I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

[Toaster]

I tried playing it before, and didn't really like it. But I got it for practically free.

Should I give it another shot?

[Goufunaki]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

As long as you don't speed through each scenario, you should be fine. Since you can't go back to earlier areas, you're forced to keep moving forward, so best to do some grinding early on to prevent yourself from dying so easily in later sections of the game.

[Alzar]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

i remember this game sucking

[Translucid]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

As long as you don't speed through each scenario, you should be fine. Since you can't go back to earlier areas, you're forced to keep moving forward, so best to do some grinding early on to prevent yourself from dying so easily in later sections of the game.

See: Every SaGa game ever

just like all the SaGa games, I guess it's an acquired taste, with a hint of masochism.

[Karim]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

If you can tolerate the gameplay the soundtrack is really great and there are hints of what could have been a genuinely interesting story...

But no, its really not worth it.

[Goufunaki]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

Too many haters.

[orius]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

It rocks.

It's not a bad game at all, but like many of the SaGa games, it's there for the hardcore RPG player.

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

That is, for CRAZY PEOPLE.

I was barely, BARELY able to win that final tactics battle of the game. I had to download a save file on the Internet just to see what the last dungeon was like.

But one of these days I want to try it again... Just to see.

In other news, I listen to the arranged piano album almost every day.

[John Mora]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

I don't really like this stupid game or its stupid music~

[Toaster]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

Played it for about and hour and a half.

The watercolor art is beautiful, and the music is fantastic. But then I started to actually play it. I really dig how you learn your Arts, and how instead of each character learning the Art it goes to a pool where you can pick and choose--that's really great. I also really like the LP system and how Healing works within the context of battle, and that every battle starts you out with full HP so randoms don't turn into a battle of arbitration.

However, you spend far too much time fighting. Sure, there are on-screen monsters and you can avoid them but usually that's not the case. Upon entering many screens a pack of monsters from across the room have bum rushed me, combined with the fact that the maps usually have really narrow corridors and that they are littered with monsters it really makes you wonder why they didn't just make the encounter rate random to begin with? I would've been getting into less fights if it were designed that way, so it seems like the developers just shot themselves in the foot by failing to deliver on their intention of picking and choosing when and where you want to fight. Then once I'm done with the battle and am back on the map screen, I'm thrown into another one because I forgot there was another monster only a few inches away that was giving chase.

Then I remember exactly why I stopped playing this game when I had it before. The storyline is loose and unfocused thanks to the way story progression is presented (in that you can pick and choose your scenario) so I could never find myself to really care about what was happening. Random battles are far too frequent and far too slow, and I couldn't really find motivation to press on other than in hopes of unlocking new arts. It's not a terrible game per se, I would rather just delegate my time towards something more fulling.

EDIT: For some reason, though, I want to keep playing. Translucid is right about the masochism.

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

I played the first one, and aside from its sometimes insane difficulty, I really enjoyed the setup, with individual stories being told, and characters overlapping, and some of the stories contributing to a greater story. It took me forever to finally beat all the scenarios, though, and didn't really feel it was worth the input. Except for Emelia, Riki, and T260G. Those were fun, challenging in the right amount, and heartfelt little tales.

So I got Saga Frontier II with the intention of getting really into it, and couldn't convince myself to go further than like an hour of gameplay. They hadn't really fixed any of the challenge or problems I felt the first one had, and it didn't really grab me like the first one did. I basically ignored the series after that.

[John Mora]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

Well there wasn't exactly a SaGa Frontier III!

[marcus]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

the story's not difficult to folllow if you stick with one character until you're forced to switch to another. gustave is cooler than wil or whatever that loser was.

i played through the game for the graphics alone. it's pretty short so it didn't feel like a huge time sink.

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

You are correct, Mora. But there was Romancing SaGa and Unlimited SaGa. =V

[John Mora]

Re: I recently came across a copy of Saga Frontier II

Still, that was the end of that~