The latest standalone entry in the SaGa franchise, SaGa Emerald Beyond, brings together the very best elements of the beloved series to offer each player their own unique gameplay experience.
Make use of glimmers and combos in battle; meet a diverse cast of races, including monsters, mechs, and vampires; and experience your very own story, created through your choices and actions.
Distant Worlds Woven Together
Travel to 17 unique worlds from the Junction, either led by the hand of destiny or by a path forged by your own choices.
Discover the completely different cultures and landscapes, ranging from a densly developed forest of skyscrapers and a green and lucious habitat covered in plantlife to a world governed by five witches, or one ruled by vampires–just to name a few of the distict settings.
An Eclectic Cast of Protagonists
Six leading characters, all from diverse backgrounds and with vastly different goals, set out on their journey in five unique story arcs.
They venture to the myriad of worlds for their very personal reasons: One, a human on a mission to protect the barrier defending his city; another, a witch trying to regain her lost magic while maintaining her disguise as a schoolgirl; and yet another, a vampire lord out to regain his crown and reclaim the throne as the rightful king of his world.
Even Selecting the same protagonist for a second—or third or fourth—playthrough will lead to completely new events and stories, a completely fresh path and experience.
A Story of Your Very Own Making
SaGa Emerald Beyond has the greatest number of branching plots of any game in the SaGa series.
The story branches abundantly depending on your choices and actions. Every time you visit a world, the story will evolve, allowing the protagonist and player alike to discover new possibilities.
As the story unfolds in this way it becomes a tale all your own, not only affecting the path you walk but also the multiple potential endings that await each protagonist.
Battles where a Single Choice Can Change Everything
SaGa Emerald Beyond further refines the highly strategic Timeline Battles the SaGa franchise has been long renowned for. With series mainstais such as the skill to spontaneous acquire abilities through the Glimmer system, tactical ally placement known as Formations, and United Attacks that enable individual skills to connect together to form devastating chain attacks, it offers the best iteration of SaGa‘s turn-based combat to date.
The new combat system adds more drama than ever before, allowing you to support party members, interrupt enemy actions, and use United Attacks by strategically manipulating the order of ally actions.
The characters that join you, the weapons you wield, your party formation, and your tactics in battle—everything is up to you!
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■ Five New SaGas, Bringing Together the Very Best of the Franchise
The latest standalone entry in the SaGa franchise arrives in 2024, bringing together the very best elements of the beloved series to offer each player their own unique gameplay experience
Make use of Glimmers and United Attacks in battle; meet a diverse cast of races including monsters, mechs and vampires; and experience your very own story, created through your choices and actions.
■ What Lies at the End of the Emerald Waves?
Do the emerald waves present potential paths? Or are they showing an unavoidable fate? And thus begin the sagas of our new protagonists…
Heaven, hell, the celestial realm, the underworld, fairyland… people have always sensed the existence of other worlds, giving them many names.
Yet these worlds were never separate—they are all connected, part of an infinite whole.
Many worlds are unaware of this truth.
Rather, people believe in the apparently self-evident truth that their world is the only one.
Heedless of people’s thoughts on the matter, the connected worlds continue to influence one another, forever in flux.
And now, the stage is set for new change to arrive on the shores of the connected worlds.
■ Seventeen Worlds, Connected to the Beyond
There are seventeen worlds connected to a place known as the Beyond. Guided by emerald waves, our protagonists pass into the Beyond before journeying to this plethora of worlds, each with their own history and culture. Which doors will appear to which worlds? Which door will you choose? And what will you do in that world? It all depends on your choices, creating your own, unique narrative experience.
The six protagonists, in five groups, follow the emerald-colored waves of light and travel to the seventeen worlds connected to the Beyond. In the worlds they visit, they will also find themselves presented by emerald waves with choices that will change their very destinies.
Sometimes the emerald waves will lead to several possible fates – but these choices may not necessarily lead in the direction you expect. Sometimes the waves will show the characters a red light, informing them of danger. As the player, you are free to avoid or intentionally face this dangerous light.
■ Your Very Own Story, With the Greatest Number of Changes in the Franchise So Far
SaGa Emerald Beyond preserves an element of the SaGa series that players have come to know and love—a narrative that changes depending on player actions and choices.
Furthermore, as you visit different worlds, the worlds themselves will change. Different narrative developments will be waiting for you in the same world when you visit again in another playthrough, regardless of which protagonist you choose. The story of SaGa Emerald Beyond constantly delivers new experiences, with the most narrative changes in the franchise to date.
—Select one of the five groups / six protagonists and start the game.
—The player’s choices and actions will change the narrative developments and the worlds that they’ll visit.
—Which of the 17 worlds you’ll visit depends on your own choices—and sometimes on luck.
—Once you’ve cleared a protagonist’s path, you can select one of the five groups/six protagonists again and start a new game.
—If you visit worlds you’ve been to before, you’ll uncover new story developments.
■ Six Protagonists in Five Groups
Tsunanori Mido
A man who can manipulate kugutsu, protecting the barrier around his city.
Tsunanori comes from the long lineage of the important Mido family of Miyako City, a world filled with traditional, old-fashioned city streets that sprawl out from the central Gokakudo Temple. He can control kugutsu, or animated puppets, which bear their own will.
The last great war destroyed the old societal and spiritual order alive in Miyako City, and ever since, the city has been plagued with all kinds of supernatural phenomena. Tsunanori is selected for the Cathedral Project to investigate other worlds and restore order to the spiritual realm. With the kugutsu accompanying him, he sets out on a journey to other worlds to find four elemental spirits to accomplish his task.
