WORLD MAP
・Romancing Saga World Map
・Open Towns & Other Locations on the World Map
・Battle Backgrounds
・A Night at the Inn
・Background Motifs & Elements
・BGM / OST
WORLD MAP
OPEN TOWNS AND OTHER LOCATIONS ON THE WORLD MAP
Towns and other places must be 'opened' to appear on the World Map.
This means that your main character must hear of the location (talk to people) or have the occasion to go there physically (take a ship, do a quest).
Sometimes one location can be opened in several ways.
See this video to open quickly most locations on the World Map.
 Julian, Thomas, Sara, Ellen & Monica only. Introduction, Leonid's Castle: Talk to Leonid. |
 Open at the end of the Introduction (except shipwrecked Julian). |
 In Loanne, talk to the old man in the house in the lower-left corner. |
 ・In Mules / Myules, take ship from the docks (bottom-left exit). ・Shipwrecked Julian Start. |
 ・In Zweig, take ship from the docks (bottom right exit) ・In Stanley, take a ship form the docks (bottom right exit). |
 In Zweig, talk to the old man in a green robe. |
In Zweig, talk to the man in blue top & shoes or to the blonde woman in pink & blue. |
 In Kidlanto / Kyrdlund, take a ship at the docks (top left exit). |
 ・In Justerm, talk to the bearded old man with the blue coat. ・In Yamas / Yarmouth, talk to the old woman in the shop at the top. |
 Transport goods from Lance (talk to the man in the shop). |
・Transport goods from Lance (talk to the man in the shop after completing his 1st quest). ・In Stanley, talk to old man in the bottom-left house. |
 Transport goods from Lance and make a Thief / Burglar tell you its location. |
 In Kidlanto / Kyrdlund, talk to the Mayor (top right house), help and start the Algernon Quest. |
 Librof / Ryblov (100G), Wilmington (200G), Vanguard (500G), Great Arc / Arch (1000G). (All other destinations: can open without paying a ship.) |
 In Great Arc / Arch, talk to the 4 walking locals & Herman on the pier, and pay their fee (100, 120, 160, 200 & 100G). |
 In Justerm, talk to Wood / Ward and accept the job. |
・In Farce / Faros, talk to the old woman up the stairs in the house in the lower left of town. ・In Pidona, talk to the soldier in the bottom-right room in the top-right house. |
 ・In Vanguard, talk to the woman in green. ・Or receive the quest of gathering the Water / Genbu Mages from Vanguard's Mayor (Captain). |
 In Vanguard, talk to the moustached man (before or after the murder case, before moving Vanguard). |
 In the Small Village / Tinyville, talk to the barman in the Pub (top-right house) and gossip. |
 In Librof / Ryblov, talk to the man with the red had in the Pub (bottom right of town). |
 In Librof / Ryblov, talk to the man at the upper left of the table, up the stairs in the Pub (bottom right of town). |
 In Librof, talk to the man at the counter of the Pub (bottom right of town), enter Naj Desert, head West. |
 In Great Arc / Arch, take a ship to Ake / Ache (on the pier, bottom right). |
 Go to Ake, then South into the Jungle: S, E, 1st N, W, N, W, climb the tree. See this Map of the Jungle. |
 Go to Ake / Ache, then South into the Jungle (Fairy / Peony can tell you how to reach it). |
 (Does not appear on the World Map) Go to Naj Desert, go West to the Divine / Archlord Tower, talk to the pink-haired girl. |
 Great Prairie / Plains - Xuan City Go to Naj Desert and East, fall into the Dry River and complete the Quest East of the West: From Naj to Mung. |
 After completing the Quest East of the West: From Naj to Mung, talk to the bearded man in yellow in Mung / Muenge Village. |
 In Rashkuta, talk to the pink elephant in the central building. |
 In Stanley, talk to the old woman in lower-left house. (You may need to clear the monster-infested Thieves' Cave first.) |
 (The monster-infested Thieves' Cave) In Stanley, talk to the old woman in lower-left house. |
 Complete the first half of the Water Abyss Gate Quest. |
 ・In Zweig, sign in and win the tournament. ・Introductions of Julian, Thomas, Sarah, Ellen & Monica: opens automatically. |
 ・Start for many characters. ・Close 1 Abyss Gate, ask the bartender for Info in Pidona, Yamas / Yarmouth or Vanguard. |
 Complete Mana Sword's hidden quest. |
 Complete the Ice Lake quest. In Lance, ask Anna about Aurora. Go to World Overview Map ('X' on World Map), wait for tha aurora to appear go to the Aurora Path. |
 Close the 4 Abyss Gates and talk to Bai Meiling / Meiniang (Xuan City, top-right house). |
 Save Muse from her Nightmare and ask Anna in Lance about the serum. |
BATTLE BACKGROUNDS
Battles occur in a wide variety of places and environments.
