Vagrant Story

is a unique action RPG released for the PlayStation in 2000. The game, designed and distributed by Square Co., Ltd., features a focus on weapon modification and creation.

Story

Vagrant Story has a carefully crafted story about a Riskbreaker named Ashley Riot who was sent to break a fanatical religious cult's hold on the manor of Duke Bardorba. Shortly after this incident, the leader of the cult, Sydney Losstarot, disappeared and the Duke was murdered. Ashley Riot was named as a suspect in the murder case. The player takes the part of Ashley during the week before the murder, following Sydney into the deserted ruins of the cursed city Leá Monde ( the game takes place in the same day as the Sydney's assault on the Bardorba's manor ).

The game's graphical style is very dark and emphasizes brown tones, adding to the sense of mystery in the game. Some of its scenarios are inspired to some extent by landscapes of the South West of France, notably the city of Saint-Emilion. Its style of cinematics is reminiscent of the style utilized in Metal Gear Solid: in both games the in-game story sequences were rendered with the game engine and directed with a strong cinematic feeling.

Characters

Ashley Riot: The protagonist and player character, Ashley is a member of the Valendia Knights of the Peace. Though young, Ashley has worked his way into the elite Dangerous Criminal Task Force (or "Riskbreakers") through a combination of skill and his intense drive for justice. Ashley has largely suppressed all memory of his past, until Sydney forces him to relive a painful incident in a series of flashbacks; other characters later lead him to doubt even the truth of those. Ashley is skilled in all manner of weapons, and over the course of the game recovers powerful battle techniques from his suppressed memories. He also absorbs no small measure of power from the energies of the dark city itself. Ashley also gains the ability to see through other characters' eyes, giving him insights into the plans of Sydney and the Crimson Blades. By game's end, he has been forced to accept the role of Roodbearer and avatar of the Dark, housing inside of him all the Dark-touched souls left homeless after Lea Monde's final destruction.

Callo Merlose: Ashley's partner in the Leá Monde incident, Callo spends most of the game as a captive, trying to discern Sydney's true motives through conversations with John Hardin, Sydney's second-in-command. Like Ashley, her true potential awakens while in Leá Monde. Hardin refers to her as a "Heart-Seer," as Callo can see the true thoughts of a person by observing a shadow that speaks a person's true intent.

Sydney Losstarot: An effeminate, beautiful man with metal prosthetics instead of arms and legs, Sydney is the leader of the apocalyptic cult group called Müllenkamp. His intense personal charisma and skilled rhetoric distinguishes him from other self-proclaimed prophets. He has the power to read the minds of others and summon beasts long thought to be mythical. Sydney appears to be immortal; not even a crossbow bolt through the chest fazes him for long. Sydney delights in the thrill of the chase, and is leading Ashley Riot through Lea Monde in order to prepare him for inheritance of the Dark - and prevent Guildenstern from stealing that power for himself.

Romeo Guildenstern: Captain of the Crimson Blades, the knightly order of the Iocus church. He has come to Leá Monde to hunt Sydney down, but is also seeking to harness the city's dark powers for his own.

Jan Rosencrantz: A man who claims to be a Riskbreaker ( actually an ex Riskbreaker ), who knows many secrets about the true nature of Leá Monde and Ashley's past.

John Hardin: Sydney's second in command; a tireless, faithful servant pushed to join the cult after the government betrayed him. He possesses the power of scrying on events far away and proves himself heart-breakingly gentle by the end of the game.

Joshua Corrine Bardorba: Son of the powerful Duke Bardorba, kidnapped by Sydney and Hardin during the game's prologue for unknown reasons.

Duke Bardorba: A hero of the Valendian Civil war and now an ageing political figure. Sydney is his son, and their lives are inextricably tied together after a rite performed years ago to save young Sydney's life. When he slays Sydney at the end of the game, he is also slaying himself.

Commander Grissom: One of Rosencrantz' key Commanders going into Lea Monde, and a warrior-cleric. After his brother Duane is murdered by Ashley Riot, he pursues the Riskbreaker into the Snowfly Forest in order to have his bloody vengeance. Unfortunately his plan goes awry and he is killed, then revivified as a walking corpse by the city's cruel magick.

Gameplay

In its broadest sense, Vagrant Story is a solo dungeon crawl, in which Ashley explores the ruined city of Leá Monde and its caverns and catacombs. Crimson Blade knights patrol the streets above, hunting for Sydney; the corridors below are infested with fell beasts, goblins, and the undead.

