SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu

SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu (Sa・Ga2: 秘宝伝説, lit. Sa・Ga2 ~ The Treasure Legend), originaly released in the North America as Final Fantasy Legend II, is a game released for the Game Boy as the second game of the SaGa series. It's the sequel to Makai Toushi SaGa.

A remake for the Nintendo DS, titled SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu Goddess of Destiny was released exclusively in Japan in 2009.

Story

 * "...MAGI... The symbol of great power. The legacy of the ancient gods who made this world.

Many fought for the mighty power. Some won and some failed. Now.... another legend of bravery is about to begin...."
 * —Intro

Prologue
The game begins one late night while the player character sleeps, they are awoken by their father, an explorer and archeologist, who tasks them with protecting an artifact called the Prism while they are gone on their journey. Years later, the player character has grown of age, and their father has yet to return home. Asking their mother if it is alright to leave on a journey to find them, she relents, but asks them to pay a visit to their instructor Mr. S. He informs the player that the Prism artifact is in fact one of the 77 pieces of MAGI which has caused much conflict in the worlds due to greedy people hoping to use their powers to obtain godhood. Now wondering why their father has such a piece, the player character, along with three close friends from school, embark on a journey to find both the player character's dad, and stop the evil forces from collecting the MAGI.

Chapter 1: Ashura's Reign of Terror
When the party reaches the first town, they learn that the land is plagued by an invading army. Ashura, ruler of the Desert World, has invaded this land seeking the relics of god to make himself invincible. The party speaks with the Priestess Kai, a woman born with Magi within her which has granted her miraculous healing abilities, in order to gain clues to find Magi and hopefully the MC's father. She guides them to a hidden temple she fears Ashura's forces will find.

At the hidden temple, the party discovers a team of thieves have already taken most of the magi and treasure. When the party comes across the thieves, they give chase only to find them ambushed and killed by Ashura's forces. It turns out the thieves were some of Kai's followers who came to the temple to take and hide the Magi before Ashura's forces could find them.

When the party tells Kai, she decided to accompany them and help them strike down Ashura's fortress which guards the entrance to the world tree. With Kai's help, the team is able to defeat Ashura's vanguard and the fortress collapses. With new faith in the party, leaves to return to her temple as the party climbs the tower to reach Ashura's desert world.

In the desert world, the party discovers that Ashura's fortress lays hidden in a terrible sandstorm. After investigating the local towns, the team learns that someone has already tried to steal the relics back from Ashura but has been imprisoned. After learning the secret of the sandstorm, the team finds Ashura's fortress where they meet a mysterious explorer who wears a mask. When he learns the team is also there to defeat Ashura, he pleads to join them. Together they climb the fortress and meet the fearsome Ashura and a climatic battle ensues. Through sheer will, the party overcomes the demon lord, but in his final breath, he reveals that he has sent his minions to take the Magi power within Kai.

Chapter 2: To the Giant's Village to Rescue Kai.
Mask departs from the team to continue his own journey, while the party returns to Kai's shrine. They learn that Ashura's servants have somehow shrunk down and invaded Kai's body to steal the Magi within her and are slowly killing her. The party's only hope is to go to the Land of Giants, to find a potion to shrink down to human size.

Climbing back up the Pillar of the Sky, the team is able to pass through a door thanks to the power of the relics they've collected. There they find the Land of Giants. only to learn that the Giants are no more. The Giants had envied the other creatures of the world and wish to interact with them, so they created a potion that could shrink them down to the size of the other creatures and have since mingled with the rest of the races. Even trying to explore their ruins proves too difficult as their steps and buildings are the size of mountains compared to the party.

They soon find that one of the shops in town sells artifacts from the Giants ruins, but can't seem to get the shopkeeper to talk. When they try to find a back route to his shop, the team encounters the MC's father who is surprised to see them. After a warm exchange and the MC wishing to return home with them, their father tells them that he can't return home until he knows the Magi is safe from other darker forces. The party agrees to help him, but still need to help Kai, so their father moves ahead of them while they interrogate the shopkeeper. He reveals that a man at the pub named Johnny helps him get the merchandise because he may actually be a former Giant. When the party confronts Johnny, he reveals a secret entrance to the town at the base of one of the staircases, on the grounds that the party keeps quiet about him and his operation. From there, the party explores the massive town and eventually finds the Micron potion, and return to Kai's shrine.

Using the micron potion, the party shrinks down to microscopic size and enters Kai's bod where they face off with Ashura's remaining forces, as well as Kai's natural bodily defenses. They retrieve the Magi located in her hands, feet, stomach, hearts, and finally her brain. With the Magi safely removed and Ashura's forces vanquished, they save Kai and return to their adventure.

