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[heringer]

It's a game that came out originally in 1992. At that time, the complexity/depth of story and gameplay systems was on par, if not a bit higher (imo) than Final Fantasy.

You will probably discover this if you put more hours into it. SaGa games aren't for everyone, but I definitely wouldn't call RS2 a generic jrpg.

It's not as focused on a single narrative as Final Fantasy is, and the dialogue and cutscenes are very short and to the point, but there are a lot of contextual stories that you come across through the world. The game is more like an open-world jrpg (keeping in mind technical limitations at the time) and has a lot of different branches for all the events in the story based on your event choices, your main character, generation, etc. The game doesn't really guide you much, you have to kind of figure things out on your own, or read a guide, lol.

Yeah, I guess there's the age factor, though I think FFIV and FFV are still ahead. FFIV in terms of story and V in terms of gameplay.

But again, I haven't played much yet. Hopefully things will click. Accessibility isn't the main issue I have with the game.

 

[Kientin]

Ugh, now that it's being developed for Vita, it makes me wonder if they are going to port it to PC and that is stopping me from picking up the mobile version. Not sure what to do.

 

[Dr. Benton Quest]

Ugh, now that it's being developed for Vita, it makes me wonder if they are going to port it to PC and that is stopping me from picking up the mobile version. Not sure what to do.

It stopped me as well. I'm super tempted to just double dip though.

 

[wrowa]

Ugh, now that it's being developed for Vita, it makes me wonder if they are going to port it to PC and that is stopping me from picking up the mobile version. Not sure what to do.

They aren't developing a Vita version now, it already exists. In Japan, iOS and handheld versions released simultaneously.

 

[Kientin]

They aren't developing a Vita version now, it already exists. In Japan, iOS and handheld versions released simultaneously.

Ahh so it was developed alongside the mobile version then. That changes things a bit.

 

[heringer]

Any tips for the

Spoiler

Gelatinous matter

boss fight?

I don't have any mages and I believe grinding doesn't help in this game. What other choice do I have considering I can't remove any members of my party to add a mage?

 

[TurnipFritters]

Presumably they're working to fix the Vita version for the NA release (and patch the JP one). I wouldn't rule out a Steam version on down the line either.

 

[Megalosaro]

I would take all three snes sagas over ff 4 and 5.

I cleared out the gem mine. I had a feeling the generation was going to end, so I saved before fighting boss.

I was right.

Should I go magic user?

 

[Ourobolus]

Damn Rocbouquet is hard. Dealt a bunch of damage but suddenly she starts regen'ing 999HP each round.

 

[Megalosaro]

Presumably they're working to fix the Vita version for the NA release (and patch the JP one). I wouldn't rule out a Steam version on down the line either.

Can't watch the video, but what is the issue?

 

[MilkBeard]

Any tips for the

Spoiler

Gelatinous matter

boss fight?

I don't have any mages and I believe grinding doesn't help in this game. What other choice do I have considering I can't remove any members of my party to add a mage?

Just skip it for now and come back later.

You can still physically damage it despite what the brawler says. You just have to damage it enough each round more than the regeneration rate and survive. I had one mage and my main character had a spell at the time and it didn't seem to make a difference over a decent weapon skill.

 

[TurnipFritters]

Can't watch the video, but what is the issue?

There are inexplicable load screens whenever you enter a new room.

 

[Eusis]

There are inexplicable load screens whenever you enter a new room.

Hmm, if the game will perform the same on Vita as phones afterall then maybe I will wait rather than just jumping in on iOS.

Would like it if it were 60 FPS too, I want it to be as smooth as an SNES game too, this 30 FPS 2D crap shouldn't be happening on modern hardware of any reasonable capability.

 

[TurnipFritters]

To be clear: I don't know if they're actually fixing it, I'm just assuming that's the case because why else would they delay it?

 

[Eusis]

To be clear: I don't know if they're actually fixing it, I'm just assuming that's the case because why else would they delay it?

They didn't think there was any demand for that version so they didn't bother with it. Which I still feels ignores the reality of the audience for this kind of game, and this might validate it.

 

[heringer]

Is the thieves quest worth doing if I already beat the fortress? (Meaning, should I go back a save?)

 

[Ourobolus]

I never feel like I have enough defense. I've been upgrading in Avalon when I can, but things still 1- and 2-shot me all over.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Hmm, if the game will perform the same on Vita as phones afterall then maybe I will wait rather than just jumping in on iOS.

Would like it if it were 60 FPS too, I want it to be as smooth as an SNES game too, this 30 FPS 2D crap shouldn't be happening on modern hardware of any reasonable capability.

I remember reading that performance was iffy on Vita, but since it's equally iffy on my iPhone 5s (which has a CPU two generations ahead and a GPU one generation ahead) I'd just wait - it's another a badly optimised Unity game.