The battle system of the game involves the player chaining different attacks to achieve large combos and deal damage to the enemy. This is done by pressing buttons in timely succession; in this way, combat almost resembles a rhythm game. The player can target different areas of the body, and damage is done according to the part of body attacked and the affinity of the weapon used by Ashley. The longer Ashley fights, the more his Risk raises, making it harder for him to concentrate, lowering his accuracy but increasing critical hits. Defense abilities allow Ashley to reduce or reflect damage, or avoid status ailments; a variety of spells can be used to attack, heal, buff, and debuff. Lastly there are the Break Arts, powerful attacks that drain Ashley's hit points.

In addition to fighting, Ashley can run, jump, and push a variety of crates and cubes to get around impassable obstacles, adding a minor puzzle and platforming element to gameplay.

Vagrant Story's crafting system nearly constitutes a game in itself. In designated "workshop" areas, players can customize and create weapons and armor which have different ranges, strengths, and statistics. All weapons fall into one of three main damage types: the familiar RPG classes of blunt, piercing, and edged. In addition, there are six "creature type" affinities and eight "elemental" affinities. Weapons gain the affinities of the enemies they're used to attack; armor gains the affinities of attacks it receives. What a weapon or piece of armor gains in one area it will lose in another ( not always, gaining is far more common ), so no single weapon or shield is equally powerful against all foes. However, powerful weapons and armor can be combined, merging their affinities (and possibly creating a new type of blade or armor in the process). The key to defeating most foes in the game is carrying a weapon of the right damage type; inherent affinities add a considerable bonus but are not as important, as gems that improve affinities or spells that imbue a weapon with an element are readily available.

Development

The programming team was largely the same as the team responsible for Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. Team members include:

Yasumi "YAZZ" Matsuno: Production, direction, battle Design
Jun Akiyama: Event direction
Akihiko Yoshida: Character design and background art direction
Hiroshi "Nigoro" Minagawa: Art direction
Jiro Mifune: Effect design
Eiichiro Nakatsu: Character modelling
Tsunataro Yoshida: Motion design
Taku Murata: Main programming
Hitoshi "YmoH.S" Sakimoto: Composition

The English localization, credited to Alexander O. Smith, is considered one of the finest Japanese to English video game translations existing today.

Connections

One of the more often underrated aspects of the game (and hidden to most) is the subtle connection to Yasumi Matsuno's other works (i.e. Final Fantasy Tactics), and indeed, the stories, while different in scale and focus, do hold some similarities in themes and stylistic presentation. The most significant connection, however, is the quote from an "A. J. Durai" that appears at the very beginning of Vagrant Story; this same Durai is the narrator of the frame story of Final Fantasy Tactics and the descendant of another character who participated in that game's story. Additionally, many of the items that can be found in the game (particularly the necklaces and gems), have names which allude to some of the key characters of Final Fantasy Tactics, e.g. "Agrias's Balm".

A few references to Vagrant Story appears in Final Fantasy XII; e.g. one "clan rank" the player character party can earn is 'Riskbreakers', and the calendar of Final Fantasy XII follows that of Old Valendian, the country mentioned in the story.

There are a few references to Shakespeare as well, the most obvious being two characters named Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Trivia

Many weapons found in the game are actually named after alcoholic beverages. For example, the Pink Squirrel club and Tovarishch hand axe, which are found early on the game.
The game was a commercial failure, partially due to a weak advertising campaign and lack of localization to European languages. However, it was a critical success, and remains held in high regard in the action/RPG community.
In the 2005 GameFAQs Best Game Ever competition, Vagrant Story came #95.
Vagrant Story was the third game in history to receive Famitsu magazine's perfect score of 40/40, an honor held by only six video games to date, and the first earned by Squaresoft. This honor was not even achieved by Square Enix's two most popular franchises, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, until March 2006, when Final Fantasy XII received a perfect score. FFXII was also written and mainly directed by Yasumi Matsuno, making him one of only two directors to have earned the honor multiple times. (The other is Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto.)
The Iron Maiden is a secret dungeon in Vagrant Story, named after the band of the same name and only accessible after the game has been completed once. It is filled with much more dangerous enemies who also drop immensely powerful items on occasion, and many of the rooms in the dungeon are named after Iron Maiden songs and themes.
Vagrant Story Ultimania, the official Japanese guide to the game, reveals that Sydney Losstarot's arms AND legs are magickal prosthetics. He gave all four limbs to the gods.

External links