Welcome to our review of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, part of this amazing RPG month this year and it is possibly one of the more unusual storylines out there.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a full remake of the groundbreaking non-linear RPG Romancing SaGa 2, which originally launched in Japan in 1993.
Embark on an adventure featuring both new and classic SaGa franchise features, complete with Japanese and English voiceovers, original and rearranged compositions, and much more! This is an ideal entry point for new players and provides an amped-up experience for longtime fans. The Seven Heroes were once hailed as saviors, but the ancients feared their power and banished them to another dimension. It was foretold that they would return to save the world once more…
Thousands of years have passed, and the heroes have become legend. Furious that humankind has forgotten their many sacrifices, they have now returned as villains bent on revenge. As legions of monsters swarm the world, take on the role of Ruler of the Empire of Varennes. Defend your legacy across successive generations, expand your realm and defeat the vengeful Seven Heroes one by one! Join forces with characters from over 30 different classes featuring a wide variety of professions and races, each with their own favored weapons, unique abilities, and effective tactics. Choose the next Emperor from this wide pool of candidates, each eligible to inherit the throne and become the next protagonist. The knowledge and abilities of previous rulers are passed down to the next through the mystical art of inheritance magic, forging a lasting bond between you and your chosen characters.
The game presents a unique story structure that offers a vast array of narrative experiences in response to your choices and which objectives you tackle first—from how you expand the Empire to what order you challenge the Seven Heroes. Your actions and decisions will dramatically alter the course of the Emperor’s journey. The strategic turn-based battle system of the original has been further enhanced to a timeline system. Enjoy all the classic SaGa mechanics like “Glimmers,” where you learn new abilities whilst in the heat of battle, and “Formations,” which provide unique benefits to the retinue based on composition. Furthermore, the remake welcomes the new “United Attack” feature to perform combination attacks with your retinue members to turn the tide of battle!
The 2D pixel sprites of the original game are now modeled in full 3D while retaining their charming, familiar appearances based on the beautiful concept illustrations by Tomomi Kobayashi. All towns and dungeons are now also fully rendered with reworked terrains and layouts.
Kenji Ito, the composer for the original Romancing SaGa 2, returns with a vengeance to present a beautiful soundtrack full of new arrangements! The music can be toggled between the original and new versions from the Options screen. Furthermore, all event scenes in Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven now feature full Japanese and English voice acting!
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is often called one of the more brutal RPGs out there and well, if you play on the hardest mode (corresponding to the original difficulty setting, not joking) Luckily easier modes got introduced, making this game a lot easier and pleasant to play. Let us face it, the original setting is beyond brutal and even an experienced player such as myself… I stay clear of “impossibru” modes like this one.
Everything else however, this is pretty much a very decent game, ignoring the fact you are hunting down the once heroes, that is still a weird thing to experience and even type out every time. I did not finish the game at time of writing so I am still unaware if there is some sort of deeper meaning towards all this. Expect an addendum to the review if this is needed in the end.
Now, let us talk a little about RPG month, with Metaphor, YS, the Zelda game and now this Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven game. It has been a really long time since we had this many amazing games in a row, almost making me wish we did not have them all in 1 months time but they were more spread out. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven does manage to compete with the others (have no played Ys yet for full disclosure) but in a way, it is also the least innovative. No big surprise there, a remake is rarely innovative and despite its amazing new graphics and new modes, there is very little new for those that already played the game.
This does however not mean your RPG loving self can skip this one, no sir/madam, this is still one heck of a game and a testament of how some RPGs do manage to survive the test of time and Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is exactly that. A game that survived. Romancing Saga 2 is still a pretty entertaining title and a must own staple game for the collection.
In conclusion, while Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven may not be the very best RPG game this month, it does provide for a great game and experience.
