It’s SaGa’s time to shine, and it solely took a number of generations.
It could appear normal observe to start any SaGa sport evaluation with a historical past lesson, about the way it’s seen as a successor to Last Fantasy II and the way it might borrow that naming conference for the Western releases of the Last Fantasy Legend video games. There are greater than a dozen entries within the sequence, however Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is all about wanting ahead. It epitomizes the heights of what could be achieved when remaking one thing previous, and it completely soars with its distinctive gameplay, approachable programs, and numerous surprises. Whereas it retains lots of what SaGa veterans love concerning the unique variations of Romancing SaGa 2, it’s the fashionable upgrades lovingly applied that make this not solely the definitive SaGa expertise, however an unmissable RPG that stands among the many giants of the style.
At its core is a lineage system that deftly interweaves development and world constructing. Your hero, the Emperor of Varennes, persists throughout generations, which implies that ought to she or he fall in battle, they return as a brand new Emperor; or maybe you accomplish a significant victory in opposition to one of many titular Seven, triggering a time skip of 48 or possibly even 86 years. The progress you’ve made comes with you, together with websites and cities you’ve visited, stats you’ve gained, and tools you’ve acquired: all of those keep along with your kingdom.
What follows is an interesting push and pull between desirous to see your Emperor and their retinue go so far as they’ll, after which maybe unexpectedly having the reset button pushed (or pushing it your self), forcing you to find the fun of latest character lessons or seeing how acquainted locations have modified within the intervening years. A number of the quest paths are tied to having the Emperor tackle a selected job class or gender, and so there’s a lot to be gained from having a brand new particular person donning the mantle.
The world round you grows steadily as you full quests and converse along with your residents. Spending an evening within the inn or downing a pint on the pub can result in conversations that populate new locations to go to on the world map, and so begins a easy however satisfying loop of exploring the sights in a single territory till you attain its boundaries and push into the subsequent one. It doesn’t harm that the music and voice appearing are additionally wonderful and actually do deliver this world to life. Even tracks that have been repeated in lots of situations continued to go away me buzzing alongside lengthy after my newest play session had concluded.
Alongside the way in which, you’ll encounter the deformed members of previous heroes who’ve come again to precise their revenge, and it’s via taking them down that you simply recapture territories for the empire and increase not solely your income technology but additionally your exploration horizons. In varied caves and dungeons you additionally run into relics that grant a glance again on the previous to know what occurred to the Seven that set them on their course for vengeance. Story beats like these are doled out at a gentle clip that assist to paint the world of Romancing SaGa 2.
Somewhat than feeling like an extended related story, the 30 to 40-hour runtime performs out extra like a sequence of vignettes, with every territory of the empire having its personal smaller tales and overarching narrative. Combating the Seven and understanding their backstory supplies a throughline for the sport, however its soul comes from the way in which you accomplish totally different objectives in each technology. The world is stuffed with surprises and surprise, and there aren’t numerous hours of wandering within the center (aimless or in any other case) that typically bogs down RPGs of this size.
One of many glimmering stars of the present is the fight system, which feels refined in comparison with current SaGa titles and a generational leap or two forward of the unique Romancing SaGa 2. After including 4 comrades to affix the Emperor in battle–from over 30 job lessons–you fit them right into a rising variety of battle formations that bestow benefits and downsides to reap the benefits of based mostly in your workforce composition. Throw a tank in entrance who will soak up many of the punishment, or maybe go for a formation that enhances your spell energy and go mage-sage loopy. Lots of the aspect and even essential story quests unlock new job lessons, and it’s good enjoyable to begin each technology with a recent face or two as you’re employed towards constructing the suitable social gathering for the challenges of a brand new age.
The precise turn-based battles themselves function a timeline on the prime of the display screen that shows ally and enemy flip order, together with when your foes are making ready a very harmful transfer. It is acquainted proceedings, barring a number of wrinkles.
Certainly one of these is the United Assault, which carries over from SaGa Scarlet Grace and Emerald Past, permitting a number of social gathering members to unleash double harm blows in succession. One other is the Glimmer system, the place new techs and spells are discovered at random in and after fight. A lightweight bulb icon will present up beside strikes in your arsenal that gives an opportunity to glimmer a brand new skill, and so although your primary sword slash assault may not hit a weak level or do essentially the most harm, it could be value selecting to extend the variety of sword techs in your repertoire. The probability of glimmering goes up in opposition to stout opponents like bosses, which creates an thrilling risk-reward system for increasing your equipment.
Enemy weaknesses are displayed beneath their sprites in battle, and as you uncover them this data persists throughout generations. With eight weapon varieties and 6 spell components, it is value unlocking as many weaknesses as you possibly can so your future events will know the way finest to dispatch foes. You additionally glimmer the flexibility to evade sure enemy assaults, and these develop into equippable in future generations. However exterior of boss strikes, it may be arduous to know which evasions to deliver with you into battle. As a lot because the fight looks like normal style fare, it takes beloved components from earlier video games like Octopath Traveler and Last Fantasy X and creates a system that stays recent over a whole playthrough.
Character development is pretty clear and carries over between generations; this consists of each the Emperor and the job lessons of your social gathering members. It might probably initially really feel like beginning over from scratch when a time soar happens or when your social gathering falls in battle, nevertheless it’s central to Revenge of the Seven’s premise that you’re taking part in a lineage and a world greater than a person character and a static setting. The world progresses with you, with areas opening up as you liberate them from evildoers and monsters or observe tribes as they migrate throughout the land. The sport is brimming with compelling and rewarding aspect tales that inform concerning the lives of these dwelling in your kingdom, with the Emperor being a figurehead nearly universally beloved and revered by the populace.
One other exceptional side of Romancing SaGa 2 is your decisions actually do matter. I wasn’t capable of see every part throughout my first playthrough, with a few paths and a number of sidequests finally gated off as I targeted on different goals. Your order of operations as a ruler performs a key function in how a lot of the world you get to expertise, and so it could be simple for brand new gamers and the unprepared to overlook out on elements of the sport. Somewhat than be disillusioned by this, it as a substitute galvanizes my resolve to begin one other playthrough and check out totally different lessons and methods, working to see what I missed the primary time round.
Regardless of how a lot I loved my time with Revenge of the Seven, its efficiency on Change is just not with out flaws. There’s a slight hitch when loading into fight or accessing some cutscenes, and I skilled three or 4 crashes throughout my first 10-15 hours (with none within the the rest of my time). Fortuitously, the auto-save is sort of common and no actual progress was misplaced. The visible constancy is fairly respectable in each docked and handheld, however there’s texture pop in, significantly with the clothes worn by the assorted characters. I skilled noticeable body drops in a single late-game battle, however in any other case body price seemed to be pretty regular. If you happen to’re significantly attuned to efficiency points, you might need to contemplate one other platform, however for me the general high quality of the sport was capable of win out over these nagging issues.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven has develop into my favourite sport of 2024, and it is likely to be the very best turn-based RPG on Change. From the second I performed the demo at PAX West to once I rolled credit and instantly dove again in, I’ve been fully enamored with its nonlinear trappings and charming world-building. It’s my honest hope that the workforce that introduced this remake to life will likely be given the reins to a Romancing SaGa 3 remake after which new SaGa titles transferring ahead, as a result of they hit a grand slam with this one. There’s little question on my finish – chilly or in any other case: Revenge is a dish finest served with romance.
