I am part of a very sparse demographic of gamers: The demographic that enjoys the SaGa series probably a litlte too much. The entire series, right down to its Game Boy roots, lacks balance in its design, and the narratives of this system-jumping RPG series are usually poorly paced, difficult to follow, and shallow, which is often times a death knell for an RPG. However, for all its negatives, each chapter in the series goes to such great lengths to seperate itself from the gaming norm that sometimes one can't help but sit back and marvel. SaGa producer Akitoshi Kawazu is cited for not caring what current gaming conventions are: he refuses to produce anything but the game he wants to see. While it's amazing that Squaresoft continues to grant projects to a man who cares so little for what's marketable, it's that kind of spin that makes the SaGa games so refreshing to me. And first among them, in my mind, is SaGa Frontier II. The game is a departure even from SaGa standards. Whereas the Romancing series and the first Frontier gave players multiple characters to play through, SaGa instead gives you only two paths to take, but they carry over several generations and you can switch between them at will. One plotline involves you with the events of a family with historic signifigance (at least in the game world) and the other with a much less influential family whose fate is tied to a menacing artifact. As expected the two storylines cross each other frequently, though often not in ways you would expect. A character linked to an absolutely essential point in one plot might just fall in with the party of the other. Each plot ends with a completely separate last chapter that are only very tenously linked with one another resulting in two stories that feel like they just happened to take place in the same world at the same time. In a change for the SaGa series, this approach actually resolves in a unique and very original storyline that stands on its own. Whoever wrote the script and directed the cutscenes has little taste for the dramatic, however, as often times important events are left unwitnessed while other pivotal moments have no build up at all. This is a weakness in the narrative, but also an unusual strength: since the story takes no extra steps for drama's sake, the end result is more like a history book in a fantasy world. If that sounds a bit dry.. well, it might be, but I can't think of anything else like it. A great deal of the game is going to be spent crawling through dungeons and slaying baddies while trying to suit your characters up with the best equipment, just like any typical RPG. Quite unlike your typical RPG, though, is the game's battle system. SaGa games have been using the unique and often times bizarre HP/LP system since Romancing SaGa, and its back in all its untraditional glory. Essentially, you have both Hit Points and Life Points, with Hit Points serving as a buffer to protect your Life Points. If you run out of Life Points, your character dies. It's an interesting system but it can be too unpredictable in practice, especially since certain moves have a chance of bypassing Hit Points all together and cutting into Life Points. Being able to do the most damage still essentially wins a fight, but I'd be lying if I said the system didn't leave me baffled from time to time. Slightly more traditional and much more satisfying are the battle system's spells and special moves. Depending on what elements are on the equipment you're wearing, you'll be given access to spells. The game has eight elements and the usual strength/weakness graph, but the spell system works well in that it forces players to balance strength of equipment with the abilities it grants you, and it is, for a surprise, intuitive. Also, Weapons can only be used a certain amount of times before they break and are lost forever, so even if you find that ultra-rare weapon, you'll want to be careful how often you use it. Special moves and spells are learned randomly, with your chances increasing the more often you use the weapon. What's interesting here is that all your special moves and spells are kept in "folders" that any character can access. So, for instance, if you go all the way through one storyline at first and then go back to play the second, all of the spells and weapon skills learned your first time through can be used as you play the other storyline. This also means that even as you lose and gain new party members through the course of the game (which happens frequently) you still have access to your hard earned skills. All this means that the battle system in SaGa is rather unpredictable: even levelling up and the game's super powerful "combo" moves (which combines two or more of your party's moves/spells into one attack) are a mix of planning and luck. This throws off the balance of the game somewhat, but there are a set few gamers (myself included) who enjoy the unpredictability of the title. The graphics are a mix of very oddly proportioned character sprites (what's up with their huge legs!?) and gorgeous handdrawn backgrounds. The game has a visual style unlike anything else, though the art in Legend of Mana will draw comparisons. The sprites are honestly a bit disappointing, with stilted animations and enemy designs that are all too often TOO weird, but even if you end up not liking the game, you will never forget what it looks like. Sound is yet another part of the game that's going to vary depending on your tastes. The sounds are all pretty much what you'd expect, nothing more, nothing less, but I absolutely fell in love with the Masashi Hamauzu composed soundtrack for this game. The game has a single battle theme, for instance, that it continues to remix and rearrange as your progress through the game, and there are hints of the same theme throughout dramatic moments and cutscenes. This approach to music gives the game's audio a cohesive design, like a soundtrack of a movie. This is not the first time it's been done in a game, but the way its executed in this game, particularly with the constantly evolving theme music, struck me as very memorable. As you can probably tell by my review, this game is more or less a love-it-or-hate-it affair, and I love it. I'll be the first to admit the game's faults, but its unique approach and creativity in design were enough to keep me hooked just to see how the experiment would pan out. I think with a little refining the SaGa series, and this game in particular, could really find a market larger than the niche its planted itself into. But you know what? I don't think the series creators would want anything to do with that. And maybe, neither would I.
Other Helpful Reviews for SaGa Frontier 2 (Squaresoft Millenium Collection)
I've had this game for some years now, I bought it some time after its release and to be honest with you I was not truly expecting much out if it when I heard about the game. Then my vision changed, as a vivid Final Fant... Read Full Review
SaGa Frontier is an RPG driven heavily by a branching storyline which features a multitude of complex characters. This game isn't perfect by any means and I'll admit that I didn't reach the games end myself but I feel th... Read Full Review
