Captain Wiseman has a perfectly good introduction prepared. He is a renowned knight of Gort, he has villains to confront, and his young companion is already getting on with the rescue. The interruption leaves the captain with very little to say. It is a lovely early joke in Albert Odyssey 2: Jashin no Taidou, a fantasy adventure whose royal intrigue and ominous magic leave room for people to be a little ridiculous. Sunsoft gives you a party worth following, then makes you work surprisingly hard to get them down the road.

★

Albert Odyssey 2: The Verdict

Graphics80%

80%

Sound85%

85%

Gameplay75%

75%

Story / Presentation78%

78%

Replay Value72%

72%

78%

Retro Replay Verdict

An appealing party, handsome scenery, and a memorable soundtrack make this demanding tactical adventure worth exploring. Slow turns and repeated recovery trips keep it from the front rank.

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Released in Japan on December 22, 1994, this is the Super Famicom tactical RPG that came between Albert Odyssey and the later Saturn game, Legend of Eldean. The English version considered here uses Retro Replay’s Sign of the Devil translation beta. Beneath the English dialogue and menus is a handsome, demanding adventure with a rather stubborn sense of pace.

A young knight with a difficult family name

Ten years have passed since the first game’s events, and Dean has inherited a name that makes introductions awkward. His father, Lyamos, turned against Gort; Dean now serves the kingdom’s knights under Wiseman. Before the young swordsman can get very far with his training, a fleeing princess crashes into his life. Yuna’s arrival pulls him into troubles reaching well beyond the practice ground.

Albert is still important, particularly through his concern for Sophia, but handing the lead to Dean gives the sequel a welcome change of company. The opening revisits the previous adventure’s consequences, so a newcomer has something firmer to hold onto than a list of unfamiliar kingdoms. Dean has a rescue in front of him, a mentor at his side, and an uncomfortable family history behind him.

Visits to houses, taverns, and the cathedral give the party’s journey a little ordinary life around the royal business. There is familiar fantasy furniture here, from endangered royalty to ancient powers, and the exposition can get crowded with names. The smaller exchanges are often more appealing than another explanation of who wants which relic.

Getting to the next town is the battle

Leaving town changes the rhythm immediately. You move party members individually across a battlefield of hexes, weighing the route ahead against the enemies between you and the next settlement. Roads, rough ground, and the reach of nearby monsters turn travel into a succession of decisions. A companion standing safely behind Dean is useful until that companion needs to reach somebody in trouble.

That arrangement gives the journey some welcome tension. Closing on an enemy means thinking about where everyone will finish the turn, rather than simply getting one sword within striking distance. Hit percentages add uncertainty, and the close-up attack scenes make a miss painfully easy to appreciate. A weak enemy can still waste an action you needed elsewhere. There is real satisfaction in bringing a scattered party into position and finishing a troublesome fight without another retreat.

The trouble is how much waiting surrounds those decisions. Moving several people, confirming actions, watching individual clashes, and handing control to the enemy can make a short stretch of road feel long. Once the interesting positioning is settled, there can still be plenty of business left to process. The combat is more enjoyable when the party is under pressure than when everyone is taking turns cleaning up.

Recovery needs attention too. An inn can refill an injured party’s HP and MP while leaving poison untreated. Going back out without checking conditions is an expensive way to discover that a good night’s rest has limits. Supplies and the distance between companions matter, but repeated trips for recovery can wear down the pleasure of exploring. Albert Odyssey 2 is quite comfortable asking for another careful journey over ground you already know.

Small sprites, handsome scenery, good company

The flying pursuit is a fine introduction to the art. Tiny riders skim across a cloudy landscape while the dialogue carries the panic. On the ground, tightly packed rooftops, pale cliffs, waterways, and little character sprites give the towns and surrounding country an inviting storybook look. The camera pulls closer for combat, making even an ordinary sword exchange feel more substantial than a pair of map pieces bumping together.

The small figures do impose limits. Several people clustered near buildings can be harder to read than the attractive scenery suggests, and the command windows take their share of the screen. The battle cutaways also have to earn their time repeatedly. They look pleasant; after enough routine encounters, getting back to the map becomes the more pressing concern.

Naoki Kodaka’s music is one of the better reasons to settle into the game’s slower stretches. The melodic writing gives the journey warmth and the confrontations some welcome urgency. A town visit feels like a breather, and the score helps carry the change when the party heads back into danger. The soundtrack has more personality than the plain command sounds around it.

Following the adventure in English

The translated version makes the everyday parts of the adventure much easier to follow. You can read what townspeople are saying, compare equipment, identify a condition, and choose an item without stopping to decipher each screen. Restored speaker names help keep conversations straight, while the mixed-case dialogue gives the banter room to breathe. Wiseman’s interrupted introduction is exactly the sort of scene that benefits from being readable as it happens.

The equipment comparison is especially welcome. A tempting improvement in defense can sit alongside a less attractive change in movement, with the current and replacement values visible together. It is worth checking the whole column before buying. A sturdier companion who cannot keep up with the others brings a different problem to the next fight.

The verdict

Albert Odyssey 2 earns a 7.8 out of 10. Its strongest company is Dean, Wiseman, and the people caught up in their journey, supported by appealing scenery and an especially welcome score. Planning a safe advance can be absorbing. Processing another string of ordinary turns is considerably less exciting. For most players, following the adventure through once will be the main attraction; the leisurely travel makes an immediate return less tempting.

If you enjoy tactical RPGs that leave time for town conversations, shopping, and a little party banter, there is a lot to like here. Come prepared for deliberate movement and occasional frustration, and the English beta gives you an inviting way into Sunsoft’s overlooked sequel. Wiseman deserves to have somebody understand his introduction, even if Dean never lets him finish it.

Version and disclosure: This review evaluates Sunsoft’s original Super Famicom game using Retro Replay’s English translation, version 2026.11.12 Beta. Retro Replay developed that patch. Full route-by-route verification of the translation remains incomplete, including optional and conditional dialogue. The score evaluates the original game’s design and presentation. The translation page has the patch, credits, installation instructions, and current testing notes.

Reference material: transcribed original manual (the archive notes some omissions and edits), original game and staff record, and Famitsu’s release listing. Screenshots were captured by Retro Replay from English development builds.