is a

downloadable In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

social game in the ''

SaGa is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

'' series from

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

. The game was released on the

GREE GREE (derived from an abbreviation of the "Six degrees of separation" concept) is a Japanese social networking service founded by Yoshikazu Tanaka and operated by GREE, Inc. GREE focuses primarily on mobile games and over ninety percent of its ...

platform on September 18, 2012 and on

Mobage is a portal and social network for games, owned by DeNA. The service had 30 million users, who largely play on feature phones. On February 14, 2011, DeNA announced renaming Mobage Town service name to Mobage, which also merged the Plus+ Plus+ ...

and NTT DoCoMo on November 28, 2013. It was shut down on April 28, 2017. In ''Emperors SaGa'', players take the role of the emperor of a nation, and guide the country as its ruler.

Gameplay

The game features a combat system utilizing digital playing cards. The game itself is free, and players purchase packs of cards for the game with real money. Those cards represent allies that the player can use to battle enemies. The game can be accessed on Japanese smartphones and feature phones by going to a website hosted by GREE.

Story

Players run their own kingdom as the emperor, craft a unique history, and save the world from an unprecedented crisis. Situations, characters and villains from past ''

'' games are present.

Development

Takehiro Ando, a Square Enix executive in charge of social games, said that adapting the SaGa series to a mobile social game was difficult, especially since he grew up with the original games and did not want to upset longtime fans with too many changes.

Pre release

The trademark for the title ''Emperor SaGa'' was registered by

in September 2010. The game itself was announced at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show.

, the Japanese social platform, merged with

OpenFeint OpenFeint was a social platform for mobile games for devices running on Android or iOS. It was developed by Aurora Feint, a company named after a video game by the same developers. The platform consisted of an SDK for use by games, allowing ...

in 2012, and Emperors SaGa was listed as a title that would be featured on the service. The artwork was designed by

Tomomi Kobayashi is a Japanese illustrator. She is best known for her character design and illustration work in the '' SaGa'' series of video games by Square Enix. Kobayashi has been termed an "iconic" artist for Japanese role-playing games, and has had multipl ...

ran a promotion pre-release that if players registered for the game before it came out, they received a rare in-game card, Andromache. The title is

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium," is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (o ...

, downloadable for free but allowing a player to purchase more content with in app purchases. The game was produced by

, the Japanese gaming social network.

Reception

Michael Baker of RPGamer heavily disliked the game when he played a demo of it. He found that much of the plot he saw was directly taken from earlier games like ''

Romancing SaGa 2 ''Romancing SaGa 2'' is a 1993 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fifth entry in the ''SaGa'' series. It received an expanded port for Japanese mobile devices from Square Enix in 2011. This ve ...

'' and ''

Romancing SaGa 3 ''Romancing SaGa 3'' is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. The sixth entry in the ''SaGa'' series, it was also the last developed for the platform. Originally released on the Super Famicom syste ...

'', that the gameplay consisted mainly of clicking on links, and the iPhone game was not responsive to input. 1UP.com listed the game as one of five classic Japanese mobile games unlikely to come to North America.

References

External links

Official Square Enix Japanese teaser site
{{SaGa series 2012 video games Mobile games SaGa Japan-exclusive video games Video games developed in Japan