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The SaGa series is one of the most unique franchises to come from RPG behemoth Square Enix.

Often known as Final Fantasy‘s “weird” cousin — though that’s a little bit reductive — SaGa was created by Akitoshi Kawazu, one of the game designers on Final Fantasy II, which is often considered the odd one among the Final Fantasy titles. On the surface, Final Fantasy II is pretty similar to its predecessor, with one big exception — levelling. Instead of gaining experience points, your party improves depending on the actions they take. So attack will increase the more you attack, and depending on what weapon your character is attacking with, their proficiency with that weapon will improve.

This wasn’t very well received at the time, but these mechanics are one of the core components of the SaGa series. Moving from the NES to the Game Boy, Makai Toushi Sa・Ga — localised as The Final Fantasy Legend in North America — marked the birth of a truly distinctive RPG series.

SaGa embraced the non-traditional — the games often have non-linear stories. Some follow entire generations of characters, while others let you select your main character and present multiple individual stories. They’re not easy games to love, but if you love RPG systems, then SaGa may well be for you.

The franchise has seen a bit of a revival over the past five years, with multiple remakes, remasters, and even two new games in the series making their way to multiple consoles. And just last week, SaGa Emerald Beyond landed on Switch, which we scored a 7/10 in our review.