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By Contributing Writer Rob Pecknold
Rating: Good
Damn. You wait and you wait for a game to come out, and it fails to
live up to your expectations. This is true in the case of many games these
days, including SaGa Frontier 2. I was one of the few people who loved the
first SaGa Frontier (me and my comrades at Bellevue Mental Institution got
a real kick out it). I have a lot of good memories of the game. It proved
to me that it's possible to have fun in a completely non-linear RPG. Even
with the incredible strides made in graphics, story-telling, and non-
linearity, SaGa Frontier 2 somehow manages to be worse than its predecessor.
SaGa Frontier 2 (yes, I am the only person in America who still
capitalizes both the S and the G, as it was in the Romancing SaGa days)
starts out slowly with a half-hour, non-interactive sequence detailing the
birth and adolescence of your character (Gustave XIII). The opening
doesn't really do much to draw you into the game. The dialogue is bad and
the music is annoying, but I was willing to temporarily sacrifice fun for
the incredible graphics. I'd go so far as to say that this game has the
best 2D graphics on the PlayStation. Every screen in the game is a hand-
drawn and hand-painted watercolor masterpiece. Square is always at the
forefront of 3D graphics and CG movies, so it's refreshing to see them take
such a wonderful "step back." Unfortunately, this graphical brilliance
doesn't carry over to the characters. Each one is horribly super-deformed
in the old-school RPG style, to the point that I had a hard time telling
some of the minor characters apart.
SaGa 2 is different enough from its predecessor that you can tell it's a
different game, but it seems as though the non-linearity of SaGa 1 is
mostly intact. The game's story unfolds in the form of Chapters, and the
player has total control over the sequence in which you view these. Well,
almost total control. You see, the game has two story lines- the main one
dealing with Gustave XIII, and the other one dealing with a guy named
William Knights. Gustave XIII was an heir to the throne of the Kingdom of
Finney, but he was exiled when it was discovered that he couldn't use Anima
(or, for those of you not familiar with crappy secondary names for
established subjects, "magic"). William Knights lives with his aunt and
uncle, and he hunts Quells (items that re-shape the Earth using the power
of anima).
As you can probably tell, the foundation for a really good story line is
here, which makes it an even bigger shame that the writing is so average.
This game could have been amazing if a company like Working Designs had
been behind its translation. As it is, the dialogue seems so forced and
rushed that it bogs down the rest of the game.
Other than the graphics, the best aspect of the game is the amazing
battle system. The group battle mode is okay (and very much like the
battle system from the first game), but the game really shows its stuff in
the Duel Battle mode. Much like the Duel Battle system in Suikoden 2, this
mode consists of a single character going face-to-face with a "baddie"
(Lunar fans can cue Ramus-style laughing now). You choose your moves out
of a set of actions, which you chain together to make combos.
This is where the intensity of the battles shoots through the roof.
Many times, your opponent will choose a move to coincide with yours, and
you will both attack at the same time. At this point, the game slows down
and then speeds back up during the integral hit, creating a very
electrifying moment. It is the battle system that endeared me to this game
so much. Way too many RPGs have crappy, boring battle systems. I actually
wanted to get in lots of battles in SaGa Frontier 2 because they're so damn
fun. They also provide a good escape from the rest of game, which consists
largely of trying decipher cryptic text that makes little sense.
One of the first things I look for in an RPG is quality music. Sadly,
this is where SaGa 2 falls short the most. All too often the music has
little bearing on what is taking place in the game. For example, at one
point a character is on her death bed while very upbeat music is playing.
The game uses very authentic-sounding piano for the majority of the themes,
which is a welcome and refreshing change from the ever-present synthesizer
found in most RPGs.
I appreciate the fact that Square tried to utilize a different type of
instrument for the majority of the game's themes, but I would have rather
seen a different composer write the music. Legendary composers like Nobuo
Uematsu, Yosunori Matsuda, or hell, even "TAPPY" of Metal Gear Solid fame
could have probably done a better job of piano work than this game's
composer (Masashi Hamauzu). The piano can be a wonderful instrument for
musical expression, but Hamauzu didn't utilize it to its full potential.
As flawed as it is, the soundtrack still features enough good themes to be
worth listening to.
Despite the fact that it's not quite good enough to get an Awesome
rating, I don't think you'll disappointed if you buy this game. I would
have paid 50 bucks for the Duel Battle system alone. The addition of great
graphics, refreshingly different music, and one of the best medieval-style
stories Square has produced since the Super Nintendo days make SaGa
Frontier 2 a product I could recommend to just about anyone. Of course,
this is coming from a guy who thought that the original SaGa Frontier was
a great game. At the very least, you should rent SaGa Frontier 2 and see
if you like it.
Director: CUT! That's a wrap, Lavar. Great show. Great show, my man.
Lavar Burton: Was it really that good? I can't believe we've gone from
reviewing children's books on PBS to reviewing video games.
Director: Hey, the times are changing, man. The kids who used to watch
Reading Rainbow are now watching the WWF and playing video games. We gotta
keep up.
Lavar Burton: But what are we gonna do when they get in their twenties?
Director: Two words- Breeding Rainbow.
Lavar: That's frigging ridiculous! Breeding Rainbow? What kind of sick...
Assistant: Uh, the camera is still on, sir!
Director: Turn it off and cut to the theme song! I said turn it o..
BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY! I CAN FLY TWICE AS HIGH!
TAKE A LOOK, IT'S IN A BOOK! READING RAINBOWWWWW!
I CAN DO ANYTHING! FRIENDS TO KNOW, AND WAYS TO GROW, READING RAINBOWWWWW!
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