Kenji Ito (伊藤賢治 Itō Kenji) is a video game music composer. He is best known… Read Full Bio ↴Kenji Ito (伊藤賢治 Itō Kenji) is a video game music composer. He is best known for his work on the SaGa series. In 2001 he left Square Enix to become a freelance artist, but has since continued to collaborate with the company.
Born 5 July 1968 in Tokyo, Ito became interested in music at the early age of 4. By the time he began composing at the age of 10, he had learned to play alto saxophone, clarinet, and piano. During March 1990, Ito was recruited by Square.
His first project was a co-effort between himself and Nobuo Uematsu for the Game Boy title, Final Fantasy Legend II (SaGa 2). Shortly after in 1991, he composed the complete soundtrack for Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu), another Game Boy title. Beginning in 1992, Ito would have the Super Nintendo's 8 channel sound chip to rely on as he began composing music for the SaGa trilogy. This includes all of the music for Romancing SaGa 1, 2, and 3, as well as SaGa Frontier (a PlayStation title).
1997 marks the beginning of several smaller contributions to video game music made by Ito. Two tracks were contributed to Tobal No. 1, as well as the opening and closing themes of Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon. An original vocal track along with some arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's older works were made by Ito in 1999 for Chocobo Racing. He left Square in 2001 to become a freelance composer. Shortly after, he composed his magnum opus for the dreamcast title, Culdcept II, along with various other works for Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange and Shadow Hearts II.
In 2002, Ito announced that he'd received work from Square again, updating his compositions for Final Fantasy Adventure for its remake on the Game Boy Advance, Sword of Mana. Ito's recent works with Square Enix include the latest SaGa title, Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song-, and Hanjuku Hero 4 ~The 7 Heroes~., as well as upcoming Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 4.
Born 5 July 1968 in Tokyo, Ito became interested in music at the early age of 4. By the time he began composing at the age of 10, he had learned to play alto saxophone, clarinet, and piano. During March 1990, Ito was recruited by Square.
His first project was a co-effort between himself and Nobuo Uematsu for the Game Boy title, Final Fantasy Legend II (SaGa 2). Shortly after in 1991, he composed the complete soundtrack for Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu), another Game Boy title. Beginning in 1992, Ito would have the Super Nintendo's 8 channel sound chip to rely on as he began composing music for the SaGa trilogy. This includes all of the music for Romancing SaGa 1, 2, and 3, as well as SaGa Frontier (a PlayStation title).
1997 marks the beginning of several smaller contributions to video game music made by Ito. Two tracks were contributed to Tobal No. 1, as well as the opening and closing themes of Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon. An original vocal track along with some arrangements of Nobuo Uematsu's older works were made by Ito in 1999 for Chocobo Racing. He left Square in 2001 to become a freelance composer. Shortly after, he composed his magnum opus for the dreamcast title, Culdcept II, along with various other works for Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange and Shadow Hearts II.
In 2002, Ito announced that he'd received work from Square again, updating his compositions for Final Fantasy Adventure for its remake on the Game Boy Advance, Sword of Mana. Ito's recent works with Square Enix include the latest SaGa title, Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song-, and Hanjuku Hero 4 ~The 7 Heroes~., as well as upcoming Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 4.
Worthy Rival Battle
伊藤賢治 Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by 伊藤賢治:
Overture Rise 空には太陽が Force あなたには強さが 似合う Days 涙は夢をみて Stage 未来を描(えが)いては…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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zanto
Usually I don't bother commenting on videos, but I love the series too much :P I'd like to offer a few corrections/extra info
1) In RS1, HP doesn't get healed after battle. It's the only game in the SFC trilogy that has this mechanic.
2) Formations in RS1 is a bit more complex than the video lets on. Yes, there are 3 rows, but rows do more than affect damage taken/received. Some weapons can't be used in all rows (eg: you can't use a sword from the back row, a bow can be used in any row, spears can be used in the front and middle row). Also, the way you encounter enemies can change your formation. If you meet the enemy in front of you, you'll fight in the same formation you had setup. If an enemy touches the character from the side, your formation is rotated, meaning some characters may be unable to attack, unless they move to a different row during battle or have a different weapon that can be used in that row.
3) The RS1 remake released years later adds a lot of extra mechanics not found in the original (such as the combo system, a different equipment system (in the original equipment and their skills are set per character and per equipment, and in the remake, if a character learns a skill, he can use it with any equipment of the same type), jewel skill system, magic combination to make them stronger or create new spells etc). It also desn't have the formation system from the original.
4) Formations in RS2 is different than RS1. It doesn't use the same row system. Placement of characters affect how much damage they take and their action speed in battle. There's no set number of rows, it varies depending on the formation you're using. The formation system in RS2 is much closer to RS3.
5) Although for the most part the main character in RS2 doesn't affect the main story, it can can significantly change how some scenarios are played out.
6) RS2 isn't a very well balanced game, but it actually punishes grinding more than forces you to do it. Equipment, skills, magic and formations play a bigger part on strategy (and RNG sometimes). Grinding too much will make you face stronger enemies while you are not properly outfitted to deal with them. You won't get softlocked, but the playthrough will be much harder.
7) I believe the glimmer system in RS3 is very similar to RS2 (where only some enemies may glimmer some techs for certain weapons). But I think that'll only be a problem if you want to learn every tech for a weapon, which isn't necessary.
8) In RS3, you can use some items in battle, like HP healing, status healing and some damage items.
Thanks for the video!
Anthony Macas
I've beaten SaGa Frontier I & 2 multiple times and loved them. I also had the mistitled Gameboy ones but I was too young to know what the hell I was doing.
Fuck Unlimited SaGa.
I'm thinking about getting into the SNES titles but not sure where to start.
I'm hesitant because I'm looking for a good story right now and I know that's not the focus on these games.
What has the better story, any of the SNes SaGas or Dragon Quest V?
That's what I'm considering for my next Android purchase.
Xygor Gaming
How would you rank the three Romancing SaGa games? Which one do you think was best, and why?
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Yazarc
There’s nothing like a SaGa game…easily my favorite series. No question. Edit…I truly believe that the modern perception of this series would be vastly different had the RS portion been released to the SNES. Akitoshi Kawazu has recently said that it was his call whether or not to bring them here and he really regrets not doing so.
Xygor Gaming
You may be the only one who has it as their favorite series, but I can totally understand its charm! I will cover the Saga Frontier games soon.
GoTenDu
I can't get enough of the animation where those tiny sprites perform a cute spin and then throw a kind of kick!! 😂
Majd Rouhana
I would rank them 2>1>3, but I love them all. I like Romancing SaGa 2 the best because of its unique succession system, soundtrack, character designs, and overall premise. Fighting against the Seven Heroes is such an epic experience that hasn't been replicated in another game for me.
Stephen Beaty
I'm really happy to see how much love SquareEnix is giving the SaGa games with these remasters (AND that they're getting officially localized and released in the west), it's so cool to be able to finally play these games and experience them!
Galanthos
One thing that wasn't mentioned about the New Game Plus in RS2 is that you dont actually have to beat the game and o unlock it. You can take any savegame into NG+.
This actually helps to alleviate some of the trouble spots in the game, where you may be too outclassed to continue, and have no reasonable way to upgrade your characters. It is also an escape hatch for the very real possibility that you end up making the final generation unwinnable.
Xygor Gaming
True, good points, thanks for mentioning this!
John Garretson
Love the SaGa series! Some of the best music by Kenji Ito, who had been a protégé of Nobuo Uematsu!!
Xygor Gaming
Right on, great music for sure!