Vagrant story

Most of the action of the Vagrant Story takes place in dungeons divided into many rooms. The hero is controlled in the third person mode, but in the pause mode, you can view the environment in the first person mode. The whole game, including character models, is made in three-dimensional graphics. Movement occurs in real time, in the lower right corner of the screen shows a schematic map of the current location ^{[10] [11]} .

The main character Ashley can run, jump, climb on ledges; To overcome some obstacles, it is necessary to transfer or push boxes and stone blocks placed in dungeons, which adds elements of puzzles and platformer to the gameplay ^[10] . Once solved, the puzzles can be solved again by re-visiting the puzzle room ^[8] .

In the Vagrant Story there are a large number of weapons and armor of various kinds. There are no merchants and shops in the game, however, the player gets weapons and armor as trophies from defeated opponents or from treasure chests. In special workshop rooms, a player can repair and upgrade existing weapons, or design new ones ^[12] . Each weapon in the game has three sets of characteristics: type - piercing, crushing or chopping; the levels of elements responsible for effectiveness against opponents belonging to a certain element; and separate performance scales against various classes of opponents ^[11] . When using weapons against various enemies, these parameters increase or decrease, changing regardless of the characteristics of the character. By deliberately improving certain characteristics of a weapon, you can make it extremely effective ^[13] . When dealing and taking damage weapons and armor wear out, so the player must monitor the state of the weapon and repair it in time ^[11] .

As in a number of other Square games, in the Vagrant Story after the first complete passage, the player becomes available with the “New Game +” - the opportunity to start the game again, retaining the weapons and abilities from the previous passage. This option allows access to inaccessible in the first passage levels with more powerful opponents and valuable treasures ^[8] .

Battle System

Opponents met in separate rooms move in real time and can freely attack Ashley; As a rule, the room can not be left without destroying all opponents in it. The combat system Vagrant Story is similar to another game Square - Parasite Eve ^[14] . Although the battle takes place in real time, by pressing a certain button, the player can pause the game to attack. At the same time, a defeat sphere appears around the hero - it corresponds to the length of the weapon with which the character is currently armed. A short weapon, such as daggers or short swords, has a very small radius of sphere, but the attack speed is higher than that of halberds or crossbows. If any part of the adversary’s body falls into the sphere of damage, it can be hit. For many opponents, some parts of the body are more vulnerable to certain types of weapons and certain abilities than others, so the victory over an enemy is often a tactical puzzle ^[11] .

If the first blow hit the enemy and inflicted damage, the player can continue a bunch of blows , according to a prompt on the screen, pressing at one point one of the attack buttons. The player has a number of special abilities at his disposal - some of them inflict additional damage on the enemy, others allow him to restore his health or other characteristics to the character himself. However, with each successive stroke, it becomes more difficult to continue the bundle ^[11] .

In addition to attacks using weapons, a player in the Vagrant Story can use magic spells, spending magic points on their use. To master this or that spell, you need to find and use a special subject - grimoire . Various spells allow you to destroy enemies, strengthen a character or restore his life points, as well as simplify the journey through the dungeons - for example, allowing you to see hidden traps or unlock locked treasure chests ^[11] . Another kind of abilities - break art - allows the enemy to inflict great damage, spending some of his own life points ^[10] . Pressing the L2 button on the PlayStation gamepad allows you to pause the fight and bring up the quick access to magic menu ^[15] .

An important element in the combat system is a characteristic called "risk"; The mechanics of its use are similar to the rage points system in other games. The value of risk is displayed under the indicators of points of life and magic. Each attack made by a player increases the level of risk, and with it the accuracy of attacks decreases, and also the character becomes more vulnerable to enemy strikes. At high levels of risk, the likelihood of critical strike increases, causing increased damage, but enemies can also kill a hero with several blows ^[11] .

Game World

The game takes place in a fictional world, made in the surroundings of dark fantasy , in the city of Lea Monde ( Eng. Leá Monde ), which is located in the kingdom of Valendia ( Eng. Valendia ). During the events of the game the state is engulfed in civil war. Lea-Mond is an ancient city: it was founded two thousand years before the start of the game on an island surrounded by reefs. The walls of Leah-Mond witness many battles, and, as stated in the game, there was no more impregnable fortress in the whole of Valandia ^[16] . 25 years before the events of the game, Lea-Monde was destroyed by an earthquake and turned into a ghost town ^{[17] [18]} . However, the history of the city goes back to more ancient times, when the prophetess Muellenkamp lived in it ( English Müllenkamp ), an ancient priestess and ceased to exist by the time of the game of religion called Kildea [ English ^] .

