PS1 REVIEW: Vagrant Story

Vagrant Story may be one of the most ambitious game made by Square on the PS1, and that's a big thing to say considering Square games were synonymous for ambition since the days of the SNES. That's a major reason why reviewing this game may end being my hardest review to write yet, since I am still unsure if I can do the game justice while looking at it from a modern lens.

This is, after all, the game I would consider to be the true inspiration for FromSoftware's Souls games. Yet, despite some truly revolutionary aspects in design, it doesn't mean that the game is free from hiccups that detract from the experience today.

#21: Vagrant Story:-

Year: 2000.

Genre: Action RPG.

Publisher: Square.

Developer: Square.

"The body is but a vessel to the soul, a puppet which bends to the soul's tyranny"

After a rather non-representative CGI opening scene, the game starts with the main character Ashley Riot infiltrating the manor of a Duke who is suspected of colluding with a cultist faction led by the enigmatic Sydney Losstarot. After confronting and killing Sydney, Ashley soon realizes that the cult is not kidding around; Sydney doesn't die and manages to abscond with the Duke's son to the mystical and dangerous city of Leá Monde.

At this point, let's back up a little and try to understand what's happening in the game's world. You would know more about the story if you paused a bit at the start screen, but here is a brief synopsis of the entire story with no spoilers whatsoever. Ashley, an agent for the parliament known as a Riskbreaker must figure out both the mysterious nature of Sydney's power and his relationship to the powerful duke. Meanwhile, another powerful force in the country called the Crimson Blades is tasked to do the same thing. Every actor in the game converges into the city of Leá Monde where the rest of the game takes place.

There is enhanced depth to single-location game settings

In its deliberately confusing presentation of alliance and faction, Vagrant Story effectively puts you in the shoes of Agent Riot as he doggedly pursues his mission. As he progresses, he realizes more about himself and his mysterious connection to the forces of Darkness that control the city.

As expected from Square in its PS1 era, both the storytelling and scene directions are impeccable. Characters move into place like actors in a theater play while their lines blast out of comic book-style speech bubbles. Thanks to the excellent writing and interesting cast of characters, we are invested in a story that intentionally feels like a single chapter in a grander tale. That's confirmed at the end of the game in which it's revealed that this is only the prelude to the story of the "vagrant".

The writing is nothing if not memorable

One thing I feel was of huge influence to later games, especially the Dark Souls series, is how the labyrinthine setting of Leá Monde becomes a character in itself, which is modestly succeeds at doing.

"The city of shade will forgive your sin and call forth a power to change your fate"

Not content with their radical story and setting design, the team at Square wanted to make a game that is unlike anything else, and they have largely succeeded. Of course, success in making something different doesn't necessarily mean it would be something good, and that's largely how I felt about some of the game mechanics.

First, let's focus on the good parts, and that's mostly due to the level and world design. The entire city of Leá Monde is one large dungeon that is interconnected in a maze-like structure, dividing the game into many "rooms" reflecting different parts of the city. Each room has its own name, and navigation sometimes include some light platforming puzzles that aren't too boring.

Now, let's discuss the inconsistent battle system. Nominally an Action RPG system, the battle mechanics sometimes feel like a different take on turn-based battles without the necessary limitations to make it work. At any moment, you can pause the action and select to attack your enemies, use magic, or use items. There is no timer to when you can pause, which can make battles feel like a rush to mash the pause button and attack before the enemies decide to attack.

I feel I could mash the pause button and attack with full impunity until I face an enemy I literally cannot damage

When making regular attacks, you can choose which enemy part to target which involves some strategy, and you get information regarding the accuracy of your attacks, and here comes the central limiting "Risk" mechanic. Whenever you make a successful attack, you can time an input with the attack to chain additional attacks and effects to it, and this adds to your "Risk" meter which decreases the accuracy of your next attacks. Therefore, you will always need to manage your "Risk" meter to effectively attack.

With this being the only limiting factor in combat, it feels like fights are heavily skewed towards the player without enough challenge from most enemies. At least, that's the case when your equipment and weapon affinities are acceptable. Otherwise, if you are not sufficiently prepared, then there is no chance at all to win any fight.

In general, I feel that the combat system is a rough draft of an interesting idea that doesn't work as intended. While it can be fun, especially when you learn howto chain attacks together and how to defend properly, a more limiting factor to your attacks would have made it more strategic and fun.

"The dark is formless and invisible. It invades the body like a plague, an unseen visitor"

With the relative absence of strategy in battle mechanics, the majority of strategy is relegated to battle preparation and the extensive systems that govern affinities. In short, if you don't have the proper equipment, there is little hope of victory or progress. Weapons come in three damage types, six elemental affinities, and six monster affinities.

To do any kind of damage, you will need to hit enemies with weapons that they have low resistance against. This means that you should theoretically carry several weapons that work in different circumstances. Practically, it means that you should at least carry one weapon from each damage type, and apply magical buffs to influence your attack element or switch weapon gems to influence your monster coverage.

Dragons for example are weak against Dragon damage, DUH!!

Thankfully, this level of preparation is supported by an extensive equipment fabrication system. Unfortunately, there are a lot of annoyances with effectively using this system, which will require spending a lot of time in menus and loading saves as you experiment with it.

