Akitoshi Kawazu sounds like a busy guy. In a tweet to fans earlier today, he thanked them for supporting the SaGa series in 2021 and said he would continue working on for their support in 2022. By that, what exactly did he mean? Well...
According to Kawazu, he’s moving forward on a remaster, a remake, and a new entry in the SaGa series. “I’m working hard to bring everyone good news,” Kawazu added. Hopefully this means there will be announcements made next year.
Kawazu, who was a co-writer on the first Final Fantasy game, originally released the first game in the SaGa series in 1989 with The Final Fantasy Legend, known in Japan as Makai Toushi SaGa. Since then, there have been over 15 entries in the series.
For the uninitiated, the SaGa series has been called an “alt-JRPG” due to the way the games ditched traditional JRPG conventions for unorthodox design choices and tricky mechanics.
Even as Kawazu moved into a more executive role at Square Enix, he’s still hands-on with the SaGa series. For example, Kawazu came up with the concept for 2018's Romancing Saga Re:Universe, but wrote and co-designed SaGa: Scarlet Grace, which was first released in Japan on the PS Vita before being ported to a number of other platforms.
On Twitter, there are a number of theories about what the remaster could be with the first Romancing SaGa, originally released in 1992, seeming to lead the pack, while the smart money is on Romancing SaGa 4 for the new title. Guesses for the remake include 2002's Unlimited Saga, but SaGa Frontier (above, pictured) could be an interesting choice. A remastered version was released this past spring, but during the game’s original development, a number of plot lines were cut.
Back in 2017, Kotaku asked Kawazu about the possibility of remaking SaGa Frontier with the content that was cut from the game. “Of course I’d like to,” Kawazu replied, “but I’m not sure if god would keep me alive until the day it can be realized.”
Here’s looking forward to what Kawazu has in store for SaGa in 2022 and beyond!