[Review] Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven

System: Switch
Release date: October 24, 2024
Developer: Square Enix / Xeen
Publisher: Square Enix

Square Enix’s SaGa franchise has seen quite the return over the last few years. With almost as many entries as the mainline Final Fantasy games, the series has had a lot of time to define itself – resulting in a focus on non-linearity, exploration, and a unique take on character advancement and customization that in the modern age is still surprisingly addictive and proves that the SaGa renaissance is in full swing. Heading in to a game I first experienced on Switch when it was first ported to the west in 2017, I was incredibly excited to return to the world of Avalon in beautiful 3D with Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven.

Opening in a fire lit tavern, a minstrel sings a song of a bygone age. Our tale opens with the regal Emperor Leon of Avalon instructing his youngest son Gerard in the ways of combat. Gerard, more bookish than one to live by the tenants of the sword, is still a quick study. Making sure that Gerard is in the back of the ranks, Leon leads his squad into the dark depths of a local cave to clear out an infestation of monsters. Avalon’s royal figures are not the sort to sit back on their thrones and order others about to solve the kingdom’s various problems, no, but more the kind to get their own hands dirty and take up the work themselves. Emperor Leon’s oldest son, Victor, is tasked to watch over the castle town while the squad is absent. Thus we are able to explore Avalon’s various nooks and crannies without much worry – with our front rank able to take most of the hits and the safety of the back ranks allowing for ranged and magic attacks to go off without a hitch, the party can make short work of the cave’s creatures and return home safely.

Presented in beautiful 3D, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is colorful and easy on the eyes. Forgoing realism for a more animated look, I am reminded of the incredible classic Dragon Quest VIII. Though there are mostly sectioned areas to explore after selecting on the world map (with a very nice fast travel system, may I say) each area has plenty of corners to poke around in, treasure chests to find, and ledges to jump up to get to new heights – and most of the time, new discoveries. The new soundtrack takes the classic tunes of the original and brings them up to speed. I found myself bumping along to the battle music happily, recognizing it from my first foray into the previous release and finding myself very pleased by the current arrangement overall. One must, after all, have a wonderful soundtrack for their journey.

As with most RPGs, tragedy soon befalls us as we return from our excursion only to watch Leon’s eldest son Victor fall in battle. Fueled by the deep seated desire for revenge, Leon and Gerard vow to make sure that Victor is avenged. Leon settles on passing down his skills to Gerard using the lost art of Inheritance Magic. As Leon passes from the world, Gerard takes on his father’s mantle of Emperor – and his stats with the sword, as well as all the skill behind his sword arm. Dutifully, Gerard accepts his role and goes on to seek the destruction of one of the Seven Heroes of lore, Kzinssie. While we could simply focus on the eradication of the games various bosses, SaGa is not one to keep you entirely on rails. The player does get the choice of where to go, and while following the waypoint marker to the next destination is an easy way to continue the storyline, poking around at anything and everything is more my personal approach to a SaGa title, and for good reason. The more you explore, the more you unlock classes, equipment, and other nice tidbits that not only help the party, but the expansion of Avalon’s various shops and services, as well as the expansion of land available to explore for more quests to undertake, more people to help, and more treasure to be found to repeat the gameplay loop.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven has no shortage of systems to explore. After the first few hours of the game, players will get a lot more freedom to change game aspects to fit their play style. Collecting currency (crowns) is always a main objective. In my very first 2017 run I was amazed at how much money I had amassed all before I even needed to use any. With the back knowledge I had during this romp, I realized fast how little it actually was. You will need crowns for the development of new businesses: a tavern to recruit adventurers, a smithy for the creation of new weapons and armor, a magic facility to develop new spells, and many other ventures that our Emperor or Empress can invest in. Upon putting down the crowns for a new facility, players can fight a multitude of battles or move on the the next generation to quickly see new buildings to completion. I personally opted to go out and kick monster butts each time to strengthen my party. With HP replenishing after each encounter, I didn’t have to worry about healing as often, but BP used for techniques and spells needed to be preserved for the entire dungeon crawl, unless I felt like expending expensive items to replenish it or head back to town for a rest at the inn.

Character improvements are gradual in SaGa games. Rather than leveling up via EXP, characters will see the abilities and weapons they use affect their growth curves instead. Dealing more damage with a sword will gain levels in sword usage. Using fire spells will level up the destruction of using spells of that type. Learning new abilities is done through the use of a mechanic called Glimmer, also known as Tech Sparking among online communities. This system is pretty in-depth and there are actual charts that can show players how to most effectively go out on an ability-gathering spree should they so wish. The short of it is that as characters gain levels in proficiency, they can also Glimmer a basic move or technique they already know. The percentages for this to happen are rather low, and there are a variety of circumstances that must be right for the Glimmer to work and grant the use of a new ability. Going up against enemies that are stronger than the player, like boss encounters, is a good way to grab a few techniques throughout a battle, but a lot of abilities can be easily picked up from the usual dungeon fodder when exploring most locations. This does mean that players can take a few BP-restoring items in and grind for techniques in their local sewer or cave while also adding a sizeable amount of crowns to the coffer if that pleases them, but do be warned that the stronger your party becomes, the stronger the bosses and monsters will be in turn. The world levels with you in several ways throughout your adventure.

