Sacred 2 Remaster

Ultimately this “remaster” feels pointless, but due to the glaring issues this release has I’m not interested in playing further. I was going to hook up my 360 to compare to the original console release as well but I’m not very much interested in making my short time spent with this remaster feel worse. If this is the only way one can play Sacred 2 it may be worth it, but for people like myself who have any other option this is still a pass nearly 4 months later. Oof.

Despite its vast content, the remaster is plagued by old and new bugs, crashes, and poor performance. Visual upgrades are minimal, and the controls remain as clunky as in the 2008 original. Instead of nostalgic joy, this game offers a prime example of a remaster done wrong.

Sacred 2 Remaster is an odd one. When the original was released in 2008 it felt like a huge wasted opportunity, a game with an enourmous amount of content marred by just as many bugs and technical problems, and yet I ended up falling in love with its endless exploration and janky combat. Seventeen years later, this remaster should have been the perfect occasion to fix as many technical flaws as possible while mantaining what already worked. It manages to do so, but to a far lesser extent than expected, and the addition of new problems makes it hard to justify the purchase for reasons other than nostalgia or curiosity.

Sacred 2 Remaster is an updated version of the nearly 20-year-old action RPG. It suffers from severe technical issues despite only modest improvements to controls and visuals. While the game still offers a vast world, countless quests, and the familiar loop of battling monsters and collecting loot, the remaster is plagued by bugs, missing tutorials, confusing mechanics, and the removal of multiplayer. Frequent glitches affect quests, inventory management, and trophies, leaving players frustrated even after multiple patches. Despite moments of enjoyment in its monster-slaying grind, the remaster cannot yet be recommended due to its instability.

There is nothing angelic, fallen or otherwise about Sacred 2 Remaster; the game is a mess of bugs, bad design choices and even more bugs. I couldn’t get a good enough run at the game without it crashing to even attempt to push my way further into it, and to be honest, by the time I reloaded it for the (no exaggeration) 56th time to try and progress, I just wanted it out of my system. If the developers and THQ Nordic don’t fix this game soon, then it is going to be a huge loss for them.

While it was somewhat commonplace back then to overlook so many of the original’s issues, it is downright impossible now with the wealth of titles releasing every day. Sacred 2 deserved a much better effort, and this is frankly one of the most disappointing remasters in recent history.

The Sacred 2 Remaster is a half hearted attempt to update a game that felt kind of dated in its heyday. Beyond updated graphics and a new, buggy HUD, nothing has been done to actually remaster the title and improve upon its original flaws, with constant bugs, crashes, and problems persisting throughout. Simply put, it’s not worth your time, as a new player or a nostalgic returner.

Sacred 2 Remaster is a blast from the past, at a super affordable price. The aesthetic polish is generally more than acceptable, but the rest of the game naturally suffers from the technical, conceptual, and mechanical limitations of its age. The developers have already released several fixes to smooth out the rough edges of the production, which, of course, remains a small gem from a time, alas, gone by.

Sacred 2: Remastered doesn't do enough to make revisiting the original on current-gen consoles worthwhile. Its systems feel dated, and the visuals, even at higher resolutions, don't see any meaningful improvement. A solid setting is let down by subpar combat and exploration, and while its ambitions were impressive back in the day, they've long since been matched and surpassed. Unfortunately, this remaster does nothing to change that.

There's some fun to be had with Sacred 2 Remaster, but on the whole it's a disappointing update of a classic RPG. Newcomers will find many aspects of it bewildering, using skills with a controller is overly fiddly and, worst of all, multiplayer isn't an option on consoles. Much more should have been done to bring this classic up to date.