Vagrant Story: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|"''The body is but a vessel for the soul, a puppet which bends to the soul's tyranny. And lo, the body is not eternal, for it must feed on the flesh of others, lest it return to the dust from whence it came.Therefore must the soul deceive, despise and murder men.''"|'''[[Final Fantasy Tactics|A. J. Durai]]''' }}

[[Square Soft]]'s ''Vagrant Story'' is a genre-defying, stat-based [[Playstation One]] RPG by videogame auteur [[Yasumi Matsuno]]. It's a standalone [[Non-Linear Sequel]] to ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', and as such, is part of the [[Running Gag|God-Rapingly popular]] ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' Series.

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.

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The game's difficulty lies in its stat-based and menu-based combat. '''''Vagrant Story''''''s battle system is perhaps closer to ''[[Nethack]]'' than it is to most games in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series. Instead of gaining traditional experience points, Ashley -- also a skilled blacksmith -- [[Item Crafting|crafts]] a collection of weapons and a full set of armor, planning around elements, weapon types, weapon range, creature types and Ashley's own reaction abilities. In practice, this means you may end up switching and re-configuring your equipment for every enemy you encounter. Difficult? Horribly so. Rewarding? ''Yes''. It's [[Nintendo Hard]], with a very steep learning curve, but of the "difficult to learn, easy to master" variety.

Finally, the game caught some considerable flak for using (and [[Trope Codifier|codifying]]) [[Block Puzzle]] mechanics—perhaps from critics who failed to realize that the time attack puzzle mode can simply be turned off.

In short, it's a complicated, odd, beautiful, maddening game that ''definitely'' [[Needs More Love]].

Also, '''a warning for first time players'''. There are four opening movies that are very easily skipped by accident. Without seeing these sequences, the game makes very little sense. The scenes are:

* (1) the introduction cutscene, seen by leaving the menu running for a minute or so,

* (2) an optional (spoiler-filled) trailer, seen by leaving the menu running a second time after viewing the first introduction,

* (3) the actual opening sequence, which is too easily skipped by accidentally pressing "start",

* (4) the vital second part of the opening sequence, which probably ''will'' make you press "start" and skip it by accident, because some of the text takes a long time to disappear.

So, ''don't press start until after you see the first save point. ''

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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]].}}

* [[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.

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

* [[Anti-Magic]]: {{spoiler|Rosencrantz. To Guildenstern}}: "Your memory fails you. The Dark holds no power over me." He's immune to the Dark, as he demonstrates in several cut-scenes. Unfortunately, this doesn't save him when {{spoiler|the statue Sydney brings to life cuts him in half.}}

** 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}}.

* [[Anti-Villain]]: Sydney Losstarot. With [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] looks, [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulative demeanor]], penchant for [[Mind Rape]] and [[The Chessmaster|sophisticated plans]], he definitely is [[Big Bad]] type. It turns out that {{spoiler|all that time, he was making an elaborate [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save the world.}} He'd be such a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] if he wasn't basically [[Necessarily Evil|right about everything]].

* [[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".

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

* [[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.}}

* [[Bash Brothers]]: [[Mighty Glacier|Tieger]] and [[Lady of War|Neesa]], although there are shades of a [[Battle Couple]] relationship going on.

* [[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.

* [[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}}.

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** The final dungeon has no respawning enemies, yet has lots of bosses and mini-bosses and only one or two run of the mill encounters.

* [[Brains and Bondage]]: It's not quite clear ''why'', but about half of the cast is walking around in BDSM gear. And spouting faux-Shakespearian dialogue.

* [[Limit Break|Break arts]]; four for each class of weapons, [[Cast ~~From~~ Hit Points|but don't rely on them TOO much.]]

* [[Limit Break|Break arts]]; four for each class of weapons, [[Cast from Hit Points|but don't rely on them TOO much.]]

* [[Came Back Wrong]]: The spirits of those murdered in Leá Monde are cursed to wander from corpse to corpse, possessing rotten bodies and never finding peace. {{spoiler|Grissom}}, murdered by Ashley, ''finds his own corpse'' by accident, and retains a small amount of control over it as a result. It's... quite horrifying.

