SquareSoft's Vagrant Story is a pretty. ●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬● Links: Twatter: tinyurl.com/a2ns479 Patronize: www.patreon.com/user?u=2285408 Ask me stuff: ask.fm/ThorHighHeels My music: adolfnomura.bandcamp.com/music Thanks for watching!
Oh good I'm not alone. I've actually looked at walk throughs and Wikipedia articles and I STILL don't understand the mechanics well enough to trust my own decisions... but man do I love the first 3 hours of this game.
It’s a freaking hard game but I managed to finish it. Wasn’t easy though. The trick is to ”train” your weapons on shitty enemies maybe a lizard man. Then it will be more effective against dragons as well. It’s a very punishing game, especially if you explore the optional areas and optional bosses. The sparse save points don’t help either. Overall an awesome game
Man... You guys over here telling the truth 🤣 Started it when the game first came out and didn't finish it until 2007 when I finally picked it up again. I'm a notorious, non instruction manual reading dummy so I hit the wall HARD on this one. Still though I have nothing but love for this game.
Fun fact. The ye olde English dialogue was not present in the japanese version. The japanese version was just standard japanese. The translator just felt like making the translation sound more in line with the time period.
Iam looking a new version of this kind of rpg I mean, is there any similiar combat system as like this game ? because I never found it at another rpg, not even once.
I always thought that Vagrant Story was the culmination of all of Square's PS1 games. It has the art design of a Final Fantasy game and also has the more frantic gameplay of Parasite Eve, but shakes it up enough to be unique. Also, the game just looks fucking amazing, to the point of it being surprising that the PS1 could even run it. It's a shame that it's not more discussed in gaming circles.
I think Parasite Eve 1/2 is a lot more accessible and enjoyable to play than Vagrant Story is. It feels like the perfect mix between fights being mechanically satisfying and being a cinematic set piece.
this game has the best ps1 graphics but the cinematography is what makes it amazing. this could easily be translated into a movie scene by scene. there are so many games that still can`t do what vagrant story did in 1999. Specially jrpgs with theirr melodrama and info dumpings cutscenes.
OFC, but seems like reading in english is really hard :D I was like 15 y.o. with limited english knowledge and managed to beat the game thanks to in-game manual and with some help of walkthrough (fuck Snowfly Forest!)
This is seriously one of your best work. Great stuff. The way you described the "seeing the artists work beneath the seams" was a great point. I wonder if game developers see recent games and recognise the effort put into them. And looks like Square tried to cram a complex PC RPG on a console, given how system and menu heavy it is.
Iam looking a new version of this kind of rpg I mean, is there any similiar combat system as like this game ? because I never found it at another rpg, not even once.
There's an option to change that will display the stat increase and decrease as you fight (à la Final Fantasy II/Sa.Ga). Except it impacts your pieces of equipment and not your character. From there, just make sure to switch weapons for every couple of enemy type (like silver weapons for undead and ghosts) in order to increase the stats at a regular pace throughout the game. Then use your boosted pieces of equipement at the forge in order to combine them with stronger newfound pieces in order to keep the stat boost (à la Parasite Eve, kinda) and voilà... Game fixed! You're welcome. Not that I figured this out on my first playthrough, mind you... but my second run was so much more enjoyable knowing these bits.
My gosh does this game need a serious boost in attention. It's in my opinion that it's easily top 5 on the PS1 in terms of aesthetic. Great looking out dude! 🤘
Iam looking a new version of this kind of rpg I mean, is there any similiar combat system as like this game ? because I never found it at another rpg, not even once.
Parasite Eve has the same targeting system, Mario RPG has the "hit button at right time to keep attacking" part. Vagrant Story made it too soul crushing and ran it into the ground. A very beautiful ground connected to a vast and detailed undercity, but the ground nonetheless.
how about in hack and slash genre but with a chain combo as vagrant story does. I mean, most hack and slash like devil may cry, are do a "PRE-COMBO" we press the button first than it genereate a skill. but the vagrant chain combo is going after at the 1st attack goes to 2nd and so on and so on. I need another refference for current game, maybe released above 2010. do you have any idea ?
THIS makes me love you more than any reviewer out there. The title alone really says what i love about the game. The art style of this game inspires me so much, they knew exactly how to make the best of their limitations, man. I like FFXII for the same reason, Ivalice's art style is great. Octopath Traveller had potential because of its art style as well, it has similar muted tones, no idea how it plays, though.
Bought this game when it was brand new. Still one of my favorites from the PS1. I'd put it in my top 10 easily. 21 years later, I'm still working on the goal of a "100%" save file. I'll probably be working another 21 years. The affinity and crafting system in this game are... gargantuan.
I love how they duplicated the models(one with full-bright/no lighting) and layered them off-center in order to create rim-lighting in dark scenes with a single bright light source. Half-Life 2(to my knowledge), would be the first game to implement rim-lighting in a pixel shader three years later.
its crazy how despite the graphical limits, those are still some of the best looking characters I've ever seen in a game. In fact I dont remember the last time I've seen characters with so much life and charm in a game.
