This brings up something interesting that I observed with SaGa 2.

Humans and Espers (Mutants) aren't that good unless you spend a lot of time power-leveling, as their stats grow *very* slowly. Add on the cost of replacing Human weapons when they wear out, and Humans are actually not that good of a race in this particular game, even if they do have the most potential. (Playing with a party of 4 Humans/Espers is actually quite painful.) I find that when my party has only Robots and Monsters, the game plays *much* faster, and I don't need to stop and kill enemies for long. (I just need to get some money and hunt for the meat drops that I need (which are random, but fortunately not particularly rare.) Too bad Robots can's use magic effectively in original SaGa 2.

In SaGa 1, humans can't effectively use magic; furthermore, they're rather expensive in the early game. It costs 300G to raise a stat, and enemies give only 40G each, with most encounters being with a single enemy. (Your money is actually better off spending 500G on Punch, which has 99 uses and each is more powerful than the last; it will last until money is no longer an issue.) On the other hand, Espers gain stats randomly (for some definition of "randomly"), and said stat growth doesn't cost any money. (Note that the situation is different; around end-game you get so much money that most of the time spent raising a human's stats is spent buying the stat boost items and using them; the time spent earning money is no longer significant.)

Hey, I had not noticed that there is a remake for SaGa 3! A rather engrossing game.

(Note: I'm talking about SaGa 3, not Romancing SaGa 3.)

There is, but it was only released in Japan (though I have the imported cart around somewhere). It also completely changed the game mechanics. Levels and experience points were removed entirely, and in its place is a system that bears some resemblance to Final Fantasy 2, only much better balanced (and no gaining HP from hitting yourself). Weapon durability has been added (you can repair weapons at the inn, unlike in SaGa 1/2), and you can learn techniques that are more powerful than a regular attack, but use up durability faster. MP is no more, either.

There are other differences; for example, robots now work like SaGa 2 robots (but not as good) instead of like SaGa 1 humans, and each character has only one form per non-monster race. Passives (both good and bad) can be acquired by eating meat or installing parts.

There's also the fact that the world map is now what I call "segmented" in another topic; you move between nodes (like in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest), each of which is an area you can enter.

Also, one very nice improvement: Remember that point of no return in the original, which wasn't even that late in the game? Well, in the SaGa 3 remake, you eventually gain the ability to go back to areas before that point. (It happens after you lose your vehicle and get a new one.)

Thanks for the clarification! Guess what, they also made a remake for Romancing Saga 3!
(not sure if it is OK to add a link to Steam here, but yes, it can be found at Steam).

Good to hear about the improvements in the remake.

These discussions on tropes and mechanics to be found in games are nice.

About humans being scarce/absent for large sections, a number of books comes to mind. The aforementioned Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin (sf meets fantasy tropes), and The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (possibly best aliens ever in the middle section of the book), or the excellent and charming Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward (and its sequel), or Startide Rising for comparison with neochimps and neofins, or A Fire upon the Deep and its awesome sequel A Deepness in the Sky (by Vernor Vinge), to mention a handful, with very different approaches.

EDIT: Also, if you like mature space operas (and Kilrathi), Cherry's Chanur is great.

EDIT2: In Larry Niven's Ringworld, the special trait of humans turns out to be (VERY MILD SPOILER)... brace for it....






Luck!

By understanding is that said "remake" did not fundamentally change the game the way SaGa 3's remake did. I heard that said remake may have introduced new bugs (while possibly fixing some old ones).

When I get around to trying Romancing SaGa 3, it will very likely that it will be the fan translation of the original version.

SaGa 3's remake is so different from the original that many players might very well prefer the original.

I think I generally prefer the remake, but there are some things that I miss, like the ability to have one character protect another. Also, there is one major issue with the remake; toward the end of the game, encounters come way too frequently, as the visible enemies that chase you in real time move faster than you, making it impossible to avoid combat much of the time without stopping time. Whereas, the original has you randomly get attacked when you walk, never when you stand still, and the encounter rate doesn't feel nearly as bad for end game.

That is the one I played. Very nice and serviceable translation. I was thinking of adding it to a mini SNES for a replay, along with Bahamut Lagoon and a handful of other great titles.

Are you going to play the same main character if you replay, or will it be a different one?

Also, are you going to make similar choices, or will you try doing things differently?

As far as growth systems are concerned, I think SaGa Frontier is the most interesting "modern" SaGa, mainly because it includes non-human races with different growth systems. (I don't like the fact that around half the party members are human, and that even the 2 non-human main character choices get a forced human party member really early in the game.)

Well, it's more the vs "Planet of Hats" type idea applied to others.

A mind based ability to clean your apartment from top to bottom. There are some places you just can't reach!

Oh wait, does this apply to just games?
.

The ability to be truthful.

Games can take many forms, and there might be one where such an ability would be useful.

Telepathy..wait, we have that, just need to tune in the right frequency.

The ability to read minds. It would absolutely destroy society as we currently know it if we could suddenly do that but a society that grew up with it would likely be so much better.

What if we were able to read our souls?

Foresight.