I really liked Romancing Saga 3 quite a bit more than Romancing Saga 2. It improves on a lot of the unique aspects from 2, smooths a lot of it out, and makes things a bit more coherent. Unfortunately, for all the advancement, it is still very impenetrable and I don't think it is very playable without a guide.
The gameplay is pretty classic Saga style and doesn't stray far from what they did with Romancing Saga 2. Your characters don't level up, instead they gain skill with weapons and magic, sparking new techniques to use throughout the game. I like the system, though judging the power-level of any given character or tech feel pretty arbitrary. The difficulty level of this game is much more even than Romancing Saga 2, so it plays better overall.
An interesting field effect system lets you cast spells to control a passive effect on the battlefield. These mostly just heal bosses, but can also affect the spells you cast of a particular school, so spending turns to manipulate the active field is usually worth it.
This game also has a bit of menu and interaction jank, which is sort of par for the course with this series. It doesn't get in the way too much, but there are a few too many awkward moments while playing.
Structurally, RS3 is similar to RS2. It is an open world RPG you can sort of take at your own pace. Hearing about locations makes them selectable from your world map and there are quests and people to discover at each one. Eventually you might stumble upon the main quest, which is to close four abyss gates and stop the destruction of the world. It is less interesting than the "past heroes are actually evil and are destroying the world" plot from RS2, but the characters are more involved, so it evens out.
In Romancing Saga 3 you start by choosing one of eight playable characters. This will be your main hero throughout game and usually has a minimal impact on the beginning and end of the story (with a couple of characters having additional gameplay mechanics they introduce). The departure from changing parties every few quests is very welcome -- outfitting your company is no longer tedious and annoying and you have more of a chance to get attached to your characters.
There are a ton of possible characters to recruit, most of which have a short introductory quest and nothing after that, but they are mostly unique and you can find some real wierdos. The more static characters work better than the interchangeable randos from RS2, since they have slightly more depth. Most characters still don't have much beyond their intro quests, but it is still welcome.
Romancing Saga 3 falls short for me mainly with its aimlessness and lack of direction. The game has a ton of quests, but with no way to keep track of them you are often just left floundering. Even doing quests can be unsatisfying because their connection to the world and main plot is unclear.
The main narrative is started by visiting a non descript house -- the owners are astrologers and tell you that there are Abyss Gates, but give you no more real information. Many times in the game you have to make a logical leap to go talk to someone in a random place in order to continue a plot line or the main quest.
There are a ton of things to participate in, but there isn't a valid way to keep track of them all. The game has a rudimentary log, but everything that happens is shoved in there as you find them. Tracking any particular quest or even identifying which of them are active or have been completed is not possible.
I appreciate the open, player-driven experience this game is trying to provide, but I do not think playing it is really feasible without a guide, which extremely undermines this goal. A couple of simple features added to the current quest tracking would completely alleviate this problem, so it is very unfortunate that it persists.
There is a lot to like with Romancing Saga 3 even with its rough edges and lack of direction. This is a very unique RPG experience that is worth checking out, especially if you are interested in early RPGs or seeing how this series evolved over time.
The gameplay is pretty classic Saga style and doesn't stray far from what they did with Romancing Saga 2. Your characters don't level up, instead they gain skill with weapons and magic, sparking new techniques to use throughout the game. I like the system, though judging the power-level of any given character or tech feel pretty arbitrary. The difficulty level of this game is much more even than Romancing Saga 2, so it plays better overall.
An interesting field effect system lets you cast spells to control a passive effect on the battlefield. These mostly just heal bosses, but can also affect the spells you cast of a particular school, so spending turns to manipulate the active field is usually worth it.
This game also has a bit of menu and interaction jank, which is sort of par for the course with this series. It doesn't get in the way too much, but there are a few too many awkward moments while playing.
Structurally, RS3 is similar to RS2. It is an open world RPG you can sort of take at your own pace. Hearing about locations makes them selectable from your world map and there are quests and people to discover at each one. Eventually you might stumble upon the main quest, which is to close four abyss gates and stop the destruction of the world. It is less interesting than the "past heroes are actually evil and are destroying the world" plot from RS2, but the characters are more involved, so it evens out.
In Romancing Saga 3 you start by choosing one of eight playable characters. This will be your main hero throughout game and usually has a minimal impact on the beginning and end of the story (with a couple of characters having additional gameplay mechanics they introduce). The departure from changing parties every few quests is very welcome -- outfitting your company is no longer tedious and annoying and you have more of a chance to get attached to your characters.
There are a ton of possible characters to recruit, most of which have a short introductory quest and nothing after that, but they are mostly unique and you can find some real wierdos. The more static characters work better than the interchangeable randos from RS2, since they have slightly more depth. Most characters still don't have much beyond their intro quests, but it is still welcome.
Romancing Saga 3 falls short for me mainly with its aimlessness and lack of direction. The game has a ton of quests, but with no way to keep track of them you are often just left floundering. Even doing quests can be unsatisfying because their connection to the world and main plot is unclear.
The main narrative is started by visiting a non descript house -- the owners are astrologers and tell you that there are Abyss Gates, but give you no more real information. Many times in the game you have to make a logical leap to go talk to someone in a random place in order to continue a plot line or the main quest.
There are a ton of things to participate in, but there isn't a valid way to keep track of them all. The game has a rudimentary log, but everything that happens is shoved in there as you find them. Tracking any particular quest or even identifying which of them are active or have been completed is not possible.
I appreciate the open, player-driven experience this game is trying to provide, but I do not think playing it is really feasible without a guide, which extremely undermines this goal. A couple of simple features added to the current quest tracking would completely alleviate this problem, so it is very unfortunate that it persists.
There is a lot to like with Romancing Saga 3 even with its rough edges and lack of direction. This is a very unique RPG experience that is worth checking out, especially if you are interested in early RPGs or seeing how this series evolved over time.