Which Character to Choose First in SaGa Emerald Beyond

April 28, 2024

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Which Character Should You Choose First?

SaGa Emerald Beyond is the eleventh main-line installment of the SaGa series from Square Enix. The game is a decent-sized game, averaging around 25-35 hours to complete, depending on how players play the game.

One aspect of the game that players may need help with (besides the combat) is picking the protagonist that they want to play with first. This can be a daunting task since there are five different options. Here’s a guide to deciding which to go with first.

saga emerald beyond splash screen green brown background

A semi-decent combat system can’t make up for SaGa Emerald Beyond’s inability to capture a player’s attention or help make exploring its worlds fun.

All Protagonist Options

There are several different options for players when picking their protagonist. In fact, there are five different options (though one option has two characters), so it can be difficult to decide which character to pick first. Here’s a breakdown of each character.

Ameya Aisling

Ameya is a young witch from the Witchdom Pulchra who is preparing for her Witchterms, which will make her a true witch. She has assumed a child’s identity at Miyako City’s elementary school as part of her test. However, a strange man attacks her and steals her powers, forcing her to collect cats around the area to gain her powers back and pass her Witchterm.

Bonnie & Formina

Bonnie and Formina are new recruits to the Capitol City Police Department who are investigating an assassination attempt in the city. They are working together to find out the identity of the would-be assassin of the President of Capitol City. Their story follows their long journey trying to find this criminal and bring them to justice.

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Diva No. 5

Diva No. 5 is the latest in a line of Diva mechs designed to sing and dance. She was one of the most popular performers, capturing hearts and minds with her talents. Unfortunately, she found a forbidden song and sang it, leading to her being banned from singing. This led to her joining a secret society and leaving her home for good.

Siugnas

Siugnas, also known as the Dismal King, is a vampire lord who rules over Yomi. However, he is soon betrayed and kicked out of his home, leading him to Brighthome. This area is known to be the dwelling place of the dead, so Siugnas sets out to regain what he has lost and figure out how he ended up with the dead.

Tsunanori Mido

Tsunanori is a member of the Mido family, the famous puppet masters of Miyako City, who can control the Kugutsu puppets. He is soon chosen to join the Cathedral Project, which is a group dedicated to investigating the different worlds and restoring order. Along with his Kugutsu, he sets out to find elemental spirits and restore order to the worlds.

Which Character Should You Choose First?

When looking at which character to play first, players need to consider their play style. Each character in the game offers a unique story and different ways of playing the game, meaning players will want to start with the character they relate to the most.

Ameya – Play first if you prefer mages in games and like the stereotypical Japanese characters. Ameya falls into that category, and her world is similar to a real-life town in Japan.
Bonnie & Formina – If you prefer action and comedy, this duo is perfect. They also offer the uniqueness of having two characters in one story.
Diva No. 5 – This story offers the most diverse cast of recruitable characters and also allows you to get powerful armor early on.
Siugnas – His story has a larger range of weapons, meaning that you can experience more attack types throughout your playthrough.
Tsunanori – This story allows you to fight Divine Spirits, which drop nice armor. Additionally, the later-stage battles are easier due to Tsunanori’s Kugutsu.

SaGa Emerald Beyond’s combat can be overwhelming. Here’s an overview of it to help you out.

Overall, you want to consider what types of experiences you want and which characters sound more interesting to you. By the end of the game, you will want to play all the characters anyway, so it doesn’t really matter which order you go in.