Hopefully load times are good on Vita, though. While Adventures of Mana on my 5s has no load times, they are noticeable on the Vita version.

 

[Ourobolus]

Yay, Rocbouquet down. Finally just said screw it and Mist Covered my Emperor for the whole fight even though he was the one dealing the most damage. Oh well.

EDIT: All right, let's try a Hunter Emperor this time...

 

[Eusis]

I remember reading that performance was iffy on Vita, but since it's equally iffy on my iPhone 5s (which has a CPU two generations ahead and a GPU one generation ahead) I'd just wait - it's another a badly optimised Unity game.

Hopefully load times are good on Vita, though. While Adventures of Mana on my 5s has no load times, they are noticeable on the Vita version.

I've heard they were bad on Vita. Wonder how they are on iPhone 6 and 6s, if it's crap there too I may just wait on Vita afterall.

 

[MilkBeard]

Finally beat my first Hero, after 28 hours, lol. Dantarg went down fairly easily. He had a lot of HP, but I was casting defense buffs and experimenting with Flowing Strike, which is supposed to lower enemy's strength. It seemed to work, well enough.

I'm far enough into the game where I think that I will start dropping the Heroes pretty quickly. I've already gotten all of the expansions possible for Avalon (so far) and there are two Heroes that I know of within easy distance, I was just waiting until my party was a bit stronger. I will probably try Rocboquet next.

 

[Ourobolus]

Finally beat my first Hero, after 28 hours, lol. Dantarg went down fairly easily. He had a lot of HP, but I was casting defense buffs and experimenting with Flowing Strike, which is supposed to lower enemy's strength. It seemed to work, well enough.

I'm far enough into the game where I think that I will start dropping the Heroes pretty quickly. I've already gotten all of the expansions possible for Avalon (so far) and there are two Heroes that I know of within easy distance, I was just waiting until my party was a bit stronger. I will probably try Rocboquet next.

I'm at the point where I think I want to grind a little bit for crowns to finish some upgrades. I have the orchard and magic school, plus a few weapon/armor upgrades. I want the university and to get some better equipment though.

Sad thing is that I need to do a scenario first because my revenue has been cut in half due to it >_<

EDIT: Rocbouquet was my first hero, too...at about 11 hours in, on like my...fifth emperor?

EDIT 2: Also, I REALLY need some debuff skills/spells. I'm still getting wrecked, and Air Screen/Mist Cover/the earth-strength spell (whatever it was called) aren't cutting it.

 

[heringer]

I've heard they were bad on Vita. Wonder how they are on iPhone 6 and 6s, if it's crap there too I may just wait on Vita afterall.

No loading issues on iPhone 6. It's pretty fast.

 

[Ourobolus]

No loading issues on iPhone 6. It's pretty fast.

I'm on 5S and there aren't any loading issues either. 6/6S should be fine.

 

[Eusis]

No loading issues on iPhone 6. It's pretty fast.

Yep, going to betray handhelds for this one then. Maybe I'll consider double dipping when it gets good or cheap on Vita or it shows up on Steam.

 

[MilkBeard]

I'm at the point where I think I want to grind a little bit for crowns to finish some upgrades. I have the orchard and magic school, plus a few weapon/armor upgrades. I want the university and to get some better equipment though.

Sad thing is that I need to do a scenario first because my revenue has been cut in half due to it >_<

EDIT: Rocbouquet was my first hero, too...at about 11 hours in, on like my...fifth emperor?

EDIT 2: Also, I REALLY need some debuff skills/spells. I'm still getting wrecked, and Air Screen/Mist Cover/the earth-strength spell (whatever it was called) aren't cutting it.

You beat Rocbouquet after 11 hours? I wonder if these bosses scale. I didn't try fighting her, but I tried taking on the Stone Golem, which was just a bit too strong at the time (the poison spell was causing too much damage and he casts it often). But I hear that Rocbouquet is tougher with more males, lol... I used a secondary save for that spot and had to go back a bit because you get trapped into fighting the golem if you choose that path.

As for spells, air screen seems to work okay, and I've given all party members magic so that we can cast heal and buffs effectively. I don't really have any advanced magic beyond that. The fire buff is pretty good though.

 

[Ourobolus]

You beat Rocbouquet after 11 hours? I wonder if these bosses scale. I didn't try fighting her, but I tried taking on the Stone Golem, which was just a bit too strong at the time (the poison spell was causing too much damage and he casts it often). But I hear that Rocbouquet is tougher with more males, lol... I used a secondary save for that spot and had to go back a bit because you get trapped into fighting the golem if you choose that path.

