SaGa Frontier 2

"Better plot than the first, but it still isn't a good game"

Better plot than the first, but it still isn't a good game

Saga Frontier, for all its problems, was still an innovative little game, that tried out all sorts of new and very different gameplay ideas. I do appreciate innovation, just so long as there's a good game behind it, and frankly neither Saga Frontier, nor its sequel are even remotely close to being good games.

In Saga Frontier II (hereafter SF2) you get to follow one of two plotlines (you can switch back and forth as you please). The first stars a mundane prince in a magical kingdom, and the other stars a wannabe knight. Plotwise I had no complaints, although I wished that they had told the story a little better. Most of the actual story is told through cutscenes, rather than in the game itself, which is kind of annoying. And limiting itself back down to 2 plotlines (as opposed to the original game which features a great many more), SF2 should have been a lot better. But as I said, the plot was mainly good.

Where I had my problem, is also my main problem with the first game, and that is the battle system. I hated it. Completely. Which is quite the problem in a game such as SF2, where most the game is spent in battles. In general any RPG game that has a bad battle system ends out being a bad game, regardless of most everything else. And man oh man, do I ever hate this battle system. Why is it so bad, you might wonder. Here's why: winning battles depends on the various odd attacks that you learn in combat, you learn these attacks by attacking, but you never really know when you might learn one. When you do learn one, it's usually nothing great, and you end out using the same old attacks over and over. There were some battles that I had trouble with, but then I got a new attack and won easily. This battle system is terribly unbalanced, and really needs some sort of counter (such as the one in Xenogears) to let you know when you are getting close to a new attack. I did, however, like the Duels.

My second major complaint of the game has to do with the monsters themselves. When I would wander around an area, I'd often come to a dead end, and have to turn back. Well I had just cleared the previous area of monsters, so I would think that they wouldn't come back (they didn't in Crono Trigger), but there they are, back, and waiting for me. This wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't hate the battle system so much.

I didn't care for the new graphical look in this game, I thought that Saga Frontier had fine graphics, and SF2 just... didn't do it for me. The backgrounds were nice, I just couldn't stand the character design. Too weird looking. Thin pasty characters, with overlarge limbs, similar to how the Ghouls looked in Planescape: Torment.

SF2 was a step up in a lot of places over its predecesor, in all areas but the one that counted most for me. I suppose if I could somehow get past the battle system, I'd find the great game underneath, but... I can't.

I rated Saga Frontier II a 4 because I didn't like it's battle system, pure and simple.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/00, Updated 04/09/00