I ’ve played a lot of video game remakes in the past few geezerhood , but it ’s surprisingly rare that I dally one without having played the original version first . Usually , my opinions on these projects are shaped by what came before . Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , Resident Evil 4 , andSilent Hill 2are all as interesting to engage with as they are because I empathize the conversation between past times and present . I do n’t often dive into a remaking without that helpful starting point , butRomancing Saga 2 : Revenge of the Sevenfelt like a perfect billet for me to try something new .
Square Enix ’s latest remaking breathe new living into its 1993 SNES classic , bring its pixelated world into vibrant 3D or else of render it the HD-2D treatment likeDragon Quest 3 . It ’s more ambitious than a lot of undertaking like it , completely rebuild the master from the background up rather than giving it a fresher coating of paint . On paper , that makes for a New reimagining that can well realize a once - limit earth .
So , why do I wish I had played the original instead ?
Revisiting a classic (for the first time)
I make up one’s mind to startRomancing Saga 2 ’s remake on a notion after a limited review code for it bring down in my inbox . TheSaga seriesis one of my RPG unsighted spots and a remaking like this felt like it was designed for hoi polloi like me . It make a complicated game more reachable by making it count and feel more like a game eject in 2024 . I imagine the idea here is that it can be an wanton entry point for newbie and hopefully convert them to other Saga games , while still teach them the series ’ roots . I ’d be the complete mental testing case .
If you ’re in the same boat as me , you ’ll find a lot to dig into when diving in headfirst . Romancing Saga 2is a Greco-Roman fantasy RPG with a potent frame-up . The populace once had seven Hero who were curse to protect it . Those heroes mysteriously disappeared one daylight , though , only to reemerge a millennium afterward as corrupted scoundrel . That kick off a hit leaning premise where the king of Avalon and his retainers set out to slay them , one by one .
While its opening dungeons are n’t as thrilling as that assumption sounds , Romancing Saga 2quickly reveals what take it special . When the baron is unexpectedly killed , my role inherit their mogul and becomes Avalon ’s novel loss leader . That is n’t an empty shock scene ; last is a real threat here . Each of my company members , include my main character , has a fit amount of spirit points . Every clock time their wellness is reduced to zero , they lose one . Once their counter run into 0 , they for good die and I need to hire a new servant to connect my political party . It ’s a in high spirits - stake premise that makes every single determination in conflict feel significant . To skimp on bring around magic or defensive maneuvers is to risk recede a party member for salutary .
Though its armed combat organisation employs a fairly standard act - based glide path that ’s all about exploiting weakness , Romancing Saga is a deceivingly deep and scheme - heavy RPG . I have long ton of gear slot to bring with on each character , letting me get into the nitty - spirited with my form . There ’s a creative move ascertain system in which fiber occasionally gain a bolt of inspiration mid - battle and find out a new attack or justificatory manoeuvre on the fly . There ’s also a geological formation scheme that gives my party different benefits depend on how I array them . All of those idea get their hooks in me after a few hours as I experiment with my company composition .
almost 30 years after its sacking , Romancing Saga 2holds warm asan RPG for hard-core RPG fan . It ’s a problematical adventure filled with punishing deaths and impactful decisiveness - qualification . I truly do experience like a leader of an army in ways that a passel of games like this go wrong to tally . When my warriors die , it ’s because I ’ve lease them down by putting them in a bad situation . Each natural action has real weight .
What’s in a remake?
While I was capable to unearth those strength after a second of bid , I almost bounced off the remake before I could . Revenge of the Sevenputs its forged foot onward from the leap . flop away , I ’m subject to grating voice play that melodramatically read out SNES - style penning that was never intended to be acted out . Its visuals disappoint out the gate , as it has the vapid aesthetic of amobile gacha game .
