Home - RPG Games - Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Review
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, developed by Square Enix, is an RPG masterpiece that has stood the test of time. Originally released for the Super Famicom in 1993, it has since been remastered and ported to modern platforms, including the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and mobile devices. What sets this game apart is its groundbreaking gameplay mechanics, compelling narrative structure, and an emphasis on player freedom.
This in-depth review explores every aspect of the game, including its story, gameplay, art style, soundtrack, and legacy. Whether you’re a long-time fan or a curious newcomer, this comprehensive analysis will reveal why Romancing SaGa 2 is an enduring classic. With over 3,000 words of detailed insights, this review leaves no stone unturned.
The Story: A Tale of Legacy and Sacrifice
At the heart of Romancing SaGa 2 lies an ambitious narrative that spans centuries. The game centers on the Avalon Empire, where players take on the role of a succession of rulers tasked with defeating the Seven Heroes. These legendary figures, once hailed as saviors of the world, have returned as corrupted villains, spreading chaos across the land.
Generational Storytelling
A standout feature of the game is its generational storytelling. As rulers age, abdicate, or die, their successors take up the mantle, creating a continuous sense of progression. Decisions made by one emperor can ripple across future generations, shaping the empire and the world itself. This mechanic not only enhances immersion but also raises the stakes of every choice.
Themes of Morality and Legacy
The story explores themes of morality, ambition, and the cost of power. The Seven Heroes—once revered—become a cautionary tale of hubris. Players must grapple with the burden of leadership, ensuring the survival of their empire while confronting the darkness that threatens to consume it.
Branching Paths
The non-linear nature of the story allows players to tackle the Seven Heroes in any order. Each hero has their own backstory and domain, adding layers of depth to the world-building. Side quests and optional events further enrich the narrative, rewarding exploration and curiosity.
Gameplay: A Revolution in RPG Design
The gameplay of Romancing SaGa 2 is a masterclass in innovation. It deviates from traditional RPG norms, offering players a sandbox-like experience where experimentation and strategy are paramount.
Freeform Exploration
Unlike most RPGs of its time, Romancing SaGa 2 grants players an open world to explore. The game’s map expands as the story progresses, revealing new regions, dungeons, and cities. Players can prioritize objectives based on their preferences, creating a personalized experience.
Imperial Succession System
The generational progression system is one of the game’s most iconic features. When a ruler dies or steps down, a successor is chosen from a pool of candidates. These successors inherit skills, magic, and equipment, maintaining continuity while allowing players to adapt their strategy.
Benefits: This mechanic adds a layer of strategy, as players must consider long-term planning.
Challenges: Losing a ruler unexpectedly can disrupt plans, forcing players to adapt on the fly.
Combat Mechanics
Combat in Romancing SaGa 2 is turn-based, but it incorporates several unique elements:
Formations: Players can assign characters to specific formations, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. For example, some formations enhance defense, while others prioritize offense.
Skill Sparks: Characters can learn new skills mid-battle, adding an element of unpredictability and rewarding persistence.
Resource Management: Managing HP, SP (Skill Points), and LP (Life Points) is crucial. LP is especially critical, as a character with depleted LP cannot be revived.
Progression and Customization
Character growth is tied to the weapons and abilities they use. Magic is learned through research conducted in the empire’s capital, while weapons and armor can be upgraded by investing resources.
Graphics and Art Style
The original 16-bit art of Romancing SaGa 2 remains iconic. The remastered editions retain this charm while incorporating modern enhancements.
Pixel Art Excellence
The game’s pixel art is detailed and vibrant, with each region boasting its own distinct aesthetic. From lush forests to desolate ruins, the environments feel alive and immersive.
Modern Improvements
The remastered versions feature high-resolution graphics, improved animations, and a refined user interface. These updates make the game more accessible without sacrificing its retro appeal.
Character Design
The character sprites are expressive, and each hero and villain is meticulously designed to reflect their personality and role in the story. The Seven Heroes, in particular, are visually striking, with designs that evoke both awe and dread.
