T
TorontoReign
Guest
Vagrant Story, 2000
Square
Playstation, PSP, PS3
Local Retailer, Amazon, Ebay, PSN
Phantom Pain
Vagrant Story is a medieval tale of espionage, politics, religion, and the human soul with arguably the best graphics and soundtrack for the PSX, not surprising since it was the last Square game made for that system. The story begins in Ivalice, in the kingdom of Valendia, as the protagonist, Ashley Riot, is sent to Duke Barodora’s mansion by the Valendia Knights of the Peace to break the Mullencamp cults hold on the manor. One of the antagonists and leader of the cult, Sydney Losstorot, uses dark magic to summon a Wyvern during the inevitable conflict with Agent Riot, and escapes with the Duke's son. Ashley pursues him to the ruins of Leá Monde, a cursed place where the souls of the dead roam free, along with another agent of the VKP, a woman named Merlose. You control Agent Riot from a 3rd person view (with a button for 1st person) as you navigate Lea Monde, traversing various obstacles, solving block puzzles, killing a wide variety of creatures, like Zombies, Wyverns, Ogres, Elementals, and several humans, all the while being assailed by supernatural forces that force you to view things from others people’s eyes. The real thrill of Vagrant Story is learning about the various events going on, how it relates to Ashley’s suppressed memories, and what Sydney has to do with it all. The story is very mature, primarily focusing on various political and religious factions and the conspiracies they weave, with a few major plot twists that are surprising. The characters and subplots are all very different, so Vagrant Story should not be avoided by those who simply dislike Square games(It’s not like Final Fantasy). You won't find any emo whiners, cheerful optimists, or brooding douchebags here however, Ashley’s ass hangs out the entire game since the creator likes S&M clothing, bondage, and other assorted weirdness, and Sydney, one of the villains, walks around with no shirt, metal claw gauntlets, and an extremely low cut pair of pants. It’s safe to say that the characters are much more unique than the standard Square titles, and the plot isn't as simplistic as many jRPG's. Even the Old English used in the dialog is different than most RPG's.
I am the reinforcements.
The combat is real time with pause, much like in Parasite Eve. You have Chain and Defense Abilities, that allow you to chain together combos via timed button presses, which increases your Risk Points. Risk points are usually bad to have since you are less effective at combat, but it does have it's benefits like letting you heal for more. This keeps you from stringing together too many combos because you are putting yourself at risk, of course various items can decrease Risk. The various weapon types also have several Break Limit attacks that you can use, but it does drain a certain amount of HP. Each enemy has a certain class, making specific weapons more suited to specific classes. No magic spell is useless in Vagrant Story. You will learn more spells by discovering Grimoire pages scattered throughout treasure chests and on several creatures. Spells like Strength Down, Analyze, Antidote, and Unlock are especially more useful since all of your items are from enemy drops and you are fighting alone. There are entire sections of the labyrinth that are locked the first time through, with certain bosses and items only available after a second play through. Several titles can be obtained also for those hardcore enough to go for that sort of thing. Each equipment item has several affinities, like the six creature affinities, eight elemental affinities, and the standard blunt, piercing, edged weapon types. Weapons and armor gain the affinities of the enemies they are most often used against, whether they be Undead, Phantom, Dragon, Human, and so on. Often, what a weapon or armor gains in one area it will lose in another, though typically many weapons will carry several affinities. No single weapon or shield is equally powerful against all enemies, but they can be combined, merging their affinities, and creating an even stronger weapon.