Ameya Aisling
A witch-in-training, living in secret as a schoolgirl.
Ameya visits Miyako City from the WitchdomPulchra, a world ruled by witches, as part of her witch-in-training graduation exam.
While in Miyako City, she assumes the identity of an 11-year-old schoolgirl named Yumeha Izumi and lives with LoLo, her cat familiar. But after being attacked by an unknown man, she loses practically all of her magical power. Will Ameya be able to get her magical powers back and pass her final exam?
Siugnas
The Dismal King, driven from his throne.
Siugnasis an immortal vampire who rules over Yomi, a world shrouded in darkness, as the Dismal King.
Betrayed and driven from his throne, when he awakens, Siugnas finds himself in Brighthome—the gathering place of dead warriors. Incorporated into the king’s army and sent into battle against the invading forces of disorder, Siugnas can’t help but wonder why he– an immortal being—now finds himself in the land of the dead. And thus, the Dismal King sets out on a journey to recover his powers, accompanied by the other warriors in his squadron.
Diva No. 5
A songstress mech who has lost her singing voice and her body.
Diva No. 5 is a mech designed to sing and dance from the world of Avalon, where industry developed around the royal capital.
She was the perfect entertainer, capturing the hearts of all those who saw her perform, until one day, she sang a forbidden song that she found in the Royal Museum, causing her memory and singing functionality to be sealed away. In one fell swoop, she loses her livelihood and music itself.
In her despair, Diva discards her “human” body and soon receives an invitation to join a secret society. Going with the flow, she joins the group and leaves Avalon behind.
Bonnie Blair and Formina Franklyn
Two new recruits on the police force, investigating an assassination attempt.
Former marine, Bonnie, and renowned sharpshooter Formina are two police officers working together to find the truth behind the assassination attempt on the President of Capitol City, a world studded with skyscraper.
With a key person of interest in the case claiming the president is a traitor and a mysterious triangle piece as their only clues, they set off on a journey through other worlds to uncover the hidden truth behind the incident.
■ Combat System
Evolution of the Combat System
SaGa Emerald Beyond further refines the highly strategic timeline battles introduced with SaGa Scarlet Grace, with series mainstays such as the spontaneous ability acquisition Glimmer system and the retinue-enhancing tactical ally placement known as Formations.
Whilst managing BP, a resourced shared by the party that changes with each turn, players will be able to create their own personal strategies as they adapt to the ever-changing situation.
Will you align ally turns, aiming for a United Attack? Focus on obstructing enemy tactics? Or intentionally isolate yourself from allies and enemies alike?
Highly Strategic Timeline Battles
SaGa Emerald Beyond uses a unique timeline battle system, where the turn order and planned actions of all enemies are displayed before the turn begins.
Selecting certain actions as the player allows you to change this turn order. You can use this to your advantage when planning out your preferred strategy—use the turn order to create United Attacks between party members or interrupt enemy actions to interfere with their plans.
Using abilities or skills costs BP (represented by ★), and the entire party shares a pool of BP that can be used each turn. If one character uses a skill that costs a lot of BP, some party members may not be able to attack.
United Attacks, Where Action Order and Skill Selection Are Crucial
The green gauge under each character’s icon on the timeline shows the scope of their chosen skill or spell. If the green areas for the skills of different party members connect or overlap, a United Attack will be triggered.
However, your foes can also use United Attacks. You’ll need to pay close attention to the turn order and scope of United Attacks.
—In this example, as long as the enemies do not interfere, the four characters whose icons are inside the red box will perform a United Attack, as their green gauges are connected.
—Since there are some skills with the ability to forcefully change the target’s position on the timeline, it’s important to break up any potential United Attacks that your enemies might use, while successfully carrying out your own.
Learn New Skills in Battle with Glimmers
Sometimes during battle, characters will awaken to a new skill. This is known as the Glimmer system. The Glimmered skill can be used from the next turn onwards. A new skill may turn the tide of battle in an instant!
Apply a Wide Range of Effects with Formations
Formations grant all kinds of effects during battle. There are a wide range of options to be selected depending on your foe and strategy—for example, there are formations that reduce the cost of skills, those that increase the party’s defense, or those that strengthen only some characters.
An Opportunity for Furious Onslaught in Unchallenged Isolation
When there are no enemies or allies within two tiles either side of a character’s icon on the timeline, they will enter a state of unchallenged isolation known as a Showstopper. In this state, characters can create combos by using multiple skills and abilities that they know. As such, they become extremely powerful. However, as with United Attacks, enemies can make use of this mechanic as well—so you’ll need to pay close attention to positioning on the timeline.
Due to the conditions required to trigger this state, it occurs more readily in the later stages of a battle, when there are fewer combatants on both sides. Sometimes, it may even decide the ultimate outcome!
Different Races Add Further Depth to Battles
SaGa Emerald Beyond features a multitude of races alongside its human characters, from monsters to mechs, from kugutsu to the Ephemerals. The different races vary greatly when it comes to conditions for skill acquisition and character growth.
Some races have unique skills available to them, and utilizing the unique characteristics of each race allows for even more advanced strategies.
Staff
Producer: Masanori Ichikawa
Director: Akitoshi Kawazu
Music: Kenji Ito
Character Design: Satoshi Kuramochi
■ Screenshots
Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery. Visit the official website here.
