In less than a month, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven will be launching to old and new fans alike, and we were able to chat with producer Shinichi Tatsuke about the upcoming remake. He provided insight on appealing to a broad audience, new features of the remake, and of course addressing the difficulty the original Romancing SaGa 2 was infamously known for.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Making Romancing SaGa 2 Accessible This Time Around

Media: The original Romancing SaGa was known for being notoriously difficult at the time, but some may argue that it’s actually part of its charm. With the new 3D remake, it means there’s a new generation of gamers. How did the team actually strike a balance between accessibility and appealing to the old players?

Tatsuke: The original installment of Romancing SaGa 2 was indeed known for its difficulty, but when we first started to develop the remake, we felt that there were two different elements in that perceived difficulty. One being difficulty in a good way – the battles were difficult, but it was challenging for players. That being said, there was a second element of difficulty involved, and that it wasn’t very friendly for the players.

For example, some of the data that wasn’t very visible for the players back then. Even in the original installment, each and every enemy and monster had their own weaknesses, but these weren’t always disclosed or very visible to the players back then. To find out about this information, players had to ask their friends or use walkthrough websites or guides to figure out these weaknesses. So, when we approached this remake, we decided to address these issues to make it visible and more intuitive and friendly for players.

As for the challenging battles, a lot of the old fans recognize this as part of the appeal for Romancing SaGa 2 so we definitely wanted to retain the challenging element of the combat because there would definitely be players that would want to experience that in this remake as well. We do want this to appeal to modern audiences, a wide range of players, and we don’t want the new players to feel that the combat in this game is too difficult, that’s the reason why we added difficulty options.

Media: Romancing SaGa 2 has a variety of interesting gameplay mechanics, how did you make it so that it will not be overwhelming for players, especially those new to the series?

Tatsuke: Both the original and the remake of Romancing SaGa 2 have unique gameplay mechanics, so we made sure that we didn’t have the players learn all of these all at once. We made sure the system walked the players through little by little so they have some time and the opportunity to take them in. In the demo that you played, you weren’t really able to see the tutorials. There were tutorials but you had to learn in a shorter time.

However, in the recently released public demo, you get to play from the beginning of the game, which starts the combat with a two-person party, as opposed to a five-person party that you usually play through in the game. If we started with a five-player party, it would be a bit too much and it would probably not help the players the mechanics and combat of the game. For the remake, we implemented a lot of tutorials, so that players get the opportunity to actually learn little by little.

In the original release, enemies have weaknesses, but it was not displayed in-game for the players in combat. The weakness system that was utilized in the original Romancing SaGa 2 was that you’d have different types of weapons, but even in the same category of weapons it might have a different element. We simplified that weakness system in the Romancing SaGa 2 remake so that the weakness will be broken down into the actual weapon types, which was not done in the original version. That’s another change we did for this remake that would make it easy and intuitive for the players.

Romancing New Players

Media: Romancing SaGa 2 is a classic game, so we wanted to know how you preserved the experience of the old game while appealing to modern audiences with the remake?

Tatsuke: Before I answer the question, I’d like to provide some context why Romancing SaGa 2 is a classic within the SaGa series. The reason why it is so popular is because it’s so unique. The reason for this is the inheritance system. In a typical RPG, you will follow the life of one protagonist and play as that single protagonist throughout the game. However, in Romancing SaGa 2, you will have multiple protagonists spanning generations, because the antagonists, the Seven Heroes are just too strong. It would be impossible for a single protagonist to overcome the seven heroes.

We have our first protagonist, Leon, and then it moves to Gerard, and will continue until you reach the final emperor at the end of the game. By that time, you will be able to defeat the seven heroes. This element, which is at the core of Romancing SaGa 2, I feel is very unique, not just when it first released, but also for today’s standards.

As the development team, we feel that this was one of the most important points that the old classic SaGa fans would like to see in the remake, but we also want it to appeal to modern players as well. We didn’t want to take everything as is from the original, and in terms of the growth system and combat, we figured that we should modernize this to make it suitable for a new generation of players. This will also be beneficial for classic fans as well.

Because if we just take everything as it were and make it exactly the same as the original instalment, there will be little to no significance in creating a remake. We wanted the classic fans who played the original installment to experience something new as well. This is the part of the reason why we decided to create an entirely new growth system and battle system.

Media: It’s an interesting decision remaking Romancing SaGa 2, which was released back in 1993 but did not get a worldwide release until 2017 via a remastered version. What were the factors and decisions that led to choosing this title to remake and how much can newcomers enjoy especially if they’re not familiar with the original instalments?

Tatsuke: In terms of why we decided to remake Romancing SaGa 2 was that the core concept of Romancing SaGa 2, the Inheritance system, was just so unique, it was the key factor we considered when we remade the game. I don’t think that our audience will be limited to players in Japan, and we felt that players outside of Japan would feel the appeal of this core concept too. We wanted to take that concept, remake it, and deliver it to players outside of Japan.

