And the graphics? That said, the game has turned out beautifully. The pseudo-real-time fighting interface works extremely well.
Even though Vagrant Story assaults the beginner with what seems like far too many attributes to keep track of, once you start to understand how the myriad of abilities affect one another it's easy to see the beauty of the game. My only real complaint is that the entire game is simply dungeon crawling and fighting. A town or two to visit would have been a nice touch. It's been a long time since I was really excited about a video game.
Even the games that have impressed me haven't made me feel like I did when I was a kid and I first read about Final Fantasy in Nintendo Power. Even when Tomb Raider first appeared, I was more intrigued by the potential development of a video game character with depth who could also become a kind of pop idol -- unfortunately, it seems Eidos decided you can't have a character with too much depth and pop stardom at the same time.
Vagrant Story and its star, Ashley Riot, have given me a new hope. After the murder of Ashley's wife and child by a rogue some years back, he transferred to the Riskbreaker division of the Valendian Knights for Peace. Now Ashley must follow the fleeing criminals underground into the lost city of Lea Monde. Lea Monde was an impressive city with the strongest walls in all of Valendia and renowned for its great wines.
Legend has it that this city that sunk in an earthquake 20 years ago was the home of the very powerful, very evil sorceress Mullenkamp to whom Sydney's cult is dedicated. Some artifact hidden there is also the object of desire of the Order of the Crimson Blade, a group sanctioned by the Church and under the control of the Cardinal, led by Romeo Guildenstern. This group is at odds with Parliament, so is it at odds with the Duke? Why were they at the Duke's manor "unofficially? And what exactly is suppressed in Ashley's memory?
This intriguing story unfolds in immersive in-game cinema sequences throughout. First off, Ashley is WAY easier to control than Lara Croft as you can tell, I see a lot of room to compare these characters, but the games on the whole are very, very different and while Lara's gig is staying all cool and collected all the time, Ashley gets a little high strung in the heat of battle and has to remember to keep calm.
This is the beauty of the RISK system. Basically, while Ashley's fighting he becomes enraged which gives him RISK Points that make his attacks less likely to hit as he becomes unstable and less focused. Monster attacks also will hurt more if they connect. There's another group of Battle Abilities that are used to defend. For these, timing is still the key. This time, though, instead of timing your hit when your previous attack lands, you time your defense for when the enemy blow connects.
You'll get the hang of it. Lara never had so much to think about in the heat of battle. However, one thing Mr. Riot and Ms. Croft definitely have in common is a love for packing an arsenal. But while Lara is all guns, Ashley broadens his horizons using maces, axes, swords, and spears. Plus, Ashley doesn't just find weapons; different grips and blades can be recombined and forged in factories to make new tools of destruction.
Once you make a weapon, you can name it. There's even a type of magic he can learn that will allow him to "enchant" a weapon or armor with certain attributes -- you don't have to find the Ice Shield in this game, you can MAKE it!!
Spending time with one weapon allows it to gain Phantom Points from creatures it has slain and to become stronger. Eventually, when a weapon you've created has been used enough to reach its potential, it will earn titles of renown.
Excalibur wouldn't be Excalibur without some history. Each weapon also has Damage Points, though, which represent the structural decay from use yes, folks, metal hitting metal does make a dent Don't just go around banging your shield against walls and dragging your blade on the ground. Remember, too, that Ashley can also repair weapons in the Factories where they're forged and make them last longer.
By finding Mullenkamp's old Grimoires scattered around the abandoned city, our clever boy can learn four different types of magic from Shaman spells for personal healing to Warlock attacks to acts of Sorcery and Enchantment, Ashley can eventually do it all. He's not just some dumb jock with guns. I still haven't mentioned my favourite innovation in this fresh, fresh game -- one that seems obvious, but I haven't seen it before: hit locations.
You don't just randomly lose or take hit points. Ashley's body is divided up into sections as are his opponents' bodies. You'll have to jump precise jumps, solve block puzzles and navigate mazes all by yourself in a fashion strongly reminiscent of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. On the flip side, Square's fused a menu driven battle interface with a reflex driven combo and defense for a new approach to your basic role playing combat. The combo system employs a new wrinkle.
The more successive strikes you manage to connect with, the more often you successfully defend, the higher your Risk points will go. The higher your risk, the more ragged your defense. You'll also miss more frequently although your chances of making a critical hit increase.
Think of it as a fatigue and stress level all rolled into one. In all, it makes for a mix that incorporates multiple game styles while remaining aloof from them all at the same time. Expect to spend a lot of time alone with Ashley's thoughts as you progress in the game. This is essentially a dungeon crawling game complete with statistically intensive weapon and armor management, You'll build up weapons, combine them with others to create new or stronger ones, and spend a lot of time juggling our equipment while you pursue the storyline further.
You'll have to take the type of monster you're killing into consideration, their elemental affinities and plan for any of their attacks. Vagrant Story breaks from Final Fantasy in another way aside from the game mechanics.
There is almost no full motion video in the game. Instead, Square relies on real-time cut scenes to further the story in the game. There aren't any prerendered backdrops of sprites kicking about either.
Everything's in rendered in real-time using the PlayStation's polygon pushing power to give the game its looks. Square fans may notice some artistic similarities to Xenogears in the character designs and backgrounds. Square fans will take note, others may as well once they see Vagrant Story on the shelves. These effects include inflicting status ailments on the enemy, reflecting damage, etc.
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