Vagrant Story

Squaresoft

April 2000?

Vagrant Story: It is a way of Life.

Note: I still have not finished this review yet. I just put up all I've got so far, for, since I am in charge of this site, I should probably get some sort of review up.

Vagrant Story, and Ashley Riot in particular, can have my first-born son. That is how great this game is. Ok, I will admit that this game is not for everyone, and I tried to take that into account as I graded it. You may find that it is extremely impossible for me to give a good grade on games, for I always want more. But back to the game.

It takes a long time to fully find everything that you can do in this game. The battles are hard as bot,(bot being really, really hard.) and it is a dungeon crawler. But those are the only bad points, if you want to call them bad. Once you fully get in the game, you will find that it has incredible depth like non you have ever seen before. Perhaps I am a bit biased as this is my favorite game, and I have beaten it 12 times now, but I decided to review it anyway. If you look, I was able to find some things that were wrong with it, and I don't give 10's to it. It comes as close as possible I think though.

What liked: For once stats boosters, like defense and offence up are crucial to the game. Without them, you can't beat bosses. Enemies, and everything else, doesn't have that extra zero thrown on to make them seem that much more powerful. The final boss has around 750 hit points, and you will be happy when you hit for more than one against some bosses. Ashley Riot is the man. What more can I say? Actually, every character is the man, their actions and motivations are all completely explained and they are all (except perhaps Samantha) really cool. The Plot is the best I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. I would compare it to Fight Club and have heard it compared to that as well by many others. Don't think this means that the plot is similar in any way to Fight Club, it just is very cool, innovative and confusing just like Fight Club. It is a way of life. Enemies also hurt each other as well, which, although not very frequent, is kinda cool. They never reuse the same enemies for others with new palets, in fact all the Dragons, while similar in that you recognize they are dragons, all look very different. My favorite is the Earth Dragon probably, although to each his own. After you beat the game, you get to play again, and again and so forth with your built-up character. You can get titles such as complete the game once, complete within ten hours, beat the secret boss, get every treasure chest, use each weapon 5,000 times and kill 5,000 enemies of every type, and beat the game without saving or without using magic (both of which I did at the same time HAHA!). That plus many other cool things like new levels and weapons have you coming back for more.

What disliked: The main button, unlike most video games, is the circle button. Once you remember it is fine, but coming in from another game, you keep pushing the x button and canceling whatever you are doing. The saving takes around 30 seconds. We timed it. That doesn't seem long, but it is. The game takes up 3 memory card spaces as well, so be prepared.

What to expect: Many of the rooms look exactly the same, get used to repeated dungeons (it isn't that bad, don't get scared. I hate dungeon crawlers and this is my favorite game.) Sometimes the rooms are a bit dark, especially in one dungeon where they are supposed to be. Play on a tv where you can change the brightness and contrast. Expect bosses, and even every normal enemy to be a challenge. After every room, you will be happy you survived. It is challenging, but always I found in a fun way.

What not to expect: Towns, there is one, without townsfolk, inns weapon or item stores or anything else you normally expect in a town. Multiple playable characters, it would have been nice to go back through with Sydney or Neesa or Rosencrantz. Money, there is none, since there is no need, no towns.

What different from any other game: It is most definitely different from other square games, cause it is NOT a final fantasy, and sticks with actual gameplay graphics in the intricate cutscenes,

Ratings on:

Control - 8 (Sometimes there is some hard hard jumping)

Graphics - 10 (The BEST for PSX due to, while not as REAL looking as FF8 or 9, they kept a stylistic sense and the cutscenes, which are the greatness of the game, have amazing camera work and cinematic feel.)

Sound - 9 (Sound is never a big deal with me, but it has a beautiful, melancholic soundtrack, and Sydney?s clapping is so cool!)

Style - 10 (Delivers a great playing, insanely hard game with beautiful cutscenes and best plot I have ever read, or seen.)

Ratings on:

1st hour - 8

5th hour - 9

1st week - 10

2nd week - 8

1st month - 7

#1 reason why I hate this game: The jump in the Cathedral, you know which one!

Reviewed by Hawke

Images: The Man, Ashley Riot, Sydney, and the stats page.