Chapter 3: Lynn and the Three Riddles
Climbing higher into the pillar, the party comes to a world ruled by the demigod Apollo, who is beloved by most of his subjects as a compassionate figure compared to the bloodthirsty Ashura. Apollo thanks the party for vanquishing Ashura by giving them a piece of Magi, which he claims not to need. He then tells them the key to finding the rest of the relics in his world lies in deciphering three riddles.

The first riddle is to seek a fire found in water. In the first town the party runs across, they discover all the fisherman are terrified of the sea god Neptune who has been turning the oceans red and sinking ships. A scholar claims that Neptune is but a myth and proposes that the real culprit may be an active volcano hidden under the sea. Hearing the tales of a sailor who marched into the sea to find a mermaid they were smitten by, the team finds a path to the volcano. There they uncover several magi, including the relic the Eye of Truth.

The second riddle speaks of finding darkness in blinding light. The party learns of a cave to the north of the sea port that emanates a blinding light, with the Eye of Truth, the party is able to navigate the maze like cave and find the remaining relics.

The final riddle speaks of seeking out a wind that can only be found under the earth. The party comes across a mountain town who claims the local mountain god Duantis is stirring on account of the breeze emanating from the caves into the mountain being caused by them. The party take a path behind the mountain in order to delve deeper into the cave where they discover a local girl named Lynn who is exploring the cave to find a special potion to help her ill mother. Unfortunately, the path forward is blocked by Duantis, who turns out to be a rogue robot guarding the caves within the mountains. The party helps Lynn defeat them and take the Magi the robot had used to power itself up.

When they return Lynn home to give the potion to her mother, the MC is troubled to discover their father is there to, looking after Lynn's mother and being too familiar with the family unit in general. They assume that their father had left home and started a new family in this world, tearing down their image of their beloved father. A bit distraught, their companions encourage the MC to continue their quest to collect Magi and explore the various worlds.

Chapter 4: The Guardians
In the next world, the party comes across a town filled with shady people seeking Magi or information about the mysterious Guardians, a secret organization sworn to protect the Magi from those who would abuse it. Overhearing a conversation from a citizen about how the local pub always has a certain tune playing, the party plays it on the jukebox, only to discover it serves as a hidden key to open the door to the Guardians safe house. Their unintentional discovery has them captured and imprisoned by the Guardians, but they are soon freed when it's revealed that their leader is actually the MC's father.

The group learns that the Guardians are an organization fighting a shadow war against the New Gods, various individuals who have used the power of Magi to make themselves into god-like beings like Ashura, Apollo, and Venus. Reuniting with their father, he has the group rest for a bit before he explains what is going on. In the middle of the night, the hideout is attacked by enemy forces trying to acquire the Magi that the Guardians had acquired. Teaming up with the MC's father, they fight their way through the hideout and ruined town only for the enemy commander to reveal that they had kidnapped Lynn and if they wish to see her, they need to meet them in another world.

The group head to the designated location to face off with the Ninja who holds Lynn. Lynn reveals that the MC's father is not her father, instead he was helping her family and pretending to be her father until her mother could recover from her illness. The Ninja is angered that he was fooled but before he can do anything, the MC's father attacks them and tells the party to protect Lynn. The two vanish in an explosion. The Ninja reappears shortly after and faces the group where they defeat him, but he praises how he killed the leader of the Guardians. Lynn apologizes to the MC who laments about thinking their father had abandoned them and their mother. The group then head back to Lynn's world to return her to her mother.She explains that her husband was a fellow member of the Guardians and friend of Dad. He went missing after a dangerous mission, so Dad had been looking after her and Lynn until her husband returned.

The MC vows to continue their father's legacy and collect the Magi in order to keep it out of the hands of evil. From their, they continue to travel across the Celestial Worlds.

Chapter 5: Venus and the Gilded City
In the next world, the party finds themselves in a jungle world that has an advanced acropolis at its center. There they meet the ruler Venus, a member of the New Gods who reigns over the city as a vain goddess who only wants perfect and beautiful things within her walls. She welcomes the party to her city and rewards them for slaying Ashura. Venus loves perfection, and thus her city only allows the best and most beautiful to stay within its walls. She claims her world possesses no magi for them to find, but permits them to stay as long as they want. The city is subject to frequent earthquakes a tremors, but the citizens believe they will be okay as long as Venus is there.

