For next week, we will be finishing the game! I know that's a lot for those following along, and you may need to break up you playthrough over a couple of weeks to keep up, but the story really gets spread out over a looooot of gameplay moving forward.
I'm so happy this game is being covered on the podcast, and with just reverence and enthusiasm! I wish there were more games like this. I wish Vagrant Story could get a proper second chance, so that more people can experience its brilliance. There is a bigger audience out there for this game, I know it, if only Square could realize its potential. It brings to mind the answer to a question in the FF Tactics podcast, about why more games don't have writing like this, and that's why I push so hard for Vagrant Story and other games like it, that unfortunately flew under the radar for some people back in 2000. It's such a gem, and I want more games with this level of quality of writing!
I have a comment for the final episode containing spoilers for those who have not finished the game yet: Regarding Ashley's memories, the ambiguity of whether he lost his family to senseless violence or himself murdered an innocent family equates these two scenarios with each other through poetic conflation. What conclusion can we draw from that? That he feels so much guilt over not being able to protect his family that he sees himself as responsible for their murder. That if he murdered an innocent family, he feels empathy and regret for it as if they had been his own. Regardless of what happened, these two interpretations are for Ashley impossible to distinguish between. We can conclude that regardless of what is the truth, he feels responsible and seeks redemption - that is the only «truth» we have certain knowledge of, and is the only «truth» that Matsuno sees as relevant to the story. Ashley's willingness both to take responsibility for his actions and to forgive himself is what makes him the hero of the story.
The spell carvings were indeed carved by sorcerers but the meaning of that line that “sorcerers were as common as sellswords” more means that sorcerers were more common in the time of Mullenkamp, before the birth of St. Iocus, just like sellswords (mercenaries) are common to them when the game takes place. The PSP translation of FFT refers to the same era as does the trailers for FF XII, saying (of the age XII takes place in) “An age of Ivalice when magick was commonplace, and airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens.”
Coming late to the discussion; the metaphor of the shepard and the crook, in relation to the symbolism of the tree - crooks were used not only for herding sheep but also to shake the branches of trees to get the fruits.
When I played this after release, I remember the in-game model used for Rosencrantz had that yellow thing on his lip and I remember wondering "why did they put that ugly fever sore on his mouth?"
A few thoughts on “wine”: Wine is often red like blood, and in Christianity represents the blood of Christ in communion/Eucharist. In this context, wine could represent violence and death - perhaps that caused by Ashley, or equally the violence and death that happened within Leamonde’s past. Another name for wine and alcohol in general is “spirits”, hinting at the idea that when intoxicated, you are “under the influence” of the alcohol, or perhaps someone or something else. This idea is more of the body as a vessel for other forces beyond their own human will. I’m not sure if either of these are specifically relevant, but they might provide additional fodder for thought in thematic associations that could be in play.
Hopefully this hasn’t already been said too much: Marx’s whole “opiate of the masses” thing was not so much a condemnation of organized religion, as it is so often mischaracterized today. Rather, Marx points out that religion, like drugs, is something the oppressed worker desperately needs to salve the pain of capitalist exploitation. I think that’s interesting here, since Sydney seems to be implying that Samantha, as an individual, is “bleating” for her religion, as though begging for a drug. Nowadays, “opiate of the masses” is more often misused to imply that “The System” or “The Government” is weaponizing religion in order to dull the minds of the people. Whether that’s true or not, it’s almost certainly not what Marx was saying. There’s also some really cool, almost Shakespearean wordplay going on with the metaphor (or simile in this case, I suppose) of a sheep bleating for its religion. When read aloud, it’s very easy to confuse “bleating” for “bleeding,” which also has medical and psychotropic connotations, as well as framing this action (the “bleating”) as both a selfish actions (that of an stereotyped addict begging for a hit) and a selfless action (a martyr bleeding for their beliefs). Moreover still, the phrase “bleating for your faith” can imply both begging for a hit *and* preaching for your religion. So even the wording here frames faith as both selfish and selfless, as well as both an act of desperation and an act of servitude. Which, conveniently, also has Marxist undertones. And I think that’s pretty nifty.
