VAGRANT STORY

by Jay "THE FLEA" Wade

Square has done it again with one of the most original looking games ever played on the PSX. Vagrant Story is a RPG/Action game where you play as a young swordsman "Ashley" in the renaissance ages who is after a evil murderous cult who is bent on destroying the kingdom. With a main villain "Sydney" that is really creepy and leaving you never knowing what he's going to do next.

The graphics are some of the best seen since Metal Gear Solid. Beautifully & strange designed characters with a story that really pulls the whole thing together.
Most of the Bosses are huge and are like nothing ever seen before in a video game. Watching the dialog is a lot like reading comic book, word bubbles instead of text boxes makes a great change of pace.

The gameplay is a little like Medievil with the wire frame battle dome of Parasite Eve. You find a enemy, bring up the dome and choose your action. This part is like most RPG's. You'll find tons of weapons, armor, and upgrades. Learn Break Arts that lets you use new tricks with each weapon. Ashley can even learn and use magic spells.
You can even target a certain area on a enemy. Attack their legs, arms, head or body and every one has their own week spots.

The exploring gameplay is mostly searching tombs & castles that allow you to rotate the camera around the hero. You'll need to solve puzzles and search for treasure chests that hold key items, weapons or armor. There's also hidden tiles on the floor that can heal or hurt Ashley.

The only real complaint that can be made on Vagrant Story is the hours of gameplay.
It only takes less then 10 hours to finish. But if you compare it to games like Resident Evil, Parasite Eve or Metal Gear Solid it's more or equal. Vagrant Story is more of a action game with RPG elements. So if your thinking Vagrant Story is going to be another Final Fantasy you'll be in for a shock. This is a game that is a must see, it's really like nothing else out there.

PUBLISHER: SQUARESOFT

GRAPHICS: 10

SOUND & MUSIC: 9

CONTROL: 9

SECRETS: 8

ORIGINALITY: 10

FUN & REPLAY: 9.5

OVERALL: 9.5