Until last year I’d never really played a game in the SaGa series, for no real reason other than us existing in a world where too many games exist. While that problem is still present, I found myself reviewing and adoring Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. There’s a lot to love about this classic series, and now I’m ready to experience even more of it. Thankfully SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered was shadow dropped after the recent Nintendo Direct, and I’ve been able to continue my SaGa education.
In a world where magic is controlled by an elemental force called Anima, the prince of the kingdom of Finney is found to have none. This is one of our protagonists Gustave, who is exiled by his father at seven years old all because he can’t use spells. His story is told across many events spanning his whole life, where you’ll see him go from teen bully full of rage to ambitious man intent on ruling as he was always meant to. He’s an interesting figure to follow through the timeline of SaGa Frontier 2, but he’s not the only one you’ll be keeping an eye on.
After following the early years of Gustave’s life through key life events, you’ll suddenly find yourself controlling Wil Knights. The other hero of this story is a humble digger, on an adventure to find a valuable treasure called a Quell (which is basically a powerful Anima filled artifact). This might sound like a bit of a quest for personal gain, but for Wil it’s much more than that. A particular artefact called “The Egg” is incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands, and Wil’s dad knew that.
The structure of SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered is incredibly interesting, because the story opens up in the form of these short events. Some of these are essentially just ten minute long bits of story, others will task you with exploring a dungeon and fighting enemies in classic JRPG fashion. These all have an attached date so you know the year these events happen, but other than that you just pick from the selection you have unlocked. Skipping around the timeline might end up with you locking away some content though, and honestly if you don’t use a guide then this will happen no matter how hard you try.
You won’t need to worry about this most of the time though, because you’ll be too busy battling monsters in the dungeons. Combat in SaGa Frontier 2 is a traditional turn-based affair, with skills attached to the two weapons each character uses. Using a weapon over and over again will raise your proficiency in that weapon, and make it more likely for you to “glimmer” new abilities. Glimmering is how you unlock new powerful moves, but instead of just finding out about exciting new sword slashes at the end of a fight you’ll unleash it that very moment instead of the attack you choose. It’s a system I loved in Romancing SaGa 2 and I still love in SaGa Frontier 2, because it just means at any moment something new and flashy could happen.
After a few dungeons your characters will have plenty of offensive and supportive options to use against grunts and bosses, but you’ll have to be careful with various stat points to use them. Weapon skills for example use up the durability points of the weapon, and if you’re too gung-ho with them your precious weapon will break and you’ll be left practically defenceless before a big boss fight. Spells don’t break weapons, so for those who can use them (sorry Gustave) they’re a good way to mitigate this if you have the mana to do so. Not all of this is explained particularly well admittedly, but with a bit of experimentation you’ll figure out what you’re doing – at least in standard combat.
As well as normal fights against gangs of enemies, there are also duels which are one on one encounters. These work differently in how you choose your skills, and I must admit I never really figured out the best way to win at them. SaGa Frontier 2 even features some tactics style battles to complete with different units and a grid, which for a game that originally released in 1999 is just wild.
Obviously as someone playing for the first time it’s hard to tell what content is new and what content is from the original game, but new events and hardcore optional bosses have been added to flesh out SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered more. There’s also the ability to boost the speed of both combat and exploration, which makes the game feel wonderfully fast paced even when exploring the deepest dungeons. There’s also a bizarre new mini game where you send diggers you recruit to gather items for you, which is I suppose a nice addition if a bit of an unusual one.
It wouldn’t be a remaster without shiny new visuals, and although that’s the case here it hasn’t taken away at all from the charm of the original. The watercolour backgrounds are not only intact, but are absolutely stunning in higher resolution. Screenshots simply don’t do the game justice, with SaGa Frontier 2 looking practically as good as the modern HD2D games we know and love. The audio is no slouch either, showcasing one of many reasons that this series is beloved.
There’s not a lot to complain about in SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered, but some aspects of this over twenty five year old game are a touch ropey. Dungeons are often irritating mazes, and thanks to the flat backgrounds sometimes important loot blends into it too well. Although the freedom to choose how to play through the game is intriguing, it does also make the story feel a bit loose and lacking structure. You might even accidentally storm ahead and be under-levelled, forcing you to back out of an event entirely which never feels good.
SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered is a great way to experience more of this classic series, with an interesting structure and engaging and snappy combat. The visuals look outstanding even twenty six years on, and the audio is as legendary as fans have been saying. There are some iffy dungeons and dodgy design choices, too, but the clever mechanics and charm of the game easily outshines them.
