Meet 'Romancing SaGa 2' Producer and Experience Steam Deck Gameplay

Many long-time gamers discovered the SaGa series through its numerous releases on past consoles. For me, Romancing SaGa 2 on iOS was my introduction almost a decade ago. I initially struggled, playing it like a typical JRPG. Today, however, I'm a huge SaGa fan (as evidenced by the photo below), so I was thrilled to see Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, a complete remake, announced for Switch, PC, and PlayStation.

For this dual review, I played the Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Steam Deck demo and interviewed producer Shinichi Tatsuke (also behind Trials of Mana's remake). We discussed the game, lessons learned from Trials of Mana, accessibility, potential Xbox and mobile ports, coffee, and more. This interview, conducted via video call, has been transcribed and edited for brevity.

TouchArcade (TA): Having remade the beloved Trials of Mana, and now Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, another classic, how does it feel?

Shinichi Tatsuke (ST): Both Trials of Mana and the SaGa series predate the Square Enix merger—they're legendary Squaresoft titles. Remaking them is an incredible honor. Both games were released nearly 30 years ago, offering ample room for improvement. Romancing SaGa 2 is uniquely designed, with systems that remain unique even today. Its originality made it a perfect candidate for a modern remake.

TA: The original Romancing SaGa 2 was notoriously challenging (I got a game over in the first ten minutes!). The remake offers multiple difficulty levels. How did you balance faithfulness to the original with accessibility, especially for newcomers to the SaGa series?

ST: The SaGa series' difficulty is well-known, and many hardcore fans consider it essential. However, many potential players are intimidated by this reputation. Many know of SaGa but haven't played it because it seems too hard.

To address this, we introduced multiple difficulty settings: normal and casual. Normal caters to standard RPG players, while casual allows players to focus on the story. Our team included core SaGa fans, so this decision was a collaborative effort. It's like adding honey to spicy curry—the original Romancing SaGa 2 is the spicy curry, and casual mode is the honey, making it more accessible.

TA: How did you balance the original experience for veterans with quality-of-life improvements? How did you choose which features to modernize while maintaining the challenge for longtime fans?

ST: The SaGa series isn't just about difficulty; it's about how difficult it is to understand. The original hid crucial information, like enemy weaknesses and defense stats, forcing players to figure things out. This wasn't challenging, it was unfair. The remake displays this information, creating a fairer, more enjoyable experience. We addressed other overly difficult aspects to create a more balanced game for modern players.

TA: Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven runs exceptionally well on my Steam Deck. Considering Trials of Mana's releases on multiple platforms, including mobile, was the game optimized specifically for Steam Deck?

Editor’s Note: This question was asked before the game received an official Steam Deck compatibility rating.

ST: Yes, the full game will be compatible and playable on Steam Deck, as you've experienced in the demo.

TA: Can you comment on the development time for Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven?

ST: I can't give specifics, but main development began toward the end of 2021.

TA: What did you learn from the Trials of Mana remake that you applied to Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven?

ST: Trials of Mana taught us what players want in a remake. For example, regarding the soundtrack, players prefer arrangements faithful to the originals, but with improved quality due to modern technology. We offered a choice between original and rearranged tracks in Trials of Mana, a feature we also included in Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven.

We also made adjustments to the graphics. Mana's characters are smaller and more adorable; SaGa's characters are taller and more serious. We used lighting effects instead of texture shadows to maintain a realistic style suitable for SaGa's world. We leveraged past experiences but also developed new techniques for this remake.

I thanked Tatsuke and the team for the English "Romancing SaGa 2 Primer" video.

TA: Trials of Mana eventually came to mobile. Are there plans to release Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven on mobile or Xbox?

ST: We have no current plans for those platforms.

TA: Finally, what's your coffee preference?

ST: I don't drink coffee; I dislike bitter drinks, and beer as well.

Thanks to Shinichi Tatsuke, Jordan Aslett, Sara Green, and Rachel Mascetti for their time and assistance.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Steam Deck Impressions

Receiving a Steam key for the Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven demo was exciting but also slightly nerve-wracking. The trailer looked amazing, but I worried about the Steam Deck experience. Fortunately, the game is excellent on the Steam Deck OLED, making me question the need for the PS5 or Switch versions. The few hours I played were impressive.

The game looks and sounds fantastic. The remake gradually introduces battle mechanics, stats, etc. Returning players will appreciate quality-of-life improvements, smoother combat, and new audio options. Newcomers will find it an excellent entry point into the SaGa series. The visuals enhance accessibility, but it retains the core Romancing SaGa 2 experience with updated visuals and features. Even on the hardest difficulty, the challenge remains.

The visuals exceeded expectations. While I loved the Trials of Mana remake, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven might be even better (possibly because I prefer the original game). The PC port is surprisingly good on Steam Deck. Sound and language options include original and remake soundtracks, English and Japanese audio, and various graphical settings.

The PC port allows adjusting screen mode, resolution (with 720p support on Steam Deck), frame rate, v-sync, dynamic resolution, graphics presets, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, shadow quality, and 3D model resolution. Even with mostly high settings, I achieved a near-locked 90fps at 720p on my Steam Deck OLED.

I used English audio for my playthrough, and the voice acting is good, though I'll likely play with Japanese audio in the full game. The remake successfully modernizes the game while retaining its SaGa identity.

I'm eager to play the full game and see how the demo performs on consoles. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a must-have for RPG fans. Hopefully, this will introduce more players to the SaGa series, but Square Enix needs to give us SaGa Frontier 2 next!

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven launches October 24th on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PS4. A free demo is available on all platforms.

You can find our other interviews here, including recent ones with Sukeban Games, FuturLab, Capcom's Shuhei Matsumoto, Santa Ragione, Peter ‘Durante’ Thoman, M2, Digital Extremes, Team NINJA, Sonic Dream Team, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and more. Thanks for reading!