With over 35 years of history and roots in the Final Fantasy series, the SaGa games can be considered a major series in the JRPG genre. Unfortunately, it is still a niche series in the West, overshadowed by Square Enix’s other major series. Now, after a successful re-release of the first SaGa Frontier game, the publisher has decided to celebrate the 25th anniversary of SaGa Frontier 2 with a remaster, supporting HD visuals, new gameplay and story elements, and much more. Are you ready to revisit the world of Sandail and shape its history?
Two stories united
SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered is a JRPG from Square Enix. It tells the story of Sandail through several protagonists. First, there is Gustave XIII, the former Prince of Thermes. He was exiled by his father after proving that he lacked the magical abilities known as Anima. His story is mostly about the political struggles of the aristocrats and their kingdoms, where Gustave makes his own way.
The other protagonist is Wil Knights. He is a member of a family of diggers (treasure hunters). Raised by his aunt and uncle after the death of his parents, Wil decides to embark on a journey of his own. His goal is to become a famous digger himself, while trying to uncover the mysterious death of his parents. During his journey, he discovers a world-threatening disaster looming over the land. But can he stop it in time?
In the final act of the story, there is a final protagonist that I will not spoil. This character ties both stories together in one ending.
Old and new combined
Let me start by explaining the core gameplay of SaGa Frontier 2, which is still present in this modern version. The game is a turn-based RPG divided into chapters. Square Enix calls this the “Historical Choice” system. In terms of design, this means that the chapters are presented in a menu like a glossary in a book. The ones marked red are parts of Gustave’s story, green is for Wil. Completing a key part of either story will unlock chapters for both. Once you have chosen which part of the story you wish to play, you will be presented with an area and a goal to explore. These areas are filled with monsters and enemies to defeat in turn-based combat. Unlike most other JRPGs, character progression isn’t represented as leveling up. Your character will become better at certain skills by using them. Using a sword in battle will increase your sword skills, using a lot of fire anima will increase your fire mastery. Sometimes the game will give you the opportunity to duel an opponent. Here you must choose a sequence of attacks that your chosen character will perform in a turn. Certain combinations of moves allow your character to learn moves that can be used in party combat.
There are also several new additions to the gameplay of SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered. When you start the campaign, the game asks you if you want to use them, or if you want to experience the game as it was 25 years ago, with only the new HD visuals. It’s a nice touch, but make sure you choose wisely, as you can’t change it once you’ve started the game. For those who want the new additions, there are new events and improved bosses throughout the story. There is also the character progression system. This allows you to link the stats of your playable characters to give them buffs in certain stats where the other character is trained. For example, in my playthrough I linked Wil and Gustave. Gustave doesn’t have any magic affinity, but Wil’s sword skills have improved greatly, allowing me to use a sword I found in one of the early dungeons to greater effect. As with most of their re-released older RPGs, Square Enix have added a high speed feature to speed up overworld gameplay and combat, as well as a new game plus.
Story vs. Gameplay
First of all, I must say that I was extremely impressed with the visual and audio presentation of SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered. The game offers a beautiful watercolour overworld to explore, accompanied by a wonderful orchestral soundtrack that deepens the immersion. It added a whimsical touch to the adventure, even as it tackled difficult themes such as the loss of a parent or bullying. The only problem I had with the design was that the art style caused me to get lost in dungeons on a few occasions, as I couldn’t distinguish a path from a background.
The character design is also wonderful. I found that I didn’t like Gustave as much as Wil in this story because of some of his personality traits. But when you consider that this is a game with a story written 25 years ago, you can’t help but be impressed. The party members of both storylines work together in a dynamic relationship, and their emotions feel real and grounded. I quickly became attached to them, and when the first death of one of them came out of nowhere, I felt the same crushing sense of defeat as the rest of the party.
My biggest criticism would be the combat. It has a fresh feel to the leveling system and the duel system is a nice addition to the turn-based gameplay that has come to be expected from most JRPG’s. I couldn’t help but notice that the combat started to feel lacking and even stale after a while. After discovering most of the combos in duel mode, I got tired of spamming the same moves. This was also true of the party fights. It could be that I accidentally grinded a lot by getting lost here and there, but most fights were a breeze, even when repeating the same strategy against other enemies. In any case, this is a game with a legacy, but now that I’ve played it I understand why this system isn’t used more often in turn-based RPGs.
Conclusion
SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered is a great modernisation of a 25-year-old classic. The game offers the multi-protagonist gameplay of the original, presented in HD quality with new watercolour backgrounds and an excellent orchestral soundtrack. Even with the new additions to the combat, the gameplay can get stale at times, but the highlight of the package is the excellent story and characters. It even makes you wonder how a game like the original could have been made 25 years ago. I think the game is a great introduction to the world of Sandail for the first time, or a worthy return for those who experienced the original.