The virgin writer Nomura/Nojima/Toriyama The absolute MONSTER CHAD writer Matsuno It is absolutey surreal to read this kind of magnificent and carefully thought out dialogue in a Square game because im so used to the garbage nonsense dialogue with no satisfying payoff nowadays.
These two cutscenes - with Guildenstern first, and then Ashley - come full-cycle in the late game when you also learn of Sydney's goal. Through this interaction with Ashley, you can then surmise by which point Sydney probably made up his mind :)
While it could simply be aesthetic, as a lone tree on a green hill gives a sense of serenity, Trees tend to have a sense of stability and security as they provide a shelter for many things. An interpretation could be that the tree in the memory represents the stability it provides for Ashley's mentality. The pleasant events take place beneath it and once the mother figure leaves the shade of the tree the sequence of the memory Ashely wishes to suppress occurs. To add to Casen's suggestions about the theming of wine, Just as it can be the dichotomy of the sacred or profane, Ashley's view of himself can either be the loathsome murder of an innocent family or the accomplished king's guard turned Riskbreaker whom has taken his tragedy and used it to serve depending on which he choses to believe as truth. Alcohol is a drug just as opium and in that same vain has been used as a means of dulling pain either emotionally or physically.
The wine can symbolize blood too. Ashley offers this kid a bottle of wine, of his own blood, but the woman interved and the offering was declined. This is a proof that this memory is a twisted one and some part, deep within, Ashley knows and giving hints about that fact.
The writing on the walls could also be French or Irish. Leá Monde itself is a very French-sounding city name, though the "Leá" portion could be a derivative of Irish rather than the word "Léa" which would be French. In either cause, the meaning of Lea Monde would probably be "Weary World"(if taken in French) or "Decaying World"(if taken in Irish). Either meaning would be fairly fitting of what Lea Monde is though, and probably indicative of the aesthetic of the language that would have been spoken by the people who lived there and their magic, so I don't think it's supposed to be English.
@@jackbatay4692 Actually it sounds more like Spanish. Lea Monde is definitely based on Spanish rather than French. The architecture of Lea Monde has also more influences on Spanish cathedrals and cities.
@@jackbatay4692 Ok that might be nevertheless it is typical architectur for Spanish cities common within medieval times. The name „Lea Monde“ is definitely based on Spanish / Portuguese though.
@@jackbatay4692 "Lea Monde is definitely French. I don’t know any languages but it doesn’t take a genius to know that." meme Doesn´t sound french one bit.
@@jackbatay4692 I have to correct myself. While the sound of the words seem to be more like of Spanish origin, the meaning is more likely related to French language. The word „monde“ especially is not the typical French sound but it actually is a French term while it has no meaning in Spanish. My bad :)
@@FelixS. Obviously, it's made up gobbledygook, but it's based in real languages. Given the context of the game's creation, French was clearly an influence, but Leá with the accent on the A rather than the E seemed interesting to me because while that's not a word in French, it is a word in Irish or Gealic, which if you pay attention is phonetically similar to the name of the language in Vagrant Story. Hence, I think the location names might be grounded in a combination of the two, especially when you consider the historical context of druid legacy and magic in those parts of the Britain.
10:28 other than milk of the poppy, they also use "sellsword" to refer to mercenaries, very much like in Game of Thrones. Replaying VS after reading ASOIF with this information is like a drinking game
Quick correction: the Enuma Elish describes Marduk forming the skies and the earth with Tiamat's dead body, or something like that. There is some ambiguity, there are lines missing and I'm not an expert. But here are the first lines about the creation of the skies, for example: He split her up like a flat fish into two halves; One half of her he stablished as a covering for heaven. He fixed a bolt, he stationed a watchman, And bade them not to let her waters come forth. He passed through the heavens, he surveyed the regions thereof, And over against the Deep he set the dwelling of Nudimmud. And the lord measured the structure of the Deep, And he founded E-sara, a mansion like unto it. The mansion E-sara which he created as heaven, He caused Anu, Bel, and Ea in their districts to inhabit.