As for spells, air screen seems to work okay, and I've given all party members magic so that we can cast heal and buffs effectively. I don't really have any advanced magic beyond that. The fire buff is pretty good though.

I think they do scale somewhat.

Also you don't have to fight the Stone Guardian - if you don't say yes to helping her she just fights you right there.

And yes, I only had two males at the time, since her Temptation skill can charm them (and if she charms the Emperor it automatically takes you to fight the Guardian).

 

[MilkBeard]

I think they do scale somewhat.

Also you don't have to fight the Stone Guardian - if you don't say yes to helping her she just fights you right there.

And yes, I only had two males at the time, since her Temptation skill can charm them (and if she charms the Emperor it automatically takes you to fight the Guardian).

Wow, that's funny. Anyway, I might try taking on the Guardian again with my new crew. Actually, I don't know if I'll be able to get the option from her because my emperor is female this time, so I might just fight it beforehand

EDIT: I'm also going to try focus on upgrading armor, because like you, I am running up against some occasional crazy monsters that have weirdly powerful hits. For example, in this cave I was exploring, these aquatic looking dragon things have a tentacle attack that does 1500 fucking damage. Sweet Jesus. Also, whenever a monster attacks with 'kick,' I usually brace myself. That is one of the most weirdly overpowered monster attacks.

EDIT: I just forgot that I already beat Noel as well. I can't remember if he counts as a Hero or not.

 

[MilkBeard]

Alright, took down Rocboquet after doing the Iron Guardian. She wasn't too bad.

And now, Avalon is ready for it's first mole Emperor.

 

[TurnipFritters]

Gilden Strength and Air Screen buff you based on your magic levels. GS is (Earth Level/4) + 2. Air Screen is (Wind Level/3) + 2. Water Dance is (Water Level/3) + 2.

For advanced magic, you might want Reviver from Fire (autorevive if you fall), Quicktime from Water (any enemy that hasn't acted when you cast it loses their turn, you can combine it with Rapid Stream formation to completely shut enemies down), and the Elixir water/earth synth spell.

 

[Sykotik]

I'm ~4 generations in, and man is this getting rough.

Did I screw myself by sticking to the same archetype for the emperor? I haven't learned a single new formation.

Also really haven't learned that many techs. I just unlocked the second tier of magic, but still no cross-element spells.

I've been trying to evade enemies to lessen scaling too, but still, I'm having a hard time.

 

[MilkBeard]

I'm ~4 generations in, and man is this getting rough.

Did I screw myself by sticking to the same archetype for the emperor? I haven't learned a single new formation.

Also really haven't learned that many techs. I just unlocked the second tier of magic, but still no cross-element spells.

I've been trying to evade enemies to lessen scaling too, but still, I'm having a hard time.

Yeah, the game starts getting serious after a few generations.

I've noticed that skills tend to spark on more powerful enemies (at least in my experience), so experiment with that. Don't use only the same skills over and over, experiment with different ones.

The formations aren't that big of a deal, but they do help (at least in my experience). Try choosing a different type of emperor next time.

Also, have you been creating new armor/weapons? Focus on that for a while. I'm pretty sure they upgrade after a certain number of battles like the expansions do.

 

[Sykotik]

Also, have you been creating new armor/weapons? Focus on that for a while.

I've tried creating a few - only weapons, actually.. I didn't realize you could force them to complete. I'm also running low on funds, now. All-in-all, I think my empire might crumble. lol

If it doesn't turn around soon, I think I may just restart and apply what I've learned to a new play-through.

It does seem techs spark on powerful enemies more often. The issue now is those enemies also wreck me!

 

[MilkBeard]

I was at a loss for completing the

Spoiler

haunted ship

quest because I already used up the potion on the previous quest....then I checked the supply at the castle, and there was one in there. Doh!

I also saw three Anima draught potions, sweet.

Thought I was locked out there for a minute.

 

[Ourobolus]

I was at a loss for completing the

Spoiler

haunted ship

quest because I already used up the potion on the previous quest....then I checked the supply at the castle, and there was one in there. Doh!

I also saw three Anima draught potions, sweet.

Thought I was locked out there for a minute.

Speaking of which, it wasn't until Gen 5 that I realized that I had SP recovery potions in the vault.

...that would have helped out a lot for some bosses. -.-

 

[Sykotik]

I keep just barely scraping by to generation switches. 1 LP, 2 LP, etc, etc. Searching for scenarios I can complete safely. Intense.

 

[JCG]

...I can only imagine that the original SFC/SNES release came with a hefty manual or they must have sold one of those big old-school strategy guides, because there's so many quirky systems involved that it seems initially overwhelming to consciously keep track of everything. But, honestly, the game itself is pretty rad at its core. I am still finding fun even in constant defeat.