With the Inheritance System driving the world of Avalon forward through the ages, players will also see great change in the cities and towns as they continue through generations. Decisions made can open up new pathways between regions, allowing trade to flow and expanding reach throughout the world. As you open new areas you’ll encounter other ways of life– usually resulting in a new class or weapon find of some sort. Filling out the Emperor’s party is a lot easier now using the modernized Tavern. Character classes can be freely added or removed by talking to the Tavernkeep, with new classes organically added to the roster and able to be swapped in at the player’s whim. Experimenting with new classes is highly encouraged, as every class can unlock a Passive ability that gives them an extra edge in battle. Each passive is unlocked by completing battles while using characters of that class, and with 30 classes to unlock and level, you’ll have quite a few options to fill out your retinue with.

Whatever your party composition becomes, be sure to cover your bases with a broad selection of weapons, spells, and ways to heal. Difficulty options can be selected from the beginning of the game so that players can tailor the level of challenge to their preferences. Another addition to the game is the United Attack mechanic which at the start allows two characters to work together for a special attack. After clearing certain story events, the number of retinue members that can act together for a United Attack can increase up to a five-chain United Attack. Encounters ending with a United Attack dealing the final blow will grant a TP bonus to the entire retinue, so utilizing these at the end of a particularly strong encounter will result in a boatload of TP for any weapons or spells used during the battle. Utilizing BP and getting hit will level BP and HP respectively. In short, the only way to get stronger in battle is to just keep fighting.

In my time spent in the service of the Kingdom of Avalon, I made sure to poke around and explore every nook and cranny of any newly open spaces. The reward for finding every treasure chest and every item is a hundred percent worth it. This new experience with Romancing SaGa 2’s story has newly-added cutscenes with full voice acting that expand upon the back stories of the Seven Heroes, giving the player insight about their motivations and how they came to be so malicious in the first place. Unlocking all of these scenes is certain to have a pretty cool affect at the end if you clear the game having found every single one, and while I’m still collecting currently and have not been able to touch the endgame, I want to strive for that completion goal, but I also want to keep unlocking abilities. I am at war with myself over a problem I haven’t had since playing Dragon Quest 3 on the Game Boy color – I just want to keep grinding battles.

There was a lot to keep me busy with this game during the review period. Be it clearing monsters and fiends from various locales, investing coin into the production or improvement of the Kingdom’s arsenal, or even expanding trade to new areas and welcoming new towns into the Kingdom, Romancing SaGa 2’s remake is a fantastic and addictive adventure that may not see a lot of character-specific story advancement, but does give us the tried and true formula of a Japanese RPG that pushes the boundary of being a turn-based game in an interesting way. Balancing its advancement and systems around an almost rogue-like precursor to pushing past just a single character for story fulfillment, but using an entire dynasty of heroes and focusing on their continuing goals over time, and thus pushing the self to be the best that we can to move and advance our objectives forward, y’know, for the good of the Kingdom and all its people – and maybe to knock those blasted Seven Heroes down a peg.

Overall, I enjoyed pretty much every facet of this game. I never experienced lag or slowdown, found the tutorials in the Almanac easily when I needed a reminder of how something worked, and even found my way around more easily than I did in the 2017 remaster. While the waypoint marker can feel like a little too much handholding, I found it pretty easy to ignore and simply marched to the beat of my own drum the entire time. The motivation to explore is incredible in this game, and the call to adventure was hard to ignore. With one entire party wipe under my belt and needing a new successor rather quickly reminded me to slow down and make sure that my gear was up to snuff before going back out again, I realized just how much there really is to do and see, and that I’d have several generations to do it all if I wanted. With quick, satisfying combat, visuals that really illustrate the medieval kingdom feel, and seven evil monsters to track down – this SaGa is one you shouldn’t miss.

Illustrating the 2D world of Avalon over to a fully 3D game where the character can jump, explore, and even get the edge on enemies by striking first in the overworld, Romancing SaGa 2’s move over from the 16-bit SNES era brings us a taste of what it really is to faithfully preserve the best of what’s old, while adding in the improvements make newer games easier to enjoy. You have an Almanac of all monsters, moves, and spells you encounter. You have a story you don’t have to tackle in any particular order. You have the freedom to pursue what you want, discover as you see fit, and hand those experiences down to the next one to take up the mantle. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is the RPG you can spend an entire winter on and it runs beautifully on the Nintendo Switch, so cozy up with a cup of hot cocoa and relax and enjoy your story.

A copy of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.