I say this often, but once again I was surprised by another announcement of another remake. The announcement of a remade version of Romancing SaGa 2 was beyond anything I ever expected because a slightly modern version on mobile and modern consoles was already available. I had a blast with that version, but there were a couple of issues. The first was that it retained the same level of brutal challenge from the Super Famicom that caught me (and others) off guard. This especially applied to the final battle. (I was still victorious, of course, but I was on edge the entire fight). The second was that it wasn’t always clear how to proceed. These features have always been a part of SaGa, and part of what makes the series so special. But with Romancing SaGa 2, things felt overwhelming unless a guide was available. Square listened. They’ve taken a classic and modernized it just enough to make both accessible and challenging.
For the most part, the story in Revenge of the Seven has remained unchanged. There are two major narratives. The first is the legend of the Seven Heroes. Wagnas, Noel, Rocboquet, Kzsinnsie, Bokhon, Dantarg and Subier were powerful warriors that saved the world from destruction ages ago. They vanished after their triumph. Whenever evil is quelched, they supposedly go into a deep slumber. However, in the present era, one of the heroes has been rumored to return. Unexpectedly, it’s bringing destruction along with it its arrival. This version has a lot more cut scenes and story beats with the Seven Heroes. It was interesting learning their backstories.
The second narrative is about the rulers of Avalon: Emperor Leon and his sons Victor and Gerard. The game opens with Leon taking Gerard and some soldiers to a cave to slow down monster activity. It’s also an exercise for Gerard since he has little combat experience and would prefer to help his kingdom behind the scenes at a desk. While the mission is a success, things take a dark turn for Avalon and her citizens a few days later when one of the above mentioned Seven Heroes storms the city. Leon and Victor are killed, but Leon’s strength and wisdom are transferred to Gerard thanks to the power of Inheritance Magic. From this point forward, the Emperor’s lineage and legacy will be carried across hundreds of years thanks to this power. The Emperor will have to expand Avalon’s territory, gather allies, and build the kingdom to stand a chance against the power of the Seven Heroes.
The story’s introduction is linear, but it doesn’t take long until the series’ open-ended, often obtuse, gameplay is in full swing. It can be overwhelming when you’re given so much freedom and little guidance on how to advance. The goal of Romancing SaGa 2 is twofold: you want to defeat The Seven Heroes and expand Avalon’s territory. You do this by wandering to new towns, chatting with NPCs, listening to what they have to say, and accomplishing some sort of objective. It could be as simple as going to a dungeon to kill some big-boss or something more complex that involves a trek across multiple countries. One of your advisors in Avalon’s castle often has guidance on new quests. There’s an Imperial Chronicle which keeps tabs of everything you learn: skills, magic, quest lines, items, and more. Things are less vague than the original but there will still be times when you’re not sure what to do next. But, half the fun in Romancing SaGa 2 is figuring out how to finish new scenarios. Most of them are interesting in their own way. One very powerful scenario leaves you with one of the toughest choices (in my opinion) in gaming history that determines the fate of an entire race. Keep in mind this same scenario was written in the early 90s.
The Inheritance magic allows the Emperor’s knowledge and abilities pass from one generation to the next. If all party members are KO’d in combat it’s not game over. Instead, you select a new Emperor and pick up where you left off. Another way to get a new Emperor is to finish quests and advance the timeline. After you finish enough quests, the screen will blacken and a message tantamount to, “100 years later” will appear. This might sound like you’re constantly starting from scratch. In actuality, the game keeps everyone’s experience over the course of the game. This means all characters that participate in battle will slowly grow in power and their ancestors will obtain their abilities. Outside of combat, the emperor must approve R&D for new weapons and armor and provide the funding for building new buildings to facilitate Avalon’s growth. You’ll fund a school, a magic research academy, and a smithery. When you’re not maintaining the livelihood of Avalon, you’ll be traveling around the world, encountering new cultures, shopping for new gear, and exploring areas filled with monstrous foes.
Combat received some nice upgrades in Revenge of the Seven. It still uses the series’ familiar turn-based system, but the new tweaks are appreciated. Your emperor and four other party members will exchange blows with the enemy party until one side falls. Enemies hit hard and fast; having one or two allies get KO’d in a round during the start of the game is the norm. The good news is that there is plethora of customization options available that allow you to build the perfect party. This includes party formation, weapon abilities, magic proficiency, and top-of-the-line equipment. Glimmering (learning new weapon abilities) mid-combat is as satisfying as ever. The game will indicate which skills can glimmer into new ones. Magic is another factor to consider because the higher leveled spells are vital for survival. New spells are glimmered after combat. Eventually, you’ll be able to create fusion magic from the various disciplines for incredible results. Combat is always rewarding. Your kingdom of fighters will experience a slow and steady accumulation of power. This and clever strategy are necessary to survive the game’s tough combat.
Fun, new additions to this version are enemy weaknesses and the Overdrive Gauge. Hitting an enemy with one of its many weaknesses will build up power in a bar. Once the bar is full, you can unleash a team attack that hits much harder than the attacks by would themselves. Think of it as executing a combo in SaGa Frontier or SaGa Frontier 2. At first, you’ll only have access to two-person combos. Overtime, you’ll get the ability to add more party members to the queue. Also, every character class comes with a latent ability that has a unique effect such as more rewards after battle, less BP consumption from abilities, quicker gauge growth, and plenty more. There are a lot of characters, which means there are a lot of ways to build your favorite party.
The new look for Revenge of the Seven took some getting used to. That’s a compliment, note. I’m just used to the 2D sprites being a fixture in Romancing SaGa. But seeing how the developers nearly replicated Tomomi Kobayashi’s style to 3D space is admirable. There’s a massive cast of characters, each with their own style and personality. And that’s just the start. Spell attacks, weapons, monsters, environments – all of them give the series a modern look. Some dungeons are tricky to navigate even with the mini-map on display, but otherwise this is a great looking game. I played on Switch primarily in handheld mode. It looked great there or if docked. Kenji Ito’s soundtrack still slaps. You can listen to the new version or the original version. The game is fully voiced in multiple languages, too. Really, everything about Revenge of the Seven looks and sounds great.
There’s one more feature in Revenge of the Seven that needs to be praised: magic experience. Rather, the lack of magic experience. While character abilities still grow the more they use weapons or magic, Fusion Magic no longer requires you to spend extra time in combat spamming spells. Acquiring Fusion Magic simply means finding spell tomes scattered throughout the games dungeons. This was by far my favorite change.
By the time I was done with Revenge of the Seven I logged about 50 hours. I was sad to see the credits. New Game Plus features and a bonus dungeon aside, I can confidently say that my sadness was just as great as my eagerness to replay the game again with different characters and emperors. No two games are ever the same, which is another staple of the series I appreciate. Combining new and old features into a shiny new package, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is another amazing remake of an amazing game. I know fans of SaGa will appreciate it, but it serves as a good starting point to folks curious about the series.
Overall, 9.5/10: I took off a half of a point because some of the quests were too obscure. Otherwise, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is another phenomenal entry in the series.