The party meet a woman named Flora who is crying. She has been betrothed to a man named Nils, after her former love Leon was exiled from the city due to being maimed in an accident. Fearing what the wild and untamed world beyond the walls, the party agrees to seek him out and leave. They come across a small village within the jungle where all the outcasts from Venus' acropolis have made their new home. They find Leon, who is doing well in the village despite his disability and finds life in the village much more rewarding and happy than in Venus' city. He fears for Flora though and wishes to bring her to the village, but is unable to. Unable to help the party continues to explore the world, seeking out the lost ruins of the ancients, and discover a cave leading to the sewer system of Venus' Acropolis. They discover Magi that had been thrown away by the vain citizenship, but when confronted, Venus is more shocked that it was there.

Checking back on Flora, she is beside herself as her wedding day approaches but still can't bring herself to leave the city to find Leon. A major earthquake strikes and a volcano emerges north of the exile village. The party head to the village where they inform Leon of Flora's wedding to Nils. Leon is beside himself with sadness as he curses Venus for coming between the two of them. When the party begins to explore the volcanic ruins, they notice a figure following behind them, but pay no mind as they battle the fearsome enemies guarding the treasures. When they finally find the Magi, Leon appears and steals one. The party heads after him and chases him to Venus' Acropolis where they lose him but head to Lorna's wedding in hopes of finding him. As they figure Leon interrupts the wedding and attacks Venus with a knife and the Magi he stole but she easily strikes him down. Flora begs her to spare him, but Venus will not hear it. Flora grabs Leon's knife and slices her face to make it imperfect and force Venus to exile her as well. Venus is outraged that she would go against her and prepares to strike down the two lovers when the party finally intervenes and battles Venus instead. After her defeat, Leon and Flora are reunited and Lorna decides to keep the scar her wound will make in order to serve as a reminder of her conviction for her love of Leon. The two then comfort Nils who apologizes for not questioning Venus despite knowing about their relationship. With the conflict over, and the last Magi acquired from Venus, the party leave her realm.

In the next world, an annual Flying Dragon Tournament is being held by Apollo. Apollo encourages the party to enter the tournament as the prize will be pieces of Magi. Renting a dragon from the local stable, the party enters and battles their way through the other contestants and win the tournament and prize. Apollo congratulates them and they leave for the next world.

Chapter 6: Edo Detective Mystery
In the next world, the party finds themselves in a world called Edo which is being overrun by social problems. When they reach the town they are confronted by a band of ruffians called the Hanatomato who are guarding a bridge blocking off part of the city. When the party tries to cross, the gang attacks them but before it gets too serious, a woman named Hana breaks up the battle and scold the gang while apologizing to the party before leaving. The party learns from the townsfolk that smugglers have been bringing in drug, black market weapons, and bananas into the country illegally, and causing no end of grief to the citizens. They also learn that Hana's father was a detective who was on the case but was killed before he could solve the case of who the smugglers were. Hana has now taken up his mantle and is trying to solve the case instead. The party decided to help her out, and discover from Kama, Hana's father's old partner, that they were investigating a man named Eichigoya who runs a profitable store in the capital that sells rare and exotic items. They shake down the store clerk on information about the stores shipment, and are informed that Eichigoya's merchant ship had just docked in the port.

When the party reaches the port, they find a worried Kama, who tells them that Hana is already on the ship trying to find clues. The party eventually find Hana, who is being protected by Taro the school master. Hana has found the evidence she needs and takes it to the court, but Hana learns too late that some force within the government is protecting Eichigoya from prosecution and hides his cargo for him. Not to be deterred, she joins the party to find the missing cargo within his store. The team sneak in and explore, only to uncover that Eichigoya is being protected by the Shogun himself. When the two are confronted, the Shogun retreats and leaves Echigoya to fight them with the Hantamatos, but he is easily dispatched. Returning back to her office, they discover the Shogun had Hana's partner Kame ruffed up to try and silence her. Distraught over his health, Taro volunteers to help the party in her stead to storm Edo Castle. Taro reveals himself to be another member of the Guardians investigating the Shogun undercover as a school teacher, but he has all started to grow feelings for Hana. Battling their way through the castle, the party finally find the Shogun on the top floor and do battle with him, only to discover he is fairly weak. Defeated, the Shogun begs the spirit of his father, the Magnate, and true power behind Edo to come to his aid. He kills his son and challenges the party to a duel on the castle roof. Despite being powered by shards of MAGI, the party eventually overcome him and set Edo free from the corrupt regime.

