Mercenaries Saga 2 - Cheap does not always mean bad

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Hello everyone! How is the brawling going with Under Night? After the last entry dedicated to French Bread’s fighting game, in this new entry we are going to go back to the Tactic RPG genre with a game that might have gone undetected for many of you. Nowadays it’s impossible to deny that the download services have become an essential part of the industry, allowing many companies to release their games without having to face all the “buts” you might find when showing your game to the big editors, thus allowing the players to enjoy some gaming jewels that other ways might have made its way to the market, such as Castle Crashers, Limbo, Braid, Child of Light or Valiant Hearts among many others. Although it is true that most of these titles are released for the trinity composed of Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network and the almighty Steam, from time to time we can also find certain gaming jewels in other download services, like the case of Azure Striker Gunvolt, a game of which I already talked a few entries back in this blog and that was only available in the Nintendo 3D’s eShop (although later on the game made its way also to Steam), and it’s precisely in Nintendo’s download service where we can find the game I want to talk about in this entry. The game is called Mercenaries Saga 2: Order of the Silver Eagle. Let’s see what this little downloadable title has to offer.

Developed by a small Japanese team called RideOn Games, Mercenaries Saga 2: Order of the Silver Eagle is a Tactic RPG game inspired by classics such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre. The game was originally released exclusively for smartphones, but it 2015 it was ported to Nintendo 3DS. The story begins when one day prince Laz is enjoying a peaceful day of hunting until he is suddenly assaulted by a group of bandits. Claude, the protagonist of the story and leader of the Order of the Silver Eagle, fights back the bandits with the help of Boris and Victor, who are also members of the order, so that the prince can escape. However, after the combat is over they find out the prince has been poisoned, and they need to find the antidote before it’s too late to save the life of the prince, so they decide to set immediately in order to find the antidote, but what originally was going to be a simple “delivery boy” mission, will soon turn out to be the biggest adventures of their lives. I’m not going to lie to you, the game’s story won’t be one you will be remembering for years to come, and neither are the characters, but it is good enough to keep the adventure going.

Regarding the gameplay aspect, this is not less classical that than the title’s story, although in this case I think that is something good rather than bad. As I was saying at the beginning, Mercenaries Saga 2 follows the steps of games such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, although just as we saw with Onimusha Tactics, Capcom’s Tactic RPG of which I already talked a few entries back, Mercenaries Saga 2 approaches the genre in a more simplified manner. Opposite to that we see in other Tactic RPG games, where we have a map to travel around the game’s world, Mercenaries Saga 2 goes straight to the point, which means no time for maps or towns, just battles, so we will constantly advance from one battle to the next one, while the story will be narrated via conversation among the characters in between each battle. Before each battle, the game will take as to a menu that will allow us to equip our characters and improve their skills, which will be describing later one. The battles will take place in the typical map displayed in an isometric view divided by a grid, and although the maps are rather small, they are full of details, as well as obstacles that will allow the characters to take cover from the ranged attacks, or parts of terrain with different highs that will grant an attack bonus to the characters in higher terrain. The combats will be divided in turns, with each side alternating their turns constantly. That means that when one side has performed an action with all of their characters, it will be the other’s side turn to do so. Of course, as the tactic RPG game that it is, we won’t be able to just move our characters round the map, but also perform the typical actions we can find in the genre such as attack, use items or special skills. It will be important to keep in mind our position in the battlefield at all times, since attacks from the rear or the flank will inflict extra damage; however, if our characters fall, they won’t die, but rather stay down for a few turns in which we will be able to revive them. If we don’t manage to revive them inside those turns, the character will be removed from the battle, but they will available for the next one. As I was saying before, we will also be able to upgrade our characters via a class system similar (albeit more simple) to the one we can find in Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre. Once we complete the battles, we will be awarded with skill points that we will be able to use to unlock the different classes of each character. Each class will have a set of 5 skills, which we will also be able to unlock using skills points, thus allowing us to adapt the characters to our needs, although not with as much freedom as we could see in Square-Enix’s classic. The game will also allow us to switch to any of the unlocked classes at any point during the adventure in order to adapt our characters to the roles we want them to take during the different battles. The game also includes a simple (but effective) item creation system that will allow us to mix up different items in order to grant them new powers. During the battles we will also be able to find “puzzle pieces” inside chests scattered through the maps, and which we will be able to use in the shop that will be available in between the combats in order to unlock the best pieces of equipment, as well as unlocking unlock the secret classes of the characters. As you can see, Mercenaries Saga 2 is a game that does not bring anything new to the table, following strictly the well-know formula; however, it compensates it lack of innovation with a very solid and polished system.

Regarding the graphics, Mercenaries Saga 2 is game that seems to have come out straight from the Super Nintendo or Game Boy Advanced catalogues; however, it makes sense when you think we are talking about a game that was originally intended for smartphones. The characters’ sprites are correct, and so are the maps where the combats will take place, although the animations are rather limited. During the conversations between the characters the game will display high quality illustrations of the characters that (just like the rest of the game) remind a lot of the style Square-Enix used for Final Fantasy Tactics, being these probably the highlight of the game when it comes to the presentation.


Overall, Mercenaries Saga 2: Order of the Silver Eagle is a good classic style Tactic JRPG that, despite not innovating in any aspect, it doesn’t not underperform in any of them either (graphics aside), and although it is true that the game could be more polished in certain aspects, if we keep in mind the more than affordable price at which the game is available in the Nintendo 3DS eShop, there is really not much else we can ask for from a game like this, plus looking at the current catalogue of the platform (or any other current platform), we will soon realize this kind of game is no abundant precisely, so Mercenaries Saga 2 is probably one of the best options for all those who are waiting for new entries from the main franchises of the genre, which by the way seems it might take a good while (if they are ever even released). So, if you are looking for a new classic style strategy experience, you should definitely give a chance to Mercenaries Saga 2, for I’m sure the game won’t disappoint. Enjoy it!


GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk9a-NBmZws