Now that I’ve caught up with my "recorded" backlog, I can begin to follow through with what I had planned all along. My goal was to try to play through a game and review it one dungeon at a time...but hopefully more. One day, one dungeon, one review of said dungeon. I discuss the music, character growth as they come, plot developments, etc. I think it'll be fun and give me a better appreciation of the game. Or to better articulate why I hate it, in some cases. And this is the day which I begin my journey! I thought about doing something iconic like Final Fantasy VII, but I instead will be starting with a seemingly random game (and it certainly was random), Vagrant Story.
I can’t remember the last time I loaded up Vagrant Story and I remember absolutely nothing about it other than the combat confusing, maybe, preteen me. It’s kind of the bastard child of the Ivalice Alliance Story (Final Fantasy Tactics and XII) since it wasn’t supposed to be included until a Square higher-up declared it. The director of all the games, Yasumi Matsuno, only wanted to add easter eggs to his other games, not make it actually set in Ivalice. It doesn’t ruin any lore, so I think this a good fit.
The first thing to note of Vagrant Story is its unique combat. It’s a bit of turn based, hack and slash. Everything happens, for the most part, in real-time. Enemies come at you at will until you press O, it’s a Japanese control scheme, yeah, so that sucks. But once you hit that button, time stops allowing you to wail on your target as only you can move. At least if you hit your timing. If you press one of three buttons (circle, triangle, or square) you can continue your combo. Not only that, but you decide what your attacks do. More damage, life steal, mp steal, others I haven’t unlocked yet. Defense works in the same way; less damage, counter, restore MP. It’s fun, unique, and innovative. Also infuriating if you suck at QTEs. The same can be done by enemies with their O equivalent, but they, so far, haven't done any combos. So the battle system is real-time, tactical qte. So far, it actually works. There are also platforming aspects as you traverse the dungeon, but that only involves moving one box to the correct spots and jumping/climbing on it. There is also a magic system, learned via books, weapon skills, and crafting. All in a PS1 game.
On to the plot. The game starts off with a man with a wannabe Sephiroth hairstyle sneaking into a burning mansion beset by brigands/cultists to kidnap the Duke’s son. There you get a hands-off, no tutorial, of the battle system. And the first boss is a dragon summoned by a guy you shot who then proceeds to jump out a window. The game sure starts with a bang!
Several scenes telling Ashley Riot, a Riskbreaker, sponsored by The Kingdom of Valencia as he goes to the ruined city of Leá Monde. There he descends into a wine cellar as it’s the only way into the city due to a convenient earthquake destroying all other points on entry. There, you begin to see the dark magiks (sic.) of Leá Monde as Ashley is quickly attacked by zombies and ghosts. The first real boss of the game is the Mighty Minotaur. After some counters, attacks, and numerous heals, he falls and we re-meet the early game main antagonist. Sydney Losttarot, leader of the cult Müllencamp. He has the ability to read a person’s past and he does so here allowing us to start learning Ashley’s backstory. He once had a wife and a son, but they were both killed, during a picnic, by “fallen knights”. He floats away and you chase after him. You fight a few more bosses including a headless Dullahan which leads away from the wine cellar and into the catacombs. A scene occurs where the kidnapped ally of Ashley, Merlose, converses with Sydney and his terrified-of-Ashley friend, Harden. It’s here we see a ghost person who looks like Ashley’s dead son. I think his wife was named Tia, but no word on the kid, yet.
You fight through the rest of the catacombs and eventually fight the stone golem. This guy sucks. He hits hard and is resistant to damage. I read if I had a different weapon type, I’d have been fine, but I kept my spear (piecing) and rode with it. Beat him and you open up the way to Leá Monde proper which is where I called it a night as we meet the third party we’re against, I haven’t learned his name yet, but I think it Rozencarl and/or GuildernLenny.
The music was composed by the same guy who made all the other Ivalice games, Hitoshi Sakimoto and it really shows. Tells you instantly your in my favorite game world. The music, so far, has just been atmospheric, but the bosses have all gotten their own theme. Sadly, I’m a terrible reviewer so I didn’t pay much attention to them, but in my defense, I was way into the combat which is a credit to the most important part of a video game.
There’s night one, and two dungeons down. How many more to go? Dunno. Three bosses laid to waste, and three new. stats because boss deaths are how you gain more stats in the game (no levels, just boss upgrades and the potions they drop). I can’t wait to properly explore the crafting and any other new mechanics that might show up.
One hour. Curious how long it takes without the introduction spew tomorrow so that might be the last time I note the time.
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