Chapter 7: Valhalla and the Final MAGI
Realizing there was only a few pieces of MAGI left to collect, the party sighed a bit of relief that their journey was soon to come to an end. The next world they visited was marked by a strange and terrifying cave the party was warn to stay clear of due to its unpleasantness. Despite the world having no MAGI within, the party still choose to explore the treacherous cave and discover a treasure trove of equipment, weapons, and monster meat to help them prepare better for the dangers that lied ahead.

In the next world, they are brought to a winter wasteland where a magnificent castle stands and explore it to find the last of the MAGI shards. There, they encounter their old friend Odin who had been watching over them over the course of the journey and allowing them to revive and fight again when the odds overwhelmed them. Now he wishes to have the party make good on their promise for his services, and challenges them to a duel to the death.With Odin defeated. The team acquires Odin's MAGI shards head to the next world to find the final shard.

The party encounters Apollo in the next world, who reveals he has the final shard and had only been helping your party so that they would amass the rest of the shards for him. Refusing to give it to him, Apollo reveals his servants have captured several of the people the party have helped on their journey and now holds their lives in ransom. With no choice, the party hands over the MAGI they have acquired and Apollo travels to the next world to complete the Statue of Isis and become a True God. Filled with despair, the team are found by the MC's Father who is revealed to be alive an well. Telling him they failed to protect the MAGI, Father reveals that the Guardians lied about there being only 77 shards. In truth, there is 78 shards and the final shard had been kept hidden on the world they were on. Traveling together through a treacherous dungeon, the party obtains the Heart MAGI and use it's power to follow Apollo to the next world. Surprised to find them there, Apollo humors the party to a final battle where his use of the various MAGI has made him nearly invincible. Despite Dad's protest, Apollo taps into the full power of the MAGI and transforms into a Garuda who is virtually invincible. As the party battles on, Apollo's arrogance soon turns to horror as the incomplete MAGI power begins to deteriorate his body and he slowly loses c9ontrol of his power. Not wishing to be defeated, Apollo releases all his power in hopes of taking the party with him to death, but Dad pushes the party out of the way and takes the full blow, killing him only. With Apollo's defeat, the MAGI are complete, but now the party feels the very world shaking.

Chapter 8: Isis and the Truth
With the completed MAGI put together to form the statue of Isis, the statue transforms into the actual Goddess Isis who has been asleep for almost a thousand years. Feeling the world shake, she tries to leave to fulfill her true role. The party is distraught about Dad's death, but Isis revives him in exchange for the party's help to travel to the system control of the world. The party help Isis battle through several waves of powerful monsters protecting the world control center. Isis reveals that she isn't so much a deity as much as a fail-safe system created to awaken every few thousand years to restore the world once evil has corrupted it, which usually coincides with people trying to collect the MAGI shards that are her body. Reaching the end, the party is confronted by two Arsenal security bots that protect the mainframe. Isis battles one while the party tackles the other. Arsenal tests the party's strength and resolve as the battle against a machine worthy enough to be protector of the world itself. They eventually triumph through great effort. Isis then begins the sequence to restore the world system so it doesn't collapse and destroy all the various worlds connected to it. She then reveals that she will soon turn back to a statue and sleep for another thousand years. Saddened to see their new friend who did much for them go back to her lonely duty, the party promise her that they will tell their descendants about her so that the next time she awakens, she will have someone there to greet her as a friend.

With their goodbyes over, the party leave the central system and return though the various worlds, making sure to drag Dad along, so as to keep their promise to their mother. Seeing that Isis saved the worlds, the party return to their own world. One night, the MC is sleeping when they are awaken by Dad who tells them they are going off on another journey, but this time wants to take them along. The two agree but are then interrupted by Mom, who is annoyed she's always left behind and insists they take her along as well. The family agree and soon head off to search the worlds for new treasure.

