When it comes to video games, there aren’t many things more classic than a high-fantasy RPG. The huge world, diverse enemies, and deep turn-based combat system of that subgenre are baked into the brains of young and old gamers alike, and for good reason. Those kinds of titles are fun; they’re relaxed experiences that heavily immerse people, perfect for decompressing after work or school. Despite how beloved the subgenre is, high-fantasy RPGs are quite a rarity in the modern gaming market, with more intense genres like shooters, roguelikes, and action games being more popular in recent history.

So, what’s a good game to play when you’re looking for that more relaxed, classic experience? What’s a good, modern high-fantasy RPG to play nowadays? Square Enix and Xeen Inc. created an answer to that question on October 24th, with the release of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. This remake of a 1993 Japanese hit has taken everything that makes traditional high-fantasy RPGs great and turned those qualities up to eleven, resulting in a title that displays the subgenre at its very best. This review will explain what makes the game so great without spoilers and detail its two notable pitfalls.

The Good

Gameplay

Depthy gameplay is a staple of high-fantasy games, and Romancing SaGa 2 has it in spades, featuring a vast array of interesting mechanics that benefit the player’s experience in numerous ways. For instance, the title contains a unique combat mechanic called a United Attack. United Attacks are big bursts of damage that have multiple characters strike one after the other, regardless of where they are in the turn hierarchy, but these encounter-ending attacks can only be used once they’ve been adequately charged. The only way to charge them, however, is to hit enemy weaknesses or do critical damage to them, so this mechanic functions as a subtle way to encourage players to use many different damage types and scout for weaknesses.

That’s just one example, but it sheds light on the larger fact that Revenge of the Seven has clear-cut, understandable gameplay with mechanics that make players better and make many different playstyles viable. This leads to the gameplay being satisfying, thought-provoking, and reasonably challenging while never being overwhelming. It’s the type of thing you can enjoy during a 2-hour play session or a 20-minute detox after a long day; it is incredibly fun in any scenario.

Game World

To put it bluntly, Romancing SaGa 2 has one of the largest and most well-realized game worlds created in the current decade. The amount of detail the creators put into every location and dungeon is truly striking, each filled with an atmosphere or culture that makes it difficult for players not to get engrossed while exploring them. From the remote hunting village Ostro to the dangerous marine life of the Longit Sea to the inescapable sweatshop that is the Airship Fortress, Revenge of the Seven’s different areas all offer something new to experience and combine to make a setting rich with people to meet and monsters to battle.

Character-Building

No RPG is complete without a solid character-building system, and Revenge of the Seven’s is much more than solid. The game allows players an extreme amount of flexibility with the members of their five-person team (or retinue, as it is called in the title), utilizing equipment, base stats, weapon skill levels, and abilities to facilitate creative builds and out-of-the-box character usage. With enough work and the right gear, mages can function as pseudo-tanks, or bow users can be healers; anything is possible in the character-building of Romancing SaGa 2.

The black sheep of any character-building system is grinding, the tedious experience-gathering process that often takes you to areas you’ve out-leveled so you can be adequately prepared for bigger challenges. However, Revenge of the Seven doesn’t have this loathed process and instead uses its Glimmer, technique and spell system to ensure that players who have a vision in mind for their characters are never forced into repetitive monster battles. Techniques serve as special and generally powerful moves an individual can use specific to a certain weapon or weapon type, and they exist as the bread and butter of encounters. The only way to unlock new techniques is through Glimmer; when a technique has the Glimmer icon on it, there is a chance that using it will cause a new technique to be used on that turn and unlocked after the battle. Spells work slightly differently, with their usage still translating to new spells being learned, but those spells are only being learned after a battle and never on the spot. These systems make growth more active, based on using a diverse set of moves as opposed to just fighting the same enemies the same way on repeat. This makes the black sheep of character-building perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of Romancing SaGa 2.

The Bad

Story

While the story of Revenge of the Seven isn’t atrocious by video game standards, it’s certainly hit or miss in most places. The named characters within the title tend to have solid characterization, but sudden development, if they develop at all. Plot-wise, it’s the run-of-the-mill fantasy tale of heroes fighting for justice and slaying great evils, with added depth rarely being added to that formula. Some questlines do offer compelling narratives, and some pieces of lore are legitimately interesting, but these are few and far between. It’s obvious the game is meant to be enjoyed through its gameplay and not so much its story, so any player looking for a great narrative to sink their teeth into won’t find it here.

Graphics

Graphics are a defining part of most games that have been released in the 2020s, but in the world of gorgeous games like Black Myth: Wukong and Metaphor: ReFantazio, Romancing SaGa 2 has more in common with the lackluster visuals of Pokemon Sword & Shield. The game’s visuals aren’t dysfunctional, and certain bosses have good designs, but players won’t be looking at a digital art piece throughout their playthrough. Hair will occasionally clip through models, and the models themselves are quite stiff, giving an otherwise great game a rough visual identity.

If nothing else, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a technical masterpiece, using and improving on the traditional mechanics of a high-fantasy RPG in a big way. It’s an endlessly fun game, brimming with interesting locations and creative options. Where it falters, though, is in the aspects of itself not strongly linked to play, sporting a mediocre story and equally middling graphics. The game isn’t a profound, breathtaking experience, but it is certainly an entertaining one. Entertainment Analytical ranks it 4.7 out of 5 stars, or 9.7 out of 10. Despite its flaws, this is a top-notch title, with one of the highest fun factors on the market today.