In the center of the city are the Great Cathedral and, in the dungeons below it, the ancient temple of Kildea. From all four sides of the city is fenced with fortifications. Under the ground, right in the city, there are abandoned mines and a limestone quarry, numerous catacombs and dungeons ^[16] . The events of the prologue and epilogue of the game take place outside Leah-Monda - in the trading city of Greylands ( eng. Graylands ), where the estate of the Duke of Bardorba is located, and the capital of Wahland - the town of Valnain. The Valline Knights of Peace organization, headquartered by the protagonist Ashley Rayot, is located in Valnein. When developing the design of Leah-Mond, Walllain and Bardorba Castle, the creators of the game were inspired by medieval French architecture ^[17] .

The key object in the mythology of the game is Darkness ( eng. The Dark ) - a shapeless, intangible essence that lives in Lea Monde. It imperceptibly affects those who have come into contact with it, and they can no longer die: even after the bodily death of their souls, they remain forever attached to the city. Such disembodied souls are searching for bodies that can be possessed, therefore on the streets of Lea Monda reviving dead people appear ^[20] . However, during life, those who have come into contact with Darkness receive supernatural talents — for example, reading other people's thoughts or watching distant events ^[21] . There is a way to rule the Darkness and subjugate it and all the souls of its power enslaved by the city. The key to it is the so-called Blood Sin ( born Blood-Sin ), transmitted from one guardian to another, the "heir" who sacrifices his soul, giving it to Darkness, but in return will receive power over the latter ^[22] . The Duke of Bardorba and Sydney tried to prevent this power from falling into the hands of those who can dispose of it in a bad way ^[23] .

Characters

The protagonist of the game is Ashley Riot ( born Ashley Riot ), a special agent “risk taker” from the organization of the Valendian Knights of the World (VLR) - a kind of state security service serving the interests of the government ^[24] . In the past, Ashley had a wife, Tia ( born Tia ), and a little son, Marco ( born Marco ), but they died during the civil war, which made Ashley harden.

A young woman named Callo Merlose, an inexperienced “inquisitor” agent in the service of the CPM, should work together with Ashley ^[25] , but their paths diverge soon after the start of the game, when Callo finds herself a hostage in the hands of sectarians. Due to her contact with Darkness in Lea Monde, she gained talent - to read the thoughts of other people. Jan Rosenkrantz ( eng. Jan Rosenkrantz ) is, by his own assertion, another riskbreaker sent to BPM to help Ashley, but pursuing his own goals in Lea Monde ^[26] .

In the plot of Vagrant Story , the Bardorba family plays a significant role, although its representatives: Duke Aldous Byron Bardorba ( born Duke Aldous Byron Bardorba ) and his dumb four-year-old son Joshua ( Eng. Joshua Corrinne Bardorba ) - appear only in a dumb four-year-old son Joshua ( Eng. Joshua Corrinne Bardorba ) - they appear only in a dumb four-year-old son Joshua ( Eng. Joshua Corrinne Bardorba ) - they appear only in the middle of four The Duke of Bardorba is the true master of the key to the city, a descendant of the priestess Mullenkamp ^[27] . Sydney Losstarot ( eng. Sydney Losstarot ) - the immortal magician and leader of the cult Mullenkamp, ​​carrier of Bloody Sin - is in fact the eldest son of the Duke of Bardorba; he is trying to transfer Bloody Sin to other, more reliable hands. Sydney is a cripple, he lost his own hands and legs as a child, and instead of them he uses metal prostheses that magically obey him, like limbs of flesh and blood ^[17] . John Hardin (an associate of John Hardin ), an assistant to Sydney, once worked for the government, but was deceived and thrown into prison; after escaping, he joined the cult of Mullencamp, not knowing about the true plans of Sydney ^[28] .

The third party in the game is the Blood Blades - members of the spiritual order of the Knights of the Cross ( English Cardinal's Knights of the Cross ), sent to the Greylands, and then to Leah Mond by order of Cardinal Batistum, without the knowledge of the WLA ^[29] . Romeo Guildenstern ( English Romeo Guildenstern ), who is considered to be a devout and faithful church person, is in charge of the Blood Blades. Guildenstern has come into contact with Darkness still outside Lea Mond and is looking for a source of strength and power in the city. The structure of his squad includes Samantha ( born Samantha ), brothers Duane ( born Duane ) and Grissom ( born Grissom ), Teager ( born Tieger ), Nisa ( born Neesa ) and others.

History

The events of the Vagrant Story are subtitled "Ghostly pain" and take one week - from the meeting in the Valley in the game prologue to the death of the Duke of Bardorba in its final. The prologue says that the duke was killed by the protagonist of the game, Ashley Rayot ^[30] . BPM directs Ashley and Kallo to the Duke Bardorba estate in Greylands, seized by the Mullenkamp sect, in order to clarify the relationship between the duke and the sectarians and find out why the Cardinal sent his Bloodblades to the liberation of the estate ^{[29] [31]} . Ashley penetrates the estate, where he is confronted by the head of the cult Mullenkamp, ​​Sydney. Sydney dies from the hand of Ashley, but rises from the dead ^[32] and calls on a winged wyvern to fight with Ashley ^[33] . Sydney and his companions with the Duke’s kidnapped son, Joshua, leave the Greylands, leaving for Leah Mond ^[34] .

