Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International from Red Art Games and SQUARE ENIX is a revamped take that expands on the remaster of the original Romancing SaGa, and it’s now out on Nintendo Switch. Learn more in our Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International review!

 

Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International from Red Art Games and SQUARE ENIX is a revamped take that expands on the remaster of the original Romancing SaGa, and it’s now out on Nintendo Switch. The original Romancing Saga was released way back in 1992 for the Super Famicom in Japan. It was released by Square. You know, the company that existed before it merged with Enix, to give us the SQUARE ENIX most of you are familiar with. Square was mainly known for the beloved Final Fantasy series, while Enix had the massively popular and fun Dragon Quest franchise under its wings. Romancing SaGa remained a Japanese exclusive until 2005, when we got Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song for Sony’s PlayStation 2.

Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song on PS2 was a full remake of the classic Super Famicom release, bringing everything into the 3D era of gaming with revamped graphics, a reworked art and soundtrack, and some extra content that was initially cut for the original version on Nintendo’s home console. That means we got a new character, a new art style that pays homage to the original sprite designs while expanding on each character’s personality traits in visual form. The version released outside of Japan did not include the Minstrel Song part of the title, since there were – technically – no Romancing SaGa games available outside of Japan. You see, there are three Game Boy releases known as The Final Fantasy Legend, Final Fantasy Legend II, and Final Fantasy Legend III, which are actually part of the SaGa series, but were slotted within the Final Fantasy franchise instead.

What are we getting for this new Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International version of the remake? This new release includes:

• Brand new localization in French, German, Italian, and Spanish (English also included)
• Full HD graphical update
• Schiele, Marina, Monica, and Flammar can now be recruited
• Enhanced and more difficult bosses
• High speed mode
• Mini Maps
• New Game+ mode

 

With this one being a remastered take on the classic Romancing SaGa experience, the first thing you’ll need to do as you begin your journey will be to pick whether the additional content that has been specifically added for this new take should be included or not during your run. You won’t be able to change this choice, unless you’re loading a save and decide to change from Additional Content Off to Additional Content On, but you won’t be able to go the other way around. I personally suggest you go with the Additional Content On option so that you can experience everything that this remaster has to offer.

The next choice that you’ll need to make will be picking which of the eight characters you will start to play as: Albert, Aisha, Gray, Claudia, Jamil, Sif, Hawke, or Barbara. Each one of them will have different starting stat values for HP, LP, strength, vitality, dexterity, agility, intellect, willpower, compassion, and charisma for you to consider. As for their backgrounds, here’s a bit of an intro on each one of them!

Albert is the son of Rudolph, Lord of the isthmus in the Kingdom of Rosalia. He’s the eldest son and thus underwent training in both arms and legends from a young age. Aisha is a Taralian girl from the Steppes of Galessa in the Dry Lands. Her parents passed away when she was only a baby, which is why Nizam, her grandfather, ended up raising her. Gray is the quintessential adventurer who travels the world in search of riches, and he’s always ready to give it his all. Claudia is the guardian of the Mazewood at the heart of the Bafal Empire. She was raised by a witch named Eule, who helped her connect with nature.

Jamil is a young thief working around Estamir, the capital of Kjaraht. He had a troubled childhood, since he was abandoned and left as an orphan, but that didn’t make him lose his positive demeanor. Sif is from Valhalland and is a fearsome warrior who has trained in combat from a very young age in order to protect her village. Hawke is the Captain of the pirate ship Lady Luck, and he uses his good fortune and luck to ride the rides as he plunders treasure. The last one is Barbara. She’s an accomplished dancer and singer who travels through Mardias, which allows her to learn about everything and everyone in the land.

While exploring each location, you can make your character walk if you use the D-Pad or have it run by using the left analog stick. You can also activate autorun by pressing the ZR button, so that you only need to worry about steering your character in the right direction. Press the A button to interact as needed. Pressing in on the left analog stick will allow you to review your current quests.

For battles, you’ll be able to see enemies as they move around each area, and a fight will begin when you come in contact with them. When in combat, you’ll be issuing commands to your party members on a turn-based basis. The round will then play out with each party member and enemy taking their action based on their stats. You’ll need to make the most of regular actions, as well as those that consume Battle Points (BP). BP is replenished at a steady pace each round, but it won’t carry over between battles, so you’ll need to make the most of them during each battle.

Weapons will have a DP value to consider. These are Durability Points, and actions may consume some DP. The greater the value of a weapon’s DP Modifier, the less DP that is consumed. You can replenish DP by repairing and tempering weapons at inns, blacksmiths, or synthesis. If an item’s DP falls to 0, then it can’t be used until it’s tempered or repaired. An item will also have a weight to consider, as well as a value for AIL RES and MAG RES. AIL RES is a resistance to some status effects. MAG RES, as expected, is a resistance to certain magic attacks.

Be sure to try to have the best weapons and armor pieces available for your party members at all times. You can add weapons and items under the Weapons section in the Status section of the menu. The Armor section will allow you to add equipment to each party member. They can use a shield, as well as something for their head, chest, hands, legs, neck, and ring.

Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International is a revamped take that expands on the remaster of the original Romancing SaGa, and it’s now out on Nintendo Switch. The original Romancing Saga was released way back in 1992 for the Super Famicom in Japan. It was released by Square. You know, the company that existed before it merged with Enix, to give us the SQUARE ENIX most of you are familiar with. Square was mainly known for the beloved Final Fantasy series, while Enix had the massively popular and fun Dragon Quest franchise under its wings. Romancing SaGa remained a Japanese exclusive until 2005, when we got Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song for Sony’s PlayStation 2.

You can customize your experience by changing elements such as the rumble strength, HUD localization, menu layout, visual and audio accessibility, autorun sensitivity, minimap display settings, maximum minimap size adjustment, fullscreen minimap and its opacity, area movement screen, battle speed, battle command size, and voice language, to name some examples.

The game offers a Library segment where you can visit the Sound and Gallery sections. The Sound one allows you to listen to the 100+ songs on offer. As for the Gallery section, it includes 40+ illustrations that highlight the different characters in the game in style. Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International is out on Nintendo Switch with a $24.99 price tag. You can also go and visit our friends at Red Art Games and get a physical copy of the game on Nintendo Switch for €44.99.

Disclaimer
This Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Red Art Games.