Soundtrack: A Symphony of Adventure
Composed by Kenji Ito, the soundtrack of Romancing SaGa 2 is a masterpiece. Its music perfectly complements the game’s epic scope and emotional depth.
Memorable Themes
Each region, battle, and pivotal moment is accompanied by a unique track. The overworld theme inspires exploration, while the battle music energizes players during intense encounters.
Adaptive Soundtrack
The music evolves with the story, reflecting the player’s progress and the shifting tone of the narrative. This dynamic approach enhances immersion and keeps the experience fresh.
Legacy and Influence
Romancing SaGa 2 has left an indelible mark on the RPG genre. Its innovative systems and bold design choices have influenced countless games, from Final Fantasy Tactics to modern open-world RPGs.
Critical Reception
While the game was initially overshadowed by more mainstream titles, its re-releases have garnered widespread acclaim. Critics and players alike praise its originality and depth, though its difficulty remains a point of contention.
Cultural Impact
The game’s themes of legacy and sacrifice resonate with players, making it a timeless classic. Its generational storytelling has inspired similar mechanics in titles like Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
Innovative Gameplay: The generational system and freeform exploration set it apart from traditional RPGs.
Deep Strategy: Combat and resource management require careful planning and adaptation.
Rich Storytelling: A narrative that spans centuries, with meaningful choices and consequences.
Timeless Presentation: Gorgeous pixel art and a phenomenal soundtrack.
Replayability: Multiple paths and outcomes encourage repeat playthroughs.
Cons:
Steep Learning Curve: The game’s mechanics can be overwhelming for newcomers.
Punishing Difficulty: Mistakes can have lasting consequences, which may frustrate casual players.
Sparse Guidance: Limited tutorials and hints can leave players feeling lost.
Final Thoughts
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a triumph of design and storytelling. Its ambitious mechanics, compelling narrative, and timeless presentation make it a must-play for fans of the RPG genre. While its challenges may deter some, those who embrace its complexities will be rewarded with an unforgettable experience.
Whether you’re revisiting it on modern platforms or discovering it for the first time, Romancing SaGa 2 is a game that deserves your attention. Its legacy as a bold and innovative RPG is well-earned, and it continues to inspire new generations of players and developers alike.
Customer reviews for Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven
The Saga series has always been Square's C-tier series, a set of decent RPGs held back by a few suspect design decisions...and this one is no different.What the game does best is the combat system, which is quite solid. The Saga series operates on a "use a certain weapon, get better at using that weapon" system. When you win a battle you get technique points, that get distributed to the type of weapon each character used in that combat. As the ranks go up your attack power with that weapon or magic element goes up, and it becomes easier to spark new techniques of that weapon type. While every character can use every type of equipment and every type of magic, each class is better at certain things thanks to their inherent class ability and raw base stats.The raw stats effect different kinds of weapons (DEX increases bow/rapier attack power, SPD increases martial arts, etc) so certain characters are naturally better at certain weapons, but you can mix and match as you see fit. Each character can use two weapons at once and have all magic available.There's a lot of variety among the different techs of each weapon and the different magics available in each school (and the dual school magics are extremely useful). AOE skills are super useful against normal enemies and high damage single target against bosses.The basic gameplay of the game has you completing sidequests all around the world in order to expand your empire's territory and defeat the "Seven Heroes." The more territories and quests you complete the higher your kingdom's revenue, which is how much money you get after every single combat encounter...a rather interesting and nice feature I haven't seen before in a game. Things are very non-linear, you can go in numerous different directions on the world map and beat the 7 Heroes in different orders.But then comes those pesky weird bad design choices that prevent the game from reaching its potential. First up is that the game is structured so that periodically your character time skips hundreds of years to a later generation, and the next Emperor of your Empire inherits the position. These timeskips are seemingly random, but actually driven by a host of hidden event flags and "event points" accruing behind the scenes. Unfortunately timeskips can break and fail numerous sidequests, as well as make content permanently inaccessible. Numerous