Over 20 years late to the party, Square Enix is finally giving Romancing SaGa 2 a chance in the North American market. The JRPG publisher will be releasing the mobile port of the Super Famicom classic on May 26.
It will be for both Android and iOS. Naturally, Square Enix has released the game at an astounding price of $17.99, and, no doubt, business suits will come to the same conclusion that SaGa still can't do well in English speaking countries.
It has nothing to do with paying nearly $20 for a 23 year old video game. In all fairness though, this is a lot better looking than those crummy Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI remakes.
All three games in the Romancing SaGa Super Famicom trilogy are generally seen as the peak of Square Enix's offbeat franchise and the most complete collection of creator Akitoshi Kawazu's ideas and theories. Of course, North Americans have never gotten a chance to legitimately play these, and the series has been more of an after thought ever since.
Romancing SaGa 2 is one of the many titles in the lauded SaGa roleplaying game series. In this popular entry, released for the Super Famicom in Japanese only in 1993 and boasting sales in excess of one million copies, the player's struggle spans multiple generations as he assumes the role of a series of rulers of the Varennes Empire in a valiant struggle against the Seven Heroes.
A free scenario system—a hallmark of the SaGa series—enables the player to take command of a variety of protagonists along the line of imperial succession and experience the history fo a nation as it grows and changes. This freedom of choice provides a compelling narrative that served as the cornerstone of the title's success on its initial release.
Hopefully, Romancing SaGa 2 is a genuine attempt to jump-start the series' popularity in the States and will lead to the release of SaGa: Scarlet Grace on the PS Vita in the coming year. Who knows? Maybe I'll finally get to play SaGa Frontier on my Vita.
Be sure to check out the official website too, which is a whole lot of fun.