Investigate a little about the rare items that have french wines names, even ambrosia is a rare wine that when you drink it boosts some random points of your stats
Ha! Casen Casually spoiling "the forgotten". Saw the trailer because it sounded interesting... but quickly realized that the "interesting" part was actually a big spoiler.
I'm playing Vagrant Story in japanese to learn the language, and I would like to point out a difference I've noticed between the japanese and english translation: Eglish : Well now. Sydney's cup overfloweth, and he calls forth a flood. There is a flood of vermins in this city, true, but it seems Sydney's manning the sluice Japanese (literal) : Mh...that's an hindrance to Sydney as well, isn't it. Surely when it comes to stronger monsters, but I get the impression he's matching them to his level So in the japanese, "matching them to his level" is vague, who's level? Sydney's own level? or Ashley's level? The player is likely to guess Ashley's, so in the japanese version at this point you get the idea that Sydney is rearing/nurturing Ashley's power, in the english translation I believe this detail get lost. Then it goes on: English : Sydney's is increasing the flow of dark energies on purpose Japanese (literal) : So in other words what I'm saying is that Sydney is increasing the level of "Dark" infection Here the japanese word used is "感染" read as kansen which means "infection / contagion / becoming infected", from the japanese dictionary "when a pathogen e penetrates inside the body especially when it results in the ariseal of various pathology", is a word you see used when talking about flu, corona etc... So in the japanese version, this strongly suggests Sydney's is increasing the level of Dark/Magic infection in Ashley, the whole conversation was centered around Ashley but the subject was omitted since it was understood by the two speakers. In the English version, you get the idea Sydney is increasing the flow of dark energies in general maybe in the city, as a global effect. Two very different interpretations. And this is why I want to learn japanese 😂
You know, I get why the guy who ousted Hironobu from the big boss role asked why not reuse assets that were being made for individual games. What I find annoying is that it had to lead to direct sequels when they already had a template with Ivalice. I mean, instead of Final Fantasy X-2 and all the egregious stuff that did, like turn Yuna into a 2 dimensional girly girl to be lusted over, and undermining the themes of the first game, why not just spin SPIRA into its own mini-series? Introduce some new characters and go wild. I know FF12 came along after Ivalice was formed and is so different to Tactics and Vagrant Story it may well be another world, but damn, what could have been. Also, I’ve only seen the John Hurt film so I don’t know if this quote is from the 1984 book, but I’ve never forgotten when Richard Burton says something to the effect of; “Do you know what the future is? It’s a boot, pressing down on a man’s face. Forever.” Chills
One thing I take some issue with is that you say several times that Guildenstern is rising in power just as everyone else in the city is but (and you may even say this in a later episode) it would be more accurate to say that he was _always_ this powerful as he he's been prepared for this for a long time by the Cardinal. He is not gaining power by being in Lea Monde, he is there to gain much more power by using the gran grimoire. As he says later the Dark does not exist only in Lea Monde and as theorised earlier he and his closest already have 'dark' powers before ever entering the city. I also would not say that he is ever 'worried' by events, when he strikes Samantha he is _angered_ by Ashley's trespass but not worried by it. Guildenstern acts with extreme confidence throughout the game as someone with complete faith in his purpose. The most telling thing in that scene is that after he strikes his supposed lover with enough force to leave her bleeding he shows absolutely no regret in harming her or even pays any attention to her, he seems more insulted by Ashley than concerned for Samantha. Huh, I did not know that 'milk of the poppy' was a term from A song of ice and fire. I simply intuited that it was supposed to be opium due to it being made from poppies and Sidney was comparing Samantha's faith to a mindless addiction Only a really minor nitpick but I wouldn't call Guildenstern's slash at Sidney to be teleportation so much as it is, at best, 'projection'. He never seems to move from his original position so much as throw an image or his Will forwards, whether he could have actually harmed Sidney had he not dodged I could not really guess.