sidequests have "bad" outcomes and fail states. You need to be following a guide that tells you what order to do things in and track these hidden parameters (like how many battles you have fought in the current generation!), and there really was no need for it. The timeskipping doesn't even make sense in the game world, while some sidequests are gated by a prereq in a previous time, most are not. Towns don't change after hundreds of years - the same NPCs are standing in the same spots saying the same things. Sidequest NPCs wait 500+ years for you to turn in a quest sometimes. The villains who are supposedly an imminent threat happily do nothing for century after century? It's just gibberish. If the world doesn't change why even have this time mechanic.Consequently this also makes your party a group of faceless nameless NPCs who get replaced with clones of themselves every time skip. The villains of the game have more dialogue and characterization than your party who stand there mute.Another huge botch is life points. In other Saga games, all characters start with full HP each battle but when a character loses all HP they start taking lifepoint damage, and when they run out of LP they then can't be used in battle until healed. Well in this game LP loss is PERMANENT. It is not restored at inns. And party members can be permanently lost. Just a terrible design choice.Another big botch is that enemies have scaling, based on how many enemies you have fought! Yes, the more you fight the harder enemies get, which is obvious backwards thinking in an RPG. Overall enemy level should have been gated by progress not battle count.Still the game is probably an 8/10 overall and mostly enjoyable.
Good Game
The Choices you make in the game will shape how some of the later scenes end up.I saw a cat girl steal something so i went to find her, Found her at the top of some Clock Tower, She Runs away i leave the building and i see her getting mauled by 3 birds, I had a choice of Helping her or Leaving her, I chose to leave her and told her that she got what she deserved and i never saw her again 10/10.
A lot like Octopath Traveller, from the few hours I played that game at least.Turn-based combat. Enemies have weaknesses to weapon types, and elemental magic. Every character in your party of 5 can have 2 weapons of your choosing (although you are heavily encouraged to equip weapons that fit their stats well). Hitting a weakness does extra damage, and builds a super meter. When the meter is full, you can do a combo attack with two characters at once, both multiplying the damage, and allowing you to get two attacks in in just one turn.Party members are designed to be expendable though. They have a limited 'LP' level, which goes down by one every time they die in combat. 0 LP = permanently dead. They can become become resistant to attacks they get hit by often, and elemental magic cannot be transferred like weapons can. So you're really pushed into building a unique squad for boss encounters, and then abandoning them when they outlive their usefulness. I like this a lot because it reminds me of SMT 5's early-game, but you might find it unfair, which is totally valid.Story is totally cheesy. Cliche lawful good hero smites down evil bad guy while yapping about honor or something. It's cozy and familiar, but doesn't seem to be anything special or interesting.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After more playtime, I can say the description is a bit misleading. The Empire building part of this game is kinda barebones, and barely a feature really. I assumed that when your main character ran out of LP, you resumed as your successor. Giving you limited lives so to speak (clear the game is X amount of years kind of thing). Instead, after completing a main story mission, it just passes dozens of years for no reason and forces you to choose your next main character. But everything looks the same, other characters like the blacksmith and royal counsellor are apparently immortal and do not age between generations.I was genuinely in shock when, after finally killing a main story boss, I think to myself, 'Yep. Time to go clear the mine to help my citizens!', only for '89 Years Later' to fade in. My guy just fucked off and ignored this shit for 89 YEARS until his daughter comes along and she does it for him?This isn't really like a bit issue or anything, but I was kinda excited to see what this feature had in store for me. It's only there for flavor, not really to add anything meaningful to the game sadly. It's probably a better experience to ignore it completely and pretend it isn't even there since it adds so many plot-holes for no reason.
Had a fantastic time playing this version of the game. I'd never beaten previous versions of Romancing Saga 2, but this one I played through till the end (even postgame stuff). I had a blast. The visual updates are beautiful, the new additions added to the story and characters were great, and they added some nice QoL features. Would recommend!
