It’s SaGa’s time to shine, and it solely took just a few generations.
It might appear commonplace apply to start any SaGa sport evaluate with a historical past lesson, about the way it’s seen as a successor to Last Fantasy II and the way it could 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 trying ahead. It epitomizes the heights of what will be achieved when remaking one thing outdated, and it completely soars with its distinctive gameplay, approachable methods, and numerous surprises. Whereas it retains numerous what SaGa veterans love in regards to the authentic variations of Romancing SaGa 2, it’s the trendy 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 signifies that ought to she or he fall in battle, they return as a brand new Emperor; or maybe you accomplish a serious victory towards 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 gear you’ve acquired: all of those keep together with your kingdom.
What follows is a fascinating push and pull between eager 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 recent character lessons or seeing how acquainted locations have modified within the intervening years. Among the quest paths are tied to having the Emperor tackle a specific 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 together 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 damage that the music and voice performing are additionally wonderful and actually do carry 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 best way, you’ll encounter the deformed members of outdated heroes who’ve come again to precise their revenge, and it’s by way of taking them down that you just recapture territories for the empire and develop not solely your income technology but in addition your exploration horizons. In numerous caves and dungeons you additionally run into relics that grant a glance again on the previous to grasp what occurred to the Seven that set them on their course for vengeance. Story beats like these are doled out at a gradual clip that assist to paint the world of Romancing SaGa 2.
Quite 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. Preventing the Seven and understanding their backstory supplies a throughline for the sport, however its soul comes from the best way you accomplish totally different targets in each technology. The world is filled with surprises and marvel, 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 benefit from primarily based in your group composition. Throw a tank in entrance who will soak up a lot of the punishment, or maybe go for a formation that reinforces your spell energy and go mage-sage loopy. Lots of the aspect and even fundamental 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 appropriate get together for the challenges of a brand new age.
The precise turn-based battles themselves characteristic a timeline on the prime of the display that shows ally and enemy flip order, together with when your foes are getting ready a very harmful transfer. It is acquainted proceedings, barring just a few wrinkles.
One in every of these is the United Assault, which carries over from SaGa Scarlet Grace and Emerald Past, permitting a number of get together members to unleash double injury 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 provides an opportunity to glimmer a brand new potential, and so although your fundamental sword slash assault may not hit a weak level or do probably the most injury, it could be value selecting to extend the variety of sword techs in your repertoire. The chance of glimmering goes up towards stout opponents like bosses, which creates an thrilling risk-reward system for increasing your package.
Enemy weaknesses are displayed under their sprites in battle, and as you uncover them this info persists throughout generations. With eight weapon varieties and 6 spell parts, it is value unlocking as many weaknesses as you’ll be able to so your future events will understand how finest to dispatch foes. You additionally glimmer the power to evade sure enemy assaults, and these change into equippable in future generations. However exterior of boss strikes, it may be arduous to know which evasions to carry with you into battle. As a lot because the fight seems like commonplace style fare, it takes beloved parts 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 contains each the Emperor and the job lessons of your get together members. It might initially really feel like beginning over from scratch when a time soar happens or when your get together falls in battle, however it’s central to Revenge of the Seven’s premise that you’re enjoying 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 comply with tribes as they migrate throughout the land. The sport is brimming with compelling and rewarding aspect tales that inform in regards to the lives of these residing 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 the whole lot throughout my first playthrough, with a few paths and a number of sidequests finally gated off as I centered on different aims. Your order of operations as a ruler performs a key position in how a lot of the world you get to expertise, and so it could be straightforward for brand spanking new gamers and the unprepared to overlook out on elements of the sport. Quite than be dissatisfied by this, it as an alternative galvanizes my resolve to begin one other playthrough and check out totally different lessons and techniques, 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 Swap isn’t 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). Thankfully, the auto-save is kind 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, notably with the clothes worn by the varied characters. I skilled noticeable body drops in a single late-game combat, however in any other case body price gave the impression to be pretty regular. In the event you’re notably attuned to efficiency points, it’s possible you’ll 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 change into my favourite sport of 2024, and it could be one of the best turn-based RPG on Swap. From the second I performed the demo at PAX West to after I rolled credit and instantly dove again in, I’ve been utterly enamored with its nonlinear trappings and charming world-building. It’s my honest hope that the group that introduced this remake to life might 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 doubt on my finish – chilly or in any other case: Revenge is a dish finest served with romance.
