mrcrispy83: Well it's definitely got a lot of the same design sensibilities and concepts like battle rank, and appeals to the same audience.
ZFR: Ah I see. But storywise and setting-wise it's different?
The game's good? I might buy it...
The SaGa games aren't that similar to each other in story and setting. For example:
SaGa Frontier: Choose one of 7 characters at the start; each has their own story. The setting is one that sort of has everything, from a medieval Japanese village to a modern metropolis, to a magic kingdom, to a french-themed castle with what could be interpreted as lesbian vampires (the vampire part is a bit of a stretch here), to surreal magical dimentions, to even jacking into computer systems (and fighting computer viruses).
SaGa Frontier 2: Choose events to play; the game takes place over about a century of fictional history, and to some extent, events can be played out of order. Setting is a medieval common-magic setting (that is, most characters can use magic, and the only playable exception is a major plot point). The story has two main threads; one being the exploits of Gustave, who conquered a kingdom, but had no successor when he died (you can view this history right away), and another featuring Will Knights and his descendants, as they dig for quells and later fight against a greater evil (this history can't be viewed before experiencing it).
As you can see, these are very different games.
Other SaGa games are also different in setting. For example:
SaGa 1: You climb a tower. The settings go from medieval in the first world to more technologically advanced as the game progresses. At the top of the tower is paradise, but... (This game is surprisingly deep for a 1989 game, and there are parts where the player might leave a world with a rather uneasy feeling.)
SaGa 3: The world is being flooded, and you need to travel through time to stop it. (This game and its remakes, to my knowledge, are the only SaGa games that involve time travel.)
Romancing SaGa: The world has an ancient world feel, with a healthy dose of the divine with a pantheon that resembles ancient religions. While there are three evil gods, the relationships between deities aren't that simple (in particular, I can think of a quest that boosts your favor with both the good god Elore and the evil god Death).