* [[Cherry Tapping]]: Used often. This is a game where dealing 10 hit points of damage can be a serious accomplishment. Although Ashley's weapon types / affinities go a long way in determining the damage (hitting for 50 or 60 HP isn't uncommon with a proper weapon), many bosses will go down from much smaller hits. Figuring out ''how'' to hit them in the first place can... also take a while.

* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Just pick any scene with Ashley, Guildenstern, Rosencrantz, and/or Sydney. Sydney, is doing it for the benefit of his 'audience' -- whether this is Callo, Hardin, Ashley, Samantha, or us.

* [[Color Wash]]: The game likes using two predominant colors for areas: Brownish-yellow, or blue.

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* [[Creepy Cool Crosses]]: The Rood of St. Iocus, which resembles a cross with four arms at 45 degree angles and a tiny 'sword crossgard' at the bottom. Ashley's pendant and the motifs on his pants display it, while Sydney's back is [[Power Tattoo|tattooed]] with the blasphemous [[Cosmic Keystone|Rood Inverse]]. The base form of the [[Infinity+1 Sword]], the Holy Win, is shaped as such (and is wielded, in story, by {{spoiler|the first form of the [[Final Boss]]}}.) {{spoiler|Now guess what his second form looks like. ''Sorta''.}}

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

* [[Cute Mute]]: Joshua.

* [[Cyborg]]/ArtificialLimbs: Sydney. The magical variety, of course.

* [[Dark Messiah]]: Guildenstern.

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

* [[Giant Enemy Crab]]: [[That One Boss|One in the Undercity]], [[Curb Stomp Battle|another beneath the Cathedral]], and yet another, the Damascus Crab as the [[New Game+]] [[Bonus Boss]]. [[Attack Its Weak Point|Attack their mouth]] [[Memetic Mutation|for massive damage]].

* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: {{spoiler|Guildenstern once he gains the power of the Rood Inverse by sacrificing Samantha.}}

* [[Government Conspiracy]]: It's [[All There in the Manual]] but {{spoiler|the earthquake that destroyed the city of Lea Monde and killed off all of its inhabitants were caused on purpose by the Parliament - or perhaps the Cardinal? - in order to feed the souls of the dead to the darkness within the city and seize the control of that power. This is why the Duke Bardorba and Sydney, not wanting the Dark to be misused, enact the [[Gambit Index|plan]] to transfer its power to Ashley, completely destroying the city in process.}}

* [[Groin Attack]]: Sydney's disturbingly low pants seem to be another case of Squaresoft's trademark [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]]... until you consider the possibility that he's sacrificed his genitals along with his arms. (The other explanation would be [[Barbie Doll Anatomy]].)

* [[Guide Dang It]]: The game can be played without a guide, in fact it's not possible to [[Lost Forever|miss anything]]. That said, the game's weapon crafting system is simply so sophisticated, and the overall game so very difficult, that many players will take any crutch they can get.

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* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]:

{{quote|{{spoiler|Grissom}}: ...Please, a moment. My body is not... cooperating."}}

* [[Ho Yay]]: Pick a pairing. ''Pick a pairing''. The evidence is there for it.

** Guildenstern refers to Rosencrantz as a 'harlot', which - of all the insults he could have chosen, why that one? {{spoiler|Unless Romeo's aware that Jan's a quintuple agent of some sort, which is unlikely,}} you have to wonder.

*** There is an archaic meaning of "harlot", however, which might apply: a low-born, churlish man. Even so....

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* [[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.

* [[Item Crafting]]: This game has no shops or vendors (it's an abandoned city, of course). If Ashley wants more powerful weaponry and armor, he's got to locate the workshops scattered around the city and forge the equipment himself. [[Elemental Crafting|The materials he uses in the process]] determine the basic strength of the weapon and armor, while their original affinities determine [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|their effectiveness against specific foes]].

* [[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.

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* [[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.

* [[Locked Out of the Loop]]: Hardin. Ashley, too.

* [[The Legions of Hell]]: Most of the enemies.

* [[Lonely At the Top]]: {{spoiler|Sydney mocks Guildenstern with this trope when Guildenstern demands to know the way to unlock Lea Monde's power.}}

* [[Lonely at the Top]]: {{spoiler|Sydney mocks Guildenstern with this trope when Guildenstern demands to know the way to unlock Lea Monde's power.}}

{{quote|'''Sydney''': {{spoiler|A tyrant always dies alone Guildenstern, surrounded by silver-tongued leeches, he is utterly alone. He sows sorrow and reaps death.}}}}

* [[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.