Ashley and Kallo arrive on the outskirts of Leah Mond. Ashley alone sneaks into the city through wine cellars, while Kallo falls into the hands of Sydney. In wine cellars, Ashley runs into Blood Blades and Sydney; The latter scares Ashley with a reminder of the death of the family of the riskbreaker - the wife of Tia and son Marco ^[35] , and carries the riskbreaker in pursuit of herself ^[36] . Later, the hero meets the captain of the knights Guildenstern and his beloved Samantha and overhears their conversation about the "unfinished death." Guildenstern believes that Sydney has gained immortality ^[37] . Ashley kills one of the Blood Blades, Dwayne; After that, Duane's brother Grissom rushes in pursuit of Ashley using black magic. Later it turns out that Guildenstern is looking for a book in the city called “Grand Grimoire”, considering it the key to the power over the Darkness and Immortality of Sydney ^[38]

Traveling around the city and its environs in search of Sydney and Kallo, Ashley meets a dubious ally - another risk taker, Rosencrantz. He claims that the BPM and the Parliament knew about the dark forces that live in Lea Monde; Parliament fenced the cities of the people from Darkness, but Darkness initially inhabited Lea Monde ^[39] . Rosencrantz also offers Ashley another version of the scene of the murder of a woman and a child shown by Sydney - Ashley accidentally killed completely unauthorized people, and then, obeying BPM orders, forgot about it ^[40] . Rosencrantz meets with Guildenstern and Samantha, informing them that the whole city is the “Grand Grimoire” - a huge magic circle, in the center of which is the Great Cathedral ^[41] .

Kallo, along with little Joshua remaining a prisoner of Mullenkamptsev, discovers a new talent in itself - to read the thoughts of those around ^[21] . She sees these thoughts as gray ghosts appealing to her; reading Hardin's thoughts, she learns about the plans of the sect and about the mistrust between Hardin and Sydney ^[28] ; the mental image of Sydney Kallo sees in the form of a little boy, very similar to Joshua. Sydney intends to transfer to Ashley power over Leah-Mond, seeing in the scriber a worthy successor for his father, the Duke of Bardorba ^{[27] [42]} . Ashley himself does not want to become an heir, and his only goal at the moment is to save Callo Merlose ^[43] . Rosencrantz considers himself the best heir of the city and tries to force Sydney to transfer power over Darkness to him ^[44] . A lively Sydney statue kills Rosencrantz.

Guildenstern and the few people who remained with him get to the upper floors of the Great Cathedral, where they find Kallo, Hardin and Joshua. Guildenstern realizes that the key to the city of Sydney was always worn with him: the power over Dark Sydney is given by the stigma burned on his back in the form of an inverted crucifix - Bloody Sin ^[45] . Guildenstern intends to subjugate Darkness to himself and, with its help, to gain power over other people, having enslaved Valendy ^[46] ; he rips the blood off Bloody Sin from Sydney's back and sticks to his back. Indeed, Darkness obeys him - Guildenstern gains superhuman strength and acquires a demonic appearance, but Ashley converges with him in the final battle and wins.

After the victory on the back of Ashley, a new stigma appears - the transfer of power has come about. Leah Mond collapses, the surviving heroes leave the city. Hardin soon dies, the fate of Callo and Joshua remains unknown. In the epilogue of the dying duke Bardorba under the guise of Ashley visits Sydney, informing his father about the successful transfer of the inheritance ^[47] . In the last moments of his life, the duke kills Sydney and dies himself. In the finals of the game, Ashley, who has mastered his new powers and hides under the guise of Kallo, appears on the streets of Vallalane.

According to the director and producer Yasumi Matsuno , the development team did not seek to fit Vagrant Story into the format of a particular genre. The game contains elements and computer role-playing game , and the quest , and platformer ; the need for players to think carefully and choose weapons and battle tactics, from the point of view of Matsuno, made them akin to tactical role-playing games . The game development process was not based on long-term planning, but on brainstorming and gathering ideas from all studio staff. Although the experience of previous projects was used during the work on the Vagrant Story , it was conceived as something completely new, different from the predecessor games both externally and in content — style of play, feelings that the players should evoke ^[48] .

