Vagrant Story

To say this is a master-peice doesnt do it justice. This is one of those games that only comes along every now and then. If you have played final fantasy on the playstation you will have a rough idea of what to expect, VERY ROUGH. While FF took alot of brain power rather then skill, VAGRANT STORY lets you choose wheather you are to become a mighty barbarian or a magical wizard. The fighting system is inspired, similar to Final Fantasy 8 you must make "links"to each strike of your sword/bow/axe/dagger/long blade and many others, each link must be timed perfectly at the moment of impact for the next one to hit, but this is where risk points come in and it gets tricky.

The more you hit, the higher your risk points go(up to one hundred), the higher your risk points go the more likely you'll miss the enemy and get hit your self. You also have the ability to make your own weapons in the many workshops scattered around the city, this can be alot of fun trying out your own creation on the enemy. This is not a ten minute game, because from once you pick it up you'll play for hours, the story is absorbing, the combat system is fantastic, and the freedom of choose is refreshing. "BUY THIS AND CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT GAMES FOREVER!" 10/10. {k.noone}

With an intelligent, almost Shakespearean translation by Alexander O. Smith (who also did Final Fantasy IX's excellent dialogue), Vagrant Story stands as one of the finest examples of incredible storytelling in a video game. The tale of Ashley Riot is one of the best, and to find it in a Playstation game makes it all the sweeter.

An infinitely complex battle system may turn off some, or even many, but the gameplay can be mastered in time. It's possible. The game is shorter than most Square RPGs, clocking in it at just over 30 hours total. And it's well worth it to experience a story this good.

Furthermore, its realtime 3D graphics, music by composer Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII) and overall presentation is top notch, the finest to be found on the PSone.

This is the best game ever made for the PlayStation system, and arguably the best game ever made--period. The people at Squaresoft squeezed every ounce of graphic quality they could from the aging PS One to provide incredibly detailed and deep characters and a world as real as ours. The music is without par and provides an extra dimension that elevates and subdues the soul. From the beginning, to the final moments, this game delivers on every level. And, even after it's done, there are so many questions left unanswered that the game retains its playability value and draws one in over and over, trying to sort all its mysteries out. Why a sequel was never made is a paradox.

This game failed commercially, much to the surprise of many RPG gamers out there who praised it heavily for it's aesthetic values. Excuse me, but this game failed simply because it wasn't fun to play.

Yes, the graphics were very good. Yes, the cinema scenes were awesome and extremely well done (The opening sequence in particular.) Yes, the character animations were extremely fluid and well done. And the music is amongst the best I've ever heard in a video game.

But the game ultimatley suffers from "Metal Gear Syndrome", wherein the process of watching the game was for focused on by producers than actual gameplay.

Okay, actually, that may not be a fair statement. Upon hearing the gameplay features, it sounds pretty spiffy: You run around in real-time throughout dungeons and so on, solve puzzles, but mostly battle enemies. When you fight an enemy, you activate a range-grid which details what enemies are in range of your weapon, and target specific body parts. In addition, you can perform timed moves which add to your repertoire, both defensively and offensively. And of course, there's magic spells, and customizable weapons. Sounds great on paper, right?

Oh, noooooo. While the programmers were adding all these bells and whistles, they forgot to make it actually FUN. Rather, the combat which engrosses 90% of actual gameplay is slow, tedious, and one of the most acute pains in the ass I've ever had. Basically, it's real-time button mashing without the fun and satisfaction of fast action and smashing s*** up, and menu combat with the annoying factor of having to button mash to make sure you get a move in before the enemy does. Oh, and also there's the plague of unnecissarily slow spell and item sequences that you just sit around for for about seven seconds each. And on top of it, the game makes you switch weapons and armor every damn time you encounter a new kind of enemy.

It's also ironic that a game which such great cinema scenes has such a bad camera system during gameplay. It's hard to see everything around you, and the first part of the game is too damn dark to see half the things you need to. Great way to start off.

So, use caution when approaching this game: love it for the cinema and music, hate for the crap gameplay, and question the fashion sense of hero Ashley and villain Sydney, who both dress like male prostitutes. In the end, I'm not going to suffer through crap gameplay just to see the next pretty cinema sequence.

This is an overlooked classic. Way too few people played this game, and yet it's one of the best RPGs ever! If you are reading this, and you like RPGs, and you haven't played Vagrant Story, get out and buy the game NOW!