Just a few years ago, Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Remastered came about as Square Enix’s attempt to bring a beloved classic JRPG to modern systems. It was clearly successful because Romance Saga 2 also receiving Full 3D remasteringscheduled for release in October.
I recently had the chance to play the PC demo of the remake before its public release, which featured a small snippet of the game’s opening chapter. Specifically, a journey through two dungeons and a visit to the main hub town of Avalon. It stopped right at the point where the game’s first generational transition takes place. It’s only a small snippet of gameplay, but it still says a lot about what to expect from this new version.
The first obvious difference between this version and the original Romance Saga 2 is its visuals. This is no longer the Super Famicom game, as it features full 3D models, voice acting, and a much more detailed world. The demo opens with a flashback sequence detailing the story behind the game. Unlike the original, the static screens and scrolling text have been removed, replaced by dramatic narration and close-ups of the shadowy forms of the Seven Heroes preparing to return.
The presentation is also great. There’s strong art direction on display here, with character models that look much closer to Tomomi Kobayashi’s original illustrations. The environments are a little less interesting, but given that most of what’s in the demo are caves and castles, it’s likely that more interesting locations will appear later on. The demo’s final dungeon, an old mansion occupied by one of the Heroes, is a sign of this, with a grand interior design that looks much more impressive than the original.
There’s also been a major overhaul to the game’s localization, and it’s a marked improvement over the dry presentation of the mobile remake. While that version’s dialogue tended to feel forced and dull, the lines here pack a lot more dramatic punch. The performances are also really useful. There aren’t many big highlights and they’re generally what you’d expect from a modern JRPG voiceover, but the performances are still solid and sell every line.
However, while all of this is to be expected in a complete remake of a Super Famicom game, Romance Saga 2 The remake also features a number of gameplay improvements. Combat is a major part of this, with battles providing players with much more information than in previous versions of the game. Moves that can control turn order or enemy weaknesses are much easier to execute, as both elements are given stronger visual support.
There’s a fixed timeline on screen in every battle that shows the turn order, and it has a huge impact on how you can approach battles. You can target weaker enemies that are more likely to attack early, see exactly which characters will be able to use an item and attack immediately, or see how your moves will push enemies back along the timeline. Not that I could actually play around with this due to the limited moves available in the demo, but it’s clear that the visible timeline will play a huge role in later battles.
Enemy weaknesses are also easier to spot as enemies are now equipped with a bar that displays them at all times. If you have played Octopath Traveleryou’ll know what happens. When you encounter a new enemy, it will come with a bunch of question marks. Hit that enemy with the right weapon or elemental spell, and their weakness will gradually replace those question marks, and that weakness will hover around that enemy every time they appear.
Factors like these created the war. Romance Saga 2 feels incredibly easy to pick up right from the start. All the information you need is readily available, allowing you to make smarter decisions and plan ahead. However, this doesn’t mean that combat is easy by any means. The final boss encounter in the demo definitely gave me a hard time, and there are clear signs of the potential complexity that awaits players in the final game. I never felt overwhelmed or confused about what I was doing because everything was so clear. There are some real quality of life improvements over the original here, and I enjoyed the combat system as a result.
The new 3D perspective has also improved the map design. While the dungeons I played were from the original, the layout has been completely reworked, making good use of the verticality that the extra dimension can now provide. The original cave was a multi-level structure filled with winding passages, while the mansion has multiple floors to traverse, including sections where you have to search for hidden passages or fall through broken floors to progress. I hope the developers continue with this in future dungeons, getting more creative with their redesigns.
What I would like to see more of is the generational aspect. This is an important aspect of Romance Saga 2but the whole reference of the demo to it is a new Emperor taking power right at the end. Actually the demo announces that there is a new emperor then asks you to leave. So I don’t know how this aspect will affect the rest of the game at the moment although it is an important part of the game’s design.
The demo offers some great hope for the final release of Romance Saga 2 However, the remake. That combat system is fun and if it builds on what’s already there, I can see future battles being challenging in all the best ways. With all the visual improvements and localization tweaks, I can see this becoming a solid way to enjoy the game.
Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven will release on October 24, 2024 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and PS5.
