Product description
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Comes in original jewel case with manual
.com
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A beautifully illustrated fantasy role-playing game, SaGa
Frontier 2 features lush, hand-painted watercolor backgrounds
that give this animated title a rich, storybook look.
Two-dimensional graphics have rarely looked this good in an
adventure game.
Pretty pictures aside, the battle system in SaGa Frontier 2 is
outstanding, allowing for combat to be as micromanaged or as
mindless as players see fit. In addition to assigning in-battle
character roles (such as support, intimidation, and so on),
players can choose between multiple battle modes and execute
elaborate attack combos (similar to that of fighting games).
Like its predecessor, SaGa Frontier 2 puts a spin on the genre
by featuring multiple storylines that converge at various points
in the game. Events in the game are encapsulated into (mostly)
playable scenarios, with new playable scenarios opening up as the
existing ones are completed. While this feature enables gamers to
experience nonlinear gameplay from different perspectives, it
ultimately muddles rather than enhances the game's overall
narrative. --Joe Hon
Pros:
* Beautiful storybook look
* Outstanding battle system
* Multi-scenario feature allows for nonlinear gameplay Cons:
* Repetitive random battles
* Limited appeal outside of fans of the genre
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Review
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Try to forget about the first SaGa Frontier. Tell yourself that
Square's muddled foray into the depths of nonlinear hell never
happened. Taking the criticisms of thousands of disappointed (and
frequently lost) gamers to heart, Square has drastically
overhauled the sequel and proven itself eager to atone for
previous game-design sins. Gone are multiple unfocused plotlines
and unclear quests; in their place is a free-flowing tale of
political intrigue set in a world brimming with High Germanic
overtones. SaGa Frontier 2 is a sequel to the original in name
only; in spirit, the game might as well be Romancing SaGa 4.
The sequel's greatest change is in the presentation of the story.
You choose which scenarios to undertake with the traditional
Romancing SaGa-style parchment and quill. At the game's
onset, you can choose from two different scenarios. One plotline
follows Gustav XIII, a prince sent into exile for his lack of
magical powers. Another follows William, a young treasure hunter
seeking answers to his her's disappearance. As the story
progresses, more characters join the party, each with his own
potential quests and story elements. The successful completion of
a scenario usually opens up one or two more potential paths.
These paths, however, are not always chronologically arranged!
Like an episode of Quantum Leap, the story crisscrosses Sandail's
history; one moment, you'll be fighting in 1247; the next, in
1235, and so on. Fortunately, a thorough chronicle feature helps
you navigate the labyrinthine story developments within each
century. This story system strikes a pleasant balance between
linearity and freedom; you choose which scenarios to experience
(and in what order), but the overall thrust of the game is always
in the same general direction: toward the future. The storyline
isn't as complex or convoluted as a Final Fantasy; neither is it
as threadbare as the first SaGa Frontier. You get the impression
that your characters are both witnesses to and authors of the
world's history.
The battle system is similar to SaGa Frontier's: Your characters
attack foes with a variety of weapons and techniques, improving
their skills with repeated use; many attacks can be combined to
form even more powerful offensives. Each attack or technique uses
points from either the WP or JP pool. Characters' HP energy is
restored automatically between battles.
SaGa Frontier 2, however, adds a few new twists. Characters can
be assigned roles that affect their battle tasks; for example,
the diversion role lets a character preemptively split up enemy
combination attacks. Characters no longer lose a life point (LP)
upon dying, and can now sacrifice an LP at the beginning of a
round to refill their HP. Also, a new recovery skill lets
characters regain small as of WP and JP between rounds.
These refinements address one of SaGa Frontier's largest
weaknesses: an inability to heal effectively. Also, before each
battle, you are frequently given the option of engaging in a
one-on-one duel. This is an excellent rtunity for a single
character to develop his exclusive talents. Some techniques can
only be learned during duel mode.
But even these gameplay changes seem insignificant compared to
the total graphical overhaul. Instead of computer-rendered
backgrounds or sharply delineated sprites, SaGa Frontier 2
creates its characters and environments with lush, hand-painted
watercolors. It's as if the original sketches and paintings from
the game's design phase were placed, unblemished by a digitizing
hand, into the game itself. The game's relaxed and flowing tones
are a pleasant breeze of creativity when compared to most games'
CG, polygons, and pixel-perfect graphics.
The music is typical of the Romancing SaGa series: romantically
orchestral with an emphasis on rousing brass. While the sound
quality is excellent, the tunes don't stay with you after the
game, unlike Square's finest compositions. Sound effects are
somewhat repetitive, if mostly harmless.
Unnecessarily tampering with a winning formula, SaGa Frontier
proved by counterexample the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't
fix it." SaGa Frontier 2 shows that it's never too late to fix
things. Updating the series' traditional format with a lavish
graphical style and 32-bit complexity, SaGa Frontier 2 is sure to
please RPG fans who can overlook the first game's looming shadow.
--Andrew Vestal
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
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