Best RPGs on the Saturn

The rpg games worth playing on the Sega Saturn start with Panzer Dragoon Saga, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force.

The Saturn and RPGs

The 2D powerhouse that arrived the year 2D stopped selling. Its library is the best-preserved argument for sprites, and much of it never left Japan.

RPGs are a solid rather than a defining part of this library — worth knowing, but not the reason anybody owns the machine.

Filtering to RPG means you want progression — a character to build or a party to grow — layered on top of whatever else you liked.

The RPGs Worth Playing

  1. 1. Panzer Dragoon Saga

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Guardian Heroes

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Dragon Force

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Shining Force III

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  5. 5. Albert Odyssey

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  6. 6. Dark Savior

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  7. 7. Blazing Heroes

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  8. 8. Shining the Holy Ark

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good RPG Game

A reason to keep going after the novelty wears off. RPGs are the genre that reliably converts hours into feeling more capable.

Immediacy. Almost every RPG asks for a slow first few hours, and the systems that make hour forty good are the same ones that make hour one a menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best rpg game on the Saturn?

Panzer Dragoon Saga is the usual first answer, and there are 8 in the library we cover.

Was the Saturn good at rpg games?

It is a solid rather than a defining part of the library.

What is the difference between an RPG and an action game with stats?

Whether the stats are the point. In an RPG the build decides what you can do; in an action game with stats the build only decides how fast you do it.

Do I need to like turn-based combat?

No. The picks below span turn-based, real-time and action RPGs, and each one says which it is.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the Sega Saturn, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

RPGs on Other Consoles

More From the Saturn

Or browse the whole Sega Saturn library.