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Retro|Spective 179: Vagrant Story

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    Retro|Spective 179: Vagrant Story



    History in Games:
    2000 - Vagrant Story

    Overview:
    Arriving in the later half of the PS1's lifetime, Vagrant Story saw Square attempt a major non-Final Fantasy RPG that removed some of the jrpg conventions such as shops and npcs and instead focus the game more closely on weapon modification and creation. Following Ashley Riot, the game covers a week leading up to the charge of murder levied against him. With platforming and puzzle elements within the game the impression is of something more action focused than the Fantasy games that Square was riding high with at the end of the nineties. Despite being highly praised and successful the game has only seen a limited number of rereleases with no tie-ins or sequels ever made.






    What legacy does Vagrant Story have with you?

    #2
    I've never finished Vagrant Story, despite having started it and played >10 hours maybe 3 times.

    I need to actually start it and read how the combat actually works. I used to get a rod weapon, the fastest damage skills, and basically play a rhythm game on every enemy to kill them (combos do +1 damage for each hit, so you do 0 damage, then 1, then 2, then 3 - until you're doing 99 each hit).

    The main thing I know is that the final boss near-requires that you have a good crossbow, which isn't a great weapon for much of the game. I've heard a lot of people give up at that point.

    However, despite all that, I genuinely believe this is the PS1's best looking game (at least in this category), due to it being entirely real-time. It has fantastic music and great visual design; honestly it's a real gem.

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      #3
      As we approach the 180th thread a little update, though not immediate as there are still a handful of big names to cover, I think it's time for this series of threads to start building up to its end. With that in mind we'll start small and head to bigger series as we go before closing this chapter after three and a half years with
      Retro|Spective 200

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        #4
        I did the same as Asura on this one. I never got particularly far into the game before I stopped but I couldn't actually tell you why. I do own a copy, maybe I'll try it again one day.

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          #5
          Originally posted by phillv85 View Post
          I did the same as Asura on this one. I never got particularly far into the game before I stopped but I couldn't actually tell you why. I do own a copy, maybe I'll try it again one day.
          It gets difficult, and that's part of the issue - because as I recall, the game does a very bad job of explaining how to play it. The first half of the game you can kinda mash through, but you hit a bit of wall at one point and it becomes difficult to progress.

          In fairness a lot of RPGs do this. I had the same problem with Xenoblade 2; but at least with that game I found a YouTube video where someone spent 20 minutes explaining it, and once I grasped it, I loved the combat system. Vagrant Story had no such luck in 1999

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            #6
            I've still got it sitting on my downstairs PS3. Like everyone else, I started it about five times but only put a few hours in, each time.

            It's just a game that never grabbed me, even though it always looked like it should have. Even now, I still feel like I'm missing out on *something* but as the game ages, it gets harder and harder for me to approach it.

            Bah.

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