Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered

[b]tl;dr[/b] If you're willing to jump down a deep rabbit hole of research, preparation, and understanding, this game is incredibly good, but I assume most people aren't these days. I love this game, and had a phenomenal experience with it, but getting that experience required innumerable resources from outside the game. I started with the original PS2 game manual, branched out to various online guides including the ones on Steam, and even called up a friend from elementary school who had played it before. Wild stuff. This is very much a game for which you need to do research to even get a base level understanding of its systems, so if that's not your thing, I advise against it. Once you have a good grasp on it, though, this game grabs back and doesn't let go. It's a wildly addicting JRPG that doesn't pull that off using "number-go-up" methods, but through genuinely interesting player choices on the macro and micro level. Every player will have a different experience, even when choosing the same starting character and going for the same ending, and I think that's beautiful. My 90(~20 not counted by Steam since I had no internet, I guess) hours represents 3(.5) full playthroughs(…

I bought this game purely for the opening OST and nostalgia reason. [h2] Opening OST [/h2] 20 years ago, I stopped my undergraduate study for a year for personal reason, and went to work for a newly setup bank branch in another state. I was crying everyday. My uni friend loaned me his PS2 to while away the time, when I was working with the bank. The bank rented a few houses as accommodation for the employees, as the new branch was located up the hill. There was no Internet or TV services at the houses. So, I got to use the PS2 + TV daily. Day after day, after I have finished work, I will play the huge bunch of video games until I reached this game. Initially, I played this game as a normal game, but over time, I started to get mesmerized by the opening OST of this game, even if I did not know a single word of the lyrics. I put down the controller every time I started the game. Then, the opening OST will loop itself again and again, if there is no button was pressed after the start menu OST has finished. Thus, I spent hundreds of hours just watching and listening to the opening OST looping itself. The opening OST was very soothing for my tears. [h2] Minuet [/h2] The openi…

they finished making the other half of the game

An insanely complicated and fun game for RPG fans who want something other than regular cookie cutter RPGs. Don't expect to be able to finish it on your first playthrough without a guide though. In my top 3 hardest games I've ever played. DarkSouls / Nioh / Hades etc, are utter child's play compared to SaGa games

epic. the bugs fly straight into your face just like irl

Played this on the PS2, again during COVID, and am now playing on Steam here with the QoL improvements, and I appreciate this game more each time. Ever since I played SaGa Frontier on the PS1, I always hoped that other titles in the series would be similar, and I would say that RS: Minstrel's Song is probably the closest (the biggest difference being the shift from sci-fi to more traditional fantasy) The story is simple, no long-winded back stories or friendship monologues, the towns and dungeons are just the right size and variety- large enough to give you a sense of scale, but your destination is still within a minute's stroll. The enemy encounter dodging/chaining system is intuitive and engaging, easy to master without getting dull. You can equip and use proficiencies like Climb, Pick Locks, etc which make each dungeon more distinct and interactive The game operates on a hidden "Event Rank" system - fighting battles causes time to pass, and, likewise, enemy difficulty scales with ER. These elements stress people out, but it's all in their heads. You can complete the game through grinding and persistence without mastering or monitoring all of the game's systems. For example…