In the early stages of the development of the game, Yasumi Matsuno saw photographs taken by one of his colleagues during a tourist trip to France , in particular, in the town of Saint-Emilion near Bordeaux , known for its vineyards. In September 1998, a group of five developers, including Matsuno himself and the main artists and designers of the studio, herself visited Saint-Emilion to bring the impressions of what they saw into the game ^{[48] [49]} . Saint-Émilion served as a prototype for Leah-Mond, while the estate of the Duke of Bardorba was modeled in the image and likeness of a Parisian building ^[48] .

Vagrant Story was developed at a time when most games switched to three-dimensional graphics . The popularity of complex polygonal models , moved in real time, led to the decision to make the same and Vagrant Story graphics. According to the main programmer of the game Taku Murata, Vagrant Story was for him the first project based entirely on three-dimensional graphics. Such an approach made it possible to efficiently organize the movement of the camera, transmit the emotions of the characters mimically - using the manipulation of the eyes and mouth of the character model. The programmers were tasked to keep the frame rate in the game at a level of at least 30 frames per second. At the same time, up to 3000 polygons could be present on each map, and the model of each individual character could consist of 300 polygons maximum ^[48] . Initially, the three-dimensional models in the game were even more complex, but due to hardware limitations PlayStation in many models during the development process had to drastically reduce the number of polygons . This step made the models less expressive, but facilitated the work of the console ^[50] . As the art director of the game Hiroshi Minagawa noted, even character models that appeared in the game for a few seconds were developed in detail. The same models were used in battles and in-game scenes on the game engine to create a smooth transition between story events and gameplay ^[48] .

Although most Japanese games of the time displayed text dialogs in rectangular windows at the bottom or top of the screen, rectangular windows were replaced with “verbal bubbles” from the desire to make the game more attractive to a Western player ^{[48] [49]} . The intro intro at the beginning of the game, in contrast to the in-game scenes performed on the game engine, was created using CGI . Above this thirty-second video worked team, previously engaged in the creation of video savers in the development of Final Fantasy VIII . Creating a video took three months. A belly dancer performing in the belly dancer video is the priestess of Mullenkamp, ​​who does not appear in the game, but is mentioned several times by the characters. Matsuno asked the creators of the video to make it look like the opening intro of James Bond films ^[48] .

More than half of the originally conceived scenario was not implemented in the game due to the limitations of the console architecture and the extremely short development time ^{[12] [50]} . Initially, the game was supposed to introduce the possibility of cooperative transmission for two players and, accordingly, two satellite characters; if only one player played in Vagrant Story , the second character had to be controlled by artificial intelligence . This idea was discarded as too difficult to implement, but it was partially implemented in the later game of Matsuno - Final Fantasy XII ^[51] . Yasumi Matsuno also mentioned in an interview that he planned to bring several AI -controlled satellites into the game, which would have joined Ashley closer to the middle of the game, but this idea had to be abandoned due to the lack of RAM in PlayStation ^[50] . One of the sketches for the game, created by Akihiko Yoshida and shown in the game's closing credits, shows Ashley in the company of two Knights of the Cross - Tiger and Nisa, who are opponents of the hero in the game ^[11] ; perhaps these characters were intended as companions.

Promotion and release

The demo version of Vagrant Story was included in the Japanese edition of the game Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana . During the Square Millennium Event event in Tokyo, a video with the gameplay of the game was shown, where the initial video and weapon system development was shown. Matsuno argued that a normal walkthrough would take five to six hours ^[52] .

In North America, Vagrant Story was released during the Square Summer of Adventure campaign, which lasted from May to September 2000 ^{[53] [54]} . The game was released on two CDs - the first one was actually the game, and the second, called 2000 Collector's CD Vol.3 , contained demos of other games from Square: Chocobo Racing , Front Mission 3 and Threads of Fate , Chrono Cross , SaGa Frontier 2 , Chocobo's Dungeon 2 and Legend of Mana . Both discs were included in the North American release on May 15, 2000 ^[55] . The release of Vagrant Story in Canada was delayed due to inconsistencies with regional regulations: according to the demand of the Quebec authorities, computer games that were released in Canada were to be supplied with instructions in French and English ^[56] . In the European release, there is no demo version of projects from Square.

The Japanese company DigiCube , a subsidiary of Square, released two books in Japan with manuals and additional information on the game. The second one, part of the Ultimania series, was prepared by Studio BentStuff .

• Vagrant Story: Koryaku Hon for beginners for beginners == ベ イ グ ラ ン ト begin begin begin begin - DigiCube , 2000. - 144 p. - ISBN 4-925075-74-8 .
• Vagrant Story Ultimania = ベ イ グ ラ ン ト ト ス ト ー リ ー ア ル テ ィ マ ニ ア. - DigiCube , 2000. - 496 p. - ISBN 4-925075-75-6 .

