In 2008, developer Ascaron released one of its most ambitious games. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel was a prequel to the original Sacredwhich itself was a hidden gem back in 2004. For the prequel, the developers went bigger and better, giving fans even more action RPG content to dive into. Today, the publisher THQ Nordic, which acquired the Sacred IP several years ago released a remastered version of Sacred 2. And if early reports are to be believed, this may not be the last time we see the Sacred series.
What is Sacred 2 Remastered?
Players who haven’t experienced the original game may not be familiar with it. Sacred 2. The prequel takes place 2,000 years before the events of the first Sacred. Players immersed themselves in one of two campaigns as one of seven classes for online, local multiplayer, or single-player action.
Sacred 2 is not an exact copy of Diablo 2but it’s definitely in that mold. It features similar action-RPG combat, but its story is closer to something like World of Warcraftusing fantasy classes like the High Elf and Dryad. The large open world features minimal loading and multiple dungeons to explore.
For the most part, the Sacred 2 Remastered understands a lot of this. However, some elements are missing. It’s not immediately clear why the new developers chose to remove a few features, although it’s worth noting that this remastering project dealt with an incomplete codebase and a lack of some source files from the original release.
Anyway, the remaster of Sacred 2Multiplayer offerings are very limited. Multiplayer is only available on PC, which means no co-op on consoles. Additionally, the remaster does not support free-for-all or PvP modes, only the co-op campaign. They also removed the ability to trade, giving players fewer slots for weapons, skills, and inventory, as well as a host of other limitations that make the game more difficult. Sacred 2 Remastered I feel a little disappointed.
There is good news for fans. This remaster features updated graphics, full controller support, and refined combat. Additionally, anyone who buys the remaster will receive a copy of the original Sacred 2 Goldallowing you to upgrade to the original version whenever you want. Better yet, it seems like this is just the beginning of the Sacred series.
What is the future of Sacred?
Recently, THQ Nordic released a developer diary for Sacred 2 Remastered with Franz Stradal, one of the original creators of the Sacred series. In the video, Stradal says: “Sacred is now back, but it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning… there are so many things we have planned for the future of Ancaria, and we have so many stories to tell.
As of this writing, THQ Nordic and its partners have not said anything concrete about the future of the series. There was a third Sacred game made by Keen Games, which made the series a hack-and-slash fighting game. Publisher Deep Silver also released a side-scrolling fighting game called Sacred Citadel to create hype before Sacred 3the launch.
THQ could revisit these games, but that seems unlikely. Stradal was not involved in any of these projects, and one would expect that he would have his own plans for the future of the series as one of the creators. Which seems more likely, assuming Sacred 2 Remastered achieved its sales objectives, is that Stradal and his team will work on a new Sacred 3 which hews closer to the series’ roots as an action RPG. It’s also possible that we’ll get a full remake of the first Sacredwhich would probably be a much more ambitious project than this remake. That said, both are probably pretty far away.
Unfortunately, early Steam reviews for Sacred 2 Remastered are mostly negative. Many players are experiencing issues with bugs and crashes, which could be fixed with patches and updates from developers. Hopefully the team will have enough time to put the remaster in a better place to give the series a chance for a revival. The first two games have a ton of fans, so I hope they at least have a good version of Sacred 2 for modern platforms, even if the future is less rosy than one might hope.
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