Square Enix has revealed — during an official livestream celebrating the announcement of Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United — that it’s scrapping the original game’s feature of choosing your protagonist right at the outset. In the original, players picked one of eight candidates before setting off on their journey, but in the remake, everyone will first play through the “Roanne Uprising” chapter, where all the protagonists join forces, and only choose their protagonist afterward. The thread was split between people welcoming a shared opening chapter and those worried about pacing on repeat playthroughs and how characters like Katarina and Mikhail — who had their own unique opening scenarios — will be handled.
In Square Enix’s Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United, players won’t choose their protagonist at the start of the game as they did in the original. Instead, the structure is being revised so that players first go through the entirety of the Roanne Uprising, getting to know each character, and only then pick whichever protagonist they like.
This was revealed by producer Shin’ichi Tazuke during an official livestream celebrating the game’s announcement. In the original Romancing SaGa 3, players began their adventure by picking one protagonist from eight candidates right at the start, but in the remake, players will first play through the Roanne Uprising in full before choosing a protagonist.
Kind of like Octopath Traveler. But Romancing SaGa 3 genuinely had everyone experience the same opening event from different perspectives at first, so this actually seems fine.
6AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:47
Did OP type the name in the thread title by hand instead of copy-pasting it? Respect.
7AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:47
That sounds like a tedious structure. I always picked Katarina or Mikhail specifically because their openings wrapped up fast.
8AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:47
They'll probably let you skip the opening on a second playthrough. Though on the flip side, that also means you won't be able to strip Mikhail of his gear and steal it anymore lol
9AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:48
Well, it's basically the equivalent of Gerard's era from RS2, isn't it.
11AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:50
On top of that, they might have cut Katarina's ability to skip her opening scenario entirely. There's a chance the story won't progress unless you go hide the Masquerade and the key.
14AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:55
Sounds like Kawazu himself has said this is what he originally wanted to do anyway.
15AnonymousSep 12, 2026 12:55
They'd better let you skip it on your second playthrough, right?
24AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:12
There are people criticizing this, but it doesn't matter whether you pick first or later, does it? Have you guys never actually played it?
66AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:10
Re: #24 That's just Square Enix haters nitpicking for ammo to bash it with.
67AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:11
Re: #24 That's just Square Enix haters nitpicking for ammo to bash it with.
26AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:14
Romancing SaGa's story and objectives are never quite clear anyway, so I think adding a shared opening at the start is a good idea. Still, I wish something could be done about the art having zero personality. Japanese anime-style art has gotten rough lately — everyone has the same pretty face, just different hair and clothes. It looks like AI art.
Anyway, please stop making every single character good-looking, it's creepy.
44AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:31
Re: #26 Just give up on that front. Even Minstrel Song's character designs were crap, and you still enjoyed it, right?
45AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:32
Re: #26 People would complain regardless of whether the characters are good-looking or not.
So they might as well just make everyone good-looking.
80AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:35
Re: #26 That's been the case ever since the Heisei era. Go back to the Showa era and it's different, though.
34AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:20
I wonder what's happening with Commander Mode.
36AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:21
Re: #34 No Commander Mode is confirmed.
37AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:21
Cutting the Holy King/Demon King storyline, which was supposed to be the backbone of the plot — what was Kawazu even thinking back then?
41AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:27
Re: #37 The first game did the same thing, ruthlessly cutting the Haiboku and Mirsa storylines too.
46AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:32
Re: #37 Simply put, they just didn't make the deadline. The SaGa series is full of stuff like that. Well, I guess it doesn't help that the series has less clout than Final Fantasy either.
40AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:24
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HRyqcwkaUAA-Ae7.jpg
42AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:29
Re: #40 The perverted old man whose signature move is the Screwdriver.
55AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:48
Re: #40 Honestly, Fat Robin has higher Speed and more charm anyway.
47AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:34
Setting the other six aside, Mikhail and Katarina had their own unique openings in RS3 — what are they going to do about that?
50AnonymousSep 12, 2026 13:35
Re: #47 Maybe it'll be handled like a 'meanwhile, elsewhere' shift in perspective?
63AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:03
So renaming is confirmed gone, huh. Why would they kill off one of the original's good points in the remake?
65AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:06
Re: #63 If they want to let you rename characters, they can just add that in later regardless. Though honestly, voice acting and name-changing don't mix well, so I'd guess that's normally why it got dropped.
72AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:16
Re: #63 Did you even bother renaming characters in the original, though? I thought the same thing when I saw people make this same complaint about Live A Live and the Ogre remakes too.
69AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:11
Don't need this. Why do Japanese developers always insist on making things this cumbersome? This was a game praised for letting you jump in and start right away.
75AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:18
Re: #69 Have you even played RS3, or are you just talking out of your ass ("airplay" — 5ch slang for pretending you've played something)? Even in the original, the opening Roanne Uprising event already had all eight protagonists gathered together, with everyone heading off on their own once it's resolved.
79AnonymousSep 12, 2026 14:29
Re: #75 Since your protagonist is decided right at the start, you get to actually take control the moment the opening event ends.
85AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:06
Re: #79 That's exactly why doing that opening event upfront first makes the actual game start faster this way, is my point.
86AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:08
Re: #79 Ah, I get it now — this guy thinks the Roanne Uprising is some kind of movie cutscene. This thread is full of shills.
88AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:23
Sounds like it's going to be a bloated game that forces you to sit through a long opening event first. The whole point people praised Romancing SaGa for was building your character and then diving straight into the game — but with Kawazu and co. shoving their self-indulgence on us again, it looks like it's going to lose its way once more.
89AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:28
Re: #88 They already said there's an opening event no matter which protagonist you play lol. If you don't know what you're talking about, better not to chime in.
98AnonymousSep 12, 2026 15:52
Re: #88 Aren't you confusing it with a movie? Have you actually played the original?
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The original Romancing SaGa 3 (1994) is known for letting players pick one protagonist from eight candidates right at the start, with branching story elements where unchosen protagonists could later appear as enemies. The newly announced remake changes this so that players first experience the “Roanne Uprising,” where all the protagonists join forces, before choosing their protagonist. On the thread, some welcomed making the Uprising chapter a shared experience, while others raised concerns about how characters like Katarina and Mikhail — who had unique opening scenarios in the original — will be handled, and whether the comfort of repeat playthroughs will suffer. There was also some confusion in the thread over whether the Uprising chapter is a movie/cutscene or a playable section, exposing a gap in shared assumptions between those who had and hadn’t played the original. It’s also worth noting that details not explicitly stated in the livestream, such as how the character-renaming feature will be handled, remain speculative for now.
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