Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Interview With Game Producer Shinichi Tatsuke and Steam Deck Hands-On Preview

Many longtime fans discovered the SaGa series through past console releases. For me, Romancing SaGa 2 on iOS was my introduction almost a decade ago. Initially, I struggled, mistaking it for a typical JRPG. Now, I'm a devoted SaGa enthusiast (see the photo below!), so I was thrilled by the recent announcement of Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven, a complete remake for Switch, PC, and PlayStation.

For this dual review, I played the Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Steam Deck demo and interviewed its producer, Shinichi Tatsuke (also behind Trials of Mana's remake). Our video call covered the remake, lessons learned from Trials of Mana, accessibility, potential Xbox and mobile ports, coffee preferences, and more. This transcription is edited for brevity.

TouchArcade (TA): What's it like remaking beloved titles like Trials of Mana and now Romancing SaGa 2?

Shinichi Tatsuke (ST): Both Trials of Mana and the SaGa series predate the Square Enix merger (the Squaresoft era). They're legendary Square titles. Remaking them is a huge honor. Both games are nearly 30 years old, offering significant room for improvement. It was a rewarding experience.

Romancing SaGa 2 is exceptionally unique, even by today's standards. Its innovative systems remain compelling, making 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 10 minutes!). The remake offers multiple difficulty settings. How did you balance faithfulness to the original with accessibility?

ST: The SaGa series' difficulty is well-known, especially among its dedicated fanbase. Some consider it essential to the SaGa experience, while others find it a significant barrier to entry. Many know about SaGa but haven't played it due to perceived difficulty.

To address this, we introduced adjustable difficulty levels: Normal and Casual. Normal caters to standard RPG players, while Casual prioritizes narrative enjoyment. Our team included core SaGa fans, ensuring a balanced approach. It's like adding honey to spicy curry—the original game's difficulty is the spice, and Casual mode is the honey, making it more palatable.

TA: How did you update the original experience for veterans while adding quality-of-life improvements?

ST: SaGa isn't just about difficulty; it's about how opaque the gameplay was. The original lacked visible enemy weaknesses and other stats, forcing players to figure things out. We felt this wasn't challenging, but unfair. The remake makes weaknesses visible, creating a fairer, more enjoyable experience. We focused on making adjustments to areas that were overly difficult in the original to improve accessibility for modern players.

TA: The Steam Deck demo ran remarkably well. Considering your work on Trials of Mana, which also saw mobile and multiple console releases, has the team optimized specifically for Steam Deck?

Editor’s Note: This question was asked before the 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: How long was development for Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven?

ST: I can't give specifics, but main development began in late 2021.

TA: What did you learn from the Trials of Mana remake that informed Romancing SaGa 2?

ST: Trials of Mana taught us what players want in remakes. For example, regarding soundtracks, we learned that players generally prefer arrangements faithful to the originals, but with enhanced quality thanks to modern technology. We also learned that offering both original and remastered soundtracks was a popular choice, so we included that in Romancing SaGa 2 as well.

We also made adjustments specific to SaGa. The character art style is different; SaGa characters are taller and the overall aesthetic is more serious. We used lighting effects to create shadows, unlike the texture-based shadows in Trials of Mana. We applied many lessons learned from Trials of Mana, but also developed new approaches for this remake.

At this point, I thanked him and the team for the helpful "Romancing SaGa 2 Primer" video.

TA: Trials of Mana came to mobile. Are there plans for Romancing SaGa 2 on mobile or Xbox?

ST: Currently, there are no plans for those platforms.

TA: Finally, what's your coffee preference?

ST: I don't drink coffee; I dislike bitter drinks. I don't drink beer either.

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

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven Steam Deck Impressions

Receiving a Steam key for the pre-release demo was exciting but also slightly nerve-wracking. The trailer looked amazing, but I worried about the Steam Deck experience. Thankfully, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is fantastic on the Steam Deck OLED. My demo playtime made me reconsider getting it on PS5 or Switch—it's that good on Valve's handheld.

Visually and aurally, the game is impressive on the Steam Deck. The remake gradually introduces core mechanics. Returning players will appreciate quality-of-life improvements and the new audio options, while newcomers will find it an excellent entry point into the SaGa series. The visuals enhance accessibility, but it remains true to its SaGa roots, and the original difficulty setting remains challenging.

The remake surpasses my expectations. I loved Trials of Mana's remake, but this might be even better (though my preference for the original Romancing SaGa 2 might influence that). The PC port runs exceptionally well on Steam Deck. Audio and visual options include selectable soundtracks (original or remastered), English or Japanese audio, and extensive graphical settings.

The PC port offers extensive customization: windowed/borderless/fullscreen modes, resolution (up to 720p on Steam Deck), frame rate (30-unlimited), v-sync, dynamic resolution, presets, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, shadow quality, and 3D model rendering resolution. Even with mostly maxed-out settings, I achieved a near-constant 90fps at 720p on my Steam Deck OLED.

I used English audio for my initial playthrough. The voice acting is good, but I'll likely try Japanese in the full release. The remake successfully modernizes Romancing SaGa 2 while preserving its unique identity.

I eagerly await the full game and will compare the console and Steam Deck experiences. Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a must-have for RPG fans. Hopefully, this will introduce more players to the SaGa series. Square Enix, please give us SaGa Frontier 2 next!

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