We made it easier for players for that it’s more intuitive for them. We wanted to reiterate that the inheritance system is just such a unique system that even people who have not played the SaGa series would understand too. Because the Inheritance system entails such a unique gameplay experience that spans thousands and thousands of years in the game, which is not really something you can see in other titles.

Media: What will be the most attractive feature to attract new players for this remake?

Tatsuke: The key factor to attract players are the unique systems of Romancing SaGa 2, which is the inheritance system, but I’d like to add more about the glimmer system. That is one of the more easier examples to speak about for new players who don’t know about the SaGa series. It feels nice for players to experience this in their actual gameplay. In many RPGs, players will need to access a skill board or a skill tree to unlock new abilities, but in the glimmer system, players will get to obtain these new techniques and spells during battle and use it immediately. These two mechanics are unique and can attract newcomers.

Revenge of the Hardcore Gamers

Media: You mentioned that the challenging battles are part of Romancing SaGa 2’s charm and part of that is because the BP does not regenerate. So why would you add a BP restoration circle just before a boss battle that turns this concept pointless?

Tatsuke: As a counterpoint, I don’t think the system is pointless because we did make the boss stronger. The original Romancing SaGa 2 did not have this feature so what the players did what that they were trying to save BP’s, not using their techniques or spells, so they can save more BP for bosses. in the remake we wanted the players to use these skills as much as they want to, so we implemented this BP restoration system it allows players to use their skills against the boss. The difficulty for the boss battles are adjusted that even with a full BP, the bosses are going to be a challenge. It’ll be a fun combat regardless.

Media: How many possible endings are there depending on the character we choose?

Tatsuke: There won’t be a “Romance” feature and there won’t be multiple endings. All players will follow the same ending, which is defeating the seven heroes. What sets this apart from other games you still get to have a choice on what order you want to beat you defeat first. In terms of the orders of Seven Heroes they want to defeat, that’s up to the players. They also get the choice to pick which area of the empire that they want to expand onto.

While the results is going to be the same for all players, which is defeating all the Seven Heroes, the in-between is going to differ from player to player.

Media: What was the challenge in translating the 2D remake with the 3D remake?

Tatsuke: If we transitioned from 2D to 3D and take everything as is, it would create elements that would feel off for some players and we had to make some adjustments there. In the cut scenes in the original release, since it was 2D, characters would speak through thought bubbles. If we were to take it as is, in 3D and have them speak in thought bubbles, it would feel longer that it should be and too simplified for players.

It is because when we used to play 2D games, we would fill the gaps with our imagination, but if we were to turn the 2D to 3D, it is crucial for us to fill those gaps by presenting more visuals and more text. We will need to add more performances and more dialogue to present a complete picture for the modern player with these 3D graphics.

We made some changes in combat as well. In the original release, you had you five-character party and you would choose each actions you want your party members to take. When you’re doing that, the other characters will be standing there waiting for their turn to act. It just feels off for players in 3D, it would make more sense if it were 2D.

Media: With new features not present in the original version such as the United Attack, what would be the gameplay progression with the new game compared to the original Romancing SaGa 2?

Tatsuke: You were able to witness the actual difference between the gameplay in your demo sessions. The battle will be very different from the original release. The growth system specifically will be different from the original installment. For this remake, there’s a new system called the ability system. In the original installment, many players stuck with the same characters throughout the game.

In Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, players are rewarded by using different types of characters for their party. The more characters they use, the more new abilities they will learn and when you learn the ability, other characters can use that ability using the glimmer system. The growth system rewards players by using more characters and not stick to the same party. Finally, when you battle with the seven heroes, you can also attack their body parts, it’s a new system that will be implemented that wasn’t present in the original.

Lastly, Tatsuke-san shared a parting message:

For the players who have played the SaGa series before, I think there will be a lot of nostalgia with this remake. However, we do have many new elements for this remake, so they’ll get to experience something new, despite knowing a lot about the Romancing SaGa 2 and the franchise as a whole.

For the new players who have never played or even have heard about the SaGa series before, it will be a very unique experience for you and it’ll be a really fun game to play. So, despite the title being Romancing SaGa 2, there isn’t any narrative connection to any of the prior releases. Newcomers can dive straight into this remake and have a full experience.

There is a public demo that is already released to the public, and I hope that players will look forward to this release and enjoy their time with the demo. Thank you very much!

Special thanks to Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia and Shinichi Tatsuke for this opportunity.

Romancing Saga 2: Revenge of the Seven is launching on PS4, PS5, and Switch on October 24, 2024. The PC version will launch on October 25. A demo is now available.