The description you give this game is pretty accurate. In fact, looking at this game in particular, it's hard to tell where the stained glass windows of a church end and where the character models begin, and while that might confuse some, I certainly think it lends itself to such a "Renaissance" stylization that it all fits together once you see that style in action and notice its use. TL;DR This whole game is beautiful and I think it's impossible to understate that.
Iam looking a new version of this kind of rpg I mean, is there any similiar combat system as like this game ? because I never found it at another rpg, not even once.
Thanks man I really liked this one. I have a replay on the backlog where I plan to finish it. Stopped on the Crab boss last time. I love your artistic treatise. Right on.
Playing this via emulator in 2021, and all i keep saying to myself is "how the fuck did i ever finish this game back in 2000??". Beautiful graphics, sound, and a fantastic story with great writing, all bolted on to one of the most wilfully obtuse and infuriating gameplay systems of any RPG
I've always appreciated the aged look of these 32bit 3D games, but I couldn't really think of a way of describing why elegantly, but you did in this video, describing it as a painting, and being able to tell how it was made. I will make this my next PS1 RPG purchase, I should have bought it already. You may want to check out Silent bomber, another stylish PS1 game, not as stylized as Vagrant story though. It got a release worldwide, and it's somewhat obscure.
Lots of contrast, dark backgrounds, intention of dramatic facial expressions and dinamic angles (diagonal lines). It looks more baroque than renaissance art.
Nice! I played this a few months ago. It's certainly quite the undertaking. Really struggled with its mechanics at first, so when it came time to review it I decided to make a "How to" video for it as well. It's sad that so many people don't see it through to the end because it's just so damn dense mechanically. Hopefully my video helps people in some way. Would really love to see it get out there more! Hopefully this video as well sparks some new interest in it.
You know that you can freely manipulate the camera view, making all the platforming less nuisance? I was waiting for your review of VS for more than a year, thanks :D
The lack of save points in certain area with a bunch of boss fights one after the other and hard normal foes in between, just made me rage quick. Like fuck, have some fucking mercy, don´t mind the hard enemies but give me a fucking save point after defeating the hardest boss ever! But no, the game rewards you with another fucking boss with hard enemies in between and no save point at all... And having to have a weapon for every kind of enemy... What a pain.
I played Vagrant Story at some point, i may still even own it, but i didn't really get the game at the time, but i can appreciate what they were doing at the time!
I always used a guide to forge my weapons. But getting through the game was pretty easy. The ingame map was awesome. Always liked that when you got a new key you could scroll through the maps and see which doors it opened.
I found that ambience along with graphics really lend to a sort of drab, almost horror like atmosphere. In fact its ambience in particular is almost up to present day standards.
Risk is an interesting mechanic, almost everything in it is negative for you, but you also get a higher critical infliction rate, and your heals do more healing to yourself, if you are a god at chains and know what you are doing, you could use risk in your favour, aka speedrunners
Iam looking a new version of this kind of rpg I mean, is there any similiar combat system as like this game ? because I never found it at another rpg, not even once.
stonerdemon thanks for answering, Ive just watched Resonance Of Fate. but the combat mode aint the same with Vagrant Story. well the attack combos, are really fascinated me. the attack combos, maybe we will find it at arcade game. but it implemented at RPG. so Vagrant is the only use this mode ? even its different with Devil May Cry
Love the music and atmosphere of Ivalice , this game is way underrated . Much like Squares 2005 Romancing SaGa -Minstrels Song (PS2) its a game that's hard AF & chooses the player . Great review , hopefully they do more games like (Tactics, FF12) with this classic RPG setting of Ivalice.
This game always atrracted me for its combat system, like you sad there are so many layers and different approachs, i just love this kind of things. But in fact i never got myself playing more than the first dungeon, i really have to find some time to play it, without any doubt deserves some attention, and i belive that this game will look very good on a psp eboot.
I don't wanna be the person that says "omg your videos are great and you deserve way more subscribers" or some same-y shit like that. But holy damn, the section from 14:18 to 14:48 felt as smooth as sailing throug a sea of silk, both text and delivery.
I know one of the leads for Vagrant Story insists that the game was never meant to be part of the Ivalice Alliance... but it belongs there. Between the flowery prose the politics, the actual Easter eggs and the vagueness around magics... it belongs as part of Ivalice.
Yeah sure... They can deny it as much as they like. But it's not like there is an item called Agrias' Chain or late game gems Beowulf and Orlandu, right? xD
Very accurate review. I've attempted to beat this periodically since I was very young... I got better but never succeeded. Risk inevitably makes it extremely frustrating and I never learned how to cope. Maybe you avoid enemies like RE? Shit I feel it pulling me in again
I finished this game like 5 times, and like ThorHighHeels still didnt fully understood it. Also, back in the day, I couldnt understand english (it wasent translated to spanids as far as I know) but some how I really had fun with the game.
