Unlimited SaGa

Unlimited Saga was a commercial success, having sold over half a million units worldwide to date. While the game was mostly well received in Japan, it was largely panned by critics in North America and Europe for its unorthodox gameplay and high difficulty.

Players must navigate their characters through a number of environments while completing story-based objectives in order to advance the plot. Players can assume the role of one of seven characters, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and back stories, and become involved in the narrative by interacting with non-player characters and exploring dangerous areas. During the game, players will explore towns which can be used to gather information and purchases good to aid them on their journey before setting off for the wilds. Unlike previous SaGa series games, rather than freely roaming through dungeons, forests, and other environments, the game is structured like a board game, referred to as the "Map Movement System", where players must move space by space to reach the end. On some spaces, the player may encounter objects such traps or locked doors that can be overcome by using the "Reel System", a device resembling a roulette wheel that may result in a good or bad outcome. While navigating the game board, the player will also encounter enemy monsters that must be defeated in order to advance.

Unlimited SaGa was directed and produced by Akitoshi Kawazu, the creator of the SaGa series. The characters were designed by Yuichi Shiota, and the art direction was handled by Yusuke Naora, who previously worked on Final Fantasy X. For the graphics, Square partnered with Adobe Systems to create "Sketch Motion" during battles. Using programs such as Photoshop and After Effects, hand-drawn 2D designs were combined with 3D models to create a unique hybrid look. As with other games in the series, director Akitoshi Kawazu chose a non-traditional way of designing the game. He stated, "As far as Unlimited Saga is concerned, we said let's tackle the basics of game design once again. We didn't try to emphasize the realistic details, but rather symbolize, and cut out the parts we didn't need. We thought, let's dare to do a 'not express' thing and we calmly [stuck] to that route.

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