Saviors of Sapphire Wings & Stranger of Sword City Revisited Reviews
If you're hankering for some classic dungeon crawling, Saviours of Sapphire Wings is an accessible yet challenging way to go.
Saviors of Sapphire Wings / Stranger of Sword City Revisited carry aspects of their age with them, but this bundle of two somewhat obscure RPGs still provides a deep, detailed, dungeon-crawling experience that is well-suited to the Switch handheld.
A dual pack with a beginner-friendly but sadly boring RPG, along with a much more interesting but less friendly re-release.
In this double-pack of titles, NIS America is bringing back two fabulous dungeon crawlers for your playing pleasure. Between the fantasy setting of Saviors of Sapphire Wings, or the more modern take in Stranger of Sword City Revisited, this release will provide hours of entertainment.
Minor nit picks aside, I highly recommend this RPG combo for any dungeon crawler aficionado and its price tag isn't a major ask for a pair of RPGs that will consume 50 to 60 hours a piece. Although certainly not for the casual gamer, this NIS-developed duo has very nearly hit the mark for its target audience. So rejoice NIS faithful, for Saviors and Strangers is here to roll for bonus stats and take names, and it's brought its 20-sided die.
Ultimately, Saviors of Sapphire Wings and Stranger of Sword City Revisited form a welcome package that’s sure to delight fans of dungeon crawlers. I like the way that Sapphire Wings’ moderate difficulty and focus on narrative serve as a good introduction before throwing players into the much more punishing Stranger of Sword City. I’m glad that Experience Inc.'s western partner, NISA, is seeing the value in releasing these niche games to a Western audience, and the added appeal of playing these games on-the-go is a plus for the genre. And speaking from a purely value-for-money perspective, you’re getting two full length, lengthy games for the price of one, and you’ll be happily dungeon crawling for weeks and weeks if you choose to pick this one up.
As a long-time fan of grid-based dungeon crawlers, I'm delighted to say that Saviors of Sapphire Wings and Stranger of Sword City Revisited are 2 of the best examples of what the genre is capable of. If you love a challenge, I highly recommend picking up this pack.
The title is quite hard to evaluate because on the one hand it has an older look and mechanisms that won't work so well nowadays. Of course, if you're a fan of the genre and can enjoy it, it's a different matter altogether. On the other hand, Saviors of Sapphire Wings has a pretty decent story, the characters are nicely done, but that's it otherwise. After a while the fights start to get tiresome and you have no motivation to continue the story. Especially the price is quite discouraging, because the title can't be bought separately, but only in a bundle. The amount of 49,99 € seems really exorbitant in this case. Stranger of Sword City Revisited does not contain any mechanics other than the ones we just listed. To be honest, however, this doesn't hurt the title, as it is a fairly challenging title that can keep you entertained for several hours. The graphics make the game look a bit more modern, even though it's not really. It's just a shame that the title can't be purchased separately, but again only in a bundle for €49.99.
Review in Czech | Read full review
I may have already played through one of these two games before, but that didn’t stop Saviors of Sapphire Wings / Stranger of Sword City Revisited from being an absolute blast. While the punishing difficulty curve of SoSCR might be enough to put off those who don’t want to invest too much time into their dungeoneering experiences, SoSW is much more approachable and acts as a happier, easier version of its grittier counterpart. You’d best pick this two-for-one treat up if you’re even remotely a DRPG fan. You’re totally missing out, otherwise!
I’m stoked to have more easy access to games like this, especially since we never got the original game Saviors of Sapphire Wings is based on. Experience has only been around since 2008 or so, and with this release we’ve plugged a hole of sorts in its library. Unfortunately the other hole is four games deep at this point, but progress is good!
Saviors of Sapphire Wings and Stranger of Sword City Revisited bring us to the Nintendo Switch a pack of two games with a very specific approach and aimed at a very specific audience. They do not invent the wheel or stand out greatly above the average of the genre but if you find yourself among the lovers of the dungeon crawler variant of the crpg, rest assured that both titles together will give you hours of fun.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A flurry of combat, engrossed with content and a story that may emotionally drain you at its climax. This is one to remember. Saviors of Sapphire Wings/Stranger of Sword City Revisited is a celebration for the dungeon-crawling devout.
For its target audience this is a very hard package to pass up. Not a booby trap
Either of these two games, weighing in at several dozen hours each, would be worth the price of admission alone, but to see Saviors of Sapphire Wings and Stranger of Sword City Revisited packaged together raises the value proposition considerably.
Saviors of Sapphire Wings is an accessible foray into dungeon-crawling that emphasizes gameplay over stat or party management while mostly avoiding the usual pitfalls of difficulty spikes.
So honestly if you haven’t played it before and are a fan of DRPGs in general (even ones like Etrian Odyssey), you do owe it to yourself to give Sapphire Wings a shot ASAP. As for Sword City? Consider that an interesting curio, but not much more than that. Still, for $40, this is an absolute steal of a DRPG double pack, and the price is worth it for Sapphire Wings alone.
Saviors of Sapphire Wings Even if I felt like it took me a while longer to get into the swing of things compared to their previous work, Saviors of Sapphire Wings is a decent dungeon crawler. Do I wish they did more in regards to the visual presentation to make it unique and not simply a reuse of previous work? Yes. Can I live with it? I can and with the value of Stranger of Sword City – Revisited it’s even easier to do so even if I kept finding myself comparing one to the other. Stranger of Sword City – Revisited All in all, adventurers both new and old should find plenty of hardcore dungeon crawling action to love within Stranger of Sword City – Revisited. Even if it’s a lot tougher than most in its genre because of its permadeath, that’s simply part of the charm and frustration to this challenge!
In general, Saviors of Sapphire Wings / Stranger of Sword City Revisited is a double package that is certainly worthwhile for those who want to try good examples of dungeon RPGs. Both veterans and newcomers to the genre can have a lot of fun with both games, even though their low budget and small bad design decisions end up weakening the overall quality a little.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review