Romancing SaGa 3

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Death Eclipse Every 300 years, the Star of Death blocks the sun and all newborn lives die. None of the people, animals, plants, or even monsters can escape from this fate. But one day, a baby survived. Escaping death's attraction, this child grew up, became the Devil King, and ruled the world. Also, the Devil King opened the Abyss Gate and released the devil lords within, until one day, he suddenly vanished. After that the world was ruled by the four devil lords. 300 years later, the Death Eclipse hit the world again. One baby survived. This child grew up and became the Holy King. Supported by many friends, he drove back the four demon lords back to the Abyss, and the Abyss Gate was closed. After another 300 years, the Death Eclipse hit the world again around 10 years ago. The whole world is watching closely for the new child of destiny, feeling both eager and uneasy. Will it be a devil king, or a holy king?

Romancing SaGa 3 is the 6th game in the SaGa series, released only in Japan by Squaresoft due to concerns that it would not do so well in America due to its highly nonlinear gameplay style.

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The player can choose from eight different characters for their main character, with most of the others available as recruitable characters at various points in the game. These include:

• Julian Naul: A Settler from the small village of Shinon. A freespirited, upstanding young man, he becomes Monica's guard if you accept Mikhail's offer.

• Thomas Bent: A Fellow Settler of Shinon, skilled in many fields, from Cooking to Fighting.

• Mikhail of Loanne: The Marquis of Loanne, he has been in control of Loanne ever since the previous Marquis died.

• Harid "El Nool" Tornado: A traveler and highly skilled warrior that left the Naj Kingdom. Ever since then, he has worked as a mercenary. He is also looking for the lost princess of the Kingdom.

• Monica of Loanne: Mikhail's Sister, she escapes the castle after overhearing the Plot by Baron Godwin and Loanne's minister so that she may warn her brother of the plot.

• Ellen Carson: The Elder sister of the Carson Family. Very shrewd at times, but is only is concerned for what is best for those around her.

• Sarah Carson: The Younger sister of the Carson Family. A bit gullible and very kindhearted, she admires Thomas Bent quite a bit.

• Katrina: The Guardian of Princess Monica and the Masquerade; A remnant of the Holy King that is in possession by the Loanne Family. Has the distinction of being the only one of the lead characters that is unrecruitable outside of her scenario.

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Tropes used in Romancing SaGa 3 include:

