[4][5] SaGa Frontier was developed by Square Production Team 2 with Akitoshi Kawazu as director and producer, Koichi Ishii as planning chief, Kenji Ito as composer, and Tomomi Kobayashi as illustrator.

SaGa Frontier takes place in a science fantasy universe called "The Regions", a group of worlds with varying degrees of culture, unique races, technology, and magic.

The game's "Free Scenario System" offers a large amount of non-linear gameplay, allowing the player to freely travel between many of the Regions, interact with other characters, and take part in turn-based combat.

The player controls the protagonist on the field screen, a set of interconnecting pre-rendered backgrounds, and is able to speak with a slew of other characters in order to gather information, recruit party members, and initiate quests.

[6] The storyline of each character also changes depending on who is chosen, what is said in conversation, what events have already occurred, and who is in the adventuring party, a concept first introduced in Romancing SaGa 2.

[10] At the outset, the player can choose any one of seven main characters to play as, each with their own storyline: The Remastered Edition adds an eighth character whose scenario was cut from the original due to time and storage constraints: SaGa Frontier was developed by the Square Production Team 2 (referred to as 2nd Division in the game) with Akitoshi Kawazu as director and producer, Koichi Ishii as planning chief, Kenji Ito as composer, and Tomomi Kobayashi as illustrator.

During those events, Asellus was supposed to visit Dr. Nusakan's clinic, Bio Research Lab, Lambda Base, and Furdo's Workshop so that she would find her true identity so that she would decide to live as a human being or as a mystic.

[19] Kawazu later noted both time constraints and disc space issues as the main reasons for cut content, although the notorious ending of Blue's scenario in the middle of his final boss was always planned.

[25] On disc 3 of the soundtrack, there is a hidden track, in the pregap, which can only be heard when rewinding the CD from the beginning; this was originally supposed to be Riki's theme.

[36][40][42][44][54] Three of the four critics in Electronic Gaming Monthly's review team saw no problem with the Free Scenario System, praising the storyline and combat, though Shawn Smith said battles are too frequent.

The fourth critic, Crispin Boyer, disliked both the non-linearity and the varying difficulty between protagonists, but dismissed these as "minor gripes" and gave the game an 8/10, particularly remarking that the combat system is innovative.

[40] IGN proclaimed SaGa Frontier "the only bruised apple in Square's current collection of role-playing games", similarly stating that the Free Scenario System can become confusing and easily cause the player to become lost.

[42] GamePro took a more positive stance, saying that the uniqueness of the Free Scenario System and the ability of certain characters to transform into their opponents set it apart from other RPGs despite the frustration which at times results from the lack of direction.

[54] Game Informer found that the plot of SaGa Frontier is more of an outline than a descriptive formula as seen in other Square titles such as Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger.

[38] Staff reviewers at RPGFan and RPGamer agreeably noted the game's battle system to be its highlight; both websites mention that discovering combinations attacks is "fun" and "exciting".

[47][45] Next Generation stated that "With the potential for a deep and involving adventure, SaGa Frontier is a depressing misfire from a company praised for its innovation and high-end titles.

Boyer, his three co-reviewers with Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Next Generation all said that the sprites are dated and poorly animated, and that the prerendered backgrounds are flat and non-interactive, and at times make it difficult to see where an area's exit is.