Line #9 YMMV/SagaFrontier


1	* AwesomeMusic/AwesomeMusic: There's a bunch, but special mention goes to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlGXCGjMeNk&lc=z23 the Bio Research Lab theme]], officially named "Alone". It's a beautiful, ethereal tune that sets the tone for the apparently peaceful setting...and then you walk into a scientist, read his words, hear a chilling scream as he transforms, and [[MoodWhiplash it cuts right into the blood-pumping battle music]]. After a couple of encounters, the return to the main theme feels [[CreepyAwesome eerie and surreal]] and underscores just how plain ''wrong'' the place is.
2	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMPqf4oWSu0 "Last Battle - Red"]] is widely considered one of the best final boss themes in the game, ''perfectly'' fitting for the final battle of a superhero story.
3	** [[https://youtu.be/1vSpVhXWRIY “Fight! Alkaiser”]] is also a favorite theme music, even getting its own [[https://youtu.be/FxquOGtG8iM vocal song]], making it sound even more like the opening song of a Tokusatsu show.
4	* CommonKnowledge: Blue's infamous ending is often assumed to be a result of rushed development, especially considering the universe encyclopedia ''The Essense of [=SaGa=] Frontier'' greatly details the meaning of this particular ending. [[https://kotaku.com/saga-frontier-director-says-ending-in-the-middle-of-the-1821426733 According to the director's interview]], though, it was exactly the way they originally envisioned.
5	* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: In Blue's scenario, most players tend to default to taking the Time Magic Gift for several reasons:
6	** It's the more moral option. Blue killing Time Lord for the gift doesn't have the effect of wiping out a lot of innocent children, whereas if he chose to kill Kylin and [[WhatTheHellHero getting called out for it.]] Since Blue is already a {{Jerkass}}, many players don't see the need to push him beyond that.
7	** Space Magic is a rather mixed bag. There are only a few little offensive options (Vapor Blast and Reverse Gravity, and those are low-leveled magic) and the higher-end spells are kind of gimmicky and don't go as deadly as Time Magic's Overdrive.
8	** It makes the WizardDuel with Rouge much more difficult. Not only will Rouge have access to Overdrive, he can simply end the duel with him winning by petrifying Blue with Time Eclipse, while the Space Magic works better when facing a group of enemies rather than a duel. The only reason for taking Space Magic in this case is if you want to finish the game as Rouge instead of Blue.
9	* CreatorsPet: ''Essence of [=SaGa=] Frontier'' makes it clear early on that Rouge was the design team's favorite character. [[spoiler:He "canonically" wins the duel with Blue, ''somehow'' managed to get Space Magic without killing Kylin, and gets a free escape from the battle with the Hell Lord]]. Most of what is attributed to him is ''literally impossible'' in the game.
10	* CultClassic: The game is, safe to say, quite incomplete and some may be put off with its non-linearity. A lot liked that non-linearity, along with party customization, awesome music by Creator/KenjiIto, quirky characters and more, making it one of the most classic JRPG alongside its sequel. Naturally, these cult fans squealed in joy when the Remastered version, promising the complete experience that was cut during the original release date, was announced.
11	* {{Flanderization}}: "Fuse's Crazy Investigation Log," included in ''Essence of Saga Frontier'', exaggerates most of the characters' foibles for comedic effect: Mei-Ling is psychotically violent and scheming, Blue is hyper-neurotic over his inability to learn Mind Magic, Gen is perpetually sloshed, etc.
12	* GameBreaker: The 'Overdrive-Stasis' trick. The Overdrive spell gives you up to eight actions in a single turn but drains all your spellcasting resources at the end of it. The Stasis Rune spell locks the caster exactly as he or she is at the moment of casting for the next ten turns or so. If you cast Stasis as the last move during Overdrive, not only do you not lose any JP or WP, but you get to act eight times per turn for the rest of the fight. It gets even [[strike:worse]] better when you realize that since it saves all your JP, you can repeat casting Overdrive for free multiple times during the fight, so long as Stasis is always your last move in it.
13	* GoodBadBugs:
14	** Takonomics, named in honor of the man who discovered it, QA tester Takahiro So: in Koorong, the price of gold goes down as you sell ingots and back up as you buy, but this calculation is (erroneously) made ''before'' any actual physical inventory changes hand. You can therefore manipulate the gold market in the shop menu such that when you actually sell your gold, you get more money back. Then you travel to Nelson, where gold ingots are always sold at a fixed price, and repeat until you have all the money you'll ever need.
15	** In addition, the well-loved Overdrive-Stasis trick, even though it ''seems'' like it may have been on purpose due to the moves descriptions("Temporarily gain infinite speed" and "freeze time in battle"), is actually a glitch- see Zaraktheus' last post [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/198537-saga-frontier/51404644?page=36 here]] for an in-depth explanation (the short version: once you use Stasis or the consumable item [=SnakeOil=], this confuses the game into resetting your JP). It can be taken even further with the use of the Shadow Servant spell, which creates a shadow doppelganger that copies any spell or attack you use, effectively doubling the damage dealt in those eight turns.