Another guide book has been released by the Japanese ASCII Publisher:

• Vagrant Story Kanzen Guide Book = ベ イ グ ラ ン ン ト ス ト ー リ リ ー 完全 ガ イ ド ブ ッ ク. - ASCII , 2000. - 240 p. - ISBN 4-925075-74-8 .

In the US, two guide books were published in English:

• Birlew, Dan. Vagrant Story Official Strategy Guide . - Brady, 2000. - 173 s. - ISBN 1-566869-71-4 .
• AJ Durai (pseudonym). Vagrant Story Strategy Guide (Authorized Collection) . - Piggyback Interactive, 2000. - 164 p. - ISBN 1-903511-00-3 .

In Japan, jewelry, t-shirts, lighters and posters depicting the characters and symbols of the game were sold ^[57] .

In the United States , Eruptor Entertainment released the Vagrant Story E3 Preview Edition comic strip in small numbers in the United States to host the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May 2000 , for distribution only at the exhibition. The comic contained 12 black-and-white drawings, combined by the heroic monologue of the hero Ashley Riot, and an interview with the development manager and game screenwriter, Yasumi Matsuno ^[50] .

In 2003, three years after its release, the Vagrant Story was republished in the Greatest Hits series and sold at a lower price ^[58] . Even later, in 2006 , the game was reissued in the Ultimate Hits series ^[59] . In 2009, the ported version of the game for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 was released on the PlayStation Network digital distribution network ^{[2] [3]} ; in North America, this version of the game was released only in 2011 ^[4] .

Localization

, who later participated in the localization of Final Fantasy XII and the PSP version of Final Fantasy Tactics ^[60] , was involved in translating the game from Japanese to English for publication in North America and Europe. The game does not contain speech dubbing , so the role of Smith included only the translation of the text ^[61] . This was Smith’s first independent work on translating the game — the game was originally assigned to another translator, and Smith had to do only minor editing work. However, with the departure of the original translator to another project, Smith headed the localization of the game. Besides him, Japanese translator Amanda Katsurada, who translated the names of the subjects, and editor Richard Emtoer worked on Vagrant Story . According to Smith, the opportunity to work on the game, “which asked to be translated into English,” was “luck” for him ^[62] . Richard Honeywood, another translator who worked in Square at the end of the two thousandth, recalled: “Alex’s work on Vagrant Story just shook us” and compared Smith to a baseball player who takes the position and immediately hits the ball outside the stadium ^[63] . Matsuno, the producer and screenwriter of the game, worked closely with the localization team - he consulted translators and, at the very beginning of the English version, provided Smith and his colleagues with a preliminary glossary and large reference texts about the world, characters and their relationships with each other ^[64] , and he further considered and approved the variants of names and titles proposed by the translators ^[65] .

A characteristic feature of Smith's translation is a deliberately complex and rich language, combining archaic words and forms of speech with quite modern ones. Emtauer, a game editor, had a philological education and specialized in Chaucer’s work; with his help and on the material of several medieval poems in Middle English, Smith tried to add medieval flavor to the texts of the game, at the same time preserving the availability of dialogues for the modern player. He considered the “destructive” methods used by the translators of many console games for the same purpose — for example, the excessive use of obsolete pronouns thou and thee . According to Smith, there is only one thee in the Vagrant Story , and then in a direct quotation from the Bible ^[65] . The work on translating the game took two months ^[66] .

Later, Smith noticed that he was extremely pleased with his translation of the Vagrant Story , but if he had the opportunity to start playing this game again, he would translate it differently. The experience of working on Final Fantasy XII and familiarity with the radio play by Vagrant Story, created and voiced by fans, led Smith to the idea that the dialogues in his translation are too bookish, not intended to be spoken aloud ^[67] .

All the music for the game was written by composer Hitoshi Sakimoto - he also owns the musical accompaniment of Final Fantasy Tactics and later Final Fantasy XII . The violinist Masatsugu Sinozaki and his group Shinozaki Group ^[68] took part in the recording of the orchestral theme music, which was played on the final credits - Staff Roll . Hirosato Noda played the Great Cathedral musical theme written by Sakimoto ^[69] . His colleague Hideniori Iwasaki participated in the recording of musical accompaniment to the opening intro of the game - the track Opening Movie ^[70] .

