Kawazu wanted to get back to the basics of game design and evoke the style of the earliest SaGa games, placing focus on the battle system and having several elements mimic tabletop role-playing games. The characters were designed by newcomer Yusuke Naora, with veteran artist Tomomi Kobayashi contributing promotional art. Several staff members returned from earlier entries including series creator Akitoshi Kawazu as producer and director, designer Kyouji Koizumi, and composer Masashi Hamauzu.
Production at Square's Product Development Division 2 lasted two years, involving a staff of fifty people. Battles carry over the skill-based levelling systems and nonlinear structure of earlier SaGa titles, with an exploration structure similar to a board game. The story follows seven characters as they explore mysteries connected to the Seven Wonders, artifacts left by an ancient civilization said to be capable of triggering a golden age. It was released in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in North America and Europe its European version was published by Atari Europe. Unlimited Saga is a 2002 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (rebranded as Square Enix in 2003) for the PlayStation 2 as the ninth game in the SaGa series.