16	** The Junk Shop glitch, which allows you to get endless free stuff from the Junk Shop in Scrap: just attempt to sell a [=HyperionBazooka=] that you don't have and you get seven free items. Perfect for either kitting yourself out with DiscOneNuke[=s=] or building up enough money to engage in Takonomics. Both Junk Shop glitch and Takonomics has been so ingrained to the gamers' mindset that Square-Enix left it ''completely untouched'' for the Remastered version.
17	** It's possible to render the Rune quest UnintentionallyUnwinnable as Blue by teleporting out of Tanzer with the Region Map. The odd part is that the game considers the Rune quest ''completed'' if this happens (presumably to keep Blue's entire story from becoming UnintentionallyUnwinnable in turn). Since you need to complete either the Rune quest or Tarot quest (along with gaining either Light or Shadow magic) to reach the Time Lord or Kylin in Blue's story, this allows speedrunners to blow past the Rune quest as soon as it starts.
18	** Two pieces of equipment, the Rune Sword and the Purple Eye, can be used to bypass elements of the game's opposing schools of magic, since they can be used in battle as spells (Rune Sword casts Victory Rune, and Purple Eye casts Phantasm Shot). Basically, you acquire the gift for the school associated with the item (meaning only Mystics benefit from the Purple Eye trick), then buy all of the opposing school's (Tarot and Realm, respectively) available spells, and finally use the equipment to re-learn the gifted school's. In a similar vein, you can have Blue learn Mystic spells and then re-learn all his Realm magic by winning his duel with Rouge.
19	* GuideDangIt:
20	** Lute's scenario has no required dungeons other than the final one, which is reached by talking to an otherwise unremarkable NPC.
21	** In Riki's scenario, Fei-On acts as your guide in Tanzer and Mei-Ling your guide in Despair; but in everyone else's scenario, you're on your own.
22	** It wasn't until tool-assisted superplays started challenging [[https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm31208291 ridiculous combo chains]] that combos were broken down in greater detail than "pick your skills and pray": each ability has "sending" elements and "receiving" elements; if an ability's "sending" element(s) matches another ability's "receiving" element(s) (and the turn order lines up properly), the two get linked in a combo, and so on.
23	* HoYay[=/=]LesYay:
24	** From the "Essence of [=SaGa=] Frontier"- Ildon and Rastaban are lovers. Asellus and Gina could be considered an item too if you get the Mystic ending.
25	** In spite of one member of the PTB handwaving Asellus and White Rose's relationship as mojo-transfer-by-blood, fandom as a whole ignores this - and no wonder, given Zozma's blatant 'get out of the closet!' speech after the business at the Labyrinth.
26	** Asellus gets a lot of homosexual ''text'' with White Rose and Gina, but she and [[ExtremeDoormat Mesarthim]] rack up a lot of subtext due to the latter's insistence on [[HappinessInSlavery being her slave]].
27	* JustHereForGodzilla: Some players only play this because of Red's story since he's not available in any other stories, his story is less mind-screwy being about a {{Tokusatsu}} style superhero, and [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic some of the best boss musics]] play for more than once in his game ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FODQT0128FA Battle #5]], plays three times when fighting all forms of [=MBlack=], the only other scenario that plays this music is Asellus, and it's just once during the fight against [=BatKnight=]/[[spoiler:Ghost!Ciato]])
28	* NightmareFuel: The Bio Research Lab. If you talk to any of the doctors, they say ''very'' creepy things - and then let out an ''agonized shriek'' and turn into monsters.
29	-->"I just wanted to know the truth!"
30	* PolishedPort: The HD remaster is much more gamer-friendly with its Story recaps and option to mark doorways on the maps, and having more space for ability names makes for much more comprehensible battles. You also have the option to recruit ''every'' party member available to a given character, as they'll be deposited into a separate "standby" list instead of forcing you to kick someone out.
31	* QuicksandBox: Both present and averted. Some of the stories (like Riki) are very straightforward, and you can learn your way around the sidequests by playing some characters' main quests, but starting with Asellus or Lute is a quick way to get completely lost.
32	* TheScrappy:
33	** Slime, who comes from nowhere to randomly join your party after the boss fight inside Tanzer, has no dialogue or explanation for why he joins, does absolutely nothing story-wise, and doesn't particularly stand out as a battler. Many fans took exception to getting an unwanted addition to the party taking away a slot that might have gone to a better character, particularly in the original version, where you had a hard limit of fifteen characters (the remake gives you an "overflow" slot for characters outside the fifteen you use in battle). Slime does end up being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap in ''[[AllThereintheManual Essence]]'', where he actually does quite a bit, and is instrumental in defeating both [=BossX=] and Mondo.
