Also On: PS4, PS5, PC
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: T
The SaGa series of RPG’s from Square Enix is one of those classic RPG franchises that never quite took off in the West. The first few games were rebranded as Final Fantasy spin-offs over here, and then it took forever for the first Super Famicom entry to make its way over in the 2000’s via PS2. From there we’ve had a smattering of ports and remakes, but in the last decade or so Square Enix appears to have taken more notice of fans interest in the series, as newer releases like SaGa: Scarlet Grace have come out quicker in the West after their Japan counterparts were released.
Case-in-point is the recent release of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, a remake of one of the fan-favorite Super Famicom releases, now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, and PC. Having spent time playing it over the past two weeks, I’ve really enjoyed the experience, which is essentially all new to me. While I’ve played a few of the SaGa games in the past, Romancing SaGa 2 wasn’t one of them, so I was eager to see what all the buzz was about. While there are elements to the game that can feel a little obtuse at times, overall it feels like Square Enix did a great job in modernizing the gameplay here, bringing it more in line with current RPG mechanics while not abandoning the unique flavor of combat, upgrades, and progression that the SaGa series is known for.
At the onset of Revenge of the Seven, you take on the role of the Emperor of Avalon’s son, and after a small introduction/tutorial sequence, your father and brother are both murdered leaving you to pick up the pieces of your kingdom. The culprit is one of the legendary Seven Heroes, who previously fended off monsters ages ago, but then disappeared. Now returned, these former heroes have been corrupted, and it’ll be up to you and your squad of teammates to defeat each one. The story of how the heroes became corrupted is pretty solid throughout, mostly told through flashback sequences you can uncover at various locations throughout the game. The main, current plot in Romancing SaGa 2 is a little light however, due in part to the way the game handles your progression via time jumps.
One of the big concepts in Revenge of the Seven is being able to inherit your predecessors skills and abilities. When the Emperor of Avalon dies at the beginning of the game, your character is able to live and survive due to an ability you inherited from your father, and as the game progresses you’ll continue to pass that ability (and others) down the line of your descendants. It’s an interesting system and one that affects not just your main character but everyone in your party as well. At various points in the game, you’ll be forced into a time jump, propelling you forward and replacing your entire party with new characters. However, due to the way the inheritance system works, you won’t be losing skills, abilities, levels and so on, as all of those things will be passed on to the new crew.
I really dug the inheritance mechanic, it’s pretty unique overall and few RPG’s tackle that concept of having years and years pass by, while the world and characters around you change. My only complaints about this system is that none of the main characters or party members you have feel super important to the overall story, so it’s sort of hard to get attached in any way. Also, while this remake does a solid job of explaining it’s various systems to new players, the time jumps don’t really telegraph when they’re coming up, and depending on when it’s triggered you might find yourself needing to redo half-completed questlines, which is a bit annoying.
Still, I really enjoyed my time with Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. It’s a solid RPG and a great remake that I think a lot of people should check out. I’m glad to see Square Enix try to diversify their RPG catalogue a little more beyond Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, and if you’ve been curious about the SaGa series, this entry would be a great one to jump into.
Note: Square Enix provided us with a Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Switch code for review purposes.