I thought this would be another occasion to see the richness of RS3 graphics.
You will find also below the additional backgrounds of the Remaster edition.
 Abyss |
 Abyss (Destroyer) |
 Ake, Great Arc, Jungle | |
 Ancient Ruins (1) |
 Ancient Ruins (2) |
 Byunei's Den (2) |
 Byunei's Den (3) |
 Cave (1) Podol Cave, Thieves' Cave 100/160/200G Treasure Cave |
 Cave (2) Offering Cave |
 Cave (3) 120G Treasure Cave |
 Cave (4) Herman's Treasure Cave, Sea Palace (1) Byunei's Den (1) |
 Cave (5) Gwayne's Den | |
 Death Desert, Crystal Palace (outside) Kings Capital (outside) | |
 Devil King Palace (1) |
 Devil King Palace (2) |
 Divine Tower |
 Divine Tower (forecourt & top) |
 Dry River | |
 Fire Palace (1) |
 Fire Palace (2) |
 Great Fake Show (tent) |
 Great Prairie Offering Cave (outside), Great Fake Show, Mung Village, Holy Temple (entrance stairs) |
 Holy Temple (1) |
 Holy Temple (2) |
 House |
 Huang Castle |
 Ice Lake (1), Ice Galaxy |
 Ice Lake (2) |
 Kings Capital | |
 Leonid's Castle |
 Limit Island |
 Loanne Castle Pidona Divine Church |
 Maximus' Hideout |
 Mount Loob |
 Mount Taftan |
 Muse's Nightmare |
 Naj Desert |
 Podol, Snowtown |
 Rotten Ruins |
 Sea Palace (2) |
 Sea Palace (3) |
 Sea Palace (4) | |
 Shinon Forest, Road to Podol Highways from Lance, West Forest | |
 Ship (1) |
 Ship (2) |
 Town |
 Vanguard |
 Xuan City, Huang City |
 Xuan City (house) |
 Zweig Tournament | |
Here are the additional backgrounds of the Remaster edition.
Beside the (quite uninventive) Phantom Maze and some new boss backgrounds, there is mainly a much greater variety of backgrounds for towns and houses (with some inconsistencies still). Below is the whole Remaster selection, because they are nicely done!
Notes:
- Like on SFC, Fairyville has the same background as the Jungle. On the other hand, Ake has now a different background.
- The background for Vanguard's Control Room is still the same as that of the underground tunnel.
- The stairs leading to the Mausoleum of the Matriarch now have the same background as Lance (vs. the Steppes on SFC).
- Phantom Maze (1), map and background, is copy-paste of a room in the Archfiend Palace.
- The background for the outer walls & entrance of the Archfiend Palace is still the same as inside.
- The backgrounds for the forecourt & for the top of the Archlord Tower are still the same.
- The special background for the bridge in the Undersea Palace (where you encounter Forneus's Generals) is no more.
 Abyss | |
 Abyss (Alloces) |
 Abyss (Aunus) |
 Abyss (Buné) |
 Abyss (Forneus) |
 Abyss (Oblivion) |
 Abyss Gate |
 Archlord Tower (forecourt, top) |
 Inner Arch. Tower |
 Bandit's Hideout |
 Buné's Lair (1) |
 Buné's Lair (2) |
 Buné's Lair (3) |
 Castle Leonid | |
 City of Kings |
 Crystal Ruins |
 (Dragon Machine Battle) |
 Flowing Sands |
 Gwayne's Den | |
 Huang |
 Huang Castle |
 Ice Galaxy |
 Lance-Yarmouth Rd, Lance-Faros Rd |
 Loanne Castle (day) |
 Loanne Castle (night) |
 Matriarch Mausoleum (1) |
 Matriarch Mausoleum (2) |
 Maximus's Base | |
 Moses Island | |
 Mount Louv |
 Mount Taftan |
 Naj Desert, City of Kings (outside) Crystal Palace (outside) |
 Nefte Tribe |
 Path to Podorui, Sinon Woodlands | |
 Phantom Maze (1), Archfiend Palace |
 Phantom Maze (2) |
 Pidona (Divine Order) |
 Pidona Palace (Muse's Nightmare) |
 Podorui Cave, Frostburg (cave) |
 Podorui (snow field), Castle Leonid (outside) |
 Sacrificial Cave |
 Sacrificial Cave (outside) |
 Sacrificial Cave (boss) |
|
 Show of Wonders (day) Loanne Plains (Mass Combat prep) |
 Show of Wonders (night) |
 Show of Wonders (tent) |
|
 Temple Ruins |
|
 Treasure Cave (100) |
