Introduction
Basic information
Developer Name: Square Enix
Full Name: Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered International
Release Date: December 1, 2022
Released on: PC, PlayStation, Switch
Cross Play: No
Initial thoughts
Receiving this key directly from the developer, I genuinely believed I was stepping into a fun, quirky JRPG filled with grinding, party development, and the kind of layered story progression that makes older Square Enix titles so addicting. I had every intention of immersing myself fully, optimizing my party, exploring thoroughly, and enjoying a traditional adventure. Instead, I was hit with one of the most aggressively counterintuitive systems I’ve ever encountered.
The game immediately teaches you one thing: FLEE. Run from everything. Avoid every monster as though they are radioactive, because every battle raises the Event Rank meter, which causes quests to vanish permanently and pushes late-game areas into good luck, idiot territory. If the Event Rank climbs too fast, the game essentially punishes you for even existing on the map.
To survive, you must rely on smoke bombs, refill them constantly, and pray every single inn in the world has the supplies you need. Newsflash: They often do not. I found myself traveling city to city like a panicked bird searching for a supplier. And despite all this, despite my best efforts, I still softlocked myself twice in the tutorial. The tutorial. The moment where most games try to earn your trust, this one just roundhouse-kicks you in the throat.
Story and setting
Plot overview
The plot itself, when you can access it, is full of branching choices, optional scenarios, and character-specific arcs that make the world feel expansive and alive. But the way the game locks quests behind the silently rising Event Rank makes the plot feel more like a reward for scholars than something a normal player gets to enjoy. Missing a quest because you dared to fight too many enemies feels like losing pages of a book you never got to read.
Then there’s the weird coding of progression, like in the pirate storyline, where you get forced into a gauntlet of dozens of pirates you cannot flee from. This single mandatory chain of fights rockets the Event Rank upward so violently that entire sections of the game afterward become genuinely unclearable. It punishes you for following the story and rewards you for avoiding it. Only SaGa could make narrative progression feel like playing with a landmine.
World building and immersion
The lore, the regions, the factions are impressive. The game’s world is unique and full of potential, but immersion gets torn to shreds by the gameplay rules. Instead of exploring like an adventurer, you become a terrified tourist sneaking past everything with a pocket full of smoke bombs, desperately trying not to trigger irreversible consequences.
Character development
Characters do have depth, but accessing that depth requires tiptoeing through the game’s systems like you’re defusing a bomb. The branching arcs are there, but the hoops you must jump through to even see them often overshadow the development itself.
Emotional impact
Emotionally, the game is the definition of whiplash. One moment you feel awe at its complexity, and the next you’re staring at the screen in disbelief as another party member dies because you misread a tutorial message or used the wrong skill. It’s a constant tug-of-war between admiration and pure frustration.
Rating for story and setting
I have visited multiple aspects of the story, and after some thought and objective thinking, I rated the story and setting with a 6.
Gameplay and mechanics
Core gameplay mechanics
This game takes everything traditional JRPGs taught you and throws it into the sun. My first save file? I fought monsters. I used abilities. Of course I played like a normal RPG player. Big mistake. Using abilities destroys weapon durability. Literally breaks them. They shatter if you rely on skills too much. Mobs give barely any gold, LP gets drained dangerously fast, and if LP hits zero, the character doesn’t faint, they die, permanently.
You can equip four weapons at once, which seems bizarre until you realize why. Skills destroy weapon durability so frequently that swapping weapons becomes essential to basic survival. Suddenly, four weapons doesn’t feel like versatility, it feels like the game handing you four sticks to break one at a time until you accept your suffering.
Difficulty and balance
This isn’t balanced in a traditional sense. It’s balanced for long-time SaGa veterans who know these mechanics by heart. For everyone else, it is absolute chaos. The pirate gauntlet, the forced fights, the LP drain, it feels like the game is punching you on purpose.
Pacing of the game
Pacing is entirely player-dependent, but in a stressful way. If you make even one wrong decision early on, your pacing collapses and you lock yourself out of content hours before realizing it.