I had fun playing this so far. Not much else needs to be said. Its got a need premise with the generations system. I enjoy the way you do quests and explore the world to unlock classes. I like the game.
Romancing Saga 2 has a cool concept with the inheritance system and an interesting story, but unfortunately fumbles the execution. The combat is boring, difficulty ramps up quickly with very high HP monster and bosses, and you're frequently resetting party members. Any unique characters are replaced with generic NPCs and party members you got attached to are removed after a short time. Time skips occur too often and seemingly at random times that usually doesn't make much sense in the story.I really wanted to like the game, but its just too flawed mechanically. The game might be worth it to those who like the Saga series or older-style RPG fans on a sale, but otherwise this RPG falls on its face and just isn't really fun.
This is definitely a pretty unique entry in the genre. Instead of controlling a party of heroes (either set by the plot or created by the player), you instead play as a line of emperors and form your party from the classes who your current protagonist doesn't belong to. Now, I feel like the game could have done more with the premise, since in gameplay terms this mostly just means you can build various facilities for your capital city, but regardless, it's pretty rare to be in this position in a JRPG. The progression system is pretty unique, too, with a stat leveling system instead of traditional level ups. Think Final Fantasy II but significantly more refined, which is appropriate as series director Akitoshi Kawazu was heavily involved in that game. Oh, also the game has permadeath. Every time a party member is knocked out, they lose an LP. And if they run out of LP, they get sent to the Shadow Realm. Which is to say, they die. Permanently. And this is very likely to happen to you because this game is brutally difficult. This game expects you to truly understand all of the mechanics and make the absolute most out of what it gives you. In fact, I've beaten the superbosses of multiple Etrian Odyssey games, and yet I had to lower the difficulty for the final boss after trying to beat it on Hard/Classic for over a quarter of my play time. So this game is recommended to anybody who wants a severe challenge.
This was an adventure. It took me a good 10 hours to actually see the joy in the game as the beginning is a bit dull. Once I figured out the main mechanic and that my choices have consequences, I was on board 100%. This is a very unique RPG, and you might hold some expectations for that genre, its best if you don't hold on to those expectations for this game. This was truly a unique experience and I can't really compare it to anything else. Explore, do side quests, take your time. Totally worth the time investment and money.
It's been a long time since I've started a New Game+ right after finishing the main story. Probabl since Wither3. This game has Se many cool mechanic, l wish more games would borrow
I have to say, I didn't think I would like this due to the lack of character writing.But it's a JRPG which is quite fun on its own despite its lack of a consistent cast of characters. It's even got some tasteful sex appeal, a plot full of intrigue and epic moments, and genuinely enjoyable gameplay.
as much as i wanna give this game a score higher than an 8 , i really cant. the concept is really interesting , the gameplay loop is pretty fun, the story is also decent. honestly i cant put into words what exactly i didnt like in the game , closest i can describe it is that at a certain point the battle system and exploration lose their charm and become more annoying than fun . especially in areas with annoying gimmicks like the desert and the frozen tundra . still would highly recommend for JRPG fans
very fun game, some caveats however:1. The story takes a major backseat to the gameplay, which is cool if you're into that, but I would have preferred a little more dedicated story.
2. I played on Hard (Classic), and most of the game is tough but with proper party composition it's feasible, but the final boss is the most ridiculous difficulty spike in a video game I've ever seen. I had to lower the difficulty so I could move on with my life (Noob)
3. Sometimes the game will take away your ability to fast travel in context sensitive areas, and this pissed me off every time.good game tho
An amazing remastering of the original 2D game. Nearly step for step recreated that game. In todays day and age, would be nice not to be completely locked out of things with no other option to get a item.For $50 USD, I got about 58 hours of play with the option to go back through to get the missing items. Systems are not as deep as modern games.Worth a buy for a solid JRPG
It's fun, as decisions actually kind of matter. The story and music are okay, but there are a lot of customization options + each unit type has their specialties, art direction is good, and combat is fun.