When asked I still maintain this is the most underrated game Square ever made. It's a fucking amazing masterpiece that demands some kind of reverence. I play it once a year.
U are a good writer... I want you to write my biography! Just kidding there's nothing interesting in it, maybe that I have a twin?. But great video! Keep the good work
I've tried to play this game several times, but unfortunately I found the battle system overly complicated. But what really did me in was the awful platforming. That said, I found the story and visuals really interesting (hence the multiple attempts). I'd love it if Squenix did a FF9-style remaster with optional tweaks to some of the game mechanics
Iam looking a new version of this kind of rpg I mean, is there any similiar combat system as like this game ? because I never found it at another rpg, not even once.
Good intro, good review. This game looks incredible, like a lost Castlevania, but I've not yet delved into Dungeon Crawlers, and it sounds like this one punishes you in a way Darkest Dungeon does today, so maybe I'll wait a bit until I'm ready. From my observations though it seems like older gamers are the ones invested in aged graphics, and are now at a point in their lives to deploy and spread cultural value in widely recognised (and perhaps overused) terms like aesthetic, retro, nostalgia, etc., even if some younger gamers are also on the same page as them. (You'll always get the 'I'm only...but I appreciate it too' comments, which is nice to see.) Maybe it's prestige over original experience that counts, although some games do stand the test of time even as they mark particular eras, tastes, and so forth. (Never played FF or PS1-era Tomb Raider until now; both are good examples of this, I think). Every good quirk gets some love eventually. And it's great to see a lot of them celebrated on this channel.
I personnaly love the combat system. I hope they don't change that if they release it again if they do maybe put some different games mode. Like a kids mode for example and a harder mode for more skilled people.
If it were ever to be remade, I would like to be able to create pre-set combinations of weapons based off of the parts in my inventory rather than having to disassemble and reassemble a weapon every time.
Yeah, I love the combat system to. Combos were fun. Along with mixing in magic. Risk just felt like a stamina bar. You get more tired the more you do, so you get sloppy. Added another layer of realism. You just had to have things that would decrease you Risk during some boss fights. Especially the final one.
my completionist got the better of me on my last attempt and i spent so much time in menus crafting new weapons that i lost the motivation to keep on playing. these menues are soooo slow... the first time around, when the game was new, I somehow could not beat Sidney in the end. Don't remember what went wrong, I had no trouble with the other parts of the game and understood the mechanics.
Is that in the game? Cuz then I may have missed out on that chart entirely. I was combining weapons blind, trying stuff out and reloading saves when I didn't get anything worth while.
@@thorhighheels Not that i know of. But there were guides online to help you cut down on the effort. Though if i remember write you didn't have to finalize combinations to see if you'd get a good weapon. What you'd get would pop up in forge and you could choose to finalize it.
Yeah this is one game that I appreciate more than I like. Yeah, it's a top 20 PS1 game for sure.... But I'd rather play something more dumb and fun like Syphon Filter or Twisted Metal 2.
I'm convinced that the people who raved about this game were suffering Stockholm syndrome, with the pretty and interesting stories being the candy between the whiplashes.
I never played this on the PSone, but I picked it up for Vita a few years ago when I found out it was part of the Ivalice universe. The atmosphere, story and artwork (Akihiko Yoshida is easily Square's best artist, fuken fite me) just make my boxers moist, but the actual gameplay is uh...well it's not good. The platforming is ass, the UI needs a complete rework, and the game is so overly complex that it's basically unplayable without a guide. I really wish Square had given this game a remaster when they were hyping up the whole Ivalice Alliance thing, because I truly think this game deserves a remake.
Huh. I never had a problem with the platforming. You can freely rotate around the camera. I think the only time I had trouble was when in a certain area where you just couldn't seem to make a certain jump. This was the second time I was playing the game. And it was on an emulator. I had to change the controls switch from the direction buttons to the toggle and I made it. So any time a moment like that happened I'd know to switch.
I really liked everything about the game except for the menu diving and the weapon affinity. Swriously, using this cppl spear against dragon type enemies makes it a great dragon killer but completely uselwss against all other enemies. That's annoying.
I started replaying it a few days ago and I'm honestly not sure why I adore this game as much as I do. Sure it looks and sounds great but the gameplay itself is kinda shit.
The game is even more gorgeous if you use an emulator that pushes the graphics beyond what the PS1 could push out. There is a lot more detail in those gifs than was shown on that system. And you don't run into the jittery slow down that happened on the PS1. Plus the loading screens aren't nearly as bad on an emulator. Still have to battle against the menus though. That was always the worst part of the game. I always liked the combat system. Having to have the right tools for the task made the world my dynamic an real to me. You run into something you're ill prepared for and can't adjust for and you're fucked.
I'm glad that in my first playthrough I've spent 20 minutes just to read all ingame manual right in the first room the game starts. The combat system became absolutely clear to me. And English is not my native language. So all the rant about gameplay mechanics is only your fault.
