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Yes, the game is set almost entirely in dungeon-like areas, but they are large, complex, and varied. Outside of combat, there is plenty of exploration. But what immense satisfaction awaits you when you finally overcome these hurdles and master the game's system! It is imperative that you take your time and patiently learn. Lack of hand-holding, so uncommon for Japanese games, is actually very Western in nature Vagrant Story is grim and dry, and doesn't agree to be your best friend right away. It is nearly intimidating, but also extremely addictive. Powerful attacks you gradually learn by using the same type of weapon. Risk system, which adds a whole layer of complexity to tactical planning. You can equip Ashley with different abilities, choosing from a wide variety of available ones often the choice spells the difference between life and death. Equipment management is meticulous and very in-depth.Īnd then you have the chain abilities, which is another separate realm to master, requiring precision and practice. You can disassemble weapons and combine blades and grips with imbued gems for maximum effect. Words like "piercing" and "edged" are not just descriptions they impact the gameplay in a drastic way. There are weapon types, materials, properties, and affinities for different types of enemies. I don't think I have seen a heavier weapon management anywhere else. Nearly everything it does is unlike any other game, with unique ideas overwhelming you until you are able to find your path through. There is a myriad of features, variables, and attributes in the game. As far as combat systems go, Vagrant Story rises head and shoulders above anything else I have seen in a Japanese RPG. Unlike so many other games, Vagrant Story requires you to study its gameplay system to overpower your foes. He is not subjected to class restrictions and can wield any weapon, cast a variety of spells, and perform special attacks. I normally don't like party-less combat that uses this system ( Neverwinter Nights), but the selling point here is that Ashley, the game's only protagonist, can do so many things.

The real-time combat offers a compromise between drawn-out turn-based ordeals and hack-and-slash, much like Baldur's Gate. The game throws you right into action, and forces you to deal with its outstandingly complicated mechanics. On the contrary, I applaud Square for daringly going against conventions and popular taste. This hardly diminishes the game's value in my eyes. Naturally, the descent into dark, twisted passages was hard to accept for those who expected any RPG made in Japan to follow one established formula. Common complaint includes lack of NPCs, money, and shops, as well as over-abundance of dungeons but the game was conceived with the idea of removing these features to emphasize its grim atmosphere of solitude and focus on careful exploration and combat. It is hard to criticize this game objectively, however it is simply so different from anything Square made before it that many people who hate the game fail to see it was never supposed to be a Final Fantasy variant. It has zealous admirers and merciless critics alike I myself walked the thorny path from the second to the first. Vagrant Story is one game that polarizes opinions. It is a dungeon-crawling RPG relying on predominantly Western templates and its own original system all that is left from its roots are some unfortunate pseudo-gay implications in character design and not much else. In fact, it is not similar to any other Japanese RPG, to the point of not belonging to the genre any more. The first thing to bear in mind is that Vagrant Story is not at all similar to Final Fantasy. Square got us all used to overblown melodramas and gimmicky gameplay in their most famous series. Only those who are ready to appreciate it for what it is can form an unbiased judgment and enjoy what it has to offer.

In some cases, such games are so good yet so dissimilar to the company's previous works that fans who expect them to be similar get confused and disappointed. Once in a while, established developers release games that take their fans completely by surprise. Lo, play this game, lest it be forgotten by naysayers