and finding new locations. It was also a reaction to player complaints about a lack of character control in Unlimited Saga. Dungeons were also cut from the game entirely, with their equivalents being player-triggered events and battles on the world map. United Attack, while similar to the Collaboration attack mechanic from earlier SaGa titles, was a new creation meant to keep battles from becoming repetitive. The balance of battles and some of their stylistic elements were influenced by the long loading times, something Kawazu accepted as part of developing for the Vita. Prior to release, based on feedback from fans and players, the team worked to improve aspects of the game including shortening load times. Similar to the Romancing SaGa series, Scarlet Grace was set in a pure fantasy setting. The concept of a scenario and game design offering maximum freedom to players was in place from the start of production. The game made use of an expanded "Free Scenario" system, first introduced in SaGa Frontier, allowing players to follow various scenarios through multiple characters. While the Empire which originally dominated the world of Scarlet Grace was based on the Roman Empire, the setting for each scenario was drawn from both Asia and Europe, the latter influence being similar to that of Romancing SaGa 2 and its sequel. Kawazu initially planned eight main characters, but during development four were cut. Urpina was designed to be an orthodox protagonist with a background typical of the series, with Kawazu comparing her to the character Albert from Romancing SaGa. Leonard was designed as a "straightforward" character, something Kawazu had never done before. Taria's artistic skills were added as such features were rare in RPG protagonists. Balmaint was intended as an unorthodox protagonist due to his profession as a headsman; although the theme of a villain reviving was fairly standard, it was rare for the protagonist to be prepared for the event. Each character's narrative was designed to be very different from one another, echoing the style of SaGa Frontier. The characters were designed by Tomomi Kobayashi, who had designed characters for the series since Romancing SaGa and had last worked in that role for SaGa Frontier. Rather than a rough sketch idea she had worked from for earlier SaGa games, Kobayashi was given a detailed setting document by Kawazu prior to beginning work, with further input if she did not understand what she