SaGa Frontier 2

"You gotta give props to Square for trying!"

INTRO

After the unique and very well under appreciated Saga Frontier Squaresoft decided they needed to do something new. Something that could possibly change the negative words Saga Frontier into a word of pride, entertainment and success. Unfortunately, Squaresoft didn't score as high as they thought they would with Saga Frontier 2. Sure, it looks great but does graphics make everything? Absolutely not! OK, here is my history through Saga Frontier. I purchased Saga Frontier from a friend for $25 and I didn't really like it that much. When I heard that there would be a Saga Frontier 2 I wanted it to be awesome and much better than the first. Well, only one of my expectations were accurate and thus making Saga Frontier not the perfect game I was so hoping for. I rented it and I was pleased at first, but then I knew from the moment I started my new file that Saga Frontier 2 would not be a 10. Oh well, it still is an awesome game :). Saga Frontier 2 was made in February of 2000 and is made by Squaresoft (the masters of RPGs). Before I continue, this may be long so buckle up and prepare yourself for one truthful and possibly entertaining (doubt it) adventure!

STORY: (6/10)

The story in Saga Frontier 2 actually makes sense (sort of) but isn't much better than Saga Frontier other than you can sort of follow it. There are two main characters (Gustave and Wil Knights) but it's very weird because you do not choose who to be first in the game. In fact the whole story is like a timeline from about the year 1200 to 1300. You start as Gustave and go through time as his childhood going through dialogue and finding out about the characters. Gustave is a reject child of the King sort of because he could not wave the flame sword and also because he did not know magic. Thus, leaving with his Mom and fleeing the city. From there you pick different events along the timeline. You have to wait a while until you are able to choose Wil Knights. I don't know why, but you first see Gustaves part of the beginning and then after that you choose at different times to be either Wil or Gustave. Wil Knights is with a desert group and excavates mines and caves for treasures and such. That is what he wants to do, but he finds himself later on getting involved in the worlds disputes. The stories become pretty interesting as you go along time, but it's very innovative the way you play the game and view the story. In my opinion it's just too weird. Overall, the story should've been longer and later the plot will just disappoint you.

GAME PLAY: (8/10)

The game play is so much different from Saga Frontier that it may or may not be a bad thing. The thing that is still back is the fact that you run into enemies to battle instead of them being randomized, which I personally think is better. I'll get to battles in a second, but let me just tell you how you the game goes ... just a run down. There is no world map, but instead there is a timeline that you switch from to find the next part of the story (whether it's Wil Knights or Gustave XIII) and then you enter. Some events can be really short while some are long and the short ones are usually dialogue or little dungeons while the long ones are both dialogue and dungeons. There is no definite party, which is a bad thing. There's not a bunch of people you recruit to join you in battle and sometimes there's even no one. The fights are definitely weird and now I'll tell you about them.

Battles - The battles are the main thing that makes game play and the battles have been much improved from the prequel. There are three different types of battles that you can do in the whole game. The first and most used would be the party battle where it contains everyone from your party involved in the battle. Bad thing is it takes longer to beat the enemies and there are more enemies when you get more people. The second form of battle is a one on one match where the graphics look better and more detailed as well. It's just the main character (usually) or any other character you choose if there are any in your party to take on the enemy one on one. Here, you do different types of attacks like slash and make a combo out of basic attacks. There are only a limited amount of basic attacks you can enter to make a combo and if they work you can use them in these fights forever other than using just basic attacks. Last, but not least, is the war strategy tactic type battle, which is similar to Final Fantasy Tactics but not quite. It's weird and kind of lame. The two sides are on the large field and you can move them either two or three spaces to confront the other team. Once you get to them you do not slash or attack on the screen, you just get in a party battle. Now, I think that's kind of dumb because it's the same type of battle (party) just with a bigger map and a longer time to get into. Those are the battles and all three apply for both Gustave and Wil.

Other things that are kind of important to know is that there is a large variety of elements for weapons. I think there are about eight total. Some examples are fire, water, tree, and earth. There are also a large variety of weapons too, but equipping and changing weapons and armor are not a big thing in Saga Frontier 2. Towns are also rare in Saga Frontier 2. I can't really describe the game every inch, because it's rather confusing and extremely innovative. It can be excaberating when playing this game, but it is definitely no atrophy (big words huh? =) Well, the only great thing about Saga 2 is the dungeons and varied weapons. Experience is also laid out in the same way as it was in Saga Frontier, but the bad thing is that getting HP, strength, magic, etc. up is rare and that is a very bad thing about the game. Again, no items are used and basically the best thing is the battle and the story. Everything else is good, but I'm talking about the game play! Overall, the game play is innovative and sometimes fun.

