In a time where titles such as Project X Zone, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. and the upcoming Fire Emblem Fates are renowned for spicing up the turn-based strategy genre, Mercenaries Saga 2: Order of the Silver Eagle opts for keeping the original recipe intact. The result is a game that may give the impression of being as formulaic as any white bread out there, but what it lacks in originality it makes up in performance. Simply put, Mercenaries Saga 2 may be the best white bread on the shelf.
The game tells the story of Claude, Captain of the mercenary group that serves the crown of the kingdom under the name of the titular 'Order of the Silver Eagle'. During a hunting trip, the prince of the kingdom and his escorts are ambushed by a legion of bandits, and Claude commands the prince to flee as he tries to hold off the assailants in an effort to protect the future heir of the crown. The Order of the Silver Eagle manages to defeat the bandits, only to realize that the prince has been badly poisoned by a rogue assassin.
Bearing with the responsibility of the prince's well-being in his hands, Claude and his group of mercenaries depart on a journey that takes them across the country in search of an antidote strong enough to cure the prince's illness.
Despite the prologue being intriguing, the story is overall pretty bland. The main issue regarding the development of the events of Mercenaries Saga 2 revolves around the generic writing and the lacklustre cast of characters. Claude is as insipid as a boiled egg without salt, and most of the members of the mercenary team fall into the same category, with only a handful of them being fun on occasion. The game rarely delves deep into their back-story and intentions, and even when it does, they lack the personality to spark any kind of interest from the player. They just exist as ways to progress the story or to introduce a new gameplay mechanic, similar to how Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. treated its colourful cast of characters.
Same can be said about the enemies; sure there are a few surprises - especially towards the second half of the game - but the main antagonist is as inventive as a pantomime villain. These issues aren't deal-breakers, but the heroes and villains are the bread and butter of any RPG title - simply put, they are what separates a good game from a great one.
Where Mercenary Sage 2 truly shines is in the gameplay department. The first few levels are designed to introduce the basics of the game, from attacking and defending to mastering and exploiting the different types of terrain. It's a well-designed formula that encourages players to figure out how the game works, but there's a caveat - unskilled players may need to grind out levels every now and then, especially when the difficulty scales up exponentially. One thing that should be mentioned is that there's no permadeath; even when a unit is downed in the battle, they can be brought back with the use of items or special skills.
The gameplay of Mercenaries Saga 2 takes a lot of cues from classics of the genre. Comparable to the Tactics Ogre franchise and, by extension, the sublime Final Fantasy Tactics series, the action is presented in an isometric view of a gridded battlefield where the player takes turns between attacking and performing support actions - there's also the option to chose which direction to face in the case the character doesn't take any action in the turn, an important consideration as enemies can cause more damage if they attack from behind.
New recruits join the team, adding variety to the options available - knights, archers, priests and even a gun-slinging pirate - but unlike Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics, there's not a lot of freedom to evolve the members of the team. Each one has a fixed skill tree, meaning a thief cannot become a priest, and vice-versa. The character progress system bears resemblance to games like Diablo, where the player spends skill points to unlock and level up skills at his/her own will, and once a group of conditions are met, a new class is unlocked in the skill tree.
To further enhance the customization options, there's a trading feature in which puzzle pieces found in the maps can be exchanged for special weapons and items. There's also a crafting menu where players can infuse existing weapons with elements, status effects and more.
Visually the game gets the job done; super-deformed models of the character roam the battlefield, and anime portraits represent them whenever a dialogue box pops up. Menus are simple and easy to navigate, although most of the stats are abbreviated - to experts of the genre this may not be an issue, but newcomers may need to explore the in-game help guide to figure out what each stat means.
The game does take a few hits when it comes to the presentation, and odd choices flood certain aspects of the game. Most of these issues arise in the transition from Japanese to English: Dialogue boxes with only a monosyllable, confusing names for some of the skills, and overlapping text in some of the menus. While not completely cringe-worthy, some of the choices stick out like a sore thumb.
Last but not least, the audio department leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the tracks in the game use an uninteresting arrangement of horns and strings while the compositions are short, generic and repetitive. To deepen the issue, there's only a handful of tracks in the game. Sound effects also suffer the same fate of the music - they lack crispness and substance, don't have the impact they should and in many cases feel tacked on.
Conclusion
Mercenaries Saga 2: Order of the Silver Eagle is a surprisingly good Tactical RPG. The overall presentation of the game and the music can be quite forgettable, but the gameplay and the simple yet effective graphics get the job done. The battles are engaging and the degree of variety shown in the maps keeps things fresh. Furthermore, a few twists in the otherwise unremarkable story bump the game enough to make it a worthy member of this often overlooked genre. The main campaign, clocking in at 20 hours approximately, is arguably the perfect length for a portable title and the inclusion of a New Game+ mode gives Mercenaries Saga 2 an extra pair of legs for those daring enough to retrace their steps on a second and more challenging adventure. It may not quite reach the heights of the titles that clearly inspired it, but this is well worth a look for fans of the genre - especially at this bargain-basement price.