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** explained below in theme naming.

* [[New Game+]]: It allows you to keep whatever is on your person, as well as any equipment you saved in a Container. Additionally, the {{spoiler|Rood Inverse}} grants Ashley access to [[Bonus Dungeon]]s and their respective [[Bonus Boss]]es, such as the [[Blackout Basement|the]] [[Dug Too Deep|Iron Maiden]] [[The Maze|B2]]—home of [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] and [[That One Boss|Asura]].

* [[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]].

* [[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}}.

* [[One-Man Army]]: Ashley.

* [[One-Winged Angel]]: This game is set in a ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' universe, after all. {{spoiler|Guildenstern is one freaky bloody angel.}}

* [[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!"}}

* [[Quickly-Demoted Woman]]: Callo is on the box and is hinted to be the brains to Ashley's brawn, but Ashley's good intentions (keeping a non-combat agent out of combat) backfire, as Callo meets an abrupt Sydney from nowhere and is taken hostage. She does become a very epic psychic, however. Demoted from sidekick, promoted to seer..

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* [[Roar Before Beating]]: Wyverns and Dragons.

* [[Ruins for Ruins Sake]]: Much of Leá Monde's architecture is like this, at least above the surface. Beneath it, the Undercity is an entire town complete with streets, buildings, and lampposts that is larger than the city above ground.

** The ruins above ground are just whatever streets and buildings were left somewhat untouched after earthquakes submerged large parts of Leá Monde to create the Undercity.

* [[Sarcastic Clapping]]: Sydney. Made unnerving by the fact that Sydney has arms and claws made out of enchanted metal. Plink, plink, plink...

* [[Scenery Porn]]: Yes.

* [[Shout-Out]]: [[The Eye of Argon]] is one of the items you have

** A room was named [[wikipedia:Kilroy was here|Kilroy was Here]]

** [[Evil Dead|His name is Ash, and he is beset by zombies.]]

** [[Metal Gear Solid|A One Man Army is dispatched to complete an impossible mission within the span of several hours in-game.]]

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* [[Splash of Color]]: Ashley's flashbacks take place on a bright green hill with a dazzling blue sky. This is especially shocking since most of the game is golden brown or murky blue.

* [[Stripperiffic]]: Everyone. Male, female, it doesn't matter. The cast is wearing enough clothing to properly cover about half as many characters as there are in the game.

** The seats of their pants at least only cover half of what they should.

* [[Synchronization]]: {{spoiler|[[All There in the Manual|Duke Bardorba and Sydney cannot live if the other dies due to the pact that Duke Bardorba made in order to save Sydney's life in the past.]] This is also why after killing Sydney, Duke Bardorba dies as well.}}

* [[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 (novel)|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.

** [[Fridge Logic]] extends the theme a little further with the weapon Pussyfoot as it is the only cocktail in the list which is non-alcoholic and the weapon itself is wielded by the [[Smug Snake|one character]] [[Anti-Magic|immune to magic]]. While the name may lack the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|threatening edge]] it is appropriate for an alcohol-free cocktail.

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

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

* [[Trauma-Induced Amnesia]]: Discussed by Sydney, who claims that the trope works because people are willing to forget things that pain them and much prefer to replace them with pleasing lies. {{spoiler|If you believe Sydney's version of events, Ashley has invoked this trop against himself, convincing himself that he once lost a wife and son to help himself forget murdering two innocent people.}}

* [[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.}}

* [[The Un-Reveal]]: Ultimately, you never find out the truth {{spoiler|about Ashley's past}}. And Ashley is able to accept that it really doesn't matter. Damn it, Sydney!

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* [[The Verse]]: [[Word of God|Said]] to take place in the same baseline universe as ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' (and now also [[Final Fantasy XII]]!) and has [[Shout-Out|references]] in the shape of relics and accessories.

* [[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.

* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]: The Dark, the mysterious energy of Leá Monde, prevents peoples' souls from dying. This sounds great, but the same doesn't happen to the bodies - trapping people for all eternity into the cursed city as ghosts. [[Blessed with Suck]] indeed.

** 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.]]

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[[Category:Eastern RPG]]

[[Category:Yasumi Matsuno]]

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[[Category:~~Vagrant Story~~]]

[[Category:Final Fantasy]]

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