SaGa: Emerald Beyond

Listen to this post:

If I were a more indulgent writer, I’d introduce this game by going on, at length, about how the mainstreaming of the internet has had its ups and downs, and one of those downsides might be the way that culture is becoming increasingly sterile over time. Pockets of weird are becoming a bit harder to find, and I’m talking real weird, the kind of weird that you weren’t even sure you actually experienced when you wake up the next morning. That’s why its good that games like SaGa: Emerald Beyond exist. This is a game that unapologetically does its own thing and is a must-play as a result.

via YouTube

In a multiverse of world connected by a mysterious extradimensional space, six very different protagonists go on five very different adventures – one of the stories is fantasy/sci-fi Rush Hour, y’see. You’ll choose who to follow – Tsunanori is the heir to a legacy of puppeteering, while Siugnas is a dark lord who finds himself laid low and forced to climb back up to the top. The witch Ameya is searching for her magic (and piles of cats), AI songstress Diva No. 5 is searching for her voice and buddy-cop duo Bonnie and Formina are searching for suspects. You can play through each protagonist’s story in whatever order you please, and they can turn out in surprisingly different ways depending on your dialogue choices, so you’ll probably want to mess around with them all.

Saga: Emerald Beyond is best described as…well, weird. Everything about it is weird. The only RPGs this game can really be compared to are other entries in the SaGa series, particularly its immediate predecessor Scarlet Grace. Each protagonist’s plot is already a little strange, but a combination of a comic-book style presentation and some absolutely bizarre twists send things flying into crazytown and Emerald Beyond just kind of stays there. Ameya is a witch-in-training whose magic is stolen? Sure. It ends up incarnated as a bunch of lost cats? Sure, still on board.

You have to run around collecting those cats, are presented with images of different cat breeds when you do, and Ameya herself fights with cat-themed weaponry and magic that’s empowered via cat collection, including a “catling gun”? Yeah, now you’re starting to get an idea of where in left field we’re going to end up most of the time.

Don’t take this to be a criticism, though, because the reality is quite the opposite. In a world of remakes, remasters and adaptations where original ideas have become vanishingly rare, it’s nice when a game just kind of loses its mind all over the place and expects the player to pick up the pieces. At one point – and I’m only paraphrasing very slightly – your heroes end up saving Triangle Land from the evil forces of the Anti-Triangle who hate triangles, which the people of Triangle Land use to generate triangular power via triangles. You do this by establishing a triangle network made of increasingly larger nested triangles, defeating anti-triangle forces along the way since they’re try-angling to stop you.

You also have to defeat Triangle God, who is evil and trying to turn everyone into triangles. This is played as seriously as possible without veering off into parody. I can’t say if it’s unintentionally hilarious or not, but I suspect there’s some winking and nudging and tongue-in-cheeking going on here.

Combine that with the way exploration and plot progression are presented, which is reminiscent of the old HyperCard games from the old Mac days, and you’ve got quite the experience on your hands. Oh, and there’s combat too, we should probably say something about that. SaGa: Emerald Beyond’s battle system has a lot in common with Scarlet Grace, focusing on a timeline system where allies and enemies plot out when their attacks will go off during a round. Your characters’ attacks are more effective if they’re timed to activate around the same time, though a character who attacks during a lull in combat where neither enemies nor allies are doing much also receives a massive boost, so the key is to align everyone’s techniques to maximize your effectiveness.

As in prior SaGa games, characters grow stronger based on what they do in battle, so using weapons will help you learn new weapon techniques and gain stats appropriate to that weapon, while spellcasters become better mages by casting. Likewise, monster-absorption and mech-customization return from prior SaGa games as well, so there’s plenty to wrap your brain around. Oh, and combat is a little weird too because of course it is. Again, Ameya has a “catling gun” and she’s not afraid to use it. Meow.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond was a simultaneous launch on various platforms, including mobile, so don’t expect a genre-redefining presentation in either visuals or presentation. The plot leans heavily on comic book-style cutscenes, as mentioned, and while these look fine and help support the game’s surreal atmosphere, Stellar Blade they are not. Likewise, character models and environments are functional but not groundbreaking. That’s fine, though, you won’t be worried about it when half of your party members are giant housecats chewing on the bad guys like they’re fuzzy felt mice.

SaGa: Emerald Beyond is one of those games that invites a little bit of rabbit-holing on the part of the player. It starts off weird, gets weirder and never really stops being one of the more unique RPG experiences you’re likely to have. With that said, this is a legitimately enjoyable experience from a gameplay perspective, so even if the insanity that comprises the plot doesn’t do it for you, there’s some solid strategic combat to check out as well. There’s just not many games like SaGa: Emerald Beyond, and RPG fans with open minds, a little curiosity, and plenty of patience are encouraged to check it out.