• And Your Reward Is Clothes: Playing all the way through the main storyline of Katarina's scenario opens the option to change her back into her original outfit and hairstyle from the beginning of the game.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Tatyana.
• Another Dimension: The Abyss.
• Apocalypse How: Ranges from Class X-3 to X-4, if you lose against the destroyer in the final battle. It will still happen even if you win, but instead, everything is reset.
• Artifact of Doom: The Devil King Armor.
• Base on Wheels: Vanguard.
• Battle Theme Music: Like nobody's business. Standard, regular boss, super boss, super boss rematch and final boss varieties, of course, but of particular note when searching for the Professor's missing creations and the N.Zweiger Battle.
• Betting Minigame: Sort of. The minigame in question is Thomas's Business Game, which has elements of gambling to it, but is actually very strategy based.
• Bi the Way: The Professor is obviously female, but apparently has no problem giving out "a hot kiss" as a reward, even if your lead character is female.
• Black Magician Girl: Undine, though theoretically any given female in the game could fall under this trope if the player should decide to make them focus on magic; Monica in particular is a blank slate.
• Bloody Murder: The Murders at Vanguard.
• Can't Drop the Hero: Mostly played straight, but averted in Sarah's scenario: she is forced out of your party before the final battle -- and if she's your lead, this results in you fighting a specialized version of the Commander mode of battle in which you can actually control the characters.
• Car Fu: In the N.Zweiger Battle, you can also control the vehicle you ride to attack the enemy.
• The Chains of Commanding: A Special Commander Mode is used if your lead is not in your active party. You can use the formations your characters are in to unlock group techniques; in fact, some of the most powerful spells in the game can only be used in Commander mode. If your lead is Sarah, you will have to fight in a special version of the Commander mode in the final battle.
• Character Customization: Loosely. Specifically, any character can use any weapon or magic, though some characters are better suited to some than others. And depending on what the character uses, some stats go up more than others. Monica, being a blank slate from the start, is the greatest example of this, with Muse a close second.
• The Chosen One: Sarah (Devil King) and Young boy/Shounen (Holy King).
• Corrupt Church: The Divine Church Pidona Division.
• The Corruption: Tao Gao, Emperor of Huang City is corrupted by the Abyss' power.
• Damsel in Distress: Monica.
• Easter Egg: The Mana Sword translation of the game added a hidden subquest to the game, making use of some unused resources. Seeing the subquest through fully nets you some pretty awesome gear, as well as lets you in to a sort of "Developer's Room" featuring the translation group.
• Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors
• The End of the World as We Know It: Win or Lose in the final battle, the world is destroyed anyway.
• End of the World Special: Ending.
• Evil Eye: Stare attacks that induce Status Ailments. Leonid can use this. In addition, a certain weapon allows its wielder to do the same thing.
• Evil Minions: All four Devil Lords have minions under their command.
• Fantasy World Map: Actually quite accurate once you get to Limit Island.
• Far East: Xuan City and Huang City.
• Four Is Death: The 4 Devil Lords.
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Leonid.
• Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: The Final Boss; it could also be considered as an Ass Pull.
• Global Currency
• Haunted Castle: Leonid's Castle.
• Heir Club for Men: Mikhail chose to succeed to the throne anyway, so this point could be rendered moot.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Snowman, if all your characters are KO'd in the battle with Aunas' Clone.
• High Altitude Battle: You are given the option to fight Byunei with the help of Gwayne.
• High Speed Battle: You have to destroy a rogue sentient vehicle The Professor created; it runs you over in every town near Zweig in a humorous cutscene.
• I Have Many Names: Tatyana. She never specifically refers to herself by that name, but rather by a series of names relating to desserts. However, it's fairly obvious that's who this is, considering she always leaves the party whenever you enter Librof, where Tatyana's rich family lives.
• Ill Girl: Muse.
• Inevitable Tournament
• Inn Security: Subverted. Staying at an inn is actually how to draw out Forneus' Soldiers, who were behind the murders in town, and start the Vanguard quest in earnest.
• Life Energy: In addition to HP, you also have Life Points, or LP. If a character runs out, they are removed from the party, but if your lead runs out, it's game over. Leonid is the exception: he only has 1 LP, but will not be removed from the party if he is KOed. Rather, he will be removed from the battle, but will still be in your active party. Life Points can be lost in several ways: Losing all HP, Getting Attacked while KOed (Out of HP), or a Instant death attack.
• The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday: A travelling circus of oddities.
• Magic Knight: Sharl.
• Non-Human Sidekick: This game has many: Fairy, Boston (Lobsterman), Zo (Elephant), Leonid (Vampire), Snowman.
• No Name Given: Young boy.
• One-Hit Kill: Death Sickle a.k.a. Deathgod Stove.
• One-Winged Angel: The Final Boss has 6 forms: Light Wing (Normal), Dark Wing (True Strength), and can sap the power of the 4 Devil Lords for its own use, each time shifting to a new form for the Devil Lords' power it uses.
• Parental Abandonment: Young boy, or Shounen as he appears in the translation patch.
• Power Limiter: Subverted. You have to weaken the final boss by defeating what gives it power.
• Public Domain Artifact: Holy Grail, Ice Sword, Holy King's Boots, Holy King's Spear, Silver Hand, Devil King Axe, Devil King Shield, Devil King Armor, Glory Staff, Masquerade, Fairy Bow, Seven Star Sword, Holy King's Helmet, Royal Ring.
• Rebellious Princess: Monica, if you choose to take her away from the palace.
• Rodents of Unusual Size: The rats are actually of normal size, but are being controlled in a huge, destructive crowd by a highly intelligent, malevolent rat developed by The Professor named, somewhat ironically, Algernon.
  • Also doubles as a Keystone Army as when Algernon falls, the entire army dies.
• ROM Hack: In Spades, including characters from previous and future SaGa games. There is even a hack to get Katrina, a character you could not recruit normally into your party. There is even one that allows you to fight Apollo, Seven Heroes, Schirach, Mirsa, Orlouge and more...
  • Also characters from various anime and games also are included, you have to dig around the net to find it though.
• Ruins for Ruins Sake: Crystal Ruins in the Desert of Death and the Rotten Sea Ruins and The Kings' Capital.
• Secret Identity: Lime and Trucks (Seahawks Bar employees).
• Send in the Clones: The Real Devil Lords' cannot go through the Abyss Gates, so they have to send clones of themselves to capture the Destined Child so the Gate can be fully opened.
• Shrines and Temples: The Holy King Temple in Lance.
• So Long and Thanks For All the Gear: Any and all characters, since they can be kicked out/removed from the party at any time. Though there are a few particularly bad offenders: Sarah and Young Boy/Shounen. This especially sucks if you've been training them to be main party members for the last battle.
• Standard Status Effects: Charm, Stun, Petrify, Berserk, Blindness.
• Superhero: Robin, a Captain Ersatz version of Zorro right down to the rapier.
• Thief: Paul.
• Thieves' Guild
• Tourist Trap: Great Arc.
• Unknown Phenomenon: The Aurora.
• Virgin Sacrifice: Subverted; the people of town of Kidlanto will choose a person to be sacrificed to the monsters outside of town to prevent them from entering, but they don't generally care WHO the sacrifice is, as long as there is one. That said, if your character escapes from the cave without killing the monster who's accepting the sacrifices first, they pick Nina, the girl who saved you instead, who arguably could be an example of playing it straight. Also played straight with Leonid, who accepts girls from the village of Podol.
• Walking the Earth