Of all the games that I thought would make go back on something I said, I never thought it would be this one.
It's time to talk about yet another golden era PS1 RPG, one that certainly divides opinion amongst the RPG fanbase. But before we do that, I want to go back and revisit a topic I covered regarding how I talk about games in general. A few years ago, I talked at length about the words "overrated" and "underrated" in the general gaming discourse and how much I disliked them. I discussed at length how these terms were used as a crutch for overly simplistic and shallow criticism, often serving as vehichle for the myriad half-baked edgelord hot takes that permeate gaming discussion. That said, I even admitted that the two terms were somewhat difficult to replace and that while I would actively try to avoid them, there would be instances where I wouldn't be able to do so. And that brings us to this week, where, after years of not using either of those words, I am going to have to come in here throwing out both about our next entry. Because I can't think of any other way to describe Vagrant Story other than saying that it's simultaneously overrated by its diehard fans and underrated by the RPG fandom at large.
Released in early 2000 for the PS1, Vagrant Story was something of a big deal when it came out, at least among RPG fans. It was published and developed by Square at a time when just about everything they touched turned to gold, so the fact that they were taking a shot at a new IP piqued serious interest. While it may have been its own thing, Vagrant Story wasn't completely detached from the universe of Final Fantasy. It was developed by the same team that created FF Tactics, who decided to set the game in the land of Ivalice despite it having nothing to do with its more popular cousin. This futher endeared the project to RPG diehards, who typically adore FFT and were all too keen on revisiting its world, or at least larger universe. And remember, this was also a time of great expirimentation for Square, and other RPG developers for that matter, so a lot of us were incredibly curious to how this would go.
The end result was nothing if not interesting, VS is certainly incredibly ambitious and mechanically deep. However, many of its positives are offset by extreme negatives, particularly poor navigation and unnecessary complexity. Full disclosure here, unlike most of the non-10s games I play, I have actually played and completed Vagrant Story before. I ususally stick to games I have little to no familiarity with, but that wasn't the case here. That said, it's been probably 20 years so I went in with what I think was a fair amount of objectivity. While my opinion did change on the game, slightly for the better, I still kind of came to the same conclusion I outlined earlier after this playthrough. If anything my opinions went to more extremes, finding myself even more irked by the uneveness but also appreciating the uniqueness far more. And with that in mind, it's time to look at the story.
Vagrant Story puts you in the shoes of Ashley Riot, who serves the Valendia Knights of the Peace, or VKP, as a memeber of their elite order of warriors, called Riskbreakers. He has been dispatched to the manor of Duke Bardorba, which is being seiged by members of the Mullenkamp cult and its nefarious leader, Sydney Losstarot. Ashley quickly finds Sydney and efficiently eliminates his target, shooting him through the heart with a crossbow. At least he thinks he does. It appears the rumors about Sydney commanding the dark are true, as the man gets up, pulls the arrow from his chest as if nothing happened and uses his powers to summon a wyvren before commanding it to attack Ashley. He and his associate John Hardin kidnap the Duke's young son Joshua before taunting Ashley, telling him that if he survives, he will find them in the city of Lea Monde. He makes quick work of the Wyrm, but Ashley knows his mission has just become far more complex. You see, Lea Monde was once a thriving community before an earthquake 25 years ago killed most of its inhabitants and destroyed much of the city. Now, Lea Monde is known as a well of evil energy and dark magic, where the dead walk and monsters roam freem. It's up to Ashley, alongside his associate Calloe Merlose, to track down Sydney and bring him to justice.
However, things aren't that simple. Lea Monde is an incredibly dangerous place, both physically and magically. Ashley is in the city a scant few minutes before one of the its frequent tremors separates him from Merlose. He proceeds on foot, telling her to wait for him...a plan that goes horribly wrong as she is almost immediately captured by Sydney and Hardin. And the Muellenkamp duo aren't the only foes Ashley has to deal with. The VKP aren't the only folks in the kingdom that have interest in the goings on at the Duke's manor and how they connect to Lea Monde. The Cardinal, the leader of the church, also covets the power of the dark and dispatches his Crimson blades, under the command of Romeo Guildenstern, to the city to capture Sydney. These knights are definitely not interested in working together with Ashley to achieve their common goal. And that's just your human enemies. Lea Monde is filled with undead, evil spirits and all sorts of usavory beasts that you must battle with, from orcs and goblins to minotaurs and dragons.
