Vagrant Story

"Takes challenge to a level of pure insanity!"

When i rented Vagrant Story from the Movie Studio, I had no idea it was made by Squaresoft, one of my favorite gaming designers, until i had stuck the game into my playstation. As i stared in awe at the opening cut scene (Simply BEAUTIFUL!), I knew this game was going to be good. It was good, but INSANELY HARD!!!

Graphics (System-Wise) 9/10

Not perfect, a bit blocky. Think Legend of the Dragoon. I only got to see one REAL FMV and it plays right when you fire up the game. It's worht watching every chance you get, though, it's awesome. Vagrant Story is a dank and dingy dungeon crawl, so the backgrounds always look a tad drab and tasteless, but this is meant to fit the mood, as i discovered when i entered the outdoor area, which looks pretty sweet. Unfortunately, those times are fleeting. All in all, Vagrant Story is a pretty good lookin' game for its time.

Sound (System-Wise) 10/10

One thing i REALLY like about games is when each kind of weapon has a different sound...or at least blades sound different than staves and such. Almost every kind of weapon sounds different in VS and that makes me smile. The music PERFECTLY fits the mood. When you're in a heated boss battle, the music gets frantic and edgy. While you're wandering the dark and looming halls of dungeons, you may hear a sad and ominous tune, or simply sounds of torture in the background. It all fits the mood perfectly and sound gets two thumbs up from me!

Gameplay (Genre-Wise) 6/10

Though a good action RPG, VS has a huge fault: It's inconceivably hard. The only way to gain stats is by beating bosses at which you'll activate a roulette of pitiful stat increases (Raising your HP which starts at 250 by 2 is hardly a bonus) and more often than not, you won't be able to get the stats you NEED TO BE RAISED. I didn't get ONE vital stat increase when i played through this game. Only little HP and MP bonuses that i couldn't care less about.
Offensive magic is laughable in this game. Bosses will barely feel an itch from your 47 mp (You start with around 50) offensive spell. healing magic will be overused as it's easy to be killed by the generic bat if you're not careful. The true useful magic is the magic that lets you up your strength/intelligence/agility and lower those of your enemies. Why is this? Because of the remarkable chain system. If I REALLY tried hard, I could pull off a 70 chain combo, assuming what i was beating on didn't die first. It feels a lot like Legend of the Dragoon's addition system actually. Those who have played Parasite Eve will be familiar with the battle system as well. Most enemies are only damaged by one type of weapon, which can really slow down the action in battle when you hve to change from an edged sword to a blunt staff. It's all quite annoying.
I cannot forgive VS' unforgiving difficulty, but I will acknowledge that it is still a decent game.

Story (Genre-Wise) 8/10

The dark and intruiging story drove me past the horrid difficulty of this game. Twists and turns and unpredictability followed me wherever I went. You are Ashley Riot(A guy, just in case you were wondering), a Riskbreaker, a kind of assassin or private investigator, take your pick. You are on a mission to kill a seemingly immortal man/monster named Sydney. He is one evil bastard, right at the start of the game, Ashley shoots him in the chest with a crossbow and he barely flinches, he just sicks his pet dragon on Ashley and jumps out of a stained glass window. The opening scenes alone will drive you to advance in the story until you know every last detail regarding the ancient and seemingly dead city of Lea Monde.

Replayability (Genre-Wise) Unjudgeable

This is the first game I've reviewed that I wasn't able to finish, just because it;s so damn hard. I bow to you if you can finish

Other things...

-Did i mention it's insanely hard?
-You can assemble and disassemble your weapons to combine peices and make different ones, making an almost unlimited amount of different weapon combinations. You can also name your own weapons. For example, I named my Great Axe the Redeemer (After Unreal's godly rocket launcher), my Rapier the Dead Blade (I got it from a dead soldier), My first crossbow was Seventh Heaven (its default name), and i named my wooden staff Purification (Does extra damage to undead and evil opponents). Eccentrics will love this
-It's really hard.
-If you're clausterphobic, don't play this game. You'll spend much of your time in deep dungeons and you'll feel kind of trapped everywhere you go.
-Bats, fire-breathing wolves and lizardmen are in overabundance.
-Saving takes a little while...maybe 30 seconds at most.
-IT'S REALLY HARD!!!

Overall 7/10

This is one of Squaresoft's less desireable games. I reccomend most to simply get Parasite Eve instead of this little bottle of mental torture. Those looking for a challenge beyond their wildest dreams will have to look hard for this game. The Movie Studio Video Rental specializes in rare games it seems.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/03