Comments 27
Makes a nice change to see an eshop title with a budget price get a decent write-up.
Well it's about time lol. Yeah the game isn't inovative or anything but what it does it does it well and the 3ds is sorely lacking in this style of game so it should do well.
Sounds exactly like what Final Fantasy Tactics DS couldn't deliver: a good tactical RPG. CIRCLE once again got a really neat game from a small dev to us!
i have really enjoyed this game and glad to see it got a 7 which i think is fair and might encourage others still on the fence to give it a try.
@BinaryFragger Even if the price was double of what it is right now, I would still recommend it! It truly is a hidden gem in the 3DS library.
I got it the moment this article was made. As soon as the game was shed to light (at least for me) with that article it made me check it out and I'm enjoying it quite a lot so far.
The game is neither too bad or too good. I'd say it's a bit barebones but for what it is and for the price, it's a really solid time waster, which is something I've been needing badly on my 3DS with my low budget and library drought as of late. I can just pull out my 3DS waiting for the bus or something and kill some time level grinding, leveling up my units' skills and progressing the story whenever I can. As many others say you seriously cannot go wrong for the price. The game is simple and easy to get back to, and for being so cheap you can't really ask for more than what it does.
Great review; I'll pick this up eventually.
Let me know if you have any concerns/questions about the game and the review, I will do my best to address them ^^
6th paragraph down refers to a game called Mercenary Sage 2, is this a spinoff lol?
Sounds good. Although I'm not sure if I wanted to spend 20 hours, I mostly look for a short experience for smaller title like this. I'll keep it in watch for now.
Apart from the above good review!
Ok I was waiting for this review. I'll pick up later. I restarted my level 70 Etrian O. millennium girl over. It was a shame because I was almost done, but those are the breaks.
@andyg1971 Dang it! I was hoping no one would notice that typo... Ermmm I mean... you have keen eyes mister! You have passed the test!
@Kaze_Memaryu I loathed FF Tactics DS. I was playing it for a while until I realized, hey this is tedious! So I played something else and would forever tread cautiously near anything that mentioned FF Tactics. Maybe Mercenaries Saga won't be as tedious. I don't understand why these isometric tactics games can't just turn around 45 degrees and be straight up and down like Fire Emblem. You never know which way the cursor will move!
Review is spot on. The game is basically a must have for an RPG fan because it's good enough but with a fantastic price.
I bought this yesterday and have enjoyed the first few levels. It's exactly what I thought it would be, but if it really is 20 hours long then it's a great value for the buyer. I like the graphics a lot, but I wish there was a way to zoom in (like you could in FF Tactics) to see the detail when the characters are crowded together. Or to rotate the battlefield 90 degrees to get another perspective (like you could in FF Tactics).
Glad to here this is worthy of my play time, t's just that it's going to sit on my backlog until I play it or it rots. Curse you, time!
I think the game's biggest strength is its skill tree and promotion system. I was able to notably advance my characters after every battle right up until the last chapter, and that sense of progression is really important in RPGs.
@ollietaro Yeah, Tactics DS was just a chore to play through. But I think the isometric view is used in many tactical games only when they have height differences implemented as part of the damage and hit calculation. If it was top-down, it would be extremely difficult to see height differences properly (though there certainly are ways to work around such an issue).
I am definitely going to pick this up! More turn-based strategy for me!
I think the score is ridiculous, how on earth do those budget G.G. series penny games possibly get 8 and 9 scores which is all repetitive and look like it should have stayed on a NES system. The game is a bit more then 20hours as its has 30+ areas which of you don't want to miss the hidden stuff scattered around the map and yes some grinding is a must to get the most out of jobs and crafting. You get so much for your 5 dollars and it's a much needed fresh title that the genre has almost dried up on the 3ds. This game deserves at least an 8. Your not going to find a perfect game for a budget title but I think everyone should try this game out if your even a slight fan of FFT or TO
£3.99 and good recommedations....just bought it.
It's perfectly fine. Especially as it's so blooming cheap!
great game, makes me wish we had a bigger budget srpg available
im mean besides fe !
@Magicpegasus Project X Zone, Code Name S.T.E.A.M.?
It sounds like a very competant SRPG at an excellent price, but I've already got my hands full with superior games in the genre in "Project X Zone," "Fire Emblem: Awakening," and eventually "Fire Emblem: Fates" (along with all of my traditional RPGs I either play or want including but not limited to the Pokémon, Xenoblade, Golden Sun, Final Fantasy, and Earthbound franchises), so I'll sadly have to pass.
@BulbasaurusRex Yeah, i agree with the people who say that it's "scratching an itch". As someone who didn't get to proceed with FFTA2 because of a broken loot dynamic, this is the best thing to come along in a while. I enjoy Valkeria Chronicles and Xcom, but not CS. Tried several times to get into FE...i don't know what it is. Would jump at the chance to play a new Advance Wars though. I guess strategy players are somewhat divided. If you like FFT, the lack of polish isn't going to matter for this one. I actually prefer the scaled-back presentation here, because it means more of what I like (progression, free battles, etc). Fast-forwarding the cliche story though!
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