SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

When I reviewed the first SaGa Frontier Remastered game, I honestly found it to be one of the worst JRPGs I’ve ever seen come from a major developer in the genre, with problems that stretched past its dated presentation to its poorly-told story, terrible map layout, lack of proper introduction to the game’s mechanics, and above all else an absolutely disastrous difficulty level. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to playing that game’s direct sequel.

SaGa Frontier 2 was originally released in 1999 on PlayStation and ported in 2025 to PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch in this remastered release, and I can say with relief and surprise that while it has some very light similarities to its predecessor, for the most part it is a completely different game.

The terribly unbalanced difficulty from the prior game? Gone. The confusing map design? Better this time (though still confusing in some spots). The clunky, piecemeal storytelling? Much improved-upon. And the presentation? Surprisingly good.

Let’s start with that. The presentation in SaGa Frontier 2 mixes absolutely gorgeous watercolor-style backgrounds with decent-looking 2D pixel art characters, and some light use of 3D in battle scenes. While the pixel art characters and 3D look a bit dated, the backgrounds benefit tremendously from this game’s improved resolution and look so good that I think they’d fit perfectly in a JRPG made today. This is backed by lovely orchestral and synthesized music that fits the game’s medieval fantasy setting perfectly.

The story is much more engrossing this time around, though it still has one glaring issue. This game ditches the eight protagonists of the first game in favor of two this time, and you can swap one for the other after each “chapter” of their life. This gives us more of an ability to follow these two stories more in-depth, and the quality of the writing and storytelling here is leaps and bounds beyond the first SaGa Frontier. Good so far, right?.

Well, one of these two protagonists, Wil, is an excavator looking to make his way in the world, and he’s a pretty delightful if somewhat forgettable chap. The other protagonist, Gustave, is an insufferable jerk who after being cruelly ejected from royalty for being a rare example of a person in this world with seemingly no magic, has grown bitter and turned into something of a bully, even after moving to a place where everyone seems like they’d be perfectly nice to him if he wasn’t such a humongous jerk. As a result, this is a game where the story is interesting but the protagonists sometimes pull you out of it and make you wish you were following someone else in this world.

At the very least, the much more balanced difficulty level makes it easier to enjoy the interesting mechanics of the battle system, which were present in the first game but difficult to appreciate because of the other problems that game had. Here, characters seem to gradually learn from each other as they battle, and can occasionally combine their attacks into an even better combination attack. I do still wish this game took a moment to actually explain how its combat mechanics actually work in a tutorial, but at the very least this time you feel like you have some opportunity to learn the ropes on your own.

This game does also add a new one-on-one “duel” mechanic, and… honestly, I didn’t care for this so much. It basically has you stacking multiple types of moves together and aiming to get a special “combo”, but this feels somewhat down to luck, and it drags on more than typical battles do. Thankfully, these don’t happen often.

In addition to the improved visuals, this release includes a number of additional improvements over the . This remaster adds new story events, new party members, a “Parameter Inheritance” feature to let players transfer stats between characters, rebalanced bosses, a new expedition feature, customizable controls, a fast forward feature, a music test mode, and a gallery of art assets. If you enjoyed this game when it first released, I think you’ll be pleased with the treatment this game has gotten in this release.

Overall… what an amazing sequel this is. We went from one of the worst JRPGs I’ve played in a long while, to a game that I feel is possibly this series’ best. To be sure, it still has its flaws – its dual protagonists are a nice but kinda’ boring guy and a nasty jerk, and the lack of a tutorial to explain some of the game’s unique mechanics is problematic. However, the deep gameplay, quality storytelling, and wonderful presentation make this a Turn-Based JRPG I can actually say might be a hidden gem from the PlayStation era, at least as much as a franchise game from one of the biggest JRPG developers can be a “hidden gem”. In any case, if you enjoy classic-style JRPGs and can put up with lacking protagonists and game mechanics you have to puzzle out for yourself, I think this is well worth a look.

tl;dr – SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered is a modern remaster of a 1999 Turn-Based JRPG, and an incredible improvement over its absolutely terrible 1997 predecessor. This game still has its flaws – one of its two protagonists is a bit boring and its other one is a terrible jerk, and the game makes no attempt to explain its unique mechanics to players. However, despite these flaws, the beautiful presentation, solid storytelling, and deep gameplay make this a game worth checking out.

Grade: B-

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