Vagrant Story: Difference between revisions

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== Tropes used in ''Vagrant Story'' ==

* [[A Fate Worse Than Death]]: {{spoiler|Grissom, whose wandering soul searches for a body to possess - and finds his own cold corpse}}. By the end of the game, he's not holding together very well.

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** [[All There in the Manual|According to the manual]], everyone who is affected by the dark will be unable to move on and wander the world forever in unbearable agony once his or her body decays. {{spoiler|This includes those who survive the game's events. However, as the bearer of the Dark, Ashley is able to grant these souls reprieve...[[Your Soul Is Mine|as their holder]].}}

* [[All There in the Manual]]: To really understand the plot of the game you need to read the [[No Export for You|Japanese only]] Ultimania guide which gives in-depth explanations to many scenes in the game as well as additional information on all of the characters. A translation can be found [http://www34.brinkster.com/worldshards/translations/trans.htm here.]

** Descriptions of the natures of all the monsters you fight can be found on the in-game bestiary and many of the items and accessories that you find even manage to get a brief back-story in the item menu.

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* [[Awesome but Impractical]]: Break Arts. They have fancy names and cool animations, deal above the average damage and some inflict status effects. However, an average attack chain will still harm the enemy much more. There is also no guarantee that the Break Art will connect (and there really is a lot of hard to hit enemies), which can lead to a flashy attack followed by a much disappointing "MISS".

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: Just about anyone with the full name, but Ashley Riot is the most notable.

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* [[Big No]]: Doubly subverted. Joshua clearly attempts this when {{spoiler|Hardin is stabbed by Guildenstern}} but not only is there no voice acting in this game but [[Cute Mute|Joshua]] himself has been mute since the events of the game began, resulting in a very heartfelt, but ultimately silent NOOOOOOOO!

* [[Badass]]: Ahh, Ashley. "Reinforcements? I am the reinforcements." A total [[Implacable Man]] and with a [[Mysterious Past]] that makes him even stronger, even the game's characters subtly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] how ridiculously strong he is. He also acquires a [[Badass Longcoat]] for the final scene of the game.

* [[Bait and Switch Boss]]: {{spoiler|A cutscene sets up Rosencrantz as the next boss, but Sydney uses his magic to animate a statue which crushes him, and Ashley winds up fighting the statue instead.}}

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* [[Belated Happy Ending]]: Various item descriptions mention the Zodiac Brave Story from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', naming Agrias, Orlandu and several others as well-known heroes. That means the Durai report from Tactics, containing a true account of what happened during the war, was eventually accepted as historical canon.

* [[BFS]]: The Great Sword line of weapon types. There's also Great Maces (big freakin' [[Drop the Hammer|hammers]]) such as the gigantic Hand of Light.

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* [[Big No]]: Doubly subverted. Joshua clearly attempts this when {{spoiler|Hardin is stabbed by Guildenstern}} but not only is there no voice acting in this game but [[Cute Mute|Joshua]] himself has been mute since the events of the game began, resulting in a very heartfelt, but ultimately silent NOOOOOOOO!

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: At least for {{spoiler|Sydney and Duke Bardorba}}. As for Ashley, it's a bit more uplifting as he comes to the term with his past {{spoiler|or at least accepts that it does not matter what his past really was}}.

* [[Blessed with Suck]]: Sydney, and {{spoiler|Ashley}} in the ending, after {{spoiler|inheriting the Rood Inverse}}.

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* [[Fake Memories]]: {{spoiler|Ashley's wife and son. [[The Un-Reveal|Or maybe not]]. Damn it, Sydney!}}

* [[Fan Service]]: Sydney's pants and Ashley's shorts, full stop.

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* [[A Fate Worse Than Death]]: {{spoiler|Grissom, whose wandering soul searches for a body to possess - and finds his own cold corpse}}. By the end of the game, he's not holding together very well.

⚫

** [[All There in the Manual|According to the manual]], everyone who is affected by the dark will be unable to move on and wander the world forever in unbearable agony once his or her body decays. {{spoiler|This includes those who survive the game's events. However, as the bearer of the Dark, Ashley is able to grant these souls reprieve...[[Your Soul Is Mine|as their holder]].}}

* [[For Massive Damage]]: Basically the ''only'' way to beat quite a few bosses in the game, including the final one, as they'll prove invulnerable to all but a few techniques or elemental alignments.

* [[Framing Device]]: The game actually has a frame story which reveals the final ending: Duke Bardorba dies - and you play the game to discover just why, setting the stage for the actual game, which occurs in a single location in roughly a day. Just like a Greek drama should, wink wink.

** [[Mind Screw|Or did he]]? The final cutscenes never outright state whether or not it's Ashley. It seems to be more a framing device for exactly how Ashley ascended, with some spotlight given to the Bardorba Family Feud.

* [[Free Rotating Camera]]

* [[Fridge Brilliance]]: {{spoiler|Why does the city fall apart in the end?}} Because it is the Gran Grimoire. Whenever a character finds a normal grimoire in the city and reads it, the book disintegrates into dust and its magic is permanently transferred to the reader.

* [[Functional Magic]]: Subverted hard. The premise is that magic doesn't exist in the normal world at all - and as a result, all magic is [[Black Magic]]. Casting any kind of spell is [[The Dark Side|an unnatural act]] that [[Fate Worse Than Death|sentences your soul to a horrible fate beyond imagination.]] While spells exist, most magical powers come as special gifts.

* [[Genius Loci]]: Leá Monde has a will of its own.