 Treasure Cave (120) |
 Treasure Cave (160) |
 Treasure Cave (200) |
 Undersea Palace (1) |
 Undersea Palace (2) |
 Undersea Palace (3) |
 Undersea Palace (4) |
 Westos Forest | |
 World's End (cave) |
 Zelnam Haunt |
 Zweig Palace (tournament) |
|
| TOWNS | & HOUSES |
 Town (1) Faros, Loanne, Mahzoz, Ryblov Stanley, Wilmington, Zweig |
 House (1) Faros, Loanne, Mahzoz, Pidona (Old & New) Ryblov, Stanley, Wilmington, Yarmouth, Zweig |
 Town (2) Justerm, Lance |
 House (2) Justerm, Lance, Professor's Hall, Frostburg Earthside Cabin |
 Harbour | |
 Ake |
 Ake (house) |
 Fairyville, Jungle |
 Fairyville (house) |
 Frostburg (Town & House) | |
 Great Arch |
 Great Arch (house) |
 Kyrdlund | |
 Muenge Village |
 Muenge Village (house) |
 Pidona New Town | |
 Pidona Old Town | |
 Podorui | |
 Rashkuta |
 Rashkuta (house) |
 Tinyville |
 Tinyville (house) |
 Vanguard |
 Vanguard (tunnel & control room) |
 Xuan |
 Xuan (house) |
 Yarmouth | |
A NIGHT AT THE INN
One has to rest from time to time.
Here are the night scenes when you stay at an Inn for the rate of 1G per person.
There are Inns pretty much in every friendly area map, except in the Small Village.
You can stay for free in Ake, Ice Town, Leonid's Castle & Mung Village (and for Mikhail his own bedroom).
There are enough beds for a full party only in Farce, Justerm, Kidlanto, Lance & Zweig. First come first served. A sidekick's life can be harsh.
You can stay in 2 different rooms in Leonid's Castle, depending on your preferences regarding narrow spaces.
The waking up is different in Kidlanto, Leonid's Castle (everyone rejoins your main character). In Ice Town you sleep in party-icon mode. And in Ake, what happens during the hot jungle night is left to the player's imagination (black screen).
 Ake |
 Farce |
 Great Arc |
 Ice Town |
 Justerm |
 Kidlanto |
 Lance |
 Leonid's Castle (1) |
 Leonid's Castle (2) |
 Libroff |
 Loanne |
 Moses (N) |
 Mules |
 Mung Village |
 Pidona |
 Podol |
 Rashkuta |
 Stanley |
 Vanguard |
 Wilmington |
 Xuan City |
 Yamas |
 Zweig |
 [Mikhail only: Mikhail's bedroom upstairs in Loanne Castle] |
BACKGROUND MOTIFS & ELEMENTS
Here are a few of the simple motifs that, repeated, form Romancing Saga 3's numerous backgrounds!
There are simple motifs per say (repeatable in all directions), complex motifs (mostly repeatable in one direction, like walls) and unique elements (like chests or wardrobes). There are also numerous edge or corner motifs (used to delimitate textures) that I did not take the trouble to isolate.
The simple motif is quite often 16x16 px (rendered as 88x77px on my screen), but there are some larger blocks, and some backgrounds, like all rocky terrains, are made of 4 different basic motifs repeated in specific patterns. What a wonderful architecture!
MOTIFS
COMPLEX MOTIFS
ELEMENTS
Chests
Beds
Shelves, Cabinets, Wardrobes
Doors
Paintings
Carpets
Flowers
Stained Glass, Windows
Varia
BGM / OST
Romancing SaGa 3's Original Soundtrack was composed by ITO Kenji. It is better known for its successful battle themes. The rest is not bad at all, more atmospheric, without ado. Several themes spawn from RS2.
TOWN BGM
Specific for each main character.
The 8 town musics were first introduced in the CD-booklet RS3: Prologue (Oct. 1995). It was put on sale one month before the game came out. Here it is in full in a music video (or video music?) with all 8 Town Musics.
They are the default BGM for all towns except Lance, Podol, Great Arc, Snow Town, Rashkuta, Xuan City, Moving Vanguard, Destroyed Small Village, which have their own BGMs.
The Town BGM are altered by the Switch Main Character Bug.
