Before Seeing the Truth.
I always liked games made by Squaresoft. Why? Do I have to tell why? They’re the only one who made RPGs (Role-Playing Games) that made history in the gaming industry. The Final Fantasy Series, Chrono Trigger, the sequel of Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Parasite Eve and many others. Then it came, Vagrant Story.

If you didn’t play this game, I pity you. Vagrant Story made a perfect score in Famitsu, a Japanese gaming magazine that doesn’t give all 10 that easily, you probably guessed this game is the best (and also the hardest) Action RPG. After you played and finished the game, the only thing you could say about it is, “Impressive”.

“A Mere Tale indeed.”
Müllenkamp, a cult headed by a black magic-user named Sydney Losstarot is a threat to all, that’s what the high officials say. Sydney’s prophecies ring true and other miracles made by Müllenkamp’s leader himself, as a result, many followed his teachings and became his loyal followers, and almost everyone sold their souls to him.

One night, the cult seized Duke Bardobora’s manor and held the duke’s family as hostage. Even a dozen soldiers can’t save them. With this, they sent out VKP or the Valendia Knights of Peace’s best man, agent Ashley Riot, a risk breaker, as reinforcement. His mission is to take out the demonic cult and save the duke’s son and only heir.

As soon as Riot came, he met Callo Merlose, a VKP inquisitor. Merlose informed him that the Crimson Blades is also in the manor with somehow a different purpose. Ashley ignored it and went in.

VS is set on a medieval times, like in Final Fantasy Tactics so expect to be confused in the story the first time you play. As you go on (and on), you will be meeting a lot of characters and finding out the hero’s life. I noticed Ashley is a bit of Cloud Strife (FF7). Jerk (heh, heh,J) and always wanted to be alone. On what I understood in the story, Ashley was brainwashed. After that, he was being told a lie that became a truth to him

How battle goes.
The battle system is a turn-based attack, like in Parasite Eve. When you hit the Attack button, a wire frame dome will appear. You can hit any part of the body (head, arm, etc.) enemy if that certain part is in the dome. I’ll give ya a tip: the enemy’s weakest part is the one you merely see like the abdomen of the Durahan, the neck of the Dragon and so on.

VS are populated with monsters. So like my big brother told me, “Kill him with a weapon!”J. The best part of the game is the weapon customization system. There are about 300 weapons (I only got 100) to create and more than 5 type of weapons. I get frustrated when I lose a good weapon for a weak one. I always follow my motto, “Save Before You Make”

Abilities are one of the most needed in the game. Break Art, think Limit break in FF7. You kill certain amount of enemies using a weapon (e.g. sword) and you’ll be rewarded a Break Art for your weapon (e.g. Rending Gale). Chain Ability is used when you pushed a button at the exact time when Ashley is hit or attack.

When you look at the status screen of the weapon you’ll notice Damage Points (DP) and Power Points (PP). Using Repair in the workshop and always using a weapon is a good thing for your DP and PP.

So that’s about it!!! Hope you understand this little article of mine. If you have questions, remarks and insults, Email me at philgaming@hotmail.com

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NOTE: This description was written sometime in 2000 and was recorded in the classic Otaku Fridge as ??.??.2000. Unfortunately the database would not accept non-numerical values, so this review is now dated January 01, 2000 by default.

Player Status:
Difficulty: Difficult
Completion Time: 30-60 hours
Highest Level Achieved: –
Ratings: Gameplay 10; Battle 10; Story 10; Visuals 8; Characters 10; Sounds 10; Replay Value 8

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 1st, 2000 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Vagrant Story, Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.