Yes, Guildenstern's line in the end of the game confirms that these powers don't come from Lea Monde only. That will be discussed next time. Also, I don't think it's contradictory to say that Guildenstern has supreme confidence and faith in his purpose while also saying he comes across obstacles and conflicts that are "concerning" to him. It doesn't mean he's fearful, it means its a threat he has to take seriously and account for as he considers how to proceed. I never had the impression Guildenstern was "fearful" or "worried", but that he is "alert" or "concerned" by certain things that are going on, and that he sometimes has to pivot in order to address these problems as he encounters them.
I tried so hard to get into this game and enjoy it when it came out, but I wound up throwing in the towel somewhere around half-way or so, when my weapons started doing extremely low damage and I didn't want to take the (tedious) time to find and upgrade the right weapon. Besides that, I did not care for Ashley's character model or the story much, though watching this podcast I've come to respect the game more as a whole, especially the writing and art style/cinematography.
What Hardin does is not the same as what Ashley has unlocked so calling him a full seer as opposed to Ashley not being one yet isn't quite right. Hardin is simply looking at locations, the restriction on which is likely only based on distance. Ashley is hacking into the consciousness of other people and merging their senses, his restriction is currently based on finding similar enough rhythms from other people, Hardin does not need rhythms because he is not connecting his mind to others. Lambkin and Faendos. You do fight them but they are already zombies. Not much point in commenting on _which_ truth is _the_ truth until we get further in so I'll leave it for the next ep. Well to be fair Ashley is following Sidney because he has a hostage, not entirely due to his strange charisma. Asahley is really just letting all the opposing groups wipe each other out as he investigates.
Snowfly forest pissed me off so much. Let's make a game where our combat depends on you being able to see your character and then areas where no matter what you do you can't see your character. Bwahahhaa. Who let Kefka on the design team?
I love your videos but you almost lost me when you started talking about sports! hahaha. I hate sports so much!!. well, not the sports, but the obsessed fans that can't talk about anything else and their whole life is football. I have enough having to listen to coworkers talk about football 8 hours every day hahahahaha, when you guys started talking about a sports match I was like "noooooooooooooooooo!!!" hahaha.
Though I like FFXII, I honestly feel like Vagrant Story is a much better Ivalice-based story and even game in most aspects. Maybe it's just that Ashley & Sydney are a much better protagonist/antagonist pairing than Vaan (ugh..) and umm.. Vayne+Gabranth+whoever the villain-of-the-hour happens to be. Or perhaps the Shakespearian dialogue just works better in comic text format than with slightly hammy voice-acting.. In any case I would have taken a Vagrant Story sequel or remake over FF12 any day of the week! Still kind of hoping Square will revisit it in some way in the future, however slim the chance may be...
If the current Square Enix ever touch VS to "remake" it like they did with that travesty of FF7R, they would ruin it. I'd hardly call FFXII's superb voice acting hammy though. If VS reads like a pseudo-Shakespearean play, FFXII is more like a greek tragedy (see mom, my literature degree is paying for itself)
@@Tenpouin the fact you called the Remake a travesty unfortunately shows us we shouldn't take your comment seriously. The game was far from a travesty.
@@robardian3697 I'd go somewhere in the middle and say the uberplot and waifu-baitness of FF7R was a beached whale, but the small NPC moments and intelligent protag characterisation were scattered pearls on the same seashore
@@robardian3697 if you like that Kingdom Hearts fan fiction that obliterated the original story with nonsense then it's you that can't be taken seriously my man. Unless you never played the original. Or you are 12. This is why current Square Enix should never touch Vagrant Story unless it's a remaster 1:1
@@Tenpouin ruclips.net/video/Rfgw7iDZ-bo/видео.html So I can you're a super fan of 7 and to me that's the worst kind of fan for the remake. But if you have the time I highly recommend watching the video I linked to. Pretty much echos my thoughts on the game and gives you a deeper look into it that a lot of people won't notice right away.