 

[vag 2.0]

i've played the game start to finish on a 2013 ipad mini and performance/stability wise i've had no problems at all

 

[MilkBeard]

...I can only imagine that the original SFC/SNES release came with a hefty manual or they must have sold one of those big old-school strategy guides, because there's so many quirky systems involved that it seems initially overwhelming to consciously keep track of everything. But, honestly, the game itself is pretty rad at its core. I am still finding fun even in constant defeat.

Yeah, I assume something along these lines. I don't know what guides were like back in those days (and in Japan, no less) or if they were as common, but I had a guide for SaGa Frontier.

And SaGa Frontier had a whole book published about the story/lore and many details that didn't make it into the game (Japanese only, unfortunately). I can assume something was made for these games as well.

 

[MilkBeard]

I found a review for the mobile release on toucharcade that was posted today:
Romancing SaGa 2 review

Seems to like the game. Also, this is a good write-up for people who are unfamiliar with the series and want a brief synopsis of how the game works.

EDIT: Also as a bonus, here is a review of the original version by Michael Baker, the guy who wrote the only real english guide that has existed for a while now:

Michael Baker's review

 

[TurnipFritters]

I've tried creating a few - only weapons, actually.. I didn't realize you could force them to complete. I'm also running low on funds, now. All-in-all, I think my empire might crumble. lol

If it doesn't turn around soon, I think I may just restart and apply what I've learned to a new play-through.

It does seem techs spark on powerful enemies more often. The issue now is those enemies also wreck me!

You can use the New Game + feature with your current data, so there's that.

 

[Sykotik]

You can use the New Game + feature with your current data, so there's that.

Didn't even cross my mind. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Aeana]

...I can only imagine that the original SFC/SNES release came with a hefty manual or they must have sold one of those big old-school strategy guides, because there's so many quirky systems involved that it seems initially overwhelming to consciously keep track of everything. But, honestly, the game itself is pretty rad at its core. I am still finding fun even in constant defeat.

SaGa games have a long history of this kind of thing. Even The Last Remnant left the player scratching their head. None of them have ever come with a manual that explains absolutely everything.

This is all that we got as far as manual goes for RS2: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/touffu/e/be47ee4ea20f9142d3936dad3cb1ec8c

Thankfully, a larger guide did eventually come out which explained some stuff. But not to the detail that it really needed.

 

[MilkBeard]

Damn, just smoked Subier. The thing is, he could have probably wiped me easily if he used the Tidal wave attack more than once. I decided that I would just go all out instead of healing and was able to take him down before he used it again.

 

[TurnipFritters]

Damn, just smoked Subier. The thing is, he could have probably wiped me easily if he used the Tidal wave attack more than once. I decided that I would just go all out instead of healing and was able to take him down before he used it again.

I feel you're at the mercy of the RNG in boss battles here moreso than in any other SaGa game.

 

[heringer]

Eh, I give up trying to like this. I hate this game, wish I could refund.

A shame, because the remake itself is pretty sweet (aside from the dumb UI). If only FFV and VI got the same treatment.

 

[MilkBeard]

Damn. Noel post-Rocbouquet is crazy. Hardest boss so far. Even with my 600-700HP party he wipes us out in no time. Gonna wait until later to fight him again, lol.

 

[Ourobolus]

Damn. Noel post-Rocbouquet is crazy. Hardest boss so far. Even with my 600-700HP party he wipes us out in no time. Gonna wait until later to fight him again, lol.

Haven't played in a few days, but I think Noel or Subier is next on my list.

 

[thelooseteeth]

Beat the game couple days ago. Also the bonus bosses, including the ultimate boss (who negates quicktime). Halfway through my new game plus and trying out new paths.

For anyone needing advice, focus heavily on magic early on--build the research center and get those fusion spells unlocked, or you'll regret it down the line.

Also, there is some game breaking loot to be found in the bonus dungeon that unlocks after Gerard's era. It also seems that any battles in the maze of memory don't go towards moving the enemy rank up, so it's a great place to burn though battles while your r and d guys make new toys.

 

[MilkBeard]

Beat the game couple days ago. Also the bonus bosses, including the ultimate boss (who negates quicktime). Halfway through my new game plus and trying out new paths.

For anyone needing advice, focus heavily on magic early on--build the research center and get those fusion spells unlocked, or you'll regret it down the line.

Also, there is some game breaking loot to be found in the bonus dungeon that unlocks after Gerard's era. It also seems that any battles in the maze of memory don't go towards moving the enemy rank up, so it's a great place to burn though battles while your r and d guys make new toys.

Yeah, I had read that somewhere, so it's a good place to go. It also has a linear design for monster level. So no more getting stuck, really, as long as you have those places open.