SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered (PlayStation 5) Review

Gustave XIII has a chip on his shoulder the size of Gibraltar. A once destined Prince of Sandail, he was excommunicated as a child due to his inability to channel anima. In the world of SaGa Frontier 2, everything has anima in it. It's like a life force that binds together the soul of the living. Everyone with anima can use magic, but not Gustave. His story is one of exceptionalism and how he overcomes a huge disability with his own cunning and steel. Steel is an inert material that can't be used as a conduit for anima, resulting in it being ineffective for weapon smithing and armour crafting. Steel is like a metaphor of Gustave himself, and the story of Sandail revolves around this character's life and his bold actions that shake up the entire country.

On the other side of Sandail lives a humble digger by the name of Wil Knights. He's a thrill-seeking youth who takes destiny in strides. His story can't be told without Gustave's, despite the two men never meeting each other or ever knowing each other's existence. Wil's quest is a life-long story that spans generations, involving his children and grandchildren, and at the centre of it is a mysterious object of power known as "the egg". Sandail is like a character in itself and how SaGa Frontier 2's story unravels, sucking the player into its web of intrigue and relations.

The narrative spans decades and jumps around on the timeline. Traditionally, SaGa games are open ended and feature a cast of playable characters to play as. SaGa Frontier 2 is a dramatic departure in more ways than one. There are only two protagonists (though there are moments where there are other characters to play as) and the story frontloads limited gameplay. At first, it may seem like this is a glorified visual novel with battles peppered in, but the deeper down gamers go, the more apparent that SaGa Frontier 2 is a more ambitious RPG than it may initially appear.

All timelines begin at Gustave XIII's birth and it splinters from the beginning of Gustave's life and Wil's adventure. More events unlock depending on which events are played, and some are trickier to open than others. The new UI in this remaster makes it easier than ever to keep track of events, so as to not miss any.

Combat comes in three flavours in SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered. Standard party battles should look familiar to anyone who's played a JRPG. War battles are a semi-tactical combat system that unfold with bouts of standard battles using generic soldiers. Finally, one-on-one battles feature huge sprites with players inputting multiple commands. One-on-ones are pretty tricky but are the faster way to glimmer some new attacks than in a regular party battle. The variety of battles fosters variety while playing, keeping gameplay dynamic and interesting.

Like in Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, there is a generational growth mechanic. This is a new feature in the remaster and makes the gameplay substantially easier and fairer. All progress, abilities, equipment, and stat boosts can be easily transferred over to any party member when jumping around in the timeline. No more having to start fresh with a new character and being crippled with shoddy gear when going up against powerful foes. In the original, this potentially lead to soft locks and making progress impossible. SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered graciously addresses many of the design flaws and thankfully improves on the experience in a huge way.

While the gameplay has been made easier thanks to the inheritance system, there are several new scenarios included in SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered. One of these is an all-new final boss, which is dramatically more difficult than anything else in the game. Several plot threads that were left vague and unresolved are finally revealed in this new iteration, which veterans will appreciate. This is a substantial upgrade from the original in almost every way imaginable.

The only area where SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered falters is the disappointing use of AI used to sharpen the backgrounds. SaGa Frontier 2 was notable for its illustrated, hand-painted, watercolour backgrounds, which made the world feel whimsical and beautiful despite the intensely serious story and emotional turmoil. The scenic and picturesque backgrounds are one of the main signature features of the original game, along with its jaunty and frenetic piano music. Sadly, the AI massacres the background art and makes some details illegible. Digital artefacts are also emphasised and given AI smoothing, which looks terrible. It would have been preferable to disable the AI upscaling for the backgrounds so that they harmonise with the raw pixelated sprites.