It's an interesting story that definitely covers some unique and dark themes. This is one of those spaces where I have to throw out the dreaded O word, but not because the narrative is bad. This is more a case of the story being told poorly than actually being bad, but we will get to that later. Because to truly understand the story, we need to understand its characters, especially its main one. As with many RPG protagonists, Ashley is a young man with a tragic past. You see, he wasn't always Riskbreaker, Ashley was once a family man. One fateful day, a day that you will relive about a million times via cutscene, he finds his world shattered as his wife and son are brutally murdered before his eyes. Feeling immense guilt over not being able to protect them, he decides to join the VKP. He undergoes special training, which includes the suppression of his memories, eventually becoming an elite Riskbreaker. That's what we are led to believe. But Lea Monde's weird magic begins to start effecting Ashley as he dives deeper. Maybe the scene we keep seeing isn't actually what happened. Maybe Ashley wasn't the innocent everyman that we have been lead to believe. Sydney, who can use his powers as a Heartseer to see into peoples conscience, seems to think so, taunting Ashley as he continues his quest. A big part of the story is slowly peeling the layers of our hero's inner psyche, learning more and more about his past as he proceeds through the haunted city. He will have frequent visions as he recovers his memory and interacts with people who allege to be from his past.
That's all well and good, but Vagrant Story just doesn't do a very good job of telling his story cohesively, or tying it back to the larger mythos of the game. You will watch the same cutscene over and over (and over, and over) again, and while you learn something new each time it still gets tiresome. Things start off well enough, you will see events from the perspective of Ashley, Sydney, Merlose, Guildenstern and others, with each of them having slow but substanital progression to their stories. But once you hit the halfway point of the game, the pace of storytelling goes absolutely insane and all the nuance disappears. You just start bouncing from major plot twist to major plot twist, with it almost feeling like they were rushing to get the whole story in before the game ended. To be fair, many of these plot twists are actually pretty good, but there just isn't a whole lot of setup for a lot of them. I would have liked to have a bit more detailed storytelling, even if it meant breaking up the gameplay a little bit more. There are a few instances where the storytelling is ambiguous by its nature, notably with the ending, and I am ok with that. But I think there was a lot of oversight in the storytelling, which really marred the overall package.
What does save it a little bit are the characters. It's a small cast, but definitely a strong one. Ashley is a pretty solid main character and the game does a good job of making him feel some level of sympathetic. It's also nice to see an RPG main character that's not a complete moron, he very much knows he is in a miserable situation and he quickly deduces that Sydney is baiting him for reasons that go beyond a simple political squabble. Speaking of Sydney, he is one of the most nuanced villains of the era, which often leaned on comically evil antagonists with minimal redeeming qualities. In fact, by the end of the game you will question whether he was even a villain at all. I mean, someone that controls dark magic to summon evil monsters probably isn't "good," but a lot of his actions also show that he isn't really "bad" either. Also, of note, I think his design is really cool visually. He has just enough 90's RPG ridiculousness with his metal arms and Freddy Kreuger claws, but he also kind of looks like he would fit perfectly as an early 00's metalcore band singer or a member of a creepy cult stable in WWE. His associate Hardin is also well written, he tries to cast himself as a hardened warrior, intimidating his captives. But both Merlose and Joshua quickly realize he's a major softie with a huge heart, and they begin to serve almost more as his teammates than his captives.
Guildenstern is much less nuanced than the Mullenkamp duo, but he's still a very good character. He starts the game as a lackey for the Cardinal, but the further you go the more you realize he also has his own intentions for visiting Lea Monde. His relationships with his generals, especially Lady Samantha, become a very important piece of the story as it winds down. Honestly, Lea Monde is almost a character in and of itself. The game does a great job of making the dead city feel like a mysterious, intimadating relic that beckons the characters with the promise of power. You don't get to explore much of the greater worlds of Ivalice or Valendia, but the worldbuilding inside Lea Monde's crumbling walls is top notch. I like the cast, though I do wish they were developed more.
