Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven

你为啥跟我直接战斗啊？！jrpg里不是这样！你应该先给我塞一大堆世界观，然后塞一堆马桶。偶尔队友闹点小矛盾，然后在章节结尾公式包饺子。最后在打最终boss之前一人一句刻板印象台词，喊着友情啊羁绊啊就冲上去，打不过之后主角爆种然后响起主题曲把boss打败，然后播片尾曲的时候我忘掉所有的痛苦回忆最后跟游戏和解啊。你怎么上来直接战斗？！jrpg里根本不是这样！我不接受！！ 回归正题，这游戏绝对是我玩过的最特殊的一类jrpg了，可以说完全跟市面上重剧情的jrpg大相径庭。游戏的主要玩法就是扮演皇帝开疆扩土，从自己的疆域边不断展开探索，帮助周边的国家或地区解决问题并收入领土，偶尔还能收几个队友，在这个系统下基本每次探索都能产生很大收益，具有极强的探索驱动力。本作没有等级之分，只有对各武器和各属性法术的熟练等级差异，学习新技能主要靠闪悟，也就是不停的在战斗中出某一招然后运气好就能学会新技能。队友自带的特殊能力需要30场战斗学会，并另需30场战斗极意化以让所有其他人也能装备这个能力，也就是说这游戏要刷的地方很多。而我恰巧是一个马拉松b，跑新图基本是拿了宝箱就走，怪完全不想打，这也导致通关之前我的能力并没有刷满。普通难度下最终boss的难度虽说比之前的boss难度都高了一大截，但我还是勉强打过了，也就是说对于非刷子党这游戏还算是挺友好的。至于任务系统，这游戏好像没有什么主线支线之分，而且令我震惊的是这游戏的选择竟然真的会对剧情走向和任务奖励产生实质上的影响，某些职业和设施是无法在一周目之内同时获得的，也就是说这游戏竟然还有很高的重玩价值。当然对我这种轻度玩家来说花大几十小时重玩一个游戏还是太奢侈了，在此敬谢不敏。 虽说本作是最不像传统jrpg的jrpg，但jrpg最核心的队友陪伴感却塑造得极好。打完最终boss皇帝退位，往日种种在眼前浮现，昔日的队友们活跃的身姿仿佛仍在眼前，王座在宫殿中静静矗立着，它见证了帝国的兴衰，见证了几十小时的旅程，它的使命已然结束。身后传来伙伴们的声音，（前）皇帝看了王座最后一眼转身离去，屏幕上浮现“fin.”的字样。现在我是世界上最空虚的人了😭

Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song is one of my favorite games, but I don't think I could recommend it to most people. Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven on the other hand, I can recommend to basically anyone who likes JRPGs with my full chest. Minstrel Song had a very interesting art style that I would personally describe as serene, but was definitely off putting for a lot of people (including myself at first). RotS in comparison does not reinvent the wheel, but it is significantly easier on the eyes. There is a time mechanic, but it is nowhere near as punishing as Minstrel Song. Where Minstrel Song had me micromanaging and dodging enemies in order to keep time from passing, RotS had me excited for the opportunity to jump to the next generation. The inheritance system is largely responsible for this, I believe, as I progressively took emperors from opposing classes and ended up with a final empress that was basically an ubermensch that could wield whatever weapon and cast whatever spell I needed of her in a manner far superior to any standalone class (though I think that's partially intentional based on some of the guides I've seen). Where Minstrel Song (as well as 3 which I hope also gets the remake treatment now) had specific named characters, only the first two playable emperors (and the last that you name yourself) are explicit characters with some manner of backstory attached to them. Everyone else is a silent protagonist selected from a pool of playable classes, many of which you unlock through completing quests. Character stories take a backseat to experiencing the environments and cultures of the game, which is typical for SaGa games. You basically just build your party out however you see fit, and the classes are fluid enough that you can mold them into largely unexpected builds that make you feel like a genius when you pull it off. My final party was my Uber Empress, an Amazonian Healer, two mermaids slinging water/wind/light spells (they're separate classes, but both mermaids), and a lizard man that just tore through everything with an axe and his fists. The Magic system is spectacular, probably my favorite in gaming. Since there is no requirement on learning basic spells (more powerful spells need you to be a certain level in their skill), everybody can learn magic. The only "hard" restriction is you can't have one character learn magic from opposing elements (fire mage can't learn water spells, earth mage can't learn wind spells, light mage can't learn dark spells). But even that can be overcome with the right equipment. The Amazonian healer was a complete accident. I initially just gave her an earth spell that buffed her strength, then I unlocked an earth-water spell that fully healed an ally and removed any status ailments. My lizard man had earth magic too, but he couldn't learn water magic because lizard men are innately good at fire magic, so the Amazonian ended up filling the role perfectly. I genuinely could go on forever about the stuff I love about this game. I love that it's an RPG where the Empire are the good guys and not just in some "take the good with the bad" sense. I love that you get to BE the emperor. I love the bug men villains. I love the tragic, eponymous Seven. I love the classes and the character designs. I love that the post game dungeon was just me steam rolling through it so I could prepare for NG+. I love that the game kept my attention so effectively that I beat it within a month of first starting it. I love that it's a remake that pays its respects to the original (to the point that it almost restores my faith in the concept of remakes). I love how little the game holds your hands and just wants you to go out and do things. If you've been recommended the series in the past, you've probably heard it described as something like "Elder Scrolls" or a "CRPG" but made by JRPG developers. I can understand why people would say that, but it's really doing the game a disservice to reduce it like that. There's so much more going on here. Any game even remotely similar to SaGa owes most of its inspiration TO SaGa. Even if some of the weirdness of the franchise scares you, I can confidently say this game earned my money and time. If you're a JRPG fan, I'd say it will earn yours, too. The game goes on sale for as low as $25 nowadays and that is frankly a steal for as much content I've already received from it and how much more I'll get out of it in a NG+ playthrough. Long live the empire and long live SaGa!

I have no idea who design the quest system, but you can uterly feck over some of it. There are quest if you start and do not finish (I don't want to spoiler) immidietly, you not just fail, but lose out on possible characters. You can skip story as well, like I was just exploring and the game without warning progresses the story, do not warn you about possible skipped story or quests. There are even gender lock here, like there are quest you can't progress if you are female for example... This whole system is a mess and very much can ruin the full experience. Multiple times I had to look it up only what the heck am I doing wrong, because the game just gonna tell you to go here.... AND NOTHING HAPPENS THERE!!! God! The concept is good, there are great ideas here, but the execution is so lacking. I do not recommand it, only for those who very much like JRPG.

最終皇帝女、叡智でいいよね…

If you're looking at this store page already, chances are you're the type of person who will like this game. Extremely creative mechanics that create an incredible emergent story. I wish I could wipe my memories and play it again from scratch. Give it a chance!

原作が難しくて挫折した者ですが、本作はとても面白かったです。難易度はノーマルでのクリアでしたが、戦闘はそれなりに歯ごたえがあるけどなんか進めてしまう、というちょうどよいバランスだったと思います。 スーパーファミコン時代に作られたフリーシナリオということで大味な部分はありますが、戦闘がメインといってもいいくらいなので、その点では非常によくできていました。 グラフィックは良いとは言えないものの十分な質であり、かつ意外に室内などが細かく描写されていて作中世界にリアリティを持たせているように感じました。 サガシリーズはほかにも挫折しまくっているので、この感じでぜひ他もリメイクしてほしいです。

weird leveling system and massive difficulty spikes. excessive grinding and not much to do besides combat. poor story and characters have no personality. forging new equipment is time consuming.