Sacred 2 Remaster Review

Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel was a 2008 action RPG developed by Ascaron. Whilst the critical reception was relatively mixed, I fondly remember playing this with a friend during the Xbox 360 days. Now, developer SparklingBit has brought the game back to life in the form of Sacred 2 Remaster for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

Despite my positive memories of the original from 17 years ago, would this remaster give me the same amount of joy? Well, without putting on my rose-tinted glasses, it’s time to find out!

In the world of Ancaria, a mysterious substance known as T-Energy is the source of all life. A good thing, no doubt, until the Elves start exploiting it, slowly corrupting the world in the process. The main plot quickly fades into the background in favour of smaller quests or simply enjoying the typical action RPG fare. The story that is present is often incoherent and not all that engaging. Certainly not a game for fans of intricate narratives, Sacred 2 Remaster is much more focused on its moment-to-moment gameplay.

You start by selecting your character out of seven possible classes: Seraphim, Dryad, Shadow Warrior, Inquisitor, High Elf, Temple Guardian, or Dragon Mage. Each has their own stats, style of play, and unique skill trees, although only three of these characters can be customised further than changing their skin colour (even then, the options are limited). Next, you pick your chosen deity, which grants specific bonuses, and whether you wish to fight for the forces of good or evil. This alters the main campaign somewhat, as does which class you opt to play as, but, as I said, it’s not a particularly deep story that will keep players invested.

Whilst the original Sacred 2 was a decent-looking game for its time, the remaster doesn’t look that much more impressive. Almost as if this version is just the original with some fan-made texture mods added in. It isn’t an ugly game, though, aside from a few rough textures and a weird hazy effect when you zoom in from your isometric viewpoint and come too close to your character! There’s so much colour to the world (something noticeably absent from many games of the Xbox 360 era), and character models, especially the player character, are highly detailed and unique in their designs.

Full of the same incredibly cheesy rock music and hammy voice acting as the original, Sacred 2 Remaster sounds just the same as ever. That said, just like how the graphics aren’t anything to write home about, there’s a certain charm to these European-developed videogames. You know the ones I mean, titles like Gothic 1, Two Worlds, or even many of The Dark Eye games. Appealing in their own way, but can’t stand up to the big AAA hitters of the gaming world.

There were a few issues during my time with the game. Things like the volume muting itself, menu navigation becoming unresponsive, and some minor graphical hiccups. It’s stable, at least, and I had no dropped frames or crashes, thankfully!

Playing Sacred 2 Remaster, you’ll be constantly starting new quests, fighting hordes of monsters, and exploring, all in the name of levelling up and becoming more powerful. Oh, and earning new gear! Normally, games like this tend to be a bit cumbersome to play using a controller, but the new, tidier user interface and general simplistic gameplay ease that stress.

Despite this simplicity, there’s still a fun time to be had! There’s such a massive amount of stuff to do across Ancaria’s many varied locations, with hundreds of sidequests to keep you busy. Sure, you’ll be doing a lot of simple fetch quests or killing x amount of enemies, but it’s a game that doesn’t require too much brainpower. Perfect to play when listening to a podcast!

The combat is also pretty basic but still enjoyable due to the plethora of skills, spells, and weapons available. Aside from your basic attack, you’ve got skills that you can allocate, with more unlocking as you level up, which recharge individually rather than relying on a mana bar. It creates a fast-paced battle system that’s full of flashy long-range magic attacks and powerful AoE spells, all easily accessible thanks to the easy-to-use controls.

If you love RPGs that allow you to freely explore, grind for new gear, and take on a seemingly infinite number of quests, then Sacred 2 Remaster is one that you will get some enjoyment out of. It’s a crying shame then that, at least for the console version, it’s strictly single-player only. Why SparklingBit decided to remove multiplayer is beyond me, and it’s really disappointing to not have it across all versions of the game. Still, if you’re a PC player, then you’ll get to enjoy the game with friends!

As an action RPG, Sacred 2 Remaster is still a rather enjoyable journey through a large world, with plenty to keep you entertained. As an actual remaster, the game falls woefully short of what we’ve seen from other developers. It feels like the bare minimum has been put in, and though it’s nice that the Ice & Blood expansion is available on console for the first time, there is little here that will entice players to upgrade from Sacred 2 Gold, which is already available on PC. If you’re a console gamer who’s not interested in playing multiplayer, then you may find an enjoyable throwback of a once-prevalent genre of videogames.