CONTROLS: (8/10)

The controls are very nice, but not quite perfect. I can't quite explain, but the controls do not feel so free and greatly responsive. Maybe it's cause of the great graphics. Anyway, the button configuration and walking is similar to Saga Frontier which I cannot make my mind up whether it's good or bad. The main button is O and the menu pop up button is Square. The characters walk sort of weird, but like Saga Frontier, very fast. This way it's easier to get into battles if you are running fast because an enemy might just pop up. I can't really think of any major problems with the controls, but I personally didn't like Saga Frontiers controls very much. Mainly why I don't like it as much is because at that time every RPG had the same lay out of controls and Saga Frontier 2 has totally different controls so it can get a little confusing. Overall, the controls are pretty good, but not great.

MUSIC/SOUND: (8/10)

The music and sounds in Saga Frontier 2 are very good, but not as what is expected from Squaresoft. The music is really, really good and there are many themes that I like. I do not remember the exact names for them, but most of the battle themes are excellent! The war simulation music is awesome as well and befits the game very well. The music is top notch and is very clear and this part of the category is great and is definitely what was expected by Squaresoft. There are very few themes that are not good. Overall, the music is excellent and a definite high point!

Now for the sounds. This is what's not so great about Saga Frontier 2. The sounds aren't really anything special and nothing memorable. I can only recall some battle sounds such as the occasional slash or use of magic type sound. There really is nothing spectacular about the sounds, but if I'd have to rate it, it would just be normal. Overall, the sounds of Saga Frontier 2 is nothing spectacular.

GRAPHICS: (10/10)

Now this is what I call graphics! Amazing water colored graphics that is truly eye candy! Nothing even comes close in this category! You may think Final Fantasy 8's graphics are great (and they are) but I think Saga Frontier 2s graphics are just simply awesome. No computer generated graphics here, just hand drawn water colored graphics for each scene, every second, throughout the whole game. Everything doesn't even look tiny and blotched up. In Saga Frontier the faces and bodies looked kind of small and hard to see, but in Saga Frontier 2 you can see the faces and bodies fine even though they are small. Truly innovative, and nicely detailed is what these graphics are. Backgrounds look great, characters look great, battles look great. What else can I say? Oh yeah, magnificent colors take over your TV screen with fluorescent colors that bright up the whole room! Now, that is all I can say about the graphics but they truly are something. This is THE best aspect of Saga Frontier 2 and shows definitely how hard Square worked on these graphics. Too bad it affects the game play .... Overall, these graphics are excellent!

CHALLENGE: (6/10)

The challenge in Saga Frontier 2 is mediocre. I never really found the game really challenging, but I don't feel that it's a breeze to play through either. I stopped playing after a ... uh ... incident in the storyline that just turned me off from playing the game, but that happened near the end so there was no boss that was really hard. In fact, there were rarely any bosses! Some normal enemies are harder than war strategies and one on one battles. *sigh* The whole game is just there to play through, no challenge whatsoever. The only challenge is some fights, getting good combos, using all the weapons and getting your character stronger. Well, that's pretty much it for the challenge. Overall, mediocre difficulty.

REPLAY: (3/10)

Well, even though I didn't fully beat it I already know that there is nothing to replay this game for. Maybe you'd like to go through the story once again or you'd like to hear a certain battle music or you just have nothing to do and you feel like playing this game. Those options are pretty much the basic options that you have to replay this game. In Saga Frontier, there are seven characters so that makes replay value, but in this game you use both characters (Gustave and Wil) and you beat it with both so you don't go back through the game and beat it with Wil or beat it with Gustave. It's a time line which you choose the path, but also you can go back and do whatever event you didn't get. There's extremely little replay value in this game and I have never touched this game again after playing it. Overall, the replay value is low.

PROS
- Awesome graphics
- Completely different that Saga Frontier
- 3 different battle systems
- Timeline like story
- Great music

CONS
- Story seriously gets messed up later on
- Low replay value
- War battle is pointless
- Another failure .... well, better than SF1 but still not a great game

OVERALL: (7/10)

Saga Frontier 2 is a very innovative and weird type of game that is a one time only sort of thing. The majority of the people did not like Saga Frontier 2, but I did not mind it until that certain part of the story ... it just ruined it for me and I didn't feel like continuing. I would rate Saga Frontier 2 on my grading scale as a 7.2 and I think it is definitely better than Saga Frontier and it is definitely a rent, because as I said it's a one time only game. Not meaning play it once and your done type thing, but this is a very innovative game that is completely different from most other games. That's why it should be a rent because some people will like it and some will hate it. The game itself can only be described as one word and that word is unique. Square has failed for making two great Sagas for the Playstation, but do you think they will attempt another one? Probably not, but if they do I hope they keep the no experience thingy and also I hope they make a 'perfect' story because in Saga Frontier 2 they focused on story because Saga Frontier lacked it. If they possibly make a Saga Frontier 3 I hope it has a good story, a definite battle system, same music as Saga Frontier 2 and same graphics with a little touch here and there. That would make a perfect Saga game. Anyway, that's all I got to say about Saga Frontier 2. This is a definite rent and I recommend it to all gamers. Thanks for reading and have a nice day!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/00, Updated 09/10/00