Innovation and uniqueness
Uniqueness is its strongest attribute. The systems are so unlike anything else that the game feels like an experimental art project disguised as a JRPG. Some will call it brilliant; others will call it unplayable.
Controls and user interface
The UI is serviceable but cryptic. Important concepts are explained once, vaguely, and then buried forever. You must take notes like a scientist.
Microtransactions
None. The pain is free.
Rating
After combing through many of the mechanics, the pacing, and other factors of this game, I rated the gameplay and mechanics with an 5.
Graphics and art style
Quality of graphics and art direction
The visuals are unapologetically weird, somewhere between stylized charm and clunky marionette choreography. Characters move stiffly, animations snap oddly, and the camera feels like a relic of the N64 era. But even with all that, there’s a quirky charm that longtime fans adore.
Technical performances
It runs fine, but the camera occasionally feels like an enemy you must overcome. Just like the event rank meter!
Environment and design uniqueness
Every area feels distinct and crafted with intent, even if navigating them can feel like herding cats.
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style an objective rating. There are many things to consider, but ultimately, I rated this section with a 6.0.
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the game
This is genuinely outstanding. The soundtrack elevates scenes dramatically, even turning utterly baffling gameplay moments into something almost epic. It is easily the best part of the entire experience.
Sound effects quality
Adequate and non-intrusive.
Voice Acting
Limited, but functional for what the game is.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 7.5.
Replayability
Game Length and content volume
Enormous. Multiple characters, hundreds of quests, branching paths, and alternative outcomes. The content available is staggering.
Extra Content
The remaster improves quality-of-life features and brings in the international version’s unique tweaks, but the brutal soul of the game remains intact.
Replay value
High, for those who can stomach the gameplay loop. For others, starting a new run feels like punishment. Personally, after trying to get past the early stages multiple times, I would rather bang my head against a wall than start another character just to flee constantly from mobs.
Rating
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to rate the replayability and game length of Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered International with a 7.
Suggestions and comparisons
Suggestions and feedback
Honestly, suggesting changes feels almost blasphemous because this franchise is built on being unforgiving. But better tutorials, clearer explanations, more accessible early-game tools, and less punishing retreat mechanics would help immensely. The pirate gauntlet especially needs reworking, forcing a dozen battles that you cannot flee from is a nightmare that obliterates Event Rank stability.
Comparisons
Compared to standard JRPGs, this might as well be another genre entirely. Compared to other SaGa titles, it fits in perfectly, carrying the exact DNA that fans adore and newcomers fear.
Personal experiences and anecdotes
I still can’t believe how many times I said holy fuck during my playthroughs. My first major shock was losing a party member because I misread the tutorial about LP. I assumed LP was something refillable, no? LP is your existence. When it hits zero, the character is gone. Dead. Removed. And that wasn’t even the worst part.
The pirate storyline nearly ended me. Forced fights, mandatory losses of HP/LP, skyrocketing Event Rank. It set the rest of the game on fire. After that chain of battles, the inn didn’t refill smoke bombs, meaning escape became dangerous and nearly impossible. Every step, every enemy encounter, every button press felt like tiptoeing through a field of landmines.
I really, really tried to play this game to the fullest, but the idea of starting yet another character solely to run from everything feels less like gaming and more like psychological endurance training.
Rating
Taking in all the personal experiences with Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered, I give it a personal rating of 2.
Last words
Pros
- Incredibly unique systems
- Deep lore and branching stories
- Massive replayability for niche fans
- Outstanding soundtrack
- Creative combat structure
- A true challenge for masochistic RPG lovers
Cons
- Brutal learning curve
- LP death system is punishing and confusing
- Forced fights ruin Event Rank stability
- Graphics and camera feel ancient
- Impossible for newcomers to understand naturally
- Core gameplay loop discourages normal JRPG play
Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered International is one of the most niche, hardcore, bewildering JRPG experiences ever made. It will either become your new obsession or your new trauma. The systems are bold, abrasive, and unapologetic, crafting a world where only the most dedicated or passionate players find joy. For everyone else, it is a chaotic labyrinth of confusion, punishment, and unexpected charm.
FINAL RATING
7
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