Vagrant Story

"It doesn't get much better than this"

Vagrant Story is one of those games that many people will dislike based on complexity. Simply put, if you hated Final Fantasy VIII because it was just endless summoning of Guardian Forces, you'll hate Vagrant Story even more. Anyone who is willing to put the time in to actually learn how to play the game will find a rewarding, magical experience and now that Jack Kroll is dead, I can safely say that Vagrant Story comes as close to being art as any game before it.

Vagrant Story works on many levels, but the first that people will notice when they start the game is the graphics (that's not a grammatical error, folks). The rooms, characters and monsters are exquisitely detailed. While some areas are a little repetitive, one can easily tell what section of the game they are in (as long as that section is not the Town Center or City Walls). From the Wine Cellar to the Great Cathedral, the regions of the game give of an aura of mystery to them. While the variety is not as great as a traditional RPG, Vagrant Story still manages to feature variation ranging from the Snowfly Forest and Sanctum to Abandoned Mines the Undercity, with its distinctive blue color scheme. The only complaint to be had with the room design is that some rooms (mostly the early ones) are almost too small. Fortunately, the room size tends to have little effect on gameplay and the tight passages in some areas make the city seem more realistic. On the whole, few rooms look downright unattractive, though this game is still host to many of the problems that have always plagued 3-D polygon based games including times when Ashley and his weapons will appear to pass through a solid object and several times when items block your view of the action.

The music and sound effects in Vagrant Story work very well and the technical quality is top notch. Though there were a few parts that I almost wished included voice acting near the beginning, the lack of voice ends up working very well, though I can't but wonder what good voice acting would do for the game. The sound effects are mostly ambient sound (wolves in the background etc.), though the weapon bangs and crashes sound realistic. Generally, sound effects are a minor part of the game, so I cannot complain too much about the lack of anything special. The music is not the greatest that I've heard but it is still powerful and effective. I found the best track to be the one from the Undercity. When I first entered that area, I was simply awe struck. None of the music is bad, though I found the boss music to be a little uninteresting. The general theme of the music is one of low key mystery, so it doesn't stand out in the way the music of Final Fantasy Tactics or Xenogears stood out.

The characters and monsters are generally believable. As this is a Square game, Ashley has an interesting haircut, though he does not have spiky hair like Cloud, Squall and Fei. The other characters are all distinguishable in their own strange ways, from Guildenstern's long kilt to Sydney's metallic arms.. Monsters are mostly exciting, though the game uses an old standby from sprite days, pallette swapping, with some later monsters. I was a little disappointed to find that every dragon is nearly identical save a few color changes.

Beyond their looks, the characters are all memorable. Square's excellent translation created a cast that sounds like they stepped off the page of a Shakespearian play (there are a few references to Shakespeare's work among characters). The way they act, it is difficult to know who is good and who is not until well into the game. The final boss was much more of a surprise than that of most other RPGs (not counting ones with silly, nonsensical plot twists like Star Ocean 2). Unlike most games, the story reaches an entirely new level of mystery at the end, as the ending both ends the story and adds many questions about what has really happened and why those events happened.

The story of the game is both epic and self contained. Everything takes place inside one city and the purpose has nothing to do with saving the world. As with the motivations of the characters, it is impossible to pin down the story until late in the game. Vagrant Story is as much an adventure as it is an RPG, so one cannot expect too much plot. However, the plot that we do get is great.

The most important part of the game is defiantly gameplay. Battles are reminiscent of Parasite Eve but unlike Parasite Eve, the weapons are swords, hammers and axes (among others) so combat is an up close and personal affair. Once the first boss is defeated, combat really takes off. Ashley can choose from Magic, Break Arts (special attacks that cost HP to use) and chain abilities. Attack Magic is mostly useless, but the other types of magic are constantly helpful. I found myself actually using status modifiers in this game, something that is rarely worthwhile in other games. The most powerful spells are not the ones that do the most damage; they are the ones that make Ashley more powerful (especially Herakles). Magic is learned by way of Grimoires. These are usually found either after major battles and in chests, but some are just plain rare (I've never found Banish, for example). Break Arts are learned by repeated use of the weapon in question. I never found Break Arts particularly useful, but they have their moments. 4 Break Arts are available per weapon and they all have varying powers. The Chain and Defense abilities are the most important. Specific abilities can be set to each button, so you can set Ashley to do more or less whatever the heck you want during battles. This provides for incredible customization in how you attack, as multiple weapons can be used to dispatch your enemies (though some work better than others). As with any game, though, the strongest abilities are obvious, so you will find yourself using those a lot more than the weaker ones.

The final piece of gameplay is the weapons creation/customization system. Blades can be combined and replaced with different hilts to create weapons of various types. It is important to keep track of both metal and whether the weapon is Edged, Blunt or Piercing. A person who ignores the weapon system will probably find a Final Fantasy VIII style disappointment when they see their damage figures. As with FFVIII, though, the game will become a lot more interesting when you get a grip on what you are doing. My only real complaint here is that you can only have a limited number of items of each type and the armor section included arm, head and body armor, as well as accessories, leading to more discarding that I would have liked. There is a chest where you can store unwanted items but the chest interface is a bad joke at best, requiring you to load and save (it counts just like one from a save point) whenever you want to get something or stick an item in a chest.

Vagrant Story is one of the best Playstation games available today and one of the best games ever, as well. The game has style, flair and a memorable main character. It is one of those games where what you put into it is equal to what you get out of the game, so a person who just wants a dungeon crawl version of Metal Gear Solid or Resident Evil will probably be overwhelmed, but a person looking for a complex adventure/RPG will be right at home here. I started another game of Vagrant Story (there is a feature similar to Chrono Trigger's New Game+ function) right after I finished the first one. This is not a game to be missed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/00, Updated 06/20/00