The move to 3D sound like a shaft stuff shot on paper , but it get with some clunky design decisions . When I see an foeman wandering around in the open , I can ply up to them and chance upon first to initiate an attack of chance . It ’s a modern feature that you find in RPGs likeMetaphor : ReFantazio , so it ’s no surprise to see it here , too . It ’s awkwardly follow out , though , as I only have the choice to slash when I ’m almost on top of an enemy already . It ’s difficult to pluck it off unless I ’m walking into a elbow room explicitly laid out to countenance me surprise enemy .
The original secret plan ’s constitution scheme is entirely lost in the conversion , too . In the 1993 version , player are looking down at their party and enemy from a top - down perspective . That intend it ’s always well-heeled to see precisely how the political party is laid out . The remake change that to put the camera behind each character when it ’s their turn . I never actually see how they ’re lined up , so it takes me a bit before I realise that ’s a system of rules at all . It ’s a modern instinct that directly - out does n’t make mother wit for a game built around very specific ideas .
The more I diddle , the more underwhelmed I feel . I could feel the bones of a great game , but something was n’t click . I could n’t put my fingerbreadth on it at first , but a import of circumstances gave me clarity . I bug out my playthrough on Nintendo Switch while I was aside for a weekend . When I follow home , my girlfriend was playing on the Steam Deck on the sofa . By complete coincidence , she tell me she ’d piece up the originalRomancing Saga 3on a impulse , wholly incognizant that I ’d started the 2d game ’s remaking at virtually the same prison term .
I decided to look out over her shoulder for a bit . That ’s when my impalpable problems withRevenge of the Sevencrystallized . I was right away drawn in by the SNES game ’s rich pixel art . I escort enemies interchangeable to those I ’d been campaign in my game , but they were significantly more expressive as categorical trope . The remaking ’s 3D art fashion looks standardised with any bit of RPGs and lack much item at all . The combat in our games was n’t very different on a rudimentary grade , but it was gentle to see the strategic depth in her secret plan as I reckon down on the battle . Even the “ ye olde ” writing feel more born in text mannikin . I could see the better variant ofRomancing Saga 2that I was believably escape out on by jump directly into an inferior remake .
I ’ve been haunted by a question since that moment : Why do publishers intend I in reality want remakes like this ? Throughout the gaming industry , there seems to be a incorrect instinct mightily now that gamers need their game to look and feel a certain way . It ’s something that ’s popped up in even successful remake likeSilent Hill 2 , a fondly made task that ’s still more of a supplementary experience to its PS2 predecessor . Square Enix seems to believe that someone like me , who has never playedRomancing Saga 2 , wo n’t want to experience it unless it ’s turned into a 3D RPG with as many modernistic fixings as possible .
That instinct is wrong . In trying to bringRomancing Saga 2up to zip with modern times , the remake entirely loses sight of why the original is considered a cult classic . As was the case with Nintendo ’s mulct , but unnecessarySuper Mario RPGremake , I do n’t require or take to play a adaptation of it that paves over its dark , gritty pixel art with fluid line and brilliant colors . An HD-2D makeover or some quality of life improvements are all I could really use in an update , but you could even just make the original variant playable on a Robert William Service likeNintendo Switch Onlineand I ’d be glad . A reimagined remake is no substitute for easy access to the original .
And if you do want to play that original version , good luck . Once I catch what I was pretermit , I pop over to Steam . A port of the original secret plan had its own page , but it has mixed reviews . The user review department is filled with gripe , as the PC version is a shoddy porthole of its mobile adaptation . It ’s a copy of a copy . There ’s no easy fashion for me to play a unclouded , localize version of the original even if I wanted to get some much requisite context before toy a remaking that ’s potential to be best enjoy by longtime fans who will find it novel to experience a story they ’ve played to decease from a unexampled view .
If you ’re not in that group , I ’d advise against doing what I did here . Revenge of the Sevenis not the best initiation toRomancing Saga 2 ; if anything , it makes a deep RPG feel a whole lot less trenchant than it actually is . Treat this as an appendix pageboy stand for to be read after play the original , not a new pressing .
chat up Saga 2 : Revenge of the Sevenlaunches on October 24 for PlayStation 4 , PS5 , Nintendo Switch , and microcomputer .
