Romancing SaGa Re:Universe is a mobile phone gacha game for the SaGa (RPG) franchise. Initially published in Japan in 2018, it released worldwide in 2020, and is currently still active.
The game's main story focuses on Polka Lynn Wood, a former acrobat who performed with his younger sister. When his sister goes missing, Polka must scale mysterious towers known as "Graves" in order to find her, accompanied by otherworldly heroes.
Due to the nature of the game being a crossover from various the games in the series, spoilers for those games will be unmarked.
Tropes:
- Allegedly Free Game: New characters and rare equipment can be randomly obtained from "Gacha" pulls bought with real-world currency. Real cash can also be spent in exchange for bonuses such as speeding up in-game Expeditions.
- Arms Dealer: The Scacinni Family from Great Arch is said to have acquired their fortune selling weapons to countries and armed groups fighting the Messina Empire.
- Big Brother Instinct: Main protagonist Polka's motivation for scaling the tower is to find his missing younger sister.
- Crossover: This game not only has recruitable units from the Romancing SaGa trilogy, it also includes characters from Sa Ga Frontier, SaGa Frontier 2, Unlimited Saga, Emperors SaGa, and SaGa Scarlet Grace.
- Cutting Off the Branches:
- Canonically, the heroes from Romancing SaGa 3 sided with Undine in the conflict at Mahzoz, leaving Volcano as the big loser.
- The descriptions of the Professor's pets say that nobody knows what happened to them, seemingly implying that particular sidequest was never completed.
- Embarrassing Name: Brownie the Fairy isn't exactly a fan of the name given to her by Polka and Co. Not like her own suggestions were any better (Great King Shark?).
- Era-Specific Personality: The Visions obtained from the Graves are plucked from a particular spot in their respective timelines and their personalities vary depending on that. For example, the Matriach rescued from her Grave is from before she set on her epic quest to seal the Sinistrals as detailed in the backstory of Romancing SaGa 3. As such, she's rather insecure and has some serious doubts if she's up to the task at hand.
- Distant Sequel: The game's setting is the same as that of Romancing SaGa 3, but far enough in the future that none of its cast is present as anything other than an Otherworldly Hero.
- I Hate Past Me: Chapter 1, Part 2 of the game's main story is Polka and his otherworldly allies getting warped by the Grave into the world of Romancing SaGa 3; specifically the middle of the ocean, where they're picked up by the pirate Black Sparrow immediately before he gets cursed to turn into Herman. The Herman in your party immediately calls him a bilge-brain for not noticing Forneus and his archrival Jackal approaching them quickly.
- Original Generation: In addition to main protagonist Polka, characters made just for this game include his younger sister Liz Lynn Wood, Loanne's current leader (and a descendant of Mikhail) Zenon Ausbach, lobster-man Valdor, and swordswoman of the Naj kingdom Madeline.
- Starter Mon: The player always starts with five units in order to form a party: Hector, Gen, Herman, Sif, and Cordelia.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The repercussions of the Rise of Morastrum as predicted by Zenon failing to materialize were swift and merciless: he was accused of having orchestrated the entire thing as a political powergrab, taking advantage of the fear and confusion of the population to acquire the power of the Graves for his own ends. He was deposed and exiled to the Lonely Islands. Zenon's closest associates were labeled co-conspirators as well, with prices being put on their heads. Part 1 of Chapter 2 starts with Polka and Co on the run from bounty hunters.
- Total Eclipse of the Plot: The Rise of Morastrum has seemingly returned and once again threatens the entire world despite the events of the previous entry. Marquis Zenon from Loanne created the Grave Knights to harness the power of the Graves, believing it to be key should the catastrophe manifests. It did not come to pass. The forces of the Abyss led by Alloces from the Four Sinistrals did attempt an invasion but they were defeated. See Surprisingly Realistic Outcome.