34	** Silence is one of the fandom's least favorite characters. All he's got going was that he's somehow an IRPO agent despite being a Mystic. Unfortunately, he's a rather generic Mystic that brought nothing special to the table compared to other Mystics. Him being mute also robbed him from many colorful personalities to endear him, but what damned him the most was that recruiting him requires your main character to get the gift for Shadow Magic while the Light Magic dungeon has a lot more potent items and better late spell collection, and recruiting him bars you from recruiting Mesarthim, a much better received Mystic (because Silence's muteness will scare her from joining you) with unique assets. His only chance for redemption is Fuse's scenario which was restored in the Remastered version, but for a long time, it was cut and players has no idea on the potentials Silence could have, thus resorting to dislike.
35	* ThatOneBoss:
36	** Virgil in Riki's scenario. He differs from most bosses in that to defeat him, you have to score points by throwing combos at him. Two-point combos are a no-go, and you can't repeat the same combo twice--this potentially includes any combos you discover in Virgil's dungeon, as he's depicted watching you in the background of most (if not all) random battles. If you don't know how the combo mechanics work, or haven't been writing down any of the combos you've chanced upon up to this point, then you're pretty much stuck. Worse, you have to take him on with Riki in your party, and monsters have a hard time joining in combos.
37	** Tanzer's heart, ''also'' from Riki's scenario. It's the second boss in his story, but it honestly feels like it should be a mid-game encounter. The organ can one-shot your characters with its Acid Breath, it effectively gets extra moves thanks to all the surrounding tendrils that you can't target, and it has a staggering amount of HP at its disposal. Worse, Tanzer's body is a terrible location to LevelGrind in because there are no shops or inns to replenish your stats. So if you didn't prepare for it before getting swallowed by the beast (and without a guide, you won't know it happens), and/or blew all your JP and WP on the minor encounters littering the place, then you're going to be stuck in an UnintentionallyUnwinnable situation.
38	** Shuzer in Red's scenario. After first facing him with your full party, he runs off after a few turns and Red pursues him [[DuelBoss alone]]. Shuzer hits very hard, whether with his Spinning Attack, his claws, or the guns he has equipped ''under'' his claws - and he gets two attacks a turn once he uses Claw Bit to detach his hands. Red is in his Alkaiser form for the one-on-one fight, but that almost certainly isn't enough by itself to even the odds.
39	* ThatOneLevel: Riki's Mosperiburg dungeon. From the Magma Slimes to the Mystic Spikes, to the PuzzleBoss fight, it's... unpleasant to say the least.
40	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
41	** If Red undergoes the Rune Quest, he will re-encounter and recognize Nomad from the Cygnus hijacking scenario. When approaching Fei-On, Red stated that it's his personal philosophy to help the weak and he had ideas to re-confront Nomad over the Cygnus hijacking, but somehow put that aside by stating that at the moment he was just aiming for the Vitality Rune (But Fei-On will still join him). After you get Vitality Rune, this whole setup is promptly abandoned, Red can no longer return to Tanzer and confront Nomad again anywhere else. Even visiting Nomad's hideout within Tanzer before claiming the Rune yields nothing, and further information about this plot was not found in the unused data, meaning that it is not likely that this subplot will be resolved in the Remastered version.
42	** Each of your playable characters can appear in other character scenarios, but no attempt is made to reconcile any sort of "master timeline", nor does changing the order in which scenarios are played make any difference to the plot (though in the Remaster you can carry over any stats, skills, or items gained).
43	* VindicatedByHistory: This game was widely panned upon its release for its non-linear style and the use of 2D graphics, and the fact that it came out right after ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' didn't help its case. Nowadays it's considered one of Square Enix's most underrated games and many was overjoyed when it was announced for a Remaster.
44	* TheWoobie: ''Asellus''. Used to be a normal, happy girl, but then she got ran over by a carriage, turned into a Half-Mystic where Mystics scorn her, humans are scared of her and she was rejected by almost everyone that knew her. She kept getting hunted by the Mystics because one of Orlouge's Mistresses, her best friend White Rose, stays with her and eventually lost her in Orlouge's labyrinth, breaking her heart. And in the end, she either dies liberating herself from her Mystic blood, or went mad with power because of it, or accepts that she'll never be human again or be accepted as a Mystic and wanders the Earth for eternity, seeing her human friends age and die while she stays forever young.
45	* {{Woolseyism}}: A minor one- Alkaiser's Shin[[labelnote:]]True[[/labelnote]]-Al-Phoenix becomes Re-Al[[labelnote:]][[{{Pun}} Real]][[/labelnote]]-Phoenix. The Remastered version downplays this even further, whereas Shin Al-Phoenix is rendered into Al-Phoenix X[[labelnote:*]]It's no longer punny.[[/labelnote]]
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Context YMMV / SagaFrontier