I also have to call out the graphics, which are some of the best on the console. It's one of the smoothest looking games on the original PlayStation, which really stood out in an erray where everything was either super blocky or supper jagged. The underground areas look decrepit, dark and claustrophobic, while the streets of Lea Monde are bright and airy while also belying an air of uneasiness. The character models are pretty good as well, about as good as they could have been at the time. I do wish there were a little more variety in tilesets, you pretty much have three or four different types of areas that share assets. At least they look nice and I would rather see a few things done right than a lot of things done poorly. And at least they make sense logically, Lea Monde is divided into a few unique districts and the same parts of the city and its underground have the same look to them. I also have to give credit to the enemy design, the elemental spirits especially look cool. The music, I will say, is a tad overhyped, I have always felt like they just took the tracks they rejected from Final Fantasy Tactics and used them here. But at least it ties the two game's worlds together, I know that connection has never really been explored but it would be cool to see. Also, the game has a dark, brooding atmosphere and the muted, almost ambient music kind of adds to that more than it detracts from it. I can't say there are any tracks that really stand out outside of the undercity theme, but there aren't any bad ones either.
In recent years, I have heard quite a lot a bout how great this story is and in some ways, I kind of see it. But I don't think it's nearly as /deep and cinematic as it's made out to be. I think there are the bones of a really good story here, but the delivery and lack of detail prevent it from reaching the levels its proponents claim it does. Just because something is "dark" or "political" doesn't mean it's good, despite what online discourse will tell you. Vagrant Story certainly incorporated these things into the plot, but it's storytelling left a lot to be desired. I feel like they should have taken a little bit more, or a lot more, time to dig deeper into what was going on with cutscenes or even dialogue. The game is a reasonable length for an RPG, you are looking at just over 20 hours for your first playthrough, so I think extending its run time by an hour or two, hell, even three or four, would have been worth it. Because make no mistake about it, the basic plot is interesting, the characters are compelling and the setting is strong enough that it could have absolutely kept you hooked. They really tried some ambitious stuff here, so you have to give credit where it's due.
Speaking of ambitious and different, we need to wrap it up so we can move onto the gameplay next week. Because if you thought the story was a lot to talk about, you don't know the half of it. We have barely even scratched the surface of all that is going on with Vagrant Story, both for better and worse. The systems in this game have a reputation for being...complex. But where they really, or is that just internet hype? Find out next week.
It's time to talk about yet another golden era PS1 RPG, one that certainly divides opinion amongst the RPG fanbase. But before we do that, I want to go back and revisit a topic I covered regarding how I talk about games in general. A few years ago, I talked at length about the words "overrated" and "underrated" in the general gaming discourse and how much I disliked them. I discussed at length how these terms were used as a crutch for overly simplistic and shallow criticism, often serving as vehichle for the myriad half-baked edgelord hot takes that permeate gaming discussion. That said, I even admitted that the two terms were somewhat difficult to replace and that while I would actively try to avoid them, there would be instances where I wouldn't be able to do so. And that brings us to this week, where, after years of not using either of those words, I am going to have to come in here throwing out both about our next entry. Because I can't think of any other way to describe Vagrant Story other than saying that it's simultaneously overrated by its diehard fans and underrated by the RPG fandom at large.
Released in early 2000 for the PS1, Vagrant Story was something of a big deal when it came out, at least among RPG fans. It was published and developed by Square at a time when just about everything they touched turned to gold, so the fact that they were taking a shot at a new IP piqued serious interest. While it may have been its own thing, Vagrant Story wasn't completely detached from the universe of Final Fantasy. It was developed by the same team that created FF Tactics, who decided to set the game in the land of Ivalice despite it having nothing to do with its more popular cousin. This futher endeared the project to RPG diehards, who typically adore FFT and were all too keen on revisiting its world, or at least larger universe. And remember, this was also a time of great expirimentation for Square, and other RPG developers for that matter, so a lot of us were incredibly curious to how this would go.
The end result was nothing if not interesting, VS is certainly incredibly ambitious and mechanically deep. However, many of its positives are offset by extreme negatives, particularly poor navigation and unnecessary complexity. Full disclosure here, unlike most of the non-10s games I play, I have actually played and completed Vagrant Story before. I ususally stick to games I have little to no familiarity with, but that wasn't the case here. That said, it's been probably 20 years so I went in with what I think was a fair amount of objectivity. While my opinion did change on the game, slightly for the better, I still kind of came to the same conclusion I outlined earlier after this playthrough. If anything my opinions went to more extremes, finding myself even more irked by the uneveness but also appreciating the uniqueness far more. And with that in mind, it's time to look at the story.
