SaGa series mastermind Akitoshi Kawazu teases big things for 2022
It would be a dramatic understatement to say that Akitoshi Kawazu is no stranger to Square Enix's long-running SaGa franchise. After all, he's not exactly new to the gig, planting its roots himself with The Final Fantasy Legend in 1989 — known in Japan as Makai Toushi SaGa. Director, designer, writer, producer... he's taken turns at it all for the series ever since.
SaGa, much like another revered Square series (hint: it's Mana), has seen the sort of revival recently that many diehard fans had long stopped believing to be possible. As soon as SaGa Frontier Remastered launched, hopes held high; those hopes were bolstered big-time when news broke that the game's sales have been strong.
But there is, of course, a substantial difference between knowing that a big corporation can celebrate a profitable financial quarter and seeing some of those profits tossed back into Kawazu's production coffers for franchise continuations. (One more link for good measure — we already knew a new title was coming to some extent or another.)
With all that preamble behind us, here's the big hook: Kawazu tweeted something terrific. More precisely, he tweeted three instances of "something terrific." He's very much looking forward to 2022, noting that SaGa's in full swing over at Square again with a remaster, a remake, and a new game all in the works.
A few years ago, any one of those things would have been enough to invite not just cheer, but perhaps a mild fainting spell from disbelief as well. It's still a little surreal to think about how much that's changed. For all that's wrong with the world, we RPG fans warmly welcome the cult-classic revival goodness to come.
What could the remaster be? I'm guessing SaGa Frontier 2, seeing as the first game got that same treatment and all. And the remake? The original Romancing SaGa, anyone?
To be clear, these are shots in the dark. For all we know, the next one on the queue is Unlimited SaGa. Kawazu has, after all, name-dropped it in the not-so-distant past.
In fact, Unlimited SaGa is nothing if not the perfect example of just how long the series settled into unfortunate dormancy. Released in Japan for the PlayStation 2 way back in 2002, it was the last non-mobile chapter until 2016's (rather excellent) SaGa Scarlet Grace. Quite the hiatus.
Stick with us here at RPG Site as we continue to cover any and all SaGa-related news stories with just as much rabid enthusiasm as any fellow fan. Seriously, trust us. We're stoked.