So many of these JRPGs you've covered have been my creative reference and just helps renew things if I'm not engaged in talking about it, others are. I wish I had the level of writing chops present in this game, though I try haha
For next week, we will be finishing the game! I know that's a lot for those following along, and you may need to break up you playthrough over a couple of weeks to keep up, but the story really gets spread out over a looooot of gameplay moving forward.
Freaking love your guy's podcast. Literally the only content on RUclips I genuinely get excited about when there's a new episode!🥰
I second this wholeheartedly! Have a good one everybody.
Hell yeah! I hope you have great day.
Finally someone is taking vagrant story seriously. Awesome guys thank you so much
I'm so happy this game is being covered on the podcast, and with just reverence and enthusiasm!
I wish there were more games like this. I wish Vagrant Story could get a proper second chance, so that more people can experience its brilliance. There is a bigger audience out there for this game, I know it, if only Square could realize its potential.
It brings to mind the answer to a question in the FF Tactics podcast, about why more games don't have writing like this, and that's why I push so hard for Vagrant Story and other games like it, that unfortunately flew under the radar for some people back in 2000. It's such a gem, and I want more games with this level of quality of writing!
I have a comment for the final episode containing spoilers for those who have not finished the game yet:
Regarding Ashley's memories, the ambiguity of whether he lost his family to senseless violence or himself murdered an innocent family equates these two scenarios with each other through poetic conflation. What conclusion can we draw from that? That he feels so much guilt over not being able to protect his family that he sees himself as responsible for their murder. That if he murdered an innocent family, he feels empathy and regret for it as if they had been his own. Regardless of what happened, these two interpretations are for Ashley impossible to distinguish between. We can conclude that regardless of what is the truth, he feels responsible and seeks redemption - that is the only «truth» we have certain knowledge of, and is the only «truth» that Matsuno sees as relevant to the story. Ashley's willingness both to take responsibility for his actions and to forgive himself is what makes him the hero of the story.
The spell carvings were indeed carved by sorcerers but the meaning of that line that “sorcerers were as common as sellswords” more means that sorcerers were more common in the time of Mullenkamp, before the birth of St. Iocus, just like sellswords (mercenaries) are common to them when the game takes place. The PSP translation of FFT refers to the same era as does the trailers for FF XII, saying (of the age XII takes place in) “An age of Ivalice when magick was commonplace, and airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens.”
Coming late to the discussion; the metaphor of the shepard and the crook, in relation to the symbolism of the tree - crooks were used not only for herding sheep but also to shake the branches of trees to get the fruits.
When I played this after release, I remember the in-game model used for Rosencrantz had that yellow thing on his lip and I remember wondering "why did they put that ugly fever sore on his mouth?"
That's what I assumed it was for years until someone pointed out that it is a lip ring.
I'm loving this podcast. I didn't expect a podcast or a yt podcast would happen for my favorite game.
A few thoughts on “wine”:
Wine is often red like blood, and in Christianity represents the blood of Christ in communion/Eucharist. In this context, wine could represent violence and death - perhaps that caused by Ashley, or equally the violence and death that happened within Leamonde’s past.
Another name for wine and alcohol in general is “spirits”, hinting at the idea that when intoxicated, you are “under the influence” of the alcohol, or perhaps someone or something else. This idea is more of the body as a vessel for other forces beyond their own human will.
I’m not sure if either of these are specifically relevant, but they might provide additional fodder for thought in thematic associations that could be in play.