The boss fights force you to use inventive ways to defeat them and were often what kept me playing the game. At times you will find yourself fighting a boss while only taking off 3 or 4 Hp's a swing - Do not fear, this is only the game telling you to to rethink your weapon choice or tactics. You can't just turn off your brain during the combat, it forces you to focus on what is important. Your stats increase at random, every time you defeat a boss, with a mini game that will determine what goes up: Strength, Mana, Hp, or Agility. There are no shops and no player interaction with NPC’s (other than in cutscenes) as the game is primarily a dungeon crawler, but there is plenty of depth from the weapon customization and combat to more than make up for that. Instead of focusing so much on leveling up your character as in most RPG’s, you basically level up your weapons and armor by using them, combining, reassembling, and augmenting them with gems. A few changes can be done anywhere, but only in workshop areas can you rename, combine, disassemble or assemble. Each room you explore has it's own unique name and feel to it, so the exploration never gets tedious, and the soundtrack is simply amazing. A wide variety of tracks are used so exploring the dungeons and other various areas never gets monotonous, and the ambient music is incredibly effective at setting the atmosphere. The various lighting effects are excellent for a PSX game too. It’s pretty obvious the developer had been using the PSX tools for a while, because Vagrant Story excels in almost every level, although it isn't without it’s downsides.
You doubt my power?
The save points are sparse, and the learning curve can be rough for some since you are basically left to find out about the game mechanics on your own, minus the inventory screen tutorials, which I advise first time players to read in depth, not to mention it's just hard as hell at times. There is a ton of backtracking, but that can be expected with a dungeon crawler, especially one with this much content. A quick weapon switch button would have been very nice, because you end up switching weapons so much, so prepare to look at the inventory screen a lot, especially once you start customizing equipment. If you don't like the combat that may be a problem since it makes up the majority of the game, also, if you have poor timing skills, the combos may be difficult to pull off. It's truly a shame that over 50% of the plot was cut, along with an extra playable character. They were planning a co-op mode, but it never made it in. If you consider yourself a dungeon crawler fan, or want to try out a jRPG unlike any other, give Vagrant Story a shot, once you do get in and begin to understand the level of customization the game allows, you will begin to grasp how exceptional Vagrant Story really is. For the uninitiated, sit through the opening cinematic and don't press any buttons for a while after it ends, a intro detailing more of the backstory will play shortly after, and as I said before, read the tutorial provided in the inventory screen, so you can fully utilize all of the game's features to the full extent. I also advise any first time players to at least get to the above ground area before giving up on the game, it really opens up at that point and the story begins to get really interesting. If you played it before and quit before then I urge you to try it again. Vagrant Story is quite simply, one of the best dungeon crawlers around.
Assless chaps help against Wyverns
Square
Playstation, PSP, PS3
Local Retailer, Amazon, Ebay, PSN
Phantom Pain
Vagrant Story is a medieval tale of espionage, politics, religion, and the human soul with arguably the best graphics and soundtrack for the PSX, not surprising since it was the last Square game made for that system. The story begins in Ivalice, in the kingdom of Valendia, as the protagonist, Ashley Riot, is sent to Duke Barodora’s mansion by the Valendia Knights of the Peace to break the Mullencamp cults hold on the manor. One of the antagonists and leader of the cult, Sydney Losstorot, uses dark magic to summon a Wyvern during the inevitable conflict with Agent Riot, and escapes with the Duke's son. Ashley pursues him to the ruins of Leá Monde, a cursed place where the souls of the dead roam free, along with another agent of the VKP, a woman named Merlose. You control Agent Riot from a 3rd person view (with a button for 1st person) as you navigate Lea Monde, traversing various obstacles, solving block puzzles, killing a wide variety of creatures, like Zombies, Wyverns, Ogres, Elementals, and several humans, all the while being assailed by supernatural forces that force you to view things from others people’s eyes. The real thrill of Vagrant Story is learning about the various events going on, how it relates to Ashley’s suppressed memories, and what Sydney has to do with it all. The story is very mature, primarily focusing on various political and religious factions and the conspiracies they weave, with a few major plot twists that are surprising. The characters and subplots are all very different, so Vagrant Story should not be avoided by those who simply dislike Square games(It’s not like Final Fantasy). You won't find any emo whiners, cheerful optimists, or brooding douchebags here however, Ashley’s ass hangs out the entire game since the creator likes S&M clothing, bondage, and other assorted weirdness, and Sydney, one of the villains, walks around with no shirt, metal claw gauntlets, and an extremely low cut pair of pants. It’s safe to say that the characters are much more unique than the standard Square titles, and the plot isn't as simplistic as many jRPG's. Even the Old English used in the dialog is different than most RPG's.
I am the reinforcements.