Characters
While the main party consists of generic characters the player creates, during several points of the story a fifth character will join the party to help out. This includes: There are other characters who appear during the course of the story:
 * Dad - The hero's father, he helps out twice on their adventure and is the founder of the Guardians, the people who have sworn to protect the MAGI.
 * Hana - A detective. Her father, also a detective, was killed while investigating smugglers. She is looked after by the turtle Kame and has feelings for Taro, a schoolteacher.
 * Isis - The Goddess that is summoned by bringing all the MAGI together, Isis helps the party defeat Apollo who has used the power of the MAGI to gain God-like powers.
 * Ki - A beautiful cleric, she maintains the Shrine of Isis. She was born with MAGI, enabling her to heal others.
 * Lynn - Living in Apollo's world, she goes out on her own to find a cure for her sick mother and joins the party in Dunatis' Cave.
 * Mask - A mysterious member of the Guardians who was imprisoned by Ashura, the party rescues him and he joins them in thanks. It is revealed to later be Lynn's dad.
 * Mr. S - The main character's teacher, Mr. S is a yellow slime monster who helps guide the party through their first cave.
 * Taro - Another member of the guardians, Taro came to Edo to become a school teacher before joining the party.
 * Apollo - A God in his home world, he sends the party out to find the MAGI, but his intents are far more sinister than first realized.
 * Venus - A Goddess who only values beautiful things and expels anyone in her world who is not beautiful in her eyes.
 * Ashura - A six-armed monster who lives in a tower in his own world where he has imprisoned Mask. He also has a base in the first world where his minions cause trouble for the Guardians.
 * Odin - A God who watches over fallen heroes in his palace, Valhalla. If the party dies, they are sent to Odin where he revives them. Later on, he challenges the party to battle, though his intentions are noble. He is perhaps the only "God" in the game who is not greedy and power-hungry.

Gameplay
At the beginning of the game, the player creates their party using a guild system similar to The Final Fantasy Legend. They are given a choice of four races, three of which are from the original Legend: Additional guest characters will also assist the party at certain points and unlike the main party these characters have actual names and back stories.
 * Humans - Humans do not learn any abilities, but their stats increase randomly after battles depending on equipment used. They have the most equipment slots and are able to take potions to increase their stats.
 * Espers (called Mutants in the English version) - Like Humans, Mutants get random stat increases after a battle. They also may learn or forget a skill, with up to a total of four skills being available to learn.
 * Monsters - Monsters get stronger by defeating other monsters. After an enemy is defeated in battle they may drop some meat which the monster can eat, turning them into a new monster thus increasing their stats and possibly teaching them new skills.
 * Robots - Robot's stats are dependent entirely on their equipment. Any weapon used by a robot only has half the durability but when a robot rests at an inn their weapon's durability is fully restored. Their weapons will also not break when all of their durability points are used.

Battle is a standard affair, taken in turns. When the attack option is chosen, the character must decide which weapon they want to attack with. However, equipment has durability. Using a weapon will decrease its durability by one and when it reaches zero it breaks and must be replaced. Luckily a character can equip multiple weapons so they will not be totally useless should one of their weapons break. Every weapon has limited use regardless of whether their attack, agility, or mana-based. Even shields have durability.

Spellbooks can also be bought. While expensive, they are usually stronger than a mutant or monster's version of the spell. Monster and Mutant abilities also have limited uses, but are restored at the Inn. New to the game are the MAGI pieces which can be equipped to boost stats or work as weapons and items battle. Each party member can only equip one at a time.

SaGa 2 introduces a number of technical changes from the first entry from feedback from players. Many are simply quality of life changes while others involve the development team's experience with the hardware. SaGa 2 features a much larger world and greater variety of weapons and monsters compared to the original game. Another new element is the removal of the previous games Life System, and instead players will be transported to Valhalla to be granted a second chance by Odin, allowing them to replay the fight they lost to. The stat upgrade algorithm is a bit easier to manipulate, players can sort Esper spells in their inventory and there is an easier method to control which spells change when they learn a new one. There are now more possible monsters the player can make. The algorithm for Monster Meat has also been changed in order to remove easy exploits and to compensate for the larger roster.
 * List of Weapons
 * List of Equipment
 * List of Items
 * List of Relics
 * List of Spells and Abilities

Development
After the smash success of the original SaGa title for the Gameboy, Square tasked Akitoshi Kawazu and Hiromichi Tanaka to begin working on a sequel. They set out to make a larger game and to better hone some of the ideas they used in the previous game such as the unique leveling system for Espers and Monsters. Nobuo Uematsu returned to work on the score and was accompanied by Kenji Ito who made his debut within the series. The game sold incredibly well in Japan at the time and received good reviews in the West as well.

Like the previous game, SaGa 2 was released in West re-titled as Final Fantasy Legend II to connect it to the first entry. In 1998, Sunsoft American Corp got the rights to republish this entry along with its peers for the Game Boy Color.

In January 2009, Square-Enix made a 3D remake of the game for the DS in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the series.

Trivia

 * The US cover for Final Fantasy Legend II is identical to the Game Boy cover for Final Fantasy Adventure and the SNES cover for Final Fantasy IV (Released in the US under the name Final Fantasy II).
 * The Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy Legend II was number 14 in gamesTM's Top 20 Most Demanded Video Games to be released in the UK, along with fellow Square-Enix game Blood of Bahamut for the Game Boy Advance.
 * This was the first SaGa game composed by long time series composer Kenji Ito.