In the early stages of developing the game, Yasumi Matsuno suggested that the composer use a traditional Balinese musical instrument — in fact, the writing of music for the game began with this ^[71] . According to Sakimoto, he originally wrote “bright and funny” melodies, similar to the themes from Final Fantasy Tactics , but still Matsuno told him that he wanted to see Vagrant Story ’s music “deeper and more depressing”, making the following comparison: “you Now you are writing music for “ Indiana Jones ”, and, you know, I need the “ X-Files ” ” ^[72] . Sakimoto wrote separate musical themes for all the main characters, trying to reflect their dissimilarity, characters and relationships through the variety of instruments and tones used. Composing musical themes of the dungeons through which the hero has to wade, the composer tried to follow the game’s plot and feelings caused by the player: in the early stages of the game, the environment looks simple and understandable for the player, and the music corresponds to him, but closer to the final the music becomes more mysterious, corresponding the mysteries of Leah-Mond and the mental torments of the character ^[72] . Sakimoto's work on music for Vagrant Story took 18 months, and for her, the composer had to refuse to participate in the development of the game - other composers wrote music for this game ^[73] . The soundtrack for Vagrant Story remains one of Hitoshi Sakimoto's favorite works ^{[74] [75]} .

The Vagrant Story Original Soundtrack musical album ( SSCX-10042 ) was released on two CDs on March 8, 2000 by DigiCube , one of the subsidiaries of Square . Альбом содержит 57 треков, две из которых являются бонусными мелодиями, не включённые в игру. Эти два трека — Opening Movie (Fight mix) и Dungeon (Robot mix) — представляют собой ремиксы написанных Сакимото треков, созданные звукорежиссёром Такэхару Исимото и клавишником Хиросато Нодой соответственно. В комплекте был небольшой буклет, содержащий интервью с Хитоси Сакимото о создании альбома ^{[68] [76]} . Переиздание саундтрека ( SQEX-10068/9 ) состоялось 24 марта 2006 года компанией Square Enix . По составу оно аналогично первому изданию саундтрека, но треки в нём подверглись ремастерингу с целью улучшения качества звука. Эту работу провел штатный звукорежиссёр Square Enix Кэндзи Нагасима, ранее участвовавший и в первоначальной записи саундтрека ^[77] .

В мае 2000 года Vagrant Story заняла пятое место в списке самых продаваемых игр для PlayStation в данном месяце ^[91] . В первые 20 дней с момента релиза игры было продано 100 тысяч копий игры ^[8] , однако Vagrant Story оставалась в тени других, вышедших одновременно с ней игр от Square, таких как Final Fantasy IX , Legend of Mana и Chrono Cross . Сайт IGN , ссылаясь на неназванные источники в Square , утверждал, что выход сиквела к игре был бы возможен, если бы продажи Vagrant Story в США превзошли 500 тысяч копий ^[91] . Vagrant Story стала третьей — и единственной на PlayStation — игрой, получившей максимальную оценку от журнала Famitsu — 40 из 40 возможных ^[80] .

Обозреватель сайта 1UP.com обратил внимание прежде всего на красоту игры, охарактеризовав её как « Metal Gear Solid времен Ренессанса » и высоко оценив реалистичность графики, внимание к деталям, прекрасное музыкальное и звуковое сопровождение. По словам автора обзора, хотя это всего лишь вторая полностью трёхмерная игра Square после Brave Fencer Musashi , она входит в число самых совершенных в графическом плане игр на PlayStation. Закрученный сюжет игры был назван «византийским»; критику вызвала лишь излишне сложная механика усовершенствования и применения оружия ^[78] .

Дэвид Здырко ( англ. David Zdyrko ), автор с портала IGN , в своем обзоре также сравнил Vagrant Story с Metal Gear Solid . Вступительные сцены игры он объявил лучшими, какие только можно встретить в игре, и сравнил главные сюжетные повороты игры с сюжетными поворотами фильмов « Бойцовский клуб » и « Шестое чувство ». «Средневековый» язык английской версии игры, «несмотря на случайные опечатки и грамматическую икоту», вызвал у обозревателя уважение. Боевая система была описана как крайне глубокая и интуитивная, способная привлечь к себе поклонников как Action/RPG , так и традиционных пошаговых компьютерных ролевых игр. Здырко опроверг ходившие до выхода игры слухи о том, что её прохождение занимает всего пять-семь часов, заверив читателей его рецензии, что прохождение займет больше 30 часов. В качестве недостатков игры обозреватель назвал неровный баланс — некоторые рядовые противники могут быть более опасными, чем боссы — и слишком редкие точки для сохранения игры ^[8] .

Обозреватель портала GameSpot Питер Бартолоу ( англ. Peter Bartholow ) описал Vagrant Story как «почти совершенную игру», хотя и довольно короткую, но по глубине и насыщенности сюжета и игрового процесса намного превосходящую более длинные игры. Популярное среди других авторов описание Vagrant Story как « Metal Gear Solid в средневековье» он посчитал одновременно верным — из-за кинематографичности и внимания разработчиков к деталям — но одновременно и ошибочным, поскольку Vagrant Story не является стелс-экшеном . Графику и визуальный стиль игры он охарактеризовал как «пиршество для глаз». Бартолоу высоко оценил глубину контроля над происходящим, который игра предоставляет игроку, но посчитал недостатком её чрезмерную переусложненность, отметив, что полное понимание характеристик вооружения и принципов их роста в определённые моменты игры является обязательным для прохождения. Тем не менее, Бартолоу назвал Vagrant Story игрой, которую не следует пропускать ^[10] .

