Sometimes I think there are about ten SaGa fans in the Western world, and I happen to be one of them. So when Square Enix invited us to try out not only Final Fantasy VII Revelation but also Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United, I was a little more excited to try out Romancing SaGa 3 than Final Fantasy VII, even though I have loved the FFVII Remake Trilogy so far. And if you are interested in my thoughts on Final Fantasy VII Revelation, you can check out that article soon. But if you are one of those SaGa fans, or new to the series and looking for a good entry point, then Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United should be on your radar early next year.
Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United is a remake of the original Romancing SaGa 3, which launched only on the Super Famicom back in the day. We finally got a port of the game in 2019, which gave us a localized version after years of waiting. And now, thanks to developer Xeen, who worked on the remake of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven in 2024, we can experience Romancing SaGa 3 in full 3D with many quality-of-life upgrades. If you played and enjoyed the Romancing SaGa 2 remake, you will feel right at home with Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United. It’s pretty much the same kind of remake in its UI, battle system, graphics style, and gameplay, with a Romancing SaGa 3 coat of paint. And honestly, that’s a great thing because the Romancing SaGa 2 remake may be the best SaGa game ever made gameplay-wise, and Romancing SaGa 3 may be the best SaGa game from story, character, and world-building perspectives. Combine the two, and you may make a SaGa game that will continue to expand the SaGa fanbase.
The demo had two different parts. With the limited time I had, I only got to play the combat-heavy part, but Square Enix was nice enough to let me watch the story part of the demo so I could experience the whole thing. For the combat portion I played, it was in the dragon Gwayne’s lair, with a team led by Khalid. It also included Ellen, the fairy Peony, normal Robin (sorry, Fat Robin), and the snowman Flurry. I could also select the difficulty, and as a SaGa veteran, I had to go with Hard Mode, aka Classic Mode. SaGa games are pretty difficult at times, and it is super nice that these remakes let people choose a difficulty now. On Classic, the game is tough and requires a good amount of knowledge to succeed. Glimmering, aka learning new techs for each character and knowing what characters to recruit, is required to get through. For the demo, I couldn’t do the latter, but the party they assembled was actually pretty strong.
As stated earlier, the combat is a one-to-one copy from Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. You have a timeline on top that tells you when each character and enemy will attack, along with what order they will get in the next turn as well. Enemies telegraph big attacks by flashing on the timeline, allowing plenty of counterplay. You can also change formation to grant benefits to certain characters. Formations are always a big thing in SaGa games, and finding the right formation for your team composition is crucial to success. Letting even one character fall in battle breaks formation and, with it, the benefits it brings. The UI shows you which moves will glimmer new techs, which moves enemies are weak to, and which AOE attacks hit which targets.
So the days of having to figure all of this out on your own are long gone, which is a huge quality-of-life adjustment I gladly champion. Finally, the most important addition to these remakes is the Overdrive gauge that builds up as you hit weaknesses, deal damage, and take damage yourself. Once fully charged, you can do a United Attack, combining two characters’ attacks for massive damage. Fill it up again in the same battle to combine three attacks and so forth.
The demo is a quick romp through Gwayne’s lair, ending with a battle against the dragon. Gwayne, especially on Classic Mode, is no pushover. He hits hard and usually gets two attacks each turn. At half health, he starts using Gliding Spike, which AOEs the party for massive damage. Thankfully, the timeline notes when he uses it, giving you a chance to defend in time. I only managed to beat him in the short time I had thanks to a crucial Glimmer by Peony for the Windmill tech, which evaded a party-destroying Gliding Spike and allowed me to finish him off.
The other part of the demo features Katarina as the main character, along with the other main characters: Sarah, Thomas, Julian, and Monika. One defining feature of Romancing SaGa 3 is the ability to choose one of the eight main characters as your protagonist, which affects how the game plays out. This demo section is an early game quest that involves helping the character Muse find another character, Gon, in the Archfiend’s Palace. Despite its name, this is actually an early part of the game. It plays out a lot like the other demo, with you going through the Palace, followed by a boss fight, with just a few more cutscenes in between.
Hopefully Square Enix will release the demo to the public so people can experience it themselves, which might happen since the Romancing SaGa 2 remake also had a pretty lengthy demo. If you’re a SaGa fan, get excited; Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United should be a fun and exciting addition to the SaGa series.
Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United releases on February 16th, 2027, for all platforms. Learn more and find pre-order links on the game’s official website. Thank you again to Square Enix for extending this invitation to us.
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