The combat is real time with pause, much like in Parasite Eve. You have Chain and Defense Abilities, that allow you to chain together combos via timed button presses, which increases your Risk Points. Risk points are usually bad to have since you are less effective at combat, but it does have it's benefits like letting you heal for more. This keeps you from stringing together too many combos because you are putting yourself at risk, of course various items can decrease Risk. The various weapon types also have several Break Limit attacks that you can use, but it does drain a certain amount of HP. Each enemy has a certain class, making specific weapons more suited to specific classes. No magic spell is useless in Vagrant Story. You will learn more spells by discovering Grimoire pages scattered throughout treasure chests and on several creatures. Spells like Strength Down, Analyze, Antidote, and Unlock are especially more useful since all of your items are from enemy drops and you are fighting alone. There are entire sections of the labyrinth that are locked the first time through, with certain bosses and items only available after a second play through. Several titles can be obtained also for those hardcore enough to go for that sort of thing. Each equipment item has several affinities, like the six creature affinities, eight elemental affinities, and the standard blunt, piercing, edged weapon types. Weapons and armor gain the affinities of the enemies they are most often used against, whether they be Undead, Phantom, Dragon, Human, and so on. Often, what a weapon or armor gains in one area it will lose in another, though typically many weapons will carry several affinities. No single weapon or shield is equally powerful against all enemies, but they can be combined, merging their affinities, and creating an even stronger weapon.
The boss fights force you to use inventive ways to defeat them and were often what kept me playing the game. At times you will find yourself fighting a boss while only taking off 3 or 4 Hp's a swing - Do not fear, this is only the game telling you to to rethink your weapon choice or tactics. You can't just turn off your brain during the combat, it forces you to focus on what is important. Your stats increase at random, every time you defeat a boss, with a mini game that will determine what goes up: Strength, Mana, Hp, or Agility. There are no shops and no player interaction with NPC’s (other than in cutscenes) as the game is primarily a dungeon crawler, but there is plenty of depth from the weapon customization and combat to more than make up for that. Instead of focusing so much on leveling up your character as in most RPG’s, you basically level up your weapons and armor by using them, combining, reassembling, and augmenting them with gems. A few changes can be done anywhere, but only in workshop areas can you rename, combine, disassemble or assemble. Each room you explore has it's own unique name and feel to it, so the exploration never gets tedious, and the soundtrack is simply amazing. A wide variety of tracks are used so exploring the dungeons and other various areas never gets monotonous, and the ambient music is incredibly effective at setting the atmosphere. The various lighting effects are excellent for a PSX game too. It’s pretty obvious the developer had been using the PSX tools for a while, because Vagrant Story excels in almost every level, although it isn't without it’s downsides.
You doubt my power?
The save points are sparse, and the learning curve can be rough for some since you are basically left to find out about the game mechanics on your own, minus the inventory screen tutorials, which I advise first time players to read in depth, not to mention it's just hard as hell at times. There is a ton of backtracking, but that can be expected with a dungeon crawler, especially one with this much content. A quick weapon switch button would have been very nice, because you end up switching weapons so much, so prepare to look at the inventory screen a lot, especially once you start customizing equipment. If you don't like the combat that may be a problem since it makes up the majority of the game, also, if you have poor timing skills, the combos may be difficult to pull off. It's truly a shame that over 50% of the plot was cut, along with an extra playable character. They were planning a co-op mode, but it never made it in. If you consider yourself a dungeon crawler fan, or want to try out a jRPG unlike any other, give Vagrant Story a shot, once you do get in and begin to understand the level of customization the game allows, you will begin to grasp how exceptional Vagrant Story really is. For the uninitiated, sit through the opening cinematic and don't press any buttons for a while after it ends, a intro detailing more of the backstory will play shortly after, and as I said before, read the tutorial provided in the inventory screen, so you can fully utilize all of the game's features to the full extent. I also advise any first time players to at least get to the above ground area before giving up on the game, it really opens up at that point and the story begins to get really interesting. If you played it before and quit before then I urge you to try it again. Vagrant Story is quite simply, one of the best dungeon crawlers around.
Assless chaps help against Wyverns
