SaGa Frontier 2

"An Excellent Break from Traditional RPG’s."

Continuing the tradition of unique experiences from the SaGa series, SaGa Frontier 2 does not disappoint.

The basis of the game is very different from most RPGs in almost every sense in that there is no world map, somewhat non linear gameplay, no experience or ‘typical’ stats, and the game spans eighty years with two different storylines that do not feed off of each other at all. For all these reasons and more (which I will delve into) the game makes for a (still) very fresh and excellent experience

Graphics:
Saga Frontier 2 is very easy on the eyes. The game uses very unique and well-done hand drawn and then water-colored backgrounds along with sprites for the characters. The excellent and very detailed backgrounds give the game a very light air, and makes them very enjoyable and visually pleasing.

The characters themselves all have unique designs, which stay fairly detailed throughout. They have a somewhat traditional “deformed” stance, with puffy sleeves and pant legs and very large feet, but they fit the mood of the game very well.

The in-battle effects are also performed very well. The colors are vibrant, but not showy, and enhance what is actually going on without overshadowing what your characters are actually doing.

Overall, the graphics make the game feel very relaxed and are very stimulating.

Sound
The game’s music lends itself well to the environments, often reinforcing the very relaxed and fresh feel that the game has about itself. There are no very “epic” sounding pieces, but then, the game itself is not epic.

The sound effects that the game uses, however, are equally as excellent as its visuals. The game does an excellent job in conveying the sounds of what goes on in battle. The clang of swords, the flowing of the water, all sound very lifelike. Of course, the usual cartoony slashing and poking sounds for various weapons and spells are all there, too.

The sounds of Saga Frontier 2 get the job done, with subtle style.

Story and Characters
This is mainly where Saga Frontier 2 steps aside from traditional RPGs. Instead of having one storyline to follow, the game presents you with two.

One features the very charged story of the hardships, trials by fire, and accomplishments of a prince who, along with his mother, was exiled from his homeland because he was ‘ungifted’. (You’d have to play the game to understand what this means, I don’t want to spoil anything).

The other storyline is the tale of the Knights family. The Knights family is an accomplished family of ‘Diggers’ (again, you’d need to play the game to understand), who, for four generations by the end of the game, have fought against a mysterious entity known only as “the egg”.

Both storylines are very unique and, for once, the main stories are NOT cliches about saving the world. It’s more like you are leading the lives of two (well, technically many more than that) characters.

Where the story really shines, to me, is that you get to use your imagination. The characters have little actual planned development, which leaves the majority of the characters a relatively clean slate for the player to imagine. And, since not every event happens in just a few months or even a year, but a few years, it leaves you to think “I wonder what they were doing before this”. Also, there is nothing as fun or interesting as meeting someone when they are thirty something years old, and then later in the game seeing a flashback from the eyes of another character, where this hardened warrior is just a young adventurer trying to find his place in the world. The game presents you with countless instances like this, all with a very memorable cast, because YOU created those memories!

Gameplay
SaGa Frontier 2’s gameplay is also a cut above almost every other RPG around. There are two main modes of battle, duel and party battle.

Duel battle is a match between one character and one enemy. Up to four commands can be input to occur during the turn. If the correct combination of moves is input, a character may learn an art for the weapon they used that round. (for example, inputting Slash-Backlash may yield Cross Slash when using a sword).

Party battle is where up to four of your current party members engage the enemy’s party. Sounds like a normal RPG, right? Wrong! The highlight of the SaGa series has always been that EVERY battle is supposed to drain a large portion of your HP, which gives the battles a very intense feel. Boss battles often boil down to normal RPG battles, but when some of the normal enemies you can encounter are almost as powerful as the boss, things can get pretty intense. Each character has HP, an RPG standard. Along with this HP, they have LP. Life points are the character’s actual life. Life points may be exchanged for hit points at any time before a turn begins during battle. However, if you lose all of your HP, your character will still collapse. Since they are still alive, they do not need special reviving techniques as found in most other RPGs, and can be healed through normal healing. A character only really dies when they have 0 LP left. This is when you will need to seek refuge in a town and rest up for the character to be healed.

Instead of MP and Physical attacks, characters now have WP and JP. WP are the points used for physical moves, and JP are the points used for spell moves. Every move in the entire game costs either WP or JP, even default attacks. Characters have large JP and WP reserves (around 70-70 on average), though. The reason for this is as you learn new and better arts, their WP and JP costs increase. By the end of the game, you may be spending up to 14 WP a turn to use some high end moves.

Here’s the kicker: The only recovery item in the entire game only heals WP and JP. And they aren’t that common. Characters naturally heal their HP and recover their WP and JP between battles and after battle turns. These factors make battling in the game always seem like a dangerous and quick paced experience.

And there’s the word “experience”. There is no experience in this game. Nor are there stats such as “strength”, “intelligence”, or “agility”. Strength and intelligence have been replaced with weapon and element proficiency. Vitality has been replaced with “how much damage a character takes”. All of your stats grow as you use them. If you often use spell arts, you will see your JP grow. If your characters are often getting hit during battle, their HP will grow quicker than a character who doesn’t. The more you use a type of weapon, the better you become at dealing damage with it. I think this is an excellent feature that sets this game apart from many other RPGs.

Lastly, there are army battles. These battles only occur during Gustave’s scenario, and only four of them take place. What’s strange about these, though, is that they often require more strategy than most strategy RPGs. I’m not going to go into detail about these, but it boils down to armies moving around on a field, and when one army encounters another army, eight characters go into a party battle against each other. It’s that simple, except objectives are always thrown in.

Overall
SaGa Frontier 2 is overall, an excellent gaming experience. The game is relatively short (25-30 hours, 35 tops), but this is not a bad thing. Because of its relatively short gamepsan, the gameplay never really has a chance to get stale.

However, if you play the events in the game somewhat sporadically, you may get confused. Most people like to either play one scenario fully, then begin the next, play them while trying to keep the timelines close together, or play the game in very odd fashions and attempt to piece the story together as they go. Playing the game using any one of these methods is still very interesting, and allows for some good replay value.

Sometimes, everyone can feel a bit annoyed due to an overabundance of enemies, or other tedium during the game. There were only a few times where this was the case in SaGa Frontier 2, which I feel is a major plus to the game's credit.

SaGa Frontier 2’s light, relaxed feel, mixed with its very well done, non-traditional features prove to make a very unique and refreshing game that almost any RPG fan, young or old, can enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/03