It’s SaGa’s time to shine, and it solely took just a few generations.
It could appear commonplace observe to start any SaGa recreation evaluation with a historical past lesson, about the way it’s seen as a successor to Remaining Fantasy II and the way it could borrow that naming conference for the Western releases of the Remaining 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 It epitomizes the heights of what could be achieved when remaking one thing outdated, and it completely soars with its distinctive gameplay, approachable techniques, and numerous surprises. Whereas it retains a variety of what SaGa veterans love in regards to the unique 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 implies that ought to she or he fall in battle, they return as a brand new Emperor; or maybe you accomplish a serious victory in opposition to one of many titular Seven, triggering a time skip of 48 or perhaps 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 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 will, after which maybe unexpectedly having the reset button pushed (or pushing it your self), forcing you to find the fun of recent character courses 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 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 following one. It doesn’t damage that the music and voice appearing are additionally wonderful and really do convey this world to life. Even tracks that have been repeated in lots of cases 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 via taking them down that you just recapture territories for the empire and develop not solely your income era 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.
Moderately than feeling like a protracted linked 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 completely different targets in each era. 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 generally 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 hitch the Emperor in battle–from over 30 job courses–you fit them right into a rising variety of battle formations that bestow benefits and drawbacks to reap the benefits of based mostly in your crew composition. Throw a tank in entrance who will take up a lot of the punishment, or maybe go for a formation that enhances your spell energy and go mage-sage loopy. Most of the aspect and even foremost story quests unlock new job courses, and it’s good enjoyable to start out each era with a recent face or two as you’re employed towards constructing the suitable celebration for the challenges of a brand new age.
The precise turn-based battles themselves characteristic a timeline on the high of the display screen 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.
Certainly one of these is the United Assault, which carries over from SaGa Scarlet Grace and Emerald Past, permitting a number of celebration members to unleash double injury blows in succession. One other is the Glimmer system, the place new techs and spells are realized 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 means, and so regardless that your fundamental sword slash assault may not hit a weak level or do essentially the most injury, it could be price 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 parts, it is price unlocking as many weaknesses as you’ll be able to so your future events will understand how greatest to dispatch foes. You additionally glimmer the power to evade sure enemy assaults, and these grow to be equippable in future generations. However outdoors of boss strikes, it may be onerous to know which evasions to convey 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 Remaining 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 courses of your celebration members. It might probably initially really feel like beginning over from scratch when a time leap happens or when your celebration falls in battle, but it surely’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 in regards to the lives of these residing in your kingdom, with the Emperor being a figurehead virtually universally beloved and revered by the populace.
One other outstanding facet of Romancing SaGa 2 is your decisions actually do matter. I wasn’t in a position to see the whole lot throughout my first playthrough, with a few paths and a number of sidequests finally gated off as I targeted on different aims. 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. Moderately than be disenchanted by this, it as a substitute galvanizes my resolve to start out one other playthrough and check out completely different courses and techniques, working to see what I missed the primary time round.
Despite how a lot I loved my time with Revenge of the Seven, its efficiency on Change just 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). Happily, 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 assorted characters. I skilled noticeable body drops in a single late-game struggle, however in any other case body fee gave the impression to be pretty regular. When you’re notably attuned to efficiency points, you might need to think about one other platform, however for me the general high quality of the sport was in a position to win out over these nagging considerations.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven has grow to be my favourite recreation of 2024, and it is likely to be the most effective turn-based RPG on Change. 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 crew that introduced this remake to life can be given the reins to a Romancing SaGa 3 remake after which new SaGa titles shifting 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 greatest served with romance.