This is one of the more unheralded Super Nintendo JRPGs, but the update is of a high quality, and while I don’t think it’s a classic example of the genre by any means, it is still a very enjoyable game. A clean, enjoyable combat system, plenty of enemies to fight, and a bit of exploration and puzzle solving on the side; this is the kind of classic JRPG experience that I’ll never get tired of.
Its inheritance system is extremely well implemented and makes for fun replays, combined with its complex questing system allowing for various approaches and outcomes. I, for one, am surprised to see that it took 23 years to localize it.
The Skill Points system was a great bet, since it's faster than the experience system. On the other hand, the high difficulty of the enemies in addition to the lack of specification of a clear plot, will give you serious headaches.
Romancing Saga 2 is a game very much trapped in the early 90s, while it’s great to see a title translated into English after all this time, it’s a shame that it’s one that offers very little fun or entertainment.
It's always funny to see people call Chrono Trigger the best JRPG on the SFC/SNES when that's no true in the slightest and only demonstrates their lack of experience with said console: RS2 is better than CT will ever be. RS2 has actual non-linearity, with non-traditional leveling. You have proficiencies for various weapon types (like bows, spears, etc.). You learn new skills by "sparking" techs, i.e. attacking with a certain weapon. The stronger the enemies you fight, the higher is your chance of learning a new skill (albeit that also depends on the class and type of your characters; a hunter is more likely to spark bow techs than a ninja).
Enemies (and some bosses) scale passively,and high battle rank enemies are really devastating. It's generation-based, so while playing through the game, you play through an entire lineage of emperors, and how the empire evolves is entirely dependent on your actions; doing a certain amount of quests causes a generation skip to occur. There's also permadeath in the game: each character has a fixed amount of LP (life points), which, when depleted, causes a character to die permanently (in the case of your emperor, you'll have to appoint a new one). Sleeping at an inn does not regenerate your LP.
Defense is separated into 8 categories, Blunt, Slashing, Piercing, Projectile, Heat, Cold, Electric, "Status" (this doesn't really mean status effects, it means magic damage that doesn't fit into the other categories, like dark curses or weird star magic)
Since you can't just pump 1 "def" stat you'll be swapping defensive gear around to deal with different enemy types and also probably be supplementing your defenses with utility spells.
Utility spells are a BIG deal.
Status effects are useful against bosses but how a status effect is applied matters. "Stun" comes from both Sweep and Feint (and a bunch of other sources), but Sweep only works on enemies that actually have legs, and Feint only works on enemies that are actually holding a weapon, etc.
It's a really good JRPG and marks the peak of SFC/SNES JRPGs.
Awesome game and one of the most inventive game of the SNES era. You play as several generations of emperors to defeat a huge threat. It's a beautiful tale of people passing the torch to see their descendant put a rest to their people's misery
Here's why this game gets a zero from me, because it lies to you. It promises generations and make your own story, no, all of that is absolute crap, you want to know what it really is? it is "you die? give your kingdom to a random soldier you barely know, not your child or your wife or husband or anyone at all with a little bit of importance. Also it is not your own story, the game is hardly divided in two parts, this way and that way, this way being the hard and up front way and that way being a way you can't do unless you perform a couple vague steps, regardless of your exploration and discovery, locking you from any actual control of the story.
The characters and npcs are so boring and bland you couldn't care less if they died, the combat is so easy and bland you'd wish there was an auto system. This game is a complete failure, I was hoping to find some kind of rpg where I can mold my own story, but no, instead I wasted 25 dollars on absolute **** and I sit here today hoping I can save you, your money, from this garbage.
SummarySit upon the throne of the Varennes Empire and control several generations of rulers in a valiant battle against the Seven Heroes. A dynamic freeform scenario system — a hallmark of the million-selling SaGa RPG series — enables you to take command of a variety of protagonists along the line of imperial succession and experience the histo...