Vagrant Story puts you in the shoes of Ashley Riot, who serves the Valendia Knights of the Peace, or VKP, as a memeber of their elite order of warriors, called Riskbreakers. He has been dispatched to the manor of Duke Bardorba, which is being seiged by members of the Mullenkamp cult and its nefarious leader, Sydney Losstarot. Ashley quickly finds Sydney and efficiently eliminates his target, shooting him through the heart with a crossbow. At least he thinks he does. It appears the rumors about Sydney commanding the dark are true, as the man gets up, pulls the arrow from his chest as if nothing happened and uses his powers to summon a wyvren before commanding it to attack Ashley. He and his associate John Hardin kidnap the Duke's young son Joshua before taunting Ashley, telling him that if he survives, he will find them in the city of Lea Monde. He makes quick work of the Wyrm, but Ashley knows his mission has just become far more complex. You see, Lea Monde was once a thriving community before an earthquake 25 years ago killed most of its inhabitants and destroyed much of the city. Now, Lea Monde is known as a well of evil energy and dark magic, where the dead walk and monsters roam freem. It's up to Ashley, alongside his associate Calloe Merlose, to track down Sydney and bring him to justice.
However, things aren't that simple. Lea Monde is an incredibly dangerous place, both physically and magically. Ashley is in the city a scant few minutes before one of the its frequent tremors separates him from Merlose. He proceeds on foot, telling her to wait for him...a plan that goes horribly wrong as she is almost immediately captured by Sydney and Hardin. And the Muellenkamp duo aren't the only foes Ashley has to deal with. The VKP aren't the only folks in the kingdom that have interest in the goings on at the Duke's manor and how they connect to Lea Monde. The Cardinal, the leader of the church, also covets the power of the dark and dispatches his Crimson blades, under the command of Romeo Guildenstern, to the city to capture Sydney. These knights are definitely not interested in working together with Ashley to achieve their common goal. And that's just your human enemies. Lea Monde is filled with undead, evil spirits and all sorts of usavory beasts that you must battle with, from orcs and goblins to minotaurs and dragons.
It's an interesting story that definitely covers some unique and dark themes. This is one of those spaces where I have to throw out the dreaded O word, but not because the narrative is bad. This is more a case of the story being told poorly than actually being bad, but we will get to that later. Because to truly understand the story, we need to understand its characters, especially its main one. As with many RPG protagonists, Ashley is a young man with a tragic past. You see, he wasn't always Riskbreaker, Ashley was once a family man. One fateful day, a day that you will relive about a million times via cutscene, he finds his world shattered as his wife and son are brutally murdered before his eyes. Feeling immense guilt over not being able to protect them, he decides to join the VKP. He undergoes special training, which includes the suppression of his memories, eventually becoming an elite Riskbreaker. That's what we are led to believe. But Lea Monde's weird magic begins to start effecting Ashley as he dives deeper. Maybe the scene we keep seeing isn't actually what happened. Maybe Ashley wasn't the innocent everyman that we have been lead to believe. Sydney, who can use his powers as a Heartseer to see into peoples conscience, seems to think so, taunting Ashley as he continues his quest. A big part of the story is slowly peeling the layers of our hero's inner psyche, learning more and more about his past as he proceeds through the haunted city. He will have frequent visions as he recovers his memory and interacts with people who allege to be from his past.
That's all well and good, but Vagrant Story just doesn't do a very good job of telling his story cohesively, or tying it back to the larger mythos of the game. You will watch the same cutscene over and over (and over, and over) again, and while you learn something new each time it still gets tiresome. Things start off well enough, you will see events from the perspective of Ashley, Sydney, Merlose, Guildenstern and others, with each of them having slow but substanital progression to their stories. But once you hit the halfway point of the game, the pace of storytelling goes absolutely insane and all the nuance disappears. You just start bouncing from major plot twist to major plot twist, with it almost feeling like they were rushing to get the whole story in before the game ended. To be fair, many of these plot twists are actually pretty good, but there just isn't a whole lot of setup for a lot of them. I would have liked to have a bit more detailed storytelling, even if it meant breaking up the gameplay a little bit more. There are a few instances where the storytelling is ambiguous by its nature, notably with the ending, and I am ok with that. But I think there was a lot of oversight in the storytelling, which really marred the overall package.
