Romancing Saga 2 Remake is the RPG I never knew I wanted.

[@Mugthief]

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[@alexey635able]

Well, at least its not raid shadow legends…

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

I guess most of us know, that it's just mobile sludge, and you just read out what you have to. But I like your videos anyway.

[@MikoYotsuya292]

P3R, SMT5V, Eiyuden Chronicle hundred heroes, visions of mana, metaphor, Romancing saga 2, just to name some at the top of my head. 2024 had been an excellent year for jrpgs fr

[@snazzydrew]

Legit usually I don't need to spend so much as a jrpg fan but damn........ it's been AMAZING!

[@NecroBanana]

Eiyuden Chronicle was such a disappointment for me 😔

[@snazzydrew]

@@NecroBanana you probably just expect far too much from it. It was exactly what I expected as it pretty much looked and played like all the promotional material shown.

[@MikaMikaMika89]

@@snazzydrew I had a lot of fun 100% this game too.

[@jeanjacques4775]

FF7 Rebirth too

[@AraikSarkisyan]

Thanks for making videos not only about failed games and scandals, but also about good and interesting games. It's much better than channels about 100% hate/optimistic content.

[@GELTONZ]

Seconding this! I know a lot of folks are trying to label those who complain as "grifters" and I thought about it because there have been a few videos from some content creators "on my side" that annoyed me and I thought: What is the difference between a grifter and a real one? Games. Someone who ACTUALLY cares would talk about the games they are enjoying alongside all the controversies and failures. (Also to those wondering: Romancing SaGa 2 is very much NOT censored. Not that it's a particulary lewd game or anything but Not-Mermaids and Plant-Harpies are quite light on their clothing and this game shockingly has physics and has a few parts that are different depending on your current Emperor's gender)

[@wombo_samu4420]

Thirding this? Does make me laugh that being a balanced and reasonable human warrants a compliment these days, but it does.

[@enclaveofdoom]

Exactly what we needed in min-maxing positive/negative media era.

[@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama]

SaGa has really always been about the combat and freedom of exploration. The series has tradtionally shunned giving you a forced narrative and instead allowed you, the player, to decide what your protagonist's story is going to be (usually after an establishing prologue of some kind). So players who want a very story-focused, character-driven narrative where things are pretty clearly defined will probably have some adjusting to do with anything SaGa. But that's not to say there is no story or character development - it's that you get what back you put into the game (and granted, some of the titles do this better than others). This is probably one of the series' biggest strengths as well as its biggest turnoffs for new players. I will also add that, as a veteran of the original Romancing SaGa 2 and the series as a whole, the ending of this game actually had me tear up a bit (no spoilers). I already knew the basic idea of how it would unfold from the original, but the execution of it in the remake was absolutely amazing. It made me feel like all the hard work and sacrifice I went through over the course of 1400+ years as Emperor(s) meant something. That's not easy to accomplish, so kudos to Xeen for pulling this off (and for the rest of a beautiful game).

[@snazzydrew]

Didn't expect you to cover this game!!!! SaGa is legit one of my favorite series of all time. I have been enjoying this game TOO much! It's such a good classic RPG with great modern polish! I can't sing enough praises about it.

[@shinmegamitalks]

Glad more people are talking about this. This game is an absolute gem that will be overlooked for sure.

[@jaymeepaul7156]

Metaphor, Romancing Saga, and the Trails series. This has been a good year for JRPG fans.

[@Walamonga1313]

Don't forget Ys X and Granblue Relink

[@GELTONZ]

As a bit of a fan of the original (or the 2016 mobile version anyway as that's the only one in English) I can confirm this is a VERY faithful remake with every change being a welcome one (except for Nereid's legs, but I get that was a technical issue). Believe it or not, the flashbacks of the heroes weren't in the original games, you had to go see a Japanese stage play to find out why they turned evil! And yeah this game is for a very specific type of person who really likes the stat building/min-maxing/gameplay strategy elements of an RPG over the story. Also the big problem with losing a party member is that their newly learned skills don't get recorded unless they survive to a time skip. Also different versions of a class have different skill trees (i.e. they may be able and unable to glimmer different skills). Asked my SaGa-phile friend what causes time skips and apparently every quest or part of a quest has a point value and you time skip when you reach 15 points. Slaying a hero is 8 points so it usually causes a time skip.

[@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama]

Also, battles add some value to the time-skip mechanic, but you can't move forward based on combat alone, obviously. So what ends up happening is, if you DO decide to grind for a while (like to learn some specific techs or to move forward with development or something), you may end up with your Emperor going on a quest to the fridge to make a sandwich one day, and suddenly it's 255 years later (that kind of thing happened to me a lot in every version) lol 😂

[@subversiveasset]

​@@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama Lmao @ quest to the fridge. That's how I felt at some parts of the game seeing the black screen and time skip at certain parts.

