If you hit another button at the point of contact you’ll swing again. You’ll then immediately swing on your segment of choice when you confirm the attack. Their damage and hit percentage both will be higher if they aren’t wearing one, indicating more vulnerable areas. You will notice differences in soldiers if they are wearing a helmet compared to ones that are not, for instance. ![]() Alongside each available region is a hit percentage and damage estimate based on how far away you are and what type of armor he’s wearing compared to your aptitude with your current weapon (a very Matsuno thing…that I love). If you attack his legs his movement will decrease, etc. If you attack his weapon arm, his ability to damage you will decrease. If you have his full body in range you have the choice of attacking: How do I shot web?Īttacking a specific area will yield damage and sometimes an area-specific result. At this point a little menu will pop up next to the skeleton allowing you to choose an area of his body to attack. Now let’s say you’ve got your sphere out and a skeleton guy is inside it. Functionally…not 100% necessary, but nonetheless it’s a logical layer of detail. Pole arm? OK the sphere is twice as big as a regular sword’s. What’s interesting (and awesome) about this is that depending on what weapon type you are currently wielding the sphere will change in size. If there are any enemies within your attack sphere you have the ability to engage them. Press it again and you’ll freeze time and project a green sphere out from your body. When you press the action button you pull out your weapon. You wander around (fully rendered in 3D, fully rotating camera) and fight enemies that inhabit the environment. As Ashley Riot you’re sent to explore the now crumbling (but once flourishing) city of Lea Monde. Vagrant Story is an action RPG, but please take any sort of conventional labeling lightly. I figure the best way to get you to understand is to just go through each category and point shit out. The ideas are realized with such class that it refuses to degrade itself in a pathetic attempt to garner a wider audiences appeal. ![]() Beyond that, it’s thematically many echelons above other games. The main basis for my argument on why Vagrant Story is just that damn good is not only does it drop a nuke on my little theory, it redefines many (if not all) of these categories in the process. Half-life, for instance, excels in every category. There are exceptions to the rule and these examples usually typify what we think of as ‘classics’. ICO and Shadow of the Colossus: great story and atmosphere, bad controls and camera. Gears of War: great graphics, stupid story. It seems to me that most games can hit home runs in some of these areas whilst leaving the others to just get by. ![]() There are then, I feel, more subtle categories that aren’t game-breakers but can either elevate or subdue the experience in general: Most games can be adequately summed up by examining a standard list of criteria: ![]() So what makes this game so spectacular? Did I mention that this is a Yasumi Matsuno game? That’s a good start…but this review needs some structure before I go on a stream of consciousness rant of adoration and embarrass myself. Not completely your fault I guess…not many people played this masterpiece. I assure you that the only reason you can’t grasp the gravity of what I’m saying is that you haven’t played Vagrant Story. You may scoff at these statements and wonder how a video game can change someone’s life. When the credits rolled, I was different. My personal experience with it was nothing short of life-changing. Vagrant Story is so far ahead of every other game that it’s not even a speck on the horizon for every single other game to wish it could see. I’m not personally setting it above the rest in some arbitrary listing, it did that itself. It is the exact definition of everything I wish video games were. Vagrant Story is the reason I made this fucking blog in the first place. I can honestly say that Vagrant Story is and forever will be the best video game I have ever played, comfortably unchallenged until the internet comes crashing down in the Robot Wars of 2098.
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