1992 Super Famicom RPG Romancing SaGa has finally been translated into English. Designed by SaGa series creator Akitoshi Kawazu, this epic title never received a western release.
The game is unique in that it abandons the linear structure seen in so many other JRPGs of the period and allows the player to freely explore the world. Another unique twist is that you can choose from not one but eight different characters, and each one has a different tale to tell.
A handheld WonderSwan port appeared in 2001, and in 2005 the game was remade for the PlayStation 2 under the name of Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song. That version actually got a North American release.
To execute the translated patch in a manner which will allow you to sleep easy at night you'll need an original copy of the game and a Retron 5 console, which allows you to apply patches to original carts.
[source romhacking.net]
Comments 18
@arronishere It's not an official translation, it's a fan translation. Like the Mother 3 fan translation, or aka the game Nintendo should be translating now.
@arronishere It was localized on the PS2. This article is about the SNES version that was just fan-translated.
I should note this is only big news because of how hard the Romancing SaGa games were to translate, and now maybe work can get done of translating the two sequels, which have never been released in English.
@Chaoz I reckon Mother 3 is already localised. Don't know anything either way, but it seems likely to me.
Are articles on this site ever proofread? Honestly
I guess we need to buy an Retro 5 to play it
I have looked at the gameplay of these games multiple times, now first time in english, but I still don't feel like I quite get it.
"To execute the translated patch in a manner which will allow you to sleep easy at night you'll need an original copy of the game and a Retron 5 console, which allows you to apply patches to original carts."
The Retron 5 doesn't apply anything to carts. If anything, it applies the carts to the patch, since, you know, the cartridges are just used to run an emulation of the game files. The Retron 5 doesn't run the cartridges themselves.
@Mona-Reggie No, why would you? The Tetron 5 doesn nothing special. It's just an emulator. You could just as easily play it on your PC on an emulator. The Retron 5 does the absolute same things.
@KeeperBvK Spare me the technical details, you knew exactly what I meant.
Also, it's not the same as using an emulator as you're using a real cart to dump the ROM, and when you remove the cart the ROM is deleted. So it's less of a grey area.
Looks like an interesting game, but I have never been too hugely invested in SNES titles. I'm more of a Nintendo 64 type of guy.
I played the third one, until all the text on it in my emulator turned into gibberish and symbols... What I played was stellar, by the way.
I wish SE would give us a proper Seiken Densetsu 3 and Terranigma. SE's sitting on money and doesn't even know it.
Already beat this tons of time, so glad it finally got translated though as it was tough using FAQs and playthrough for my import copy.
Kind of confused I always thought Final Fantasy Legend on the Gameboy was Romancing Saga. Oh FFL 1 to 3 which were all on the Gameboy needs to be on 3DS VC. Fantastic and hard RPGs, FFL3 less so though.
I've been tempted to try it out but during the bugtesting phase for the patch it was found out that the original game was apparently pretty buggy as it was. Supposedly the WonderSwan version was fixed up.
PS2 version sounds like it strays from the original, though I haven't played it.
Final Fantasy Legend(s) was one of my favorite games as a kid. I look forward to giving this game a try, both for the music and for the flavor.
@KingMike The PS2 version didn't so much "stray" from the original so much as it added systems, story elements, and areas to the original game, as well as modernizing the graphics and sound (I won't say upgraded since the original game looked and sounded good, and the 3D models, while not bad, still went for a chibi look that some might not find pleasing). I'm tempted to try this out (and purchase the sequels while they're cheap), but it sounds like I already own the definitive version, anyways...
@Eisenbolan No, FFL was simply called "SaGa" in Japan. Romancing SaGa is a sequel series for the SNES to the first SaGa trilogy.
Yes, this fan translation has been done for a while. It's good to see NL covering it, though! Now we just need someone to step up for Romancing Saga 2, which is one of the best (if not the best) in the SaGa series... Yet only the battle menu has been partially translated.
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