В обзоре Eurogamer , опубликованном в 2000 году , насыщенный неожиданными поворотами сюжет игры в шутку уподоблен «четырем змеям, играющим в твистер ». По словам анонимного автора обзора, за почти невинным фасадом игрового процесса Vagrant Story скрывается глубокая и сложная ролевая система, которая заставит поломать голову даже самого опытного искателя приключений. Особо был отмечен перевод игры и сказано, что переводчики достойны медали за свой труд ^[82] . В ретрообзоре 2012 года , также опубликованном на портале Eurogamer, обозреватель Саймон Паркин ( англ. Simon Parkin ) посчитал, что стержнем сюжета игры, скрытым под покровами средневековых интриг, гримуаров и борьбы за власть методами плаща и кинжала является противостояние двух героев, Эшли Райота и Сиднея Лосстарота. Последний назван в обзоре Eurogamer «самым завораживающе жутким» из всех образов злодеев, когда-либо созданных Square. Систему создания и усовершествования оружия Паркин назвал головокружительно гибкой, а общую атмосферу игры — тяжёлой и гнетущей, в первую очередь благодаря детально разработанным декорациям. Паркин подчеркнул, что благодаря профессиональной режиссуре и изощренной работе камеры внутриигровые сцены покинули рамки обычной для компьютерных игр пантомимы и стали чем-то большим ^[92] .

Обозреватель журнала Edge назвал игру «атипичной во всех возможных отношениях»; с его точки зрения, даже обложка Vagrant Story обманчива — изображенные рядом персонажи, Эшли Райот и Калло Мерлоуз, в игре практически не контактируют, и некие намеки на интимность появляются лишь в финале игры между другими героями, Эшли и его антагонистом, Сиднеем. По словам обозревателя, уверенность, с которой прописаны персонажи Vagrant Story , переводит сцены игры из разряда пантомимы в разряд захватывающего театрального представления; Vagrant Story сочетает детально прорисованные исторические декорации с анахроничным дизайном персонажей и их костюмов, привносящим в жанр компьютерной игры «подиумную сексуальность». Изощренная постановка сцен и постоянное движение камеры, по его мнению, позволяют наделить даже самые вяло протекающие сцены внутренним напряжением. Игровая механика сочтена слишком недружественной к игроку — если бы её освоение было проще, Vagrant Story бы удалось снискать больше поклонников. Дополнительные уровни, открываемые при повторном прохождении, противопоставляются остальной игре: если доступный при первом прохождении контент полностью посвящён рассказываемой истории, то дополнительный — целиком и полностью компьютерная игра, что не позволяет воспринимать Vagrant Story как чистое произведение искусства. Vagrant Story названа «великолепным, невозможным беспорядком», который невозможно повторить или продолжить ^[93] .

Редакция журнала PSM3 в своем ретрообзоре нашла даже отсутствие озвучивания в Vagrant Story примечательным, посчитав, что насыщенные и прекрасные тексты игры только проиграли бы от произнесения вслух. Авторы обзора противопоставили Vagrant Story как взрослое и серьёзное произведение типичным японским ролевым играм тех времён, с их героями-подростками и примитивными сюжетами. С их точки зрения, бо́льшую роль в создании мрачной и прекрасной атмосферы Vagrant Story играет даже не столько визуальная часть, сколько музыка и звук, и прежде всего настраивающие на нужный лад шумы и шорохи в тишине подземелий. Игровой процесс и прежде всего систему развития оружия авторы обзора назвали глубокими, но «нечестными»: игра не предупреждает, насколько она сложна в этом отношении, и не вникший в развитие оружия игрок может оказаться в безвыходном положении, когда ему остается только начать игру заново ^[94] .

Обозреватель Эрик Джонатан Смит ( англ. Eric Jonathan Smith ) в статье, опубликованной в 2007 году на сайте HardcoreGaming101, проанализировал сюжет игры, связав его с кэмпбелловским мономифом и уподобив вход Эшли Райота в Леа-Монд с покиданием мира смертных и перемещением в сказочное потустороннее пространство, которое меняет самого героя. Преодоление уровней игры, победа над боссами и освоение самим игроком сложной игровой механики сопоставляются с испытаниями, которым подвергается герой мономифа ^[95] . По словам колумниста пакистанского англоязычного сайта SegmentNext Фейсаля Шахзада ( англ. Faisal Shahzad ), для него определяющими были три характерные составляющие игры: разрушенный город Леа-Монд — по словам Шахзада, город и есть главный герой игры; безупречный английский перевод и образ антагониста игры, Сиднея Лосстарота ^[96] .

