Like, so, so much. Whenever I get a new key, I have the wonton urge to go look for things it opens. But before I continue on with my love letter, let’s talk plot.
It’s pretty good too. But, again, before that, let's talk about things that are kinda iffy. After a room filled with new block mechanics (roll limited block) even though the blocks are optional here, which seems odd, and another (snow) dragon boss battle which makes me ask the question how’d all these dragons get into these small underground rooms, we return to Hardin suffering the effects of being shot with a crossbow.
Guildenstern asks Hardin for a key, to which Hardin claims he knows not while being Star Wars force pushed. Seeing this makes the Duke’s Kid, who’s named Joshua and I know this because I looked it up, looks on in horror. Being force pushed causes Hardin to ask Guildernstern how he can access the Wellspring. Guildenstern responds by throwing the Cardinal under the bus and reminding me I called hearsay a few days ago. Hardin is then teleported to Sydney as he asks his boss about the key, which Hardin does know is the Blood Sin. Sydney fades away to reveal Guildernstern has the power to warp reality or something and just did so to get the knowledge he needed. Guildenstern exposits the Blood Sin was once called the Rood Inverse as he looks up to notice the Rood-Inverse above him making him realize Sydney’s back tattoo is the key. The spotlight returns to Hardin as we bear the sound of metal stabbing flesh as the camera zooms out from a sword revealing Guildernstern killed Hardin. Joshua does a silent scream and I feel bad. Despite the lack of real Character Depth/Growth going on this game, Hardin is the only one who we’ve learned anything about. His tragic story of trying to help rebels (who seem more and more justified by the day), being double-crosses by, what I assume was, a corrupt judge, hearing of his only family dying, feeling lost and joining Sydney (who I still don’t think is evil), and having a nice bond (even if it’s offscreen) with Joshua was heartwarming and I actually liked him. I’m legitimately sad to see him perish.
We cut to a scene where Joshua is lost in, what appears to be, a Cathedral until we hear a door unlock and his father walks through. Joshua smiles and gleefully runs onto his arms. It’s touching, but why? Is the Duke not as evil as we’re led to believe?
Another scene transition where we're with Sydney and he magikally learns of Hardin’s death which seems to make him mourn, but might just be me projecting. Rosencrantz walks into his room and begins to grill Sydney about his plans for Ashley. Something about Ashley is set to succeed the legacy as Sydney doesn’t want an “Incomplete Death” and says Ashley should rule “The City of Darkness” with benevolence rather than evil. Rosencrantz calls Ashley a “vagrant” and “has the blind morality of a child”. They start fighting as The Cult Leader’s magik fails to effect the Riskbreaker.
We then return to Ashley as we venture into the Temple of Kiltias, which is a foreshadow to Final Fantasy XII coming in six years. There we fight the mini-boss The Last Crusader who kinda sucks to fight. Not only did I do low damage, but his best place to attack (abdomen) is immune to chains. At least I learned Herakles also increases defense, it seems. After lowering my opponent’s’ strength, I started hitting for 50 damage and the fight became elementary. After a tough block puzzle and another minotaur battle, we gain the Silver Key which unlocks several doors throughout the game. And here’s where I stopped progressing the story to go explore. Walking through old dungeons, I found several new items, upgraded my spear, preferred my old spear so I stopped using it regardless (for now) and ventured back into the optional dungeon, The Iron Maiden. There I continued to find better weapons and armor which I plan to do stuff with tomorrow as I fought more bosses, including a Wyvern Knight who dropped The Chest Key which unlocks even more chests throughout the game. Guess what my plan for tomorrow is?
As I said in the title, I love this. Exploring giant castles in video games is one of my favorite things. Sightseeing, killing things, getting better gear, and watching my numbers rise; it's what I play games for. The stuff you find exploring makes the main story more enjoyable by not having you drag through it. It can be said this should be on the main path if it’s main story relevant, but that makes the game very linear, which it already has issues with. Plus, many games have optional dungeons that reward the player with items needlessly strong for the main campaign. And Vagrant Story rewards exploring with even more exploring. I don’t want to ramble on using synonyms with great and love, but you get the point. I wish the locals were more different and variyed, yes. It’s all cave walls and stone floors. Dungeon design was not high on the todo list in 2000 and I think the music is kinda meh (fast-paced and/or atmospheric, as I’ve said, not my thing), but I’m really glad I’m replaying this.
Tomorrow I finish exploring with The Cheat Key and march toward beating the game.
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