For example, a major weakness of the system is that you have a limited carry capacity and will have to depend on getting a lot of your crafting materials from a storage box. Astoundingly, every time you put or take things from the box, you must spend a few seconds saving, and that wasted time adds up to hours across your playthrough.

You will be spending so much time blacksmithing you might as well be one

As such, a rather fun aspect of the game is hampered by the technical limitations of the PS1, yet I consider that a strategic rather than a technical issue. The equipment fabrication system is simply not designed with the best player interface in mind, with ambition overtaking practicality in design.

"The world does not want a savior. These wretches leading lives of misery do not need salvation. The rotting branch must be pruned"

While the game's ambitions has sometimes lead to unintended negative consequences in its gameplay design, it only lead to some of the best production in a PS1 game. Quite simply, Vagrant Story is one of the best looking PS1 games ever made; one that looks great today despite some of the low-res character faces.

Again, Leá Monde is central to the game's artistic design, and its French inspiration impacts the design of the world, while its eerie atmosphere predicts a more mature look for both key characters and monsters. As expected from a game directed by Yasumi Matsuno, the art direction of Hiroshi Minagawa and Akihiko Yoshida follows their work in Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, but with bigger character and world proportions. The result is the juxtaposition of classical portrait work with cutting-edge polygonal work.

Character designs are truly memorable

In general, all polygonal models looks good, and the game is confident enough with its graphics to give the player great control over the camera as well as a first-person view point at any stage.

Musically, for an Action RPG, the game gambled on creating a cohesive and atmospheric soundtrack that was short in memorable tracks, but it still one of Hitoshi Sakimoto's most memorable soundtracks as a whole.

Seriously, while the "Climax of Grayland Case" may not be a specifically outstanding track, its opening notes along, which are sampled from Kecak monkey dance chants used in the Balinese culture will forever be itched in the mind of anyone who played the game. That's the case for all the soundtrack, which oscillated effortlessly between the eerie and the majestic.

Enemy designs are equally as memorable

Thankfully, the game is not cursed by the voice acting of the era, and we are free to imagine the voices of Guildenstern and the others as we like, which fits the comic book speech bubbles that the game used.

In Conclusion:

A game conceived with such ambition rarely manages to deliver on that ambition, and that's certainly the case with Vagrant Story. Square have succeeded in making a great Action RPG that is unlike anything else in the market while showcasing the tried and true brilliance of Square in their second golden age.

This is a game that pushed the graphical and design limits of the PS1 to such a degree that it still looks great today, especially with the eerie atmosphere it manages to build in the game's central location of Leá Monde.

Yet, some of the game's design decisions, while ambitious for the time, contribute to bogging it down unnecessarily. Chief among its issues is the time you spend in menus to craft weapons and prepare for battles that would otherwise be unbeatable. Also, the same innovative battle system that made it unique is probably the aspect that time most left behind, with both turn-based battles and pure action gameplay being better fits.

It's a credit to the game that I don't regret a single minute spent playing it, even if I wouldn't ever play it again.

Final: 8/10

Pros:

Confident storytelling
Great writing and scene direction
Leá Monde is a great location
Great Metroidvania-like world design
Innovative battle system
Great production values
Unique and memorable soundtrack

Cons:

The battle system is a rough draft of an interesting concept
It feels like battles are either too easy or impossible
Preparation is key, but it takes a lot of time on menu screens
Confusing equipment fabrication system demands a lot of trial and error

Tips:

Wait a minute in the start screen for a VERY IMPORTANT story scene.
Keep at least one weapon from each damage type with you.
Make sure to upgrade your weapons as you progress.
You can turn "Puzzle Mode" off if you don't enjoy them.
Your weapon of choice affects your range.
Learn your weapon animations to best time chain attacks.
You can pause and change your chain attack and chain defense options at any time during battle.
You can pause and change weapons, swap gems, and do other prep work during fights.
Always buff yourself at the beginning of a fight.
Sheath your weapon to reduce "Risk" faster.
The best use of magic is buffing yourself and weakening enemies.
Analyze enemies to figure out their weaknesses.
The "Evil" weapon affinity is key in the late game.
Keep a sliver weapon handy for undead enemies.
Read the tips section for some key points.
You can teleport between save circles later on, but it costs MP to do so (and you need to be standing on top of a save circle).
The tough final boss needs good light and dark defense to survive.

I honestly think the battle system could have been great if it had an ATB element to it

Series:

For those reading one of my PS1 review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept:

I already reviewed both major Generation 4 consoles, and am now reviewing Generation 5 consoles. I already finished reviewing the Sega Saturn, so I am now reviewing the PS1. In these reviews, I take a top 100 games list and review the games that interest me in that list.This time, my review series is based on this list from Retro Sanctuary and other sources, since the PS1 can handle a list bigger than a top 100.

Yes indeed

Next Game:

Despite is glowing reputation, I wasn't sure that I would like Vagrant Story as a much as I eventually did despite some glaring issues. I think that the game still works from a story and overall design perspective, but its innovative gameplay mechanics would need a lot of adjustment if the game was ever remade.

Now, I am going back to the addendum list with a playthrough of Strider 2, the sequel to the arcade classic. Originally, I was supposed to play the Lunar games, but a soon-to-be-released remaster changed my plans.

For Previous PS1 Game Reviews:

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