Courageous Saga 2 (ブレイブサーガ2), launched 5/2/2000, developed by Pandora Field, launched by Takara
That is the sequel to 1998’s Courageous Saga, which I performed earlier than. It’s intently associated to that recreation so please learn the earlier posts on that in the event you haven’t but.
Within the 12 months and a half because the first recreation, the one Yuusha sequence was GaoGaiGear, which was working when the primary recreation was launched and by now was completed. Since the entire different sequence had their storylines within the first recreation, this recreation focuses closely on GaoGaiGear and a brand new authentic villain group. As well as, the three sequence that had been solely cameos final time (Votoms, Galient, and Dagram) are introduced again for considerably extra in-depth story. I consider that additionally they used some characters and episodes from the opposite Yuusha sequence that had not been used within the first recreation.
You’ll be able to switch your save knowledge from the primary recreation. This lets you get a couple of hidden items, and I feel a few of the dialogue modifications as properly however I’m undecided of all the small print.
Total the sport is much like the primary one. On the story facet, the most important change is that the entire dialogue is voiced, even the facet situations and simply random elective dialogue sequences. Should you truly let all of the dialogue play out the sport is kind of lengthy; my timer was close to 70 hours after I completed, and I might have taken longer if I had truly visited all of the locations to get each elective dialog.
The brand new authentic characters are servants of Maou Baldo. They apparently dominated Earth at one time, and now they’ve returned to retake it. They cut up the world into 7 elements, which restores it to the “Beltanu” that they dominated earlier than. This has scattered the yuusha items throughout the totally different elements, in addition to a few of them being disabled or destroyed in house from the primary assault. The principle character of the earlier recreation, Baan Gaan, is without doubt one of the lacking items.
To step into Baan Gaan’s place, we’ve got a brand new important character Shizuma. He’s the final descendant of the clan that previously sealed away Maou Baldo, however they can steal his 6 “affeta” which give him his energy. Earlier than he dies, his mom makes use of the final of her power to place him in a brief physique. The general story develops as Shizuma tries to retake the 6 affeta from the generals of Baldo, whereas additionally coping with the Zondarians (GaoGaiGear) and discovering the varied heroes.
At first you’ll be able to solely go to Japan, however each time you beat one of many generals, a brand new space of the world opens up. Between missions you’ll be able to go to different locations; some will simply have conversations, however some have facet missions that may unlock extra characters.
The improve system has been streamlined a bit. The objects are gone (together with the growing new objects). As within the earlier recreation, you typically have separate items that may mix. On this recreation you continue to should improve the items individually from the mixed kind, however thankfully the degrees carry over. Upgrading the weapons can unlock new weapons, or give new “guts” powers, which is a brand new a part of the system.
The battle system is kind of much like the earlier recreation. Sadly you continue to can’t skip animations. There are a couple of new system parts:
- Guts – each time you get hit, you achieve a “guts” level and when the gauge fills you should use a unit’s “guts” powers, or with some items it allows you to rework right into a extra highly effective model. The heart powers embrace buffs, heals, and particular assaults.
- Hearth extinguisher – That is extra of a gimmick than the rest. Just a few phases have the aim to place out fires on the map, and you must use a subset of your items which have this fireplace extinguisher energy. Outdoors of that it has no use.
- Combo assaults – I don’t keep in mind if this was within the first recreation, however some items have mixture assaults with different items.
The sport is kind of straightforward; I despatched out my lowest degree items on each stage aside from the ultimate boss stage and I had virtually no bother. Even the ultimate boss was solely barely troublesome. That is most likely welcome for people who find themselves Yuusha sequence followers as a result of it lets them use no matter items they need.
Total this can be a mid-rank recreation, I feel. Until you might be already a fan of the Yuusha sequence, the story isn’t actually something particular. The gameplay is simply too straightforward for critical technique followers, and the size of the sport may also be a problem. There’s nothing that makes it unplayable, but additionally not a lot that will make it a prime suggestion.
By the point this recreation got here out, the Yuusha sequence was over: declining gross sales had led the creators to make GaoGaiGear the ultimate entry within the franchise. There have been nonetheless a couple of OVAs and such that got here out later, however not a lot. As for Courageous Saga, there was a 2001 Recreation Boy Colour recreation that was an everyday RPG, after which a 2005 SRPG for PS2, so we’ll be seeing the sequence yet one more time.