[@astrea555]

Best remake released this year! I mean it.

[@Walamonga1313]

Based pfp

[@Sylnir]

@mugthief Dude, thanks for covering this. I’m currently playing through it right now on 3rd Generation, and I’m loving it waaaay more than the original/remaster! Keep up the good work. 🎉

[@nanashi4753]

You might misunderstand replacing characters. Even same class, all characters are different. F.i, some fighters has very good status for magic and others are not, even same class. I mean all characters/class status and good weapons looks similar but different. Or, another case is, East guard “Souji” has only LP :1 but very good status. Fans analyzed original version in Japan. It’s same as remake. Anyway, thank you for this video. It’s amazing game, much better than I expected.

[@raionbomber75]

I never played a SaGa game before, but was kinda blown by the trailers. Then the demo dropped and I was just hooked. Presentation and graphic wise is where I wish Pokémon games were right now.

[@ArcaneEther]

So, what are the origins of the name "Mugthief"? Are you combining the common ability held by many Thief classes in game, "Mug"? Or can I not trust you around collectible coffee mugs?

[@NecroBanana]

Yes

[@lopez3486]

He stole my fancy mug once

[@Mugthief]

The short answer is: Yes. The long answer is: Correct.

[@fakeplaystore7991]

Hopefully Squeenix green lights a Romancing Saga 3 remake - that one was absolutely amazing.

[@sungrandstudios]

Nice! A positive video with good vibes. Thank you! I will check out this game.

[@TheTateful]

Omygodomygodomygod. Yes, this game. I picked it up last week, and I'm absolutely loving it. This is the first time I've been able to get into a SaGa game since the Gameboy titles.

[@Gunblade_man]

The demo convinced me almost straight away to buy it and man it is awesome indeed. The first time skip did catch me off guard tho, I thought it was gonna take longer for it to occur.

[@quickpawmaud]

This is the greatest year for JRPGs in my lifetime so far. We got Unicorn Overlord, FF7 Rebirth, Metaphor Refantazio, Eiyuden Chronicle, and now this game. Probably some others I missed or forgot too.

[@yeahdude4931]

Metaphor Refantazio is SO GOOD!!!!

[@quickpawmaud]

@yeahdude4931 I definitely think it is really good but I enjoyed Rebirth and Unicorn Overlord even more.

[@StarkOberon4]

Metaphor, Ys:X, Romancing saga...

[@kuronanestimare]

I'd appreciate if you mention the Free Demo at the start of the video. I went to go put it on my Wishlist around the halfway point because of the glowing review and saw that I can actually try it out now! Also, maybe mention the Presence or Lack of Auto Battle if there 'is a grind' in the game. The difference between auto-battle grinding and manual grinding really is night and day and while a combat system can be very engaging, it is important to know whether engaging with it for all content is mandatory or if there are parts I can just go 'I want to catch up on money/levels, I'm just gonna turn on auto-battle and come back to walk into the next encounter' Those critiques aside, I am extremely pleased to see a Positive Review on the channel. I had the impression that all of the content was just negative news, but I did really enjoy this and hope for more of these positive reviews/spotlights in the future.

[@namelessone9941]

The permadeath system and party member cycle actually feels more like darkest dungeon than FE

[@willsinfinitelibrary8311]

I hated the original version of Romancing Saga 3, but loved the Trials of Mana remake's balance of old and new, so I tried the demo for this game and loved it! In a world of so-so remakes and remasters, this is a breath of fresh air, and should be a template for remakes to come.

[@ear1dani31]

really liked the game.. just finished it after 65 hours

[@artinotsoparty]

Thanks for the review. Im happy they made a remake since i never got to play the original. Im also happy i get to end this year on a positive note with a good rpg😁👌

[@undecidedtoystore3003]

Been loving this remake! Playing the OG and Remake at the same time lol

[@utopua4all]

I don't know, I'm really hesitant about this game. See, I grew up with SaGa Frontier (absolutely love it so I got what I wanted back in 2021 with the remaster) but when I tried playing another SaGa game (I retried the Minstrel SaGa remaster after giving up so early on the PS2 original long ago) I just couldn't stand/understand how the various systems worked with one another. I guess I had more patience when I was younger I guess? SaGa Frontier isn't any different tho; you need to know how it's various systems work and such or you're not gonna have a good time. Things I read about this game make me nervous, but I mean at the very least others seem to be having fun with it and I'd rather SaGa games do well than disappear, especially when there was a very long patch with none of them after I think it was Unlimited SaGa? I can't remember the game that led to that rough patch.

