Title is too long for a pun!
It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Plays, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually, it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. This time we're looking at Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International on the Nintendo Switch 2. For RPGS like this, I change the length of the playthrough from about 1 hr. to about 2 hrs. to get more of the game across.
Right off the bat, the game gives you the option of playing it just like how it was on the PlayStation 2 or with the new bells and whistles thrown in there. I have to say that I really the designs of the characters. Long RPGS that have quite a few characters need to do a good job in differentiating them and this game does a good job in doing just that. There is a speed up mode and I have to say that all RPGS should have this in some capacity.
This is the type of game that you might want to have a walkthrough available to you. I wasn't really sure where to go and felt like I was getting lost quite a bit. That being said, exploring is part of the fun in RPGs so that doesn't take too much away from the game. However, having to do the same thing over and over again could deter things and usually when you get lost in RPGS, that tends to happen. I was exploring through an area that looked like all the other caves I had been in. Thus, the need for a better map/traveling system would have been nice. Another thing I would have loved is the ability to turn the camera. It was a pain to see where I was going and what was coming after me in the open areas when I couldn't look ahead of me. I get that the game had things like this in the old game but usually if you're going to upscale it, things like that get added in.
The combat is very interesting and something I really liked. You head to towns and recruit party members for your party. You can up to 5 party members and then you have to go to the inn to switch out members. You go to the inn and sweet talk them to join you in your quest. You might even get party members to join up if they have something they need your help with. We found a woman named Diana who needed help finding her brother, so she joined up with us. You never know when or where you'll find a new party member. Diana kicks ass by the way so look out for her.
You can also go to towns to learn skills and change classes. You'll earn jewels and money in combat and in dungeons/treasure. Money is very difficult to come by so if you find a place to grind/make cash, stay there and earn. Equipment, tools, jobs etc. cost a hefty amount so save up. Learning new classes cost jewels and those are a little easier to make so you should have quite a bit when you arrive in a new town. Classes have different skills/special attacks so master the ones that work best for you. One thing I didn't like about the combat is that weapons wear down over time and break/become unusable. You'll be able to make them stronger in shops and recover at an inn. BUT money is tight so you might not have the funds to fix things. Fight enemies so your party will level up. Another cool thing in this game is that there will be times when party members learn new moves out of the blue and those new moves could be what wins you a battle. If your party all focus on the same target, they will get bonus buffs. That could also be what you need to win a fight.
RPG fans will want to check this one out but know going in, it does have some hiccups so be patient. I saw people making a big deal about so-so voice work in the game, but I didn't mind the voice work. I only had a few performance issues where dialogue was said on top of other voice lines. Minor things like that allow the game to keep that "feel of the times" look to it.
Make sure you check out the hands-on video below!