SaGa: Scarlet Grace (2016)

Getting to grips with the combat in Scarlet Grace recaptured the feeling I had when I first played Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. That's the highest compliment I can pay to a JRPG combat system. Once I got over the steep learning curve, this became an absolute joy; good thing too, since battling encompasses the vast majority of the game. Even ostensibly easy mobs are a treat to fight, because a single right or wrong decision can turn the tide one way or the other. It's so fucking good, and quite tough at times, but also very forgiving. The best of all possible worlds.

The story and characters certainly take a back seat but I don't think it's to the game's detriment. On the contrary, there's a surprisingly compelling narrative bubbling under the surface, with some delicious mythological lore nuggets to uncover throughout. Not anywhere near as deep as the overwhelming deluge of mechanics and quest flags, but still.

But yeah, this might have eclipsed SMT3's Press Turn and Final Fantasy X's CTB as my favourite combat system in an RPG. Can't believe it's taken me this long to get round to SaGa, and I can't wait to try out some other entries.

Scarlet Grace has the best combat of any JRPG I've ever played. I don't want to write an entire treatise on the mechanics, but with all of the timeline manipulation, counters and interrupts, unite attack mechanic (if defeating an actor brings two actors of the same team adjacent on the timeline, a special attack happens), status effects, damage types, delayed spells, cover mechanic, etc. each turn becomes a puzzle leading to easily the most dynamic decision making I've ever experienced in the genre. The combat can be brutally hard -- there's almost always a risk of death, even in regular battles. That said, it's exceptional fair -- if you use your toolbox appropriately and come up with the right strategy, you'll make it through. Also the final boss, holy crap. They put phases inside the phases and I kept thinking I was gonna die, but somehow scraped by. Top notch send off.

Outside of the combat, though, the game is very stripped down. You essentially run around a world map to trigger events or combat at nodes. Towns are just a menu and the events are largely limited to simple dialogue with character models making poses to show emotion. As with most SaGa games, the overarching story is a bit vague, but still fairly enjoyable, with the side quests being stronger, though rather strange and still a bit vague at times. I'm down for that, but it's definitely not for everyone. Oh, there's 4 different main characters to chose from at the start, each with a different scenario. I chose Balmaint, the executioner. His story is very on-rails for a SaGa game, but I liked the characters so it was all good.

I'm a big fan of Kenji Ito's music, and Scarlet Grace is no exception. Similarly, I absolutely love Tomomi Kobayashi's illustrations, and was very happy to see a couple actually show up in game. The character designs are great, though graphics themselves clearly come from a lower budget Vita game.

Including the DS remakes of SaGa 2 and 3, this is my 7th completed game in the series, and currently my favorite.

I chose to go with the most recent non-mobile entry to SaGa as the next step in my quest to play every game in the series. I played a couple hours last night, and I'm really liking it so far. There are no cities or dungeons, you just explore a world map and click on nodes to get events/fights. It's a very stripped down JRPG, but I honestly don't mind that at all -- it keeps things moving. The presentation looks a bit cheap, but I like the designs.

I'd heard a lot of praise for the battle system, and, wow, does the game actually deserve it. Shared action points for your team per turn that escalate like mana in hearthstone, crazy amounts of turn order manipulation, interrupts and defensives moves, and very meaningful status effects. Unlike most JRPGs, your enemies get all of the same tools you do, so each turn ends up being a puzzle where a wrong answer could easily lead to losing a party member or just outright defeat. I'm really looking forward to playing more after work-- just gotta make myself focus for 7 more hours haha.