[@jesseheritage9104]

Minstrel Song probably has the largest learning curve out of all the games other than Unlimited SaGa (that's a whole other can of worms). This remake is simpler compared to those. RS3 and SaGa Frontier 2 are more like SF1 if you haven't tried those, too. All the games have high difficulty though. Unlimited SaGa is probably the game you're referring to as far as the rough patch. It was so out there and difficult even for SaGa fans. I initially didn't like it back then, but every time I go back and play it, I get a little closer to saying, "this might just be a masterpiece." It is the definition of brutal difficulty, though.

[@matteste]

Though sad that Metaphor will more than likely steal this games thunder.

[@Contractor48]

Why do people forget about unicorn overlord? I was a really good game as well.

[@MikoYotsuya292]

this year has been an excellent year for JRPGs.

[@CrossXvamki]

I mean.. why not both?

[@jaymeepaul7156]

​@Contractor48 man, I forgot about Unicorn Overlord. I need to go finish that.

[@Mugthief]

@@Contractor48 *cough* Review up on the channel. UO is showing up in my Game of the Year awards video btw.

[@arikari3672]

This is my first SaGa ever, and I want moaaar, I hope they remake the others. I'm not exaggerating when I said I almost forgot to eat the weekend I started playing. I can't stop thinking about the game 😭 Fortunately I need money so I don't get distracted at work 😂

[@davidhill8565]

This show than turn based JRPGs can translate well with 3D graphics as it does with pixel art.

[@zeorhymer6]

Huh. Never realized they made another remake. Gotta check it out

[@numenume3079]

Good review. RS2 really is a unique game, but not the best for the common JRPG fan/casuals/new to the genre for sure. Here's some tips for gameplay: Hit the shoulder buttons to go to your items or unite attack and then to the weapon/spell command to hit the first 2 attack options, if you don't want to scroll. Also it's true that character death isn't too important, but the copies do have different stats and weapon proficiencies, example being Sagittarius having a Innate Bow bonus and Bow Glimmer list so he can spark bow skills that other Court Mage (M)'s can't. Also, to my knowledge, Psycho Shot from the Longinus is Magic based, so the game does still withhold some information.

[@braddevries1184]

Looking forward for playing it after I finish metaphor.

[@astrea555]

great video btw. Yeah some things are oldschool in design but I like it this way. Of course releasing this so close to Metaphor is a bit of a mistake and you should focus on it first, but I still really like the remake work here, it's lower budget but not at all sloppy work like you usually see with certain other remakes I could mention.

[@harrisonstanley5597]

Just popping a quick comment here to help my boy mug for the algorithm

[@Suikojunkie]

game’s doing very well commercially

[@maverick5169]

Focusing on weakness is not a ""Persona"" thing, MegaTen (which Persona is a spin off of), Pokemon and Fire Emblem itself focus greatly on exploiting the type advantage you have I don't want to sound too aggressive but it's really annoying how Persona gets all the praise and recognition when it didn't actually innovate all that much combat-wise

[@Walamonga1313]

Not to mention the press turn system is actually boring as hell. Find the elemental weakness, attack twice, repeat. It doesn't vary at all

[@aleeceb4993]

Funny that you mentioned you wouldn't recommend the game over Metaphor, because as I was watching your video, and reflecting on how I saw the Saga 2 remake, I actually thought to myself I would. Metaphor was nice, I had fun with it...but it felt kinda "safe". As you said, a modern JRPG, doing a lot of the stuff that worked well in Persona 5, developing them a bit further...it was a very good game. And, if I hadn't played Persona 5 before it, probably a mind-blowing one. But, I did, and...it felt like more good of a great game. Saga on the other side...I tried the remaster of the original before. And, it was okay...but showing it's age. The remake had to cover a lot of ground to get to a point where it could compete with modern day JRPGs. And, it did. Some of it still feels a bit old-fashioned, yeah, but, it feels like a long shot that worked out to me. And it feels more unique than Metaphor did. So, yeah, I would actually pick this as my game of this year. (also, side note, while I didn't agree on Metaphor...I agree on Octopath Traveller 2. Cause that was my GOTY last year >.< and I do think it was better than Saga)

[@FinneousPJ1]

Sounds good but I want Bromancing saga with Cloud and Barretto

[@BigCowProductions]

I forgot this was already out!! Thanks for making me $50 poorer, Mug!! LOL I'm glad you enjoyed the game :) The SaGa series has been a longtme love of mine.

[@johnp3556]

Do I need to play the 1st one before I play this?