Can't say how much I appreciate these videos, definitely something to look forward to! Great work
Keep up the amazing work guys!! Love the long form discussion podcasts
Hopefully this hasn’t already been said too much: Marx’s whole “opiate of the masses” thing was not so much a condemnation of organized religion, as it is so often mischaracterized today. Rather, Marx points out that religion, like drugs, is something the oppressed worker desperately needs to salve the pain of capitalist exploitation. I think that’s interesting here, since Sydney seems to be implying that Samantha, as an individual, is “bleating” for her religion, as though begging for a drug. Nowadays, “opiate of the masses” is more often misused to imply that “The System” or “The Government” is weaponizing religion in order to dull the minds of the people. Whether that’s true or not, it’s almost certainly not what Marx was saying. There’s also some really cool, almost Shakespearean wordplay going on with the metaphor (or simile in this case, I suppose) of a sheep bleating for its religion. When read aloud, it’s very easy to confuse “bleating” for “bleeding,” which also has medical and psychotropic connotations, as well as framing this action (the “bleating”) as both a selfish actions (that of an stereotyped addict begging for a hit) and a selfless action (a martyr bleeding for their beliefs). Moreover still, the phrase “bleating for your faith” can imply both begging for a hit *and* preaching for your religion. So even the wording here frames faith as both selfish and selfless, as well as both an act of desperation and an act of servitude. Which, conveniently, also has Marxist undertones. And I think that’s pretty nifty.
The virgin writer Nomura/Nojima/Toriyama
The absolute MONSTER CHAD writer Matsuno
It is absolutey surreal to read this kind of magnificent and carefully thought out dialogue in a Square game because im so used to the garbage nonsense dialogue with no satisfying payoff nowadays.
These two cutscenes - with Guildenstern first, and then Ashley - come full-cycle in the late game when you also learn of Sydney's goal. Through this interaction with Ashley, you can then surmise by which point Sydney probably made up his mind :)
While it could simply be aesthetic, as a lone tree on a green hill gives a sense of serenity, Trees tend to have a sense of stability and security as they provide a shelter for many things. An interpretation could be that the tree in the memory represents the stability it provides for Ashley's mentality. The pleasant events take place beneath it and once the mother figure leaves the shade of the tree the sequence of the memory Ashely wishes to suppress occurs. To add to Casen's suggestions about the theming of wine, Just as it can be the dichotomy of the sacred or profane, Ashley's view of himself can either be the loathsome murder of an innocent family or the accomplished king's guard turned Riskbreaker whom has taken his tragedy and used it to serve depending on which he choses to believe as truth. Alcohol is a drug just as opium and in that same vain has been used as a means of dulling pain either emotionally or physically.
The wine can symbolize blood too. Ashley offers this kid a bottle of wine, of his own blood, but the woman interved and the offering was declined. This is a proof that this memory is a twisted one and some part, deep within, Ashley knows and giving hints about that fact.
I like this! Good observation!
@@ResonantArc Thank you!
Wow. Thats extremely insightful. One of my favorite things about a RA video is reading the comments. I love coming across comments like this.
The writing on the walls could also be French or Irish. Leá Monde itself is a very French-sounding city name, though the "Leá" portion could be a derivative of Irish rather than the word "Léa" which would be French.
In either cause, the meaning of Lea Monde would probably be "Weary World"(if taken in French) or "Decaying World"(if taken in Irish).
Either meaning would be fairly fitting of what Lea Monde is though, and probably indicative of the aesthetic of the language that would have been spoken by the people who lived there and their magic, so I don't think it's supposed to be English.
@@jackbatay4692 Actually it sounds more like Spanish. Lea Monde is definitely based on Spanish rather than French. The architecture of Lea Monde has also more influences on Spanish cathedrals and cities.
@@jackbatay4692 Ok that might be nevertheless it is typical architectur for Spanish cities common within medieval times. The name „Lea Monde“ is definitely based on Spanish / Portuguese though.
@@jackbatay4692 "Lea Monde is definitely French. I don’t know any languages but it doesn’t take a genius to know that."
meme
Doesn´t sound french one bit.
@@jackbatay4692 I have to correct myself. While the sound of the words seem to be more like of Spanish origin, the meaning is more likely related to French language. The word „monde“ especially is not the typical French sound but it actually is a French term while it has no meaning in Spanish. My bad :)
@@FelixS.
