Vagrant Story: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

The game is easily one of the most [[Genre Busting|complicated]] Squaresoft RPGs: a combination of 80's dungeon crawling with French graphic novel aesthetics, [[Flowery Elizabethan English|Shakespearean dialogue]], elaborate [[Item Crafting]], [[Rhythm Game]] combat and the structure of a Greek drama, with the characters dressed in... well, fairly homoerotic bondage gear. It's a gorgeous but polarizing game, due to being [[Nintendo Hard]], and features ''very'' mature themes compared to other [[Final Fantasy]] installments.

Pursued by the Knights of the Cross, a Church army lead by the [[Knight Templar|righteous but sinister]] Romeo Guildenstern, Sydney makes for the [[Temple of Doom|lost city of Leá Monde]]. Ashley, accompanied by [[Mr. Exposition|intelligence officer]] Callo Merlose, follows, trying to avoid the Knights of the Cross at all costs while hunting Sydney down. In the style of classic dungeon crawlers, the player takes Ashley through Leá Monde's catacombs and ancient temples, killing vast quantities of equally ancient monsters. The plot unfolds rapidly, and becomes more and more intricate as new parties reveal their own schemes: there's [[The Mole|Valendia operative]] and ex-Riskbreaker Jan Rosencrantz, who wants the city's power for himself; General Grissom, who seeks revenge for the death of his priest brother Duane (at Ashley's hands); and John Hardin, Sydney's gentle accomplice, who slowly realizes that he's being [[Locked Out of the Loop]].

** 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.

* [[Ambition Is Evil]]: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exemplify this.

** This becomes less convincing in the manual, where {{spoiler|Ashley suspects that Rosencrantz is brainwashed by Valendia's secret service into thinking he is immune to the Dark}}.

* [[Author Appeal]]: [[Akihiko Yoshida]] likes bondage gear. And piercings. And amputation, skin removal, torture... and of course, as he has admitted himself, butts.

* [[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".

* [[The Corruption]]: The effect the Dark has on those who die in its thrall, from the corpses of Leá Monde's former inhabitants, to the Crimson Blades and Knights of the Cross that die throughout the course of the game and are raised again as undead.

* [[Covers Always Lie]]: Ashley and Callo are a [[Battle Couple]] {{spoiler|that share a grand total of about 90 seconds in two scenes before the game even starts, without much talking other than business, and do not cross paths again for the rest of the game.}}

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]] All of new game plus with the exception of the [[Bonus Level of Hell|bonus]] [[Bonus Boss|content]].

* [[Cute Mute]]: Joshua.

** And by "said", we mean you can find it buried in the back pages of the in-game monster manual, near the end of the final dungeon. If you bother to look. Hey, no one ever said backstory had to be ''obvious''.

* [[Exact Words]]: "Fear not, {{spoiler|sweet Rosencrantz}}, I will not kill you."

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

* [[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.

* [[Informed Ability]]: Played straight with poor Samantha, who's a Commander in the Crimson Blades but gets zero chance to shine in battle. Subverted with Callo, whom we see being every bit the epic Inquisitor that Heldricht says she is, in spite of her being taken hostage at the start!

* [[Instant Runes]]: Many magic spells create this when cast. There's also a few in cutscenes, such as when a Dullahan boss makes its first appearance and drags its sword across the ground, creating a magic circle around itself.

* [[Knight Templar]]: The St. Iocus church and their Knights of the Cross. Guildenstern seems like this at first but turns out to be [[Complete Monster|even worse]].

* [[Lady Not Appearing in This Game]]: {{spoiler|Müllenkamp, who only appears in the opening sequence.}}

* [[Large Ham]]: Some characters have their moments, but none come close to Sydney. [[Magnificent Bastard]] that he is, Sydney dominates every scene he's in.

* [[Late to The Party]]: Leá Monde became a [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|ghost city]] when an earthquake severed its contact with land. ''Something'' happened to all its people, causing them all to succumb to the Dark.

