Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend Review: Retro Relics
Collection of Saga Final Fantasy Legend is a selection of retro JRPGs developed and published by Square Enix, consisting of three Game Boy titles that have been brought to the Nintendo Switch. The collection has one standout title, but all of the games are showing their age, and their dated mechanics and restrictions can make them hard to enjoy.
The three games in Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend aren't actually Final Fantasy games, for those wondering about the odd title. These are actually the first three titles in the SaGa series, which had their names changed to Final Fantasy Legend for the West, in order to attach them to the more famous franchise. As such, these games are different from what fans of the mainline Final Fantasy games might be expecting.
The three Final Fantasy Legend games are all turn-based JRPGs that use their own unique gameplay systems. The first two games allow the player to create a party from different races, with humans being able to use equipment, mutants gaining random stats & spells from battle, and monsters being able to change form from eating the meat of defeated enemies. The second game switched things up by introducing robots as a race and letting them use equipment, while humans gained spellcasting abilities. Instead of gaining levels, characters gain stat upgrades from battles, while weapons degrade with each use. It's a lot to keep track of, with the developers cramming a ton of content into a Game Boy cartridge.
The third game goes in a more conventional direction, with four set characters who level up from gaining experience. They can still change form from eating meat, but it's easy to turn them back. It also did away with weapon degradation, so it plays more like a standard JRPG than the others. All three games share similar visuals and they're all standard Game Boy fare. The most impressive aspect of these games is their soundtracks, which are still a joy to experience after all of these years.
The games in Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend have aged poorly in a number of ways outside of their wonderful music, however. For one thing, the localization is all over the place, partly due to a lack of text. The games also don't explain anything about their unusual battle systems, so expect to go looking online for a guide early on. The first two games also have a major issue with their targeting, as characters won't auto re-aim if their target dies. This means that, if all party members target an enemy and the first one kills it at the start of the turn, then the other party members will waste their actions, even if there are more enemies on the field. The encounter rate in the early games is sky-high, and it's easy to meet groups of enemies that can overpower the party.
The standout game in Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is the third one, as it has the most cohesive story, it fixes the auto-aim issue, and the standard JRPG mechanics make it easy to pick up without needing to seek guidance online. It bears mentioning that Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is a budget title and isn't as expensive as a game like Collection of Mana, which might make it a more enticing purchase even in spite of the flaws present in two-thirds of its lineup.
Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend adds a few additional features, which are similar to the ones used in Nintendo Switch Online games. There is a speed toggle, a number of screen size options, and the game will auto-save if the player quits out of the game. The most interesting feature in Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is a Tate mode, which allows players to hold the Switch vertically and use the touchscreen to play it as if it were a Game Boy. This feature replicates the experience of playing the original version of the games, and hopefully it returns if Nintendo adds Game Boy titles to the Switch Online service.
It doesn't help that there are better SaGa games already available on the Nintendo Switch, like Romancing Saga 3. There will also be a remastered version of SaGa Frontier in 2021, which will include content that was cut from the original version of the game. As it stands, Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend has one great title from the Game Boy era and two other titles that can be appreciated for their place in gaming history but can be a slog to work through, even with a guide handy. People nostalgic for these games should be able to enjoy them on a modern system, but newcomers might be turned off by their antiquated designs.
Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is available now for Nintendo Switch. Screen rant was provided with a digital code for the purposes of this review.