Developer: Square Enix, ArtePiazza
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One
Tested on: Switch
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven – Review
When it comes to Final Fantasy’s sister RPG series SaGa and Mana, we’ve always had more affinity for the latter. We’re probably biased, given that our copy of Mystic Quest on the Game Boy is the source of many happy memories, whereas SaGa wasn’t part of our childhood. We’d only gotten into SaGa with the Game Boy trilogy in 2021 and then with Romancing SaGa – Minstrel Song – Remastered in 2022. While we definitely enjoyed these games for what they were, they didn’t seem to stand out from other RPG titles from the same era. That changed when we learned about Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven in a video posted by game producer Shinichi Tatsuke, who detailed what made this game different from its contemporary counterparts. That video didn’t just intrigue us… it excited us! Read on to find out whether that excitement was warranted.
Story
Given the main plot of Romancing SaGa 2’s story, it would make sense to assume that it’s a sequel to the first game. However, the story is a standalone entry in the series, with no narrative ties to Minstrel Song. Prior to the events in Romancing SaGa 2, the world was under the protection of the Seven Heroes: an Avengers-like team of legendary warriors. However, they’ve succumbed to dark magic and are now the ones threatening the world instead of keeping it safe. The Emperor of Avalon, Leon, takes up the fight against the Seven. This is the beginning of a 1000-year war, and given that the lifespan of humans isn’t that long, you’ll find that several generations of emperors will succeed Leon.
The first successor is Gerard, Leon’s son, but when he inevitably bites the dust, his mantle is taken up by another recruited member of your party. That’s something that repeats itself several times throughout the story too, so there isn’t a whole lot of character depth here. In fact, the overarching plot is fairly basic. On the other hand, things are told in a non-linear way, with several plotlines that can be tackled in any order, with each of your “emperors” experiencing their own substory. Rounding things out are new prequel stories that show how the Seven eventually fell, answering questions that the fan base has been asking since 1993.
Graphics
Rather than opting for a 2D HD style remake of the original top-down pixel art a la Octopath Traveler, the team behind Romancing SaGa 2 took a page out of Trials of Mana’s book. The Empire of Avalon and its inhabitants are presented in 3rd person view, and rendered in full 3D. This brings the game in line with the modern Mana games aesthetically, and this isn’t entirely surprising given that the dev team behind Romancing SaGa 2 was helmed by the same director as that of Trials. The character roster isn’t as strong design-wise as some of the enemies, but this has to do with the way that the cast members are intended to be blank slates. The Switch version does suffer from a lackluster visual performance though, with some stuttering and muddy visuals in handheld mode.
Sound
Legendary video game composer Kenji Ito’s original tracks have been rearranged and the result is a doozy. Romancing SaGa 2’s orchestrated soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous and catchy. The game also benefits from voice acting, particularly in cutscenes, and the cast does an admirable job. All in all, Romancing SaGa 2’s audioscape is great, but it also falls wholly within our line of expectations, meaning it didn’t hold any surprises either.
Gameplay
At the time of its original release, Romancing SaGa 2 was a groundbreaking RPG, as it introduced a lot of fresh ideas, such as having several generations of protagonists and a non-linear way to tackle the game. These elements are retained faithfully, and while they do help with making Romancing SaGa 2 stand out, time hasn’t been entirely kind for the game. Romancing SaGa 2 feels undeniably dated and simplified compared to some of the much meatier offerings of modern-day RPGs, with combat in particular lacking depth. Before we delve into that, let’s first take a look at how Romancing SaGa 2 is structured. Taking control of whoever is currently emperor of Avalon, you travel around the world and visit other nations, aiming to seek their allegiance in the fight against the Seven. Each nation presents you with a different problem that you need to solve before they join your cause, such as having to stop a volcano from erupting or guiding a ship through a swirling sea. There are also optional side quests to complete, and these are worth seeking out as they add some much-needed narrative depth.
The order in which you tackle these stories affects certain events too, which makes Romancing SaGa 2 a prime candidate for several playthroughs. After reaching specific narrative milestones, such as the defeat of a member of the Seven, a time skip happens and a new emperor must step up. This is where Romancing SaGa 2’s city-building mechanics come in. The facilities you construct and upgrade in Avalon provide magic spells and weapons for your emperors and other party members, and you’re able to pass on any skills and abilities picked up by predecessors. In this way, the successor system actually doubles as a way of “leveling up” your party, albeit at the cost of their personality. Each successor is a new generic blank slate.
The combat system lacks the strategic depth seen in later Square Enix releases. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as these systems can sometimes feel convoluted and overcomplicated, but the lack of tactical engagement may be off-putting to some players. Battles are turn-based and use consumable battle points (BP) that let you unleash powerful moves. There is an elemental weakness system and hitting enemies with super-effective attacks builds up your Overdrive gauge. When full, your party teams up and performs a powerful United Attack. Characters build up so-called Glimmers as they become more experienced with specific weapons or spells, although there is a random chance element here as well. Glimmers can be translated into new skills, which in turn can then be passed on to successors.
The core of Romancing SaGa 2’s gameplay is preserved and apart from the massive visual overhaul and the addition of the prequel stories, the only real changes focus on QoL and making the game accessible for modern audiences. Given the original’s Japan-only nature, we can’t outright compare the two games, but from what we understand, the UI has been improved, providing more information to the player during combat for example. Romancing SaGa 2 purists can turn all of these off so that they can stick as close as possible to the original. Playing through the entirety of Romancing SaGa 2 will take around 40 hours, although the game’s narrative approach makes it feel like a series of smaller stories, not unlike how Live A Live was paced. The way the stories are interconnected makes it impossible to see everything in one playthrough though, so you’re realistically looking at more than a hundred hours. Romancing SaGa 2 is priced like an AAA title accordingly, but we’d say it’s worth that price.
Conclusion
Having played several SaGa games at this point, we can easily say that Romancing SaGa 2 is our favorite one. The game definitely shows its age in some places, in particular when it comes to the lack of character personality and the simplistic combat system. This does make the game very accessible, and thanks to both the successor and glimmer mechanics, there is still some depth to be found here. If you can adjust your expectations to match the original game’s age, then you’ll definitely enjoy what Romancing SaGa 2 has to offer.
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