Romancing SaGa 2 remakes another classic Square Enix RPG for western audiences

Over the last five years, Square Enix has specialized in introducing unreleased Japanese RPGs to a western audience while also remaking some all-time classics. Live-A-Live never released in the U.S. originally, but the 2022 remake stands as a top-tier RPG. Trials of Mana, likewise, never saw a western release, but the 2020 remake stands as one of Square Enix's best recent efforts. The development team behind Trials of Mana is about to do this dance again with Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. Shacknews recently had an opportunity to check it out.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a tale so epic that it spans multiple generations. The Seven Heroes once defended humanity, but their fellow ancients repaid their service by banishing them to another dimension. The Heroes have since returned, but their eons in the other dimension has corrupted them and turned them into ugly creatures bent on revenge. Taking down the Seven Heroes is a tall task, so much so that it will take hundreds of years to do so.

Players will take on the role of the Emperor of Avalon. Exactly who is the Emperor of Avalon? That's up to them. Eventually, the battle against the Seven Heroes will span the entire lifetime of the current Emperor and his or her party. Succession is a major aspect of the story as players can choose to pass the Emperor title down to a selection of characters, each representing different classes and specializing in different combat styles. The knowledge and abilities of the previous Emperors will be passed down, creating a royal lineage that will ultimately work to defeat the Seven Heroes for good.

There was only enough time to play with one generation of Avalon royalty during our time at PAX West. It did provide enough of a taste of Romancing SaGa's combat. Battles are traditional turn-based fare, but have some noteworthy twists. The biggest one is that while leveling characters up will increase their stats, moves are learned in a different way. Certain moves will sometimes have a glimmer icon appear next to them.

When this happens, it indicates that repeated usage of this move will lead to that character learning a related move. For example, the archer Therese can strike with a standard Bow Attack, but using that move repeatedly while a Glimmer icon is next to it can lead to her learning Id Break and using it immediately to cause a Confusion status. The Id Break move can then be used anytime going forward. It especially adds some spice to boss battles, where the additional pressure of the situation can encourage characters to learn new moves to help them survive.

From a remake standpoint, the development team looks to be crafting Romancing SaGa 2 with the same level of care that it put into Trials of Mana. This includes 3D models (though some of the Goblin movement did seem to indicate that the game is still a work-in-progress), English and Japanese voiceovers, and dungeon design suited for exploration and also for whacking certain enemies from behind to get a first hit advantage.

The other thing to note is that the development team is fully aware that the original Romancing SaGa 2 was a tough game. That's why the original game's difficulty is now being classified as "Hard (Classic)." Normal will be more akin to a balanced RPG experience while a Casual setting will also be present for those interested in experiencing the story. With that said, there are still some tough encounters to be found. While facing Kzinssie, one of the Seven Heroes, the attack order indicator (a modern inclusion from recent Square Enix RPGs) showed that Kzinssie was preparing a debilitating attack. Normally, these attacks can be interrupted through status effects like Stun or Confusion, but Kzinssie was immune to those, so I was unable to stop his attack. Emperor Gerard fell and once the Emperor falls, the game is over, even if other party members are still standing.

Square Enix has had a busy year on the RPG front, leading the year off with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, continuing with Visions of Mana, and looking to bring Fantasian Neo Dimension to new audiences. With the busy fall release season ahead, it is entirely possible that Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven could slip past a few radars. With that said, this was one of my biggest surprises of PAX West, where I went from knowing little about it to having it rocket near the top of my wish list for the next few months. It's possible that no two stories will unfold the same way and that's going to be a big part of the fun. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven will come to PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch on Thursday, October 24.

This preview is based on an early PlayStation 5 build played behind closed doors at PAX West 2024. The final product is subject to change.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?