Ричард Митчелл ( англ. Richard Mitchell ), один из редакторов блога Joystiq.com, в посвящённой Vagrant Story колонке охарактеризовал игру как путешествие по подземельям ( англ. dungeon crawler ), пропитанное традиционным японским подходом к созданию компьютерных ролевых игр — тем не менее, он считает Vagrant Story стоящей далеко в стороне от всех прочих игр Square. По мнению Митчелла, механика Vagrant Story по мере освоения требует все более и более навязчивого менеджмента, и поэтому некоторые игроки с погружением в игру будут отсеиваться ^[97] . Обозреватель журнала « Страна игр » Сергей Овчинников назвал главным достоинством игры продуманную для мелочей атмосферу, а недостатками — несколько однообразные уровни и сложную боевую систему. Овчинников назвал Vagrant Story «лучшей игрой Square на PlayStation»; сравнивая её с Metal Gear Solid , он заявил, что Vagrant Story превосходит творение Хидэо Кодзимы благодаря чрезвычайно выгодно выбранной вселенной ^[90] . В 2012 году Наталья Одинцова на страницах того же журнала « Страна игр » в статье «10 причин поиграть в Vagrant Story» назвала следующие достоинства игры: нетипичный главный герой, проработанные декорации, сложная, но продуманная боевая система с «условным реалтаймом», кинематографичность, отсутствие «тупой прокачки», свобода творить собственное оружие и доспехи, прекрасный («лучше оригинала») перевод на английский язык, отличный сюжет, «игра, которую Мацуно не помешали сделать» ^[98] .

В 2000 году Vagrant Story получила награду IGN Award, вручаемую в рамках выставки E3 играм, представленным на этой выставке, в категории «Лучшая игра для PlayStation» ^[99] . В 2001 году игра была номинирована на премию Академии интерактивных наук и искусств в категории «Лучшая консольная игра в жанре Action-adventure » ^[100] .

Impact

Vagrant Story содержит несколько отсылок к предыдущей игре Ясуми Мацуно, Final Fantasy Tactics ; в частности, в игре можно найти предметы, связанные с персонажами Final Fantasy Tactics — рыцарем Агриас и графом Орланду ^[101] . Ряд более явных отсылок к сюжету и миру Vagrant Story присутствует и в более поздней игре — Final Fantasy XII , объединённой с Final Fantasy Tactics одним и тем же миром Ивалис . Здесь, хотя и с некоторыми различиями в локализации, фигурирует страна Валендия, религия Кильтия, встречаются понятия «рискбрейкер» и «Леа-Монд». В 2004 году Мацуно заявил в интервью журналу Joypad , что мир Ивалис является сложным миром с очень длинной историей, описываемой в Vagrant Story , Final Fantasy Tactics и Final Fantasy XII , и действие предыдущих игр — Vagrant Story и Final Fantasy Tactics — разворачиваются совсем близко от места действия Final Fantasy XII ^[5] . Ряд игровых журналов и сайтов в разное время утверждал, что и действие Vagrant Story также происходит в Ивалисе ^{[102] [103] [104] [105] [106]} .

Тем не менее, Мацуно в 2011 году , отвечая на вопросы поклонников в социальной сети Twitter , объявил, что по изначальной задумке Vagrant Story не относилась к Ивалису ^[107] , и что её действие, с точки зрения Мацуно, происходит в другом мире, хотя реклама (игры Final Fantasy XII ) и может утверждать иначе ^[6] . Любые отсылки к Final Fantasy Tactics в Vagrant Story , а также к Vagrant Story в Final Fantasy XII он охарактеризовал как « фансервис » ^[108] .

В октябре 2007 года исполнительному продюсеру Акитоси Кавадзу был задан вопрос о возможности создания ремейка или портирования игры на PlayStation Portable , как в случае с Final Fantasy Tactics . Кавадзу отметил, что Vagrant Story , будучи чрезвычайно популярной в зарубежных странах (вне Японии), является «естественным следующим кандидатом для такого обновления», хотя портирование игры и может представлять некоторые трудности. На вопрос о возможном появлении Эшли Райота в играх во вселенной Ивалиса — как, например, Балтьер из Final Fantasy XII появлялся в переиздании Final Fantasy Tactics — Кавадзу ответил, что даже в самой Vagrant Story о прошлой жизни Эшли Райота говорится мало, а его появление в других проектах, связанных с Ивалисом, будет непонятным для игроков ^[109] . В интервью сайту IGN все тот же Кавадзу упоминал Vagrant Story как игру, которые могли бы выйти в рамках компиляции Ivalice Alliance ^[110] .