The Secret of Varonis

I think most people reviewing this have already made it clear that this is basically a spiritual successor to the Saga/FFL games on the Game Boy. The game manages to take away some of the tediousness of the old games such as no more random encounters although you can still choose this, but still captures the spirit of them. I feel it's a nice mix between the first two games with some slight balance tweeks. Agility is no longer superior over Strength as it was in the FFL series, although there is a nice balance between the two. Robots no longer can turn into instant death machines, but they're given a lot more utility this time around. The randomness of monster meats is greatly reduced and there's even an item to go back to a previous form. There's lots of references to the old games as well and the music is very close to being on par. There is one part that was a little bit frustrating (okay, it was borderline annoying), but I think it's just a result of overthinking. Other than that, it was really hard to put this game down. Any fan of the Saga/FFL series should play this along with anyone that just wants to play an old school JRPG that has a slight twist to it.

If you enjoyed the original SaGa (ie, Final Fantasy Legend) games and want more, this is effectively the only game on the market. I'm only partway into it, but having a blast.

Definitely an easy recommend for anyone who grew up playing the old FF Legend games on the game boy. It feels like an unofficial sequel. I really enjoyed the worlds and level design, and the very detailed information on all abilities. I think the different character types are very well balanced, with Monsters getting a much better advancement system and overall the game design was tight. Cons are a couple spaces where it easy to get lost with what to do, even with the hint system. Gold grinding can be intense, especially if you have more than one Human or Esper in your team. But overall a solid experience, and felt like good value for the money.

Secret of Varonis was made just for me! It draws inspiration from Final Fantasy Legend 1+2+3 (SaGa 1+2+3) - games from my youth. It is filled with little nods to the games that inspired it: a couple familiar musical notes here and there, item and ability names, the pose of certain enemies, etc. Some game events are parallels to the old FFL games. This is a very intense dose of nostalgia for me. It isn't just a nostalgia bait game though. It builds upon the established formula and tells an original story with familiar themes. Compared to the FFL games, Secret of Varonis has a lot more dialogue and lots of characters. Monster and Esper(Mutant) characters level up more smoothly and predictably. The level/world design is very good. Spiritually, this game is absolutely worthy of being called FFL4. I'm sad to have finished it now. It is only January and I expect this to be one of the more memorable titles I play this year. I am extremely happy with this one.

Great for fans of the first two Final Fantasy Legend games.

Perfectly emulates that old SaGa feel while bringing some great QoL options. Particularly love the change to monster transformations to encourage trying new forms.

Fun throwback to FFL2 / SaGa 2 on the Gameboy. If you're already familiar with that game you know about 90% of what to expect here.

Surprisingly long, interesting mechanics, good story. Still not done. Thumbs up. The difficulty options are really nice -- "fixed" battles is the hardest option, where there are only a fixed number of encounters in the game, so you have to be very, very thoughtful about where you're spending your resources. In a Final Fantasy Legend type system where there's no XP, it makes it a totally (I think??) unique experience.

I just beat the game. A Real 9/10 classic. A solid rpg. I am looking forward to its sequel.

Never played SaGa games, so I didn't have any previous experience with this style of JRPGs. Progression and balance are excellent, it was very interesting to juggle different characters and figuring out the whole team composition. I do generally enjoy grinding in JRPGs to be overprepared and it was a blast here. note: the games gets a little on the easier side towards the end. Story is pretty minimalistic, but writing is surprisingly entertaining. I liked the characters, some worlds had interesting gimmicks, the main plot is engaging. I mostly play JRPGs for the plot and I don't have anything bad to say in this case. Neat. The only frustrating part for me was that one overly complicated dungeon in the middle of the game, where I spent a little too much time flipping switches and going back and forth not knowing what to do. Not sure if it was me only problem, but it's the only annoying part I found. Very good game, highly recommend.