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Vagrant Story
Developer: Squaresoft
Publisher: Squaresoft
Release date: 2000
Genre: RPG
Game modes: Single player
ESRB rating: Teen (T)
Platforms: PlayStation
Media: CD


Vagrant Story is a unique action/RPG game released for the PlayStation console in 2000. The game, designed and distributed by Squaresoft (now Square Enix), features a focus on weapon modification and creation. It has a carefully crafted story about a Riskbreaker named Ashley Riot who was sent to break a fanatical religious cult's hold on the manor of Duke Bardorba. Shortly after this incident, the leader of the cult, Sydney Losstarot, disappeared and the Duke was murdered. Ashley Riot was named as a suspect in the murder case. The player takes the part of Ashley as he follows Sydney into the deserted city of Leá Monde.

The game's graphical style is very dark and emphasizes brown tones, adding to the sense of mystery in the game. Some of its scenarios are inspired to some extent by landscapes of the South West of France, notably the city of Saint-Emilion. Various unusual outfits, including Ashley's, were the subject of good-natured fan humour.

Its style of cinematics is reminiscent of the one used in Metal Gear Solid, in both games the in-game story sequences were rendered with the game engine and directed with a strong cinematographic feeling.

The battle system of the game involves the player chaining different attacks to achieve large combos and deal damage to the enemy. The player can target different areas of the body, and damage is done according to the part of body attacked and the affinity of the weapon used by Ashley. As Ashley fights, his Risk raises, making it harder for him to concentrate, and lowering his accuracy. This innovative battle system is very different from that of most Squaresoft games.

Players can customize and create weapons and armor which have different ranges, strengths, and statistics. Weapons also become stronger in different areas depending on the enemy types they are used to attack, and armor became stronger in different areas depending on what enemy types attacked it.

The game was not very popular in none of the main game markets, (Japan, US, and Europe), partially due to small advertising campaign and lack of localization to european languages, but it is held in high regard in the action/RPG community.

Promotional drawing showing main characters Ashley Riot and Callo Merlose, drawn by Akihiko YoshidaVagrant Story showing Ashley Riot and Callo Merlose Akihiko Yoshida is a video game character designer, that is, he does the drawings that the 3D models or 2D sprites will be based upon. Yoshida was born in 1967 and joined Square in 1995. Game credits Zel

The programming team was largely the same who did Final Fantasy TacticsFinal Fantasy Tactics is a tactical role-playing video game for the Sony PlayStation, which combines thematic elements of the Final Fantasy system with an original game engine style. This game uses a completely different battle system than the other games, and currently they are working on Final Fantasy XIIFinal Fantasy XII is the next title in the Final Fantasy series. It will be for the PlayStation 2 console. Originally Square-Enix planned for Final Fantasy X to be the last title, before the series was to go online. However, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the series. Specially worth mentioning are Yasumi MatsunoYasumi Matsuno is a director working at Square Enix (previously called Squaresoft). He was born in 1965 and after leaving Quest he joined Square in 1995. He is usually called "YAZZ" by his colleagues at Square. Game credits: Ogre Battle: Director, scenari (production, direction and battle design), Akihiko YoshidaVagrant Story showing Ashley Riot and Callo Merlose Akihiko Yoshida is a video game character designer, that is, he does the drawings that the 3D models or 2D sprites will be based upon. Yoshida was born in 1967 and joined Square in 1995. Game credits Zel (character design and background art direction), Hiroshi MinagawaHiroshi Minagawa was born in 1970 and joined SQUARE in 1995. Game credits Magical Chase: Art direction and game design Ogre Battle: Art direction Tactics Ogre: Art direction Final Fantasy Tactics: Art direction Vagrant Story: Art direction Final Fantasy X (art direction) and Hitoshi Sakimoto (music).

The English localization, which is accredited to Alexander O. Smith is considered one of the finest Japanese to English videogame translations existing today.





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