[@Ken2-v5s]

I beat it. it's a masterpiece and my GOTY this year!!

[@Schnyr]

Did you try the AI Limit demo, Mug?

[@jadak100]

You sold me on the game mug thank you

[@MikaMikaMika89]

You have sold me on this I think.

[@eproductions5115]

Gba fire emblem did have some fire crit animations frfr

[@TeamBobbo6326]

now i wanna play a goofy JRPG from 1993. are you planning on doing a proper review of dragon age?

[@HolyHadou]

I tried the Steam Demo and it didn't recognize half of my controller inputs and just decided to walk away from the game. Glad it's doing so well but they really need to fix that demo if they want to get more people. Granted I might be a minor occurrence but still.

[@snazzydrew]

@@HolyHadou lmao sound like either you, your PC, or your controller were the actual problem. The demo works just as well as the full game on controller. I play all my games on controller... So that wasn't a game issue... Kinda weird to demand they fix something when it's you who should probably try some troubleshooting.

[@HolyHadou]

@@snazzydrew I checked the Steam forums and other people were having issues too. Either way, game is doing fine so good for them.

[@YuhuTBH]

When you said the combat is Persona and Fire Emblem, I almost bought it right then and there. Good thing there's a demo

[@OGtruthserum]

Did you end up buying it?

[@YuhuTBH]

@@OGtruthserum No. It was 90% more combat than Persona and FE, and I personally wanted a mix of life-sim stuff and not just fights all the time.

[@horizon92lee]

Might check this out, playing dragon age and metaphor atm

[@Bakuganluver23]

I'm playing the game, but I'm wondering which voice language I should use. English is what appeared, but it's a Japanese game, so...

[@ghosttrick2374]

Im sold

[@kzxkzxkzx]

Combat looks great but I dislike the fact that characters and story are generic

[@qinlongfei]

So... did they finally 'fix' the whole borked up power progression in the leveling system where you could potentially grow weaker because enemy consistently become stronger but your own power up is completely random? Yeah. I know that's the staple of the SAGA games. But it's even more annoying to play around than Oldman's Roll 4 Oblivion's power progression (because mods exist) unless you exploit the (BEEP) out of 'Rapid Stream' formation + 'Timestop' exploitation.

[@Mugthief]

I've never played a Saga game before this one as I said in the intro, but I didn't notice any "growing weaker". Hopefully someone else with more context on what you're asking can answer your question.

[@lostwar50]

As long you don't spend lots of time killing enemies who give you very little TP you should always be on par if not stronger then them as well as just make sure to upgrade and unlock things back in your town that also helps a lot. On top of there are 3 difficulty levels so you really should never be stuck. This is my first Saga game ever and I have been doing fine on classic difficulty.

[@qinlongfei]

@@Mugthief To hopefully better explain, the original Saga 2 on Super Famicon have the enemies progressively grow stronger the more you get into battles, while your own power level is random since it depends heavily on how lucky you are at your characters 'flashing' new techniques. And the problem is enemy's power level increase even take into account of all the battles you escape from. So it's entirely possible for you to get into end game mook battles when your own characters are only at mid game level. Or maybe I just really suck at playing Saga games since it discourage player from the usual JRPG power leveling.

[@Particle_Ghost]

I found myself getting very bored after around 10 hours and I ended up selling it, could pick it back up in the future but I'm not sure. The game was very good but my biggest problem was the characters, since everything follows a always changing timeline you never feel connected to your characters. Basically I felt like I was just going through a repetitive motion, I didn't feel connected to anything I was doing.

[@todd2.08]

Final Fantasy 2 x Fire Emblem 4

[@MisterBump73]

Weren't you supposed to be getting a haircut, rather than just putting it in a man bun? ;)

[@Mugthief]

I did. That's why there's a manbun. Without it I look like skrillex had a baby with a poodle.

[@beedeeuniko]

❤

[@treasurehunter3369]

Algofood

[@ogun6464]

I understand you have to take sponsorships, but I don't like it. I do like that you covered this game, and I'm likely to pick it up on the endorsement of you as well as several others.

[@Oggre]

Actually you better not grind in this game because the last boss of this game will destroy you because of that, I wont say more

[@shayoko6]

battle heavy? pass. i need RP in my games. not just the game.

[@Mugthief]

Thats why I talk about it at the start. Every person likes different things.

[@FreeFlow__]

the animations are very poor and the strikings dont feel satisfying enough

[@cashnelson2306]

The beautiful pixel art being replaced with generic ass 3D models makes me cry

[@Childofbhaal]

I’m happy. It’s 2024 pixel art isn’t it anymore

[@wadedewell]

there are some sexy ladies in this game, cant wait to buy it!