Romancing SaGa 2 is coming to PS Vita, PS4, Switch, PC, and Xbox One soon courtesy of Square Enix. This is one of those Super Famicom-era Square RPGs that never made it to the West during its original release, and has a unique and novel plot progression that is somewhat comparable to Rogue Legacy. While Romancing SaGa 2 finally got a Western release last year, it was limited to iOS and Android, which means a lot of people missed out on it.
The SaGa series is kind of the pariah of the Square Enix RPG family. While the franchise is popular in Japan, it’s always been hit or miss in the United States, which makes it shocking that Square Enix chose to localize the game at all. In Romancing SaGa 2, you don’t play through your typical Final Fantasy plotline. Instead, you begin as King Leon of Avalon. The game has a freeform scenario system in which you can play events in the game in multiple orders, choose to take or sacrifice land and support characters, and build public works in your capital.
After certain events happen in the game, King Leon passes his kingdom down to his son Gellard. You’ll get to see the effects of actions you took as King Leon, and continue making decisions that impact the future of your country. Eventually, Gellard dies, and a randomly generated heir takes the throne. This new Emperor or Empress of Avalon will have abilities and an identity based on actions you performed during the life of their parent. If you assist or allied with other characters, it can influence your new leader in positive and negative ways.
Also: Nintendo Switch Needs More Major Third Party Exclusives like Bayonetta 3
The overall goal of Romancing SaGa 2 is to defeat the Seven Heroes. The Seven Heroes once saved the world, and vanished. However, on their return many years later they became immensely powerful demons angry at humanity for forgetting the tales of their deeds. You can fight them at multiple points in the game. However, you’ll want to get the timing right. Fight them too soon, and you’ll find you’re not powerful enough to defeat them. However, as your power grows, so does theirs, so if you avoid them too long, you may be stuck in the same predicament.
I actually bought a Japanese cart of Romancing SaGa 2 at some convention and intended to play with a translation patch. However, unlike a lot of unreleased Square Super Famicom RPGs, this particular game has never been entirely fan translated. Unfortunately, there are some odd technical issues with the way the font is implemented in the Super Famicom version of the game which has made attempts at fan translations less than fruitful.
On December 15, though, you’ll be able to play Romancing SaGa 2 on PC, PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This new version, unlike the iOS and Android ones released last year, will have updated graphics and audio, some new character classes, a new dungeon, and New Game+.