Really wanted to enjoy this game, and for the first 10 hours or so it was very very good. Unfortunately, I wish I could return it though it's too late now. There's a timeskip mechanic it has that's completely obscure unless you're using an FAQ which locks you out of massive portions of the game, classes, quests, EVERYTHING unless you follow one of the guides religiously. It's incredibly frustrating and there's no indication whatsoever about which quests will progress the "story" and give you a random player character after you get Gerard. Ridiculous, I don't know why they ruined an otherwise excellent remake with this.
More JRPG fans should play this game. Even more so if you are fans of Octopath Traveler.The funs:
1. Great turn-based JRPG experience
2. A lot of characters, weapons, skills and abilities to tailor to your combat strategy
3. Allow quite a bit freedom of explorations and how you approach the quest progression
4. A good story i would say to keep you engage
5. Games run very smoothly
6. Very fast and responsive UI and navigation (very important if you like to spend 5 seconds max in menu)The pains:
1. The inheritance system makes you unable to like the characters as a person (as technically the characters is different person in every generations)
2. The generation timeskips feels too sudden at first (but you can manage once you realized what triggers it)In conclusion, highly recommended as a JRPG looking for something to play and never heard of Romancing Saga games. As a first time playing Romancing Saga's game this is so much fun.
A nonlinear jrpg with some cool mechanics. Because you can wander freely to explore and do most things in any order you want, the story is pretty simple. But where this rpg shines is in the freedom you have to grow your characters and teams however you like, as later generations inherit the growth of the past ones. Death is only a minor inconvenience in the big scheme of things, as you are looking at the long view as you create an empire and emperor strong enough to fight against the seven monsters threatening the world.Lots of depth and charming art style. I hope we eventually get RS3 someday like this!
Picked this game up thinking it would be a nice B-tier JRPG to spend some time on, didn't realise I was about to spend 40 hours in one of the best JRPG's I've ever played
Yeah here we go. Kind of has all the best things of major turn based RPGs without adding in a dumb mechanic to ruin things. I like how they do permadeath here, where every unit has a certain number of times they can be KO'd before it's off to the eternal dirt nap. You gain skills/spells/abilities depending on how much you use other skills. Switching party members is easy and allows for some pretty cool team setups. Town building makes sense. Generations inherit abilities. It's really fun.
Try the demo if you're unsure. You'll get a feel for the combat, though you won't have the party switching and town building mechanics until you play the full game.
I love everything about this game—an absolute masterpiece! If you are someone who enjoys turn-based tactics with an excellent story and strong character building, this is the game for you. I don't have any regrets playing easily one of the best turn-based tactics games ever. It's one of those games you can play at your own pace and enjoy at any given time.
This game clicked with me so much harder than I ever expected it too. I don't know if it's my favorite game from last year, but it's 10000% up there in the Nine Sols + Balatro tier for me. Incredible game. I love it so much
A very unique RPG. I feel most people don't realize that the focus isn't on a specific character but the Empire itself and defeating the seven heroes. I was hesitant at first as I like focusing on a character but it really grew on me. I'd go as far as saying its a true RPG, not like the RPGs today. There is no hand holding, you pick the path, and your choice on how you beat a quest can affect other things down the line.I've read people saying whats the point of battling if enemies scale with you, to that I say, fight all the bosses with just basic attacks, you won't get far. It focuses on leveling the weapon type itself as opposed to the character itself, which at first I didn't like but it really grew on me as well. To learn more abilities/spells you have to battle and level up that weapon/spell type otherwise you won't learn anything. And if combat is to easy, like any other game, up the difficulty.I've played many (J)RPGs in my time, this is definitely a must play if you're a true RPG fan.
If you're looking at this store page already, chances are you're the type of person who will like this game.Extremely creative mechanics that create an incredible emergent story. I wish I could wipe my memories and play it again from scratch.Give it a chance!