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: Light-aligned enemies aren't especially common, but they include several of the game's liches, and a dragon which is described as one of the most powerful and evil of its kind.

* [[The Lost Woods]]: Snowfly Forest. [[The Maze|The only way to get around without a map]] involves reorienting oneself by inspecting the moss growing on trees.

** That little hint about the snowflies they give you? {{spoiler|They're not talking about directions, but ''density''.}} [[Guide Dang It]] indeed.

* [[Mind Screw]]: SO, SO MUCH. Most of it is Sydney's fault (and boy does the man have FUN doing this), but the entire game is fraught with hidden truths and equally-hidden motives. Don't expect any moments of dramatic irony to last or be fruitful for long.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: "Riskbreaker Ashley Riot?" Yeah, not gonna piss him off.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: Unlike most [[Role Playing Game|JRPGs]], ''Vagrant Story'' likes to keep the player on his toes... by kicking him in the balls every half an hour or so. Boss fights consistently cream poor Ashley, and random encounters are even worse. Success depends largely on mastery of the game's near-inscrutable [[Item Crafting]] system, and there's even a random enemy with an instant death spell... in a game with only one [[Player Character|PC]]. Rumours tell of gamers that actually enjoy this, but it's possible they have been conditioned to it by [[Cosmic Horror|experiences too horrible to comprehend]].

* [[Oh Crap]]: {{spoiler|This is probably the expression on Rosencrantz's face as he is about to be cut in half by the Kali statue that Sydney summons}}.

* [[Physical God]]: Ashley becomes this at the end of the game.

* [[Power Tattoo]]: The Rood Inverse on Sydney's back. {{spoiler|It's inherited by Ashley during the ending scenes--and during new game plus it can unlock doors that were originally sealed on the first playthrough. "The Blood Sin on Ashley's back burns!"}}

* [[Terminally Dependent Society]]

* [[Theme Naming]]: All assembled weapons found in the game are named after alcoholic cocktails. It is easy to miss the connection due to the inherent randomness of cocktail names, so while some may work as weapon names ([[The Hobbit|Balin’s]] revenge, death sentence, eviscerator, rib splitter), some are more obviously cocktails (Mojito, rusty nail, shandy gaff) and then some are just plain bizarre (Dog’s nose, fandango, pink squirrel, pussyfoot). The descriptions of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7D8EaOw9kE these] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxfj5Ds-BAs two] videos lists most weapons and the main ingredients of such cocktails.

* [[Title Drop]]: {{spoiler|The last line in the game.}}

* [[Training Dummy]]: That allow you to build weapon stats.

* [[The Undead]] - A lot of enemies. Justified as this is your fate if you die in the Lea Monde. {{spoiler|And all the inhabitants of the city died or succumbed to the Dark due to the certain event}}.

* [[The Unfought]]: {{spoiler|Rosencrantz. The first fight ends with him running away and saying he [[We Will Meet Again|won't be defeated so easily next time.]] Unfortunately, when Ashley does meet him again, it's only to see him getting killed like an idiot by Sydney.}}

* [[Unwitting Pawn]]: A very rare inversion. Ashley gets tricked into {{spoiler|saving the world}}.

* [[Utopia Justifies the Means]]: {{spoiler|Guildenstern's motivation for claiming the power of Lea Monde. Sydney calls him out for this when they meet in the Cathedral.}}

* [[The Watson]]: Callo is there for revealing the details of the plot that the players in Ashley's perspective would have no way of knowing. It's executed damned well, too.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Callo was originally planned as a playable character.

** Those people lucky enough to avoid THAT form of immortality end up much like {{spoiler|Sydney and his father, who are lord knows how old and seem quite tired of all this business.}}

* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: What happens to people who try to {{spoiler|wield the Rood Inverse powers and the Dark}} without sufficient [[Heroic Willpower]]. {{spoiler|Guildenstern}} finds this out only too late. [[Complete Monster|Not that anyone felt sorry for him or anything.]]

[[Category:Final Fantasy (Franchise)]]

[[Category:Vagrant Story]]