I spent most of what little time I've had the last 6 weeks playing Romancing Saga 3 remaster on the PS4. I included it in a Play-Asia order of Christmas presents to get over the free shipping threshold, and it really got its hooks into me. I've had the Super Fmicom original for a couple of decades, but being able to play it in english has been tremendous.

It has some very cryptic systems for not including any kind pf manual in this version, but once I got into it, it has become a top 5 JRPG for me. The sheer variety in ways it can be played it wild, especially for a game around 30 years old. It's Square at its very peak era to me, and is such a wonderful blend of simple and convoluted that it made me want to get under the surface of things. The way it can be played in nearly any order and can as a result have different available scenarios is neat amd ahead of its time. The 8 different main characters with differing prologues amd access to certain areas, quests, and systems is refreshing, and the fact that the games has two completely fleshed out battle systems and massive mini games (the business buyout to financially cripple the bad guys and war game when you play as Duke of Loanne) can make separate playthroughs feel almost like a new game. The fact that it can take a concept like party formations and integrate it into both a standard JRPG battle system of the time and in the unique commander mode in ways that have commonalities and completely unique functions in both shows some truly thoughtful design.

I did two full playthroughs (Thomas and Katarina), and enjoyed both immensely. The final bosses are genuinely pretty tough, though they can feel a bit infair sometimes. The New Game+ is executed better than in amy other JRPG I've ever played. You can start one even from an incomplete save file, carrying over all stats (save for HP), spells, and non-quest related equipment. You also carry over any skills you mastered, and can assign them to your new party immediately. There are nearly 30 playable party members and 8 possible main characters, so you can experiment each time, and can assigned mastered skills to anyone, instantly catching up new characters you haven't used extensively as viable in new runs.

I loved it, if you can't tell, and think it's head and shoulders above the rest of the SaGa series given its aesthetic and becoming slightly more user friendly. I'm taking a break from it for awhile, but I'll be back for the remaining characters. It also gave me an excuse to use my Vita for a bit for remote play while my wife was watching horrible teen dramas as she likes to do this time of year (I like to watch shows with her, but I can't take Riverdale
Yuck.)