The PS2 remake sold 500,000 units across Japan and North America, seeing mixed reviews in the West due to its difficulty and art style.

Romancing SaGa is a role-playing video game where the player takes on the role of eight different protagonists, playing through their narratives and an overarching story in a nonlinear style.

[3][4] After choosing a protagonist, the player explores the game's overworld freely, triggering narrative events, engaging in battles, and performing side activities.

[6] The PlayStation 2 (PS2) remake Minstrel Song retains the original narrative and many gameplay concepts including non-linear exploration, but all environments are rendered in 3D and elements from later SaGa titles are incorporated.

By the end, Death and Schirach are stripped of their powers, while Saruin is imprisoned through the combined effort of ten Fatestones and the sacrifice of the hero Mirsa.

They are Albert, heir to a noble lord in the region of Rosalia; Aisha, a peace-loving member of the nomadic Taralians; Jamil, a thief operating in the city of Estamir; Claudia, a woman raised by a witch in the land of Mazewood; Hawk, a notorious pirate; Sif, a warrior from the snow-covered region of Valhalland; Gray, a treasure-seeking adventurer; and Barbara, member of a travelling band of entertainers.

Series creator Akitoshi Kawazu was pleased at Nintendo's request, as he could make substantial improvements to his gameplay design on better hardware.

[20] The Free Scenario System was designed as a direct contrast to the linear story structure of Square's Final Fantasy series.

[21] The eight protagonists, with their own stories within the same world, drew inspiration from taiga dramas, with the number referencing the Japanese novel Nansō Satomi Hakkenden.

Romancing SaGa was Kobayashi's first video game work, so she had to get used to the large amount of creative freedom she had compared to her previous projects.

[33] Ultimately the Super Famicom version of Romancing SaGa went unreleased outside Japan, due to a combination of its potentially off-putting complexity and the amount of text needing translation.

[35] In September 2000, Square announced it had begun development on an enhanced version of Romancing SaGa for the Bandai WonderSwan Color handheld system.

[39] The newly added material includes an additional story scenario, as well as a side-quest that allows the player to gather all ten "Destiny Stone" items where previously only a few were accessible.

[49] A dedicated guidebook in Square Enix's Ultimania was released on July 17, containing gameplay explanations, a strategy guide, interviews with the production team, and a gallery of promotional and concept art.

[52] Its release, together with a special edition which included a download code and a jigsaw with an artwork by Kobayashi, formed part of the company's 25th anniversary celebrations of the SaGa series.

[53] A North American release was announced at E3 2005, featuring alongside other major titles from the company including Dragon Quest VIII, Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts II.

[45] The English dub was handled by New Generation Pictures, who had collaborated with Square Enix on several titles within the Final Fantasy and Valkyrie Profile series.

[13][60][61] Ito had helped with the sound design of Final Fantasy IV, and knew that much of the cartridge space had been taken up with the graphics, impacting the music's quality.

[62] Compared to the "smooth" sound of Final Fantasy, Ito described the score of Romancing SaGa as "rough", using different instruments to Uematsu's work.

[2] Ito found returning to Romancing SaGa both enjoyable and painful due to the fan expectations and love surrounding the title.

[68] The battle theme "Passionate Rhythm" featured vocal contributions from Kyoko Kishikawa, who had previously worked with Ito and other composers including Yasunori Mitsuda and Yoshitaka Hirota.

[78] Famitsu magazine's panel of four reviewers faulted the game's graphics as inferior to those of Final Fantasy, but lauded the freedom of choice given to players through its narrative and gameplay progression.

[97] Famitsu was generally positive, noting the battle system's unconventional mechanics compared to other RPGs and enjoying the remake's faith to the original.

[86][89] Jane Pinckard 1Up.com praised the environments, but faulted many other elements from art to mechanics as poorly or confusingly designed, feeling it did little to improve on the mixed reputation of Unlimited Saga.

[82] The three reviewers for Electronic Gaming Monthly saw potential in its battle system and world design, but generally faulted it as a poorly-constructed RPG.

[86] GameSpot's Greg Mueller called Romancing SaGa "a role-playing game without any substance", faulting its lack of narrative and confusing mechanics.

[87] Meghan Sullivan of IGN said the game would appeal to fans of the series, but thought that its unorthodox style and design would likely put off many gamers.

[89] By contrast with many reviews, RPGFan's Patrick Gann called it a refreshingly original RPG compared to the majority of titles on the market at the time.

[88] Nintendo World Rerport's Neal Ronaghan disliked the visuals and found some of its mechanics confusing, but praised the soundtrack and battle gameplay, calling it a good entry point into the SaGa series.

[13] A manga series based on Romancing SaGa was released in two volumes by Tokuma Shoten in 1994 and 1995, written and illustrated by Saki Kaori.