Fun to play, only if it could make sense...
The section everyone is reading this for, GAMEPLAY: Being a turned based RPG, the battles itself are very standard. You pick your moves from up to 5 of your party members, and within that turn they exchange attacks with the enemy. However, anybody can use any weapon (with the exception of a couple characters) and each person can master that weapon depending on class and skill. As characters use the weapon more, they might learn a new move. Sometimes it's exciting seeing how fast a character masters a specific weapon, and how strong of an addition they'll be to your team.
Another great part on character development is the fact no one "levels up" as in most RPGs. At the end of each battle they usually get a stat boost based on something that happened in battle, and influenced by some other factors I'm not completely aware of. But usually, if a character takes a good few hits during a battle, chances are that their HP or DEF may go up at the end of the battle. This keeps the game kind of fresh each time you play, since one time a character might be fairly agile, while later on they might not be at all.
Finally, RPGs are based on travelling place to place across a map in order to archeive their goals. RS has no real "goal", you pick up missions from hearing about them or seeing a scene when you enter a new area. Sadly, directions for advancing in these missions or very.... absent. Square was aiming for a free roaming system, where you could do whatever you want, and appearently that means they're allowed on skimping on the plotline or any other buildup within the game. Someone can ask you to save another person, where do you go? Who did it? None of these questions are even asked by your player character and you CAN'T ask them. You're just going to have to luck out, and be at the right place at the right time... meaning you can wander aimlessly for an hour before you find something new. And wandering aimlessly gets kinda boring.
GRAPHICS: The characters look a bit strange, don't they? Being a remake of an SNES title, the simplistic characters are only fitting and it's great that they didn't opt for an overly detailed design scheme. It keeps the visuals new and you're usually surprised when you find out what your next character may end up looking like. It's very original, I'll give them that. Seeing original material is another great asset to games these days.
But a BAD thing about graphics, is the games layout. Towns are beautiful, yes, but you can never really tell sometimes which way you have to go and dungeons hardly provide the adventure experience like they used to... for the most part, dungeons are hallways. (On a side note, most games these days don't really have expansive dungeons that have all the pretty details. Most games use the "hallway. Hallway. Hallway. Room with nothing" setup.
It would of been nicer to see some advanced looking dungeons...
SOUND: Being a fairly unknown title, it's obvious the voice acting isn't going to be the best. Some actors are crap, some are half decent. It's that simple. And the music, sometimes it's fitting, other times not. Sorry to cut this section short, it's obvious the sound quality in this game isn't that special, but it's also nothing to take away from the game either.
To sum things up about the world of Romancing Saga... if you're looking for something new and unique, give this game a try. Just trying out the battle system alone and observing how characters develop is worth a look... but if you're looking for a good storyline, and memorable characters... this really isn't the best RPG for you. Rent before you buy is key... but there are going to be several people out there who love this game no matter what, which is good because it's not a total loss.