What does save it a little bit are the characters. It's a small cast, but definitely a strong one. Ashley is a pretty solid main character and the game does a good job of making him feel some level of sympathetic. It's also nice to see an RPG main character that's not a complete moron, he very much knows he is in a miserable situation and he quickly deduces that Sydney is baiting him for reasons that go beyond a simple political squabble. Speaking of Sydney, he is one of the most nuanced villains of the era, which often leaned on comically evil antagonists with minimal redeeming qualities. In fact, by the end of the game you will question whether he was even a villain at all. I mean, someone that controls dark magic to summon evil monsters probably isn't "good," but a lot of his actions also show that he isn't really "bad" either. Also, of note, I think his design is really cool visually. He has just enough 90's RPG ridiculousness with his metal arms and Freddy Kreuger claws, but he also kind of looks like he would fit perfectly as an early 00's metalcore band singer or a member of a creepy cult stable in WWE. His associate Hardin is also well written, he tries to cast himself as a hardened warrior, intimidating his captives. But both Merlose and Joshua quickly realize he's a major softie with a huge heart, and they begin to serve almost more as his teammates than his captives.
Guildenstern is much less nuanced than the Mullenkamp duo, but he's still a very good character. He starts the game as a lackey for the Cardinal, but the further you go the more you realize he also has his own intentions for visiting Lea Monde. His relationships with his generals, especially Lady Samantha, become a very important piece of the story as it winds down. Honestly, Lea Monde is almost a character in and of itself. The game does a great job of making the dead city feel like a mysterious, intimadating relic that beckons the characters with the promise of power. You don't get to explore much of the greater worlds of Ivalice or Valendia, but the worldbuilding inside Lea Monde's crumbling walls is top notch. I like the cast, though I do wish they were developed more.
I also have to call out the graphics, which are some of the best on the console. It's one of the smoothest looking games on the original PlayStation, which really stood out in an erray where everything was either super blocky or supper jagged. The underground areas look decrepit, dark and claustrophobic, while the streets of Lea Monde are bright and airy while also belying an air of uneasiness. The character models are pretty good as well, about as good as they could have been at the time. I do wish there were a little more variety in tilesets, you pretty much have three or four different types of areas that share assets. At least they look nice and I would rather see a few things done right than a lot of things done poorly. And at least they make sense logically, Lea Monde is divided into a few unique districts and the same parts of the city and its underground have the same look to them. I also have to give credit to the enemy design, the elemental spirits especially look cool. The music, I will say, is a tad overhyped, I have always felt like they just took the tracks they rejected from Final Fantasy Tactics and used them here. But at least it ties the two game's worlds together, I know that connection has never really been explored but it would be cool to see. Also, the game has a dark, brooding atmosphere and the muted, almost ambient music kind of adds to that more than it detracts from it. I can't say there are any tracks that really stand out outside of the undercity theme, but there aren't any bad ones either.
In recent years, I have heard quite a lot a bout how great this story is and in some ways, I kind of see it. But I don't think it's nearly as /deep and cinematic as it's made out to be. I think there are the bones of a really good story here, but the delivery and lack of detail prevent it from reaching the levels its proponents claim it does. Just because something is "dark" or "political" doesn't mean it's good, despite what online discourse will tell you. Vagrant Story certainly incorporated these things into the plot, but it's storytelling left a lot to be desired. I feel like they should have taken a little bit more, or a lot more, time to dig deeper into what was going on with cutscenes or even dialogue. The game is a reasonable length for an RPG, you are looking at just over 20 hours for your first playthrough, so I think extending its run time by an hour or two, hell, even three or four, would have been worth it. Because make no mistake about it, the basic plot is interesting, the characters are compelling and the setting is strong enough that it could have absolutely kept you hooked. They really tried some ambitious stuff here, so you have to give credit where it's due.
Speaking of ambitious and different, we need to wrap it up so we can move onto the gameplay next week. Because if you thought the story was a lot to talk about, you don't know the half of it. We have barely even scratched the surface of all that is going on with Vagrant Story, both for better and worse. The systems in this game have a reputation for being...complex. But where they really, or is that just internet hype? Find out next week.
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