Ahead of theglobal launch ofRomancing Saga Re;univerSe,DualShockers had the opportunity to speak withSaGaSeries Producer Masanori Ichikawa. We were able to ask him many things aboutRe;univerSe, which launched today on iOS and Android. Regarding the game’s systems, its lore, how the global version will be handled compared to the Japanese one, and more.
In particular, we also asked Masanori Ichikawa about the popularity of theSaGa Seriesin the west. How there is a small but dedicated fanbase and how Square Enix hopes to grow that fanbase:
Masanori Ichikawa:“Thank you very much. I do know that there are hardcore fans in the West, but I believe the brand awareness is still low. I feel there are various reasons to this, but I’d like to do something about it. When I look at how the Western fans are enjoying theSaGagames, it seems they enjoy them in the same way Japanese fans do, so I simply hope that more people become aware of how fun these games are and get to play them.”
He continued:
Masanori Ichikawa:“I hope to increase theSaGabrand awareness throughRomancing SaGa Re;univerSe, as arguably it is the most accessibleSaGagame to date. If you find theSaGaseries interesting through this game, I hope you try out the otherSaGatitles as well.”
SaGagames started regularly leaving Japan with theSaGa Frontierseries on PS1.Romancing SaGa 2andRomancing SaGa 3were recently localized in the west for the very first time through their remasters. However, the latest console game,SaGa Scarlet Grace,took quite a while to leave Japan, as it first launched in 2016, and theAmbitionsenhanced version released west in 2019.
Re;univerSetoo is already available in Japan since December 2018 and is currently celebrating its 1.5 anniversary. As such I’m personally hopeful futureSaGagames will be localized faster from now on. Ultimately it will mainly depend onRe;univerSe’s global success, and I hope it manages to increase the western fanbase all while consolidating the existing one.
We will be publishing our full interview withSaGa SeriesProducer Masanori Ichikawa later today, so stay tuned.
Romancing SaGa Re:univerSeis available on iOS and Android.
