Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered from Square Enix is an enhanced remaster of the PS2 remake of the original Super Famicom Romancing SaGa game. This new version is out now for PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam, iOS, and Android worldwide bringing improved visuals, quality of life enhancements, and new content. Having only recently gotten into the SaGa series thanks to the current versions of Romancing SaGa 2 and 3, I’ve been excited to try more of the games from this series I never got to play back in the day. SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions remains my favorite, and I was hoping to see Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered serve as another great entry point into the SaGa games. For this Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered Switch and Steam Deck review, I’ll be covering both versions of the game and also whether you should buy Square Enix’s newest SaGa game today as a newcomer to this game.
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered features and gameplay improvements
Since this is my first time playing Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song, I was curious to see how it felt as a newcomer. I’ve already experienced recent SaGa releases, so I went in knowing what to expect from a Kawazu game, but I’ve come away mostly pleased with Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered on both Switch and Steam Deck. The visuals are a mixed bag though with some cut-scenes looking quite bad. It took me about an hour to get used to the aesthetic and I think Square Enix has done a great job with the interface and how the menus look on modern displays. In addition to the massive amount of content included in this release, you have access to a library to view loads of gorgeous artwork and listen to music from the remaster from the title screen.
When you boot up Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered and try to begin a new game, you are prompted with a choice to either play with additional content on or off. I played with it on, but if you’re a purist who just wants to have an experience like the PS2 version with no new content, you can do that here. The faster speed options, auto-save, mini-map, fast travel, and other additions make me really wish other Square Enix remasters had this much attention put into improving playability. This is still very much a classic SaGa experience when it comes to progression going by what I’ve played of the ports and remasters on current platforms, but it has a lot of quality of life features that have made the overall experience a lot better.
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered on Nintendo Switch
After spending a bit of time with Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered on Switch about a week ago when I got my review code, I was a bit disappointed by some of the frame pacing issues early on in one playthrough. The day one patch seems to improve the overall performance based on the new playthrough I started, but I still notice some minor stutter issues while playing. The performance here isn’t as erratic as SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions on Switch, but it was noticeable enough. Despite that, Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered on Switch is still a version of the game I can recommend to anyone interested with how good it looks and feels on Nintendo’s hybrid system.
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered on Steam Deck
Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered arrives Verified on Steam Deck by Valve from day one, and it is a great experience on the system. While I will only focus on the Steam Deck for this part of my review, I wanted to highlight that Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered is capped at 30fps even on higher refresh rate displays on PC when it comes to the gameplay. The interface and menus run at a higher frame rate (120fps on my laptop), but the gameplay is still 30fps. Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered runs and looks great on Steam Deck. I had no issues with it at all in the time I’ve spent with it on PC and Steam Deck. It even has PlayStation button prompts on PC when using a DualSense controller.
The only downside to this release is one that affects almost every SaGa release. The lack of hand-holding or easy difficulty mode here will put some players off. These aren’t your everyday turn-based RPGs, and that’s where they shine. Every SaGa game I’ve played, including the ones that are very challenging, have always made me want to play more and regret not getting into the series sooner. I am yet to play a modern game that manages to give you as much freedom and include this much quality content for such a low asking price. Just be ready for a JRPG that demands more from you than the usual games in the genre if you’re considering grabbing Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered today.
While it isn’t the best way to get into the SaGa series, Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered features a plethora of enhancements and new content making it worth your time if you’re interested in checking out a more unique JRPG. If you’re completely new to SaGa, I’d still recommend SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions, but we now have another release that is available on modern platforms giving new players access to older Square Enix games they might not have played before. Once Square Enix addresses the remaining performance issues on Switch, a physical release like with other SaGa games would be great to have.
Hopefully my Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remastered Switch and Steam Deck Review helped you decide if Square Enix’s newest SaGa remaster is worth your time right now. It is currently available on PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam, iOS, and Android.
