia, but offers a happier resolution. The former plays out like Emilia's good ending, with an extra dose of Fuse being a ButtMonkey for his rash actions of imprisoning Emilia.]]

* MultipleEndings: Asellus has three, Emilia has two. Asellus's depend on [[spoiler:whether you had her learn all three Mystic abilities, and whether you saved Gina from the Griffin]], while Emilia's depends on [[spoiler:whether you fought Gargantu in Baccarat]]. There are also two endings for [[spoiler:Blue's route, defined if you're playing as Blue or Rouge after their duel.]]

** Even better with guns, as the 'TwoGun' ability makes any other gun attack use two guns, some of which even have different animation!

* BlandNameProduct: "Bucci[[note]]Gucci[[/note]]" brand handbags.

[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYnCp7_fh7M A Remaster has been announced for PS4, Switch, Steam, and iOS]] that not only updates the visuals, but reinserts large amounts of cut content, including an entire scenario that was originally scrapped, to be released in North America on April 15th, 2021.

* Fuse: Agent of IRPO with a short temper, hence his code name being the shortened version of 'Short Fuse'. He has appeared in other stories, and his own story involves an adventure where he got involved with the original seven quests, with one extra goal that depends on his decisions taken.

** [[spoiler: In Riki's ending, his people lose their home, he has to fight his treacherous best friend, and his entire quest turns out to be a ShaggyDogStory because the artifact he was hoping to find was cursed to begin with. Still, his people did survive and have a positive attitude about the whole thing so that's something.]]

* ShaggyDogStory: In Riki's scenario, [[spoiler:the whole story is rendered as this. Turns out the rings are evil, and he has to stop them. He does so, his DoomedHometown is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin doomed]], the inhabitants, who aren't the least bit bothered by it, decide to just move elsewhere, and all the rings are scattered across the world (with the majority returned to where they were found originally)]]. In other words, going through the whole thing accomplished absolutely nothing.