Obviously, it's made up gobbledygook, but it's based in real languages.
Given the context of the game's creation, French was clearly an influence, but Leá with the accent on the A rather than the E seemed interesting to me because while that's not a word in French, it is a word in Irish or Gealic, which if you pay attention is phonetically similar to the name of the language in Vagrant Story.
Hence, I think the location names might be grounded in a combination of the two, especially when you consider the historical context of druid legacy and magic in those parts of the Britain.
"What I have you is reality, what you remember, that is the illusion."
I know i pretty much say the same thing every video but i just really love this. Keep it coming!!
10:28 other than milk of the poppy, they also use "sellsword" to refer to mercenaries, very much like in Game of Thrones. Replaying VS after reading ASOIF with this information is like a drinking game
"Sellsword" as a term for mercenary is very common. It's not nearly as distinctive to GoT as "milk of the poppy" is.
Quick correction: the Enuma Elish describes Marduk forming the skies and the earth with Tiamat's dead body, or something like that. There is some ambiguity, there are lines missing and I'm not an expert. But here are the first lines about the creation of the skies, for example:
He split her up like a flat fish into two halves;
One half of her he stablished as a covering for heaven.
He fixed a bolt, he stationed a watchman,
And bade them not to let her waters come forth.
He passed through the heavens, he surveyed the regions thereof,
And over against the Deep he set the dwelling of Nudimmud.
And the lord measured the structure of the Deep,
And he founded E-sara, a mansion like unto it.
The mansion E-sara which he created as heaven,
He caused Anu, Bel, and Ea in their districts to inhabit.
Investigate a little about the rare items that have french wines names, even ambrosia is a rare wine that when you drink it boosts some random points of your stats
5:57 oh boy, I remember those...
Ha! Casen Casually spoiling "the forgotten".
Saw the trailer because it sounded interesting... but quickly realized that the "interesting" part was actually a big spoiler.
Loving the podcast, but I got very excited when you started talking about my home football team! Go Bills! Haha
I'm playing Vagrant Story in japanese to learn the language, and I would like to point out a difference I've noticed between the japanese and english translation:
Eglish : Well now. Sydney's cup overfloweth, and he calls forth a flood. There is a flood of vermins in this city, true, but it seems Sydney's manning the sluice
Japanese (literal) : Mh...that's an hindrance to Sydney as well, isn't it. Surely when it comes to stronger monsters, but I get the impression he's matching them to his level
So in the japanese, "matching them to his level" is vague, who's level? Sydney's own level? or Ashley's level? The player is likely to guess Ashley's, so in the japanese version at this point you get the idea that Sydney is rearing/nurturing Ashley's power, in the english translation I believe this detail get lost.
Then it goes on:
English : Sydney's is increasing the flow of dark energies on purpose
Japanese (literal) : So in other words what I'm saying is that Sydney is increasing the level of "Dark" infection
Here the japanese word used is "感染" read as kansen which means "infection / contagion / becoming infected", from the japanese dictionary "when a pathogen e penetrates inside the body especially when it results in the ariseal of various pathology", is a word you see used when talking about flu, corona etc...
So in the japanese version, this strongly suggests Sydney's is increasing the level of Dark/Magic infection in Ashley, the whole conversation was centered around Ashley but the subject was omitted since it was understood by the two speakers.
In the English version, you get the idea Sydney is increasing the flow of dark energies in general maybe in the city, as a global effect.
Two very different interpretations.
And this is why I want to learn japanese 😂
Man, you guys had to remind me of my Bills losing another heartbreaker!
They used the word Paling in the intro to FFXII as well.
thanks for bringing up the Bills vs Chiefs game btw. Time for me to get a drink -_-
Dismember means to take something apart so remember would be put together again
Snowfly forest is my favorite part of early grinding before new game plus.
You know, I get why the guy who ousted Hironobu from the big boss role asked why not reuse assets that were being made for individual games. What I find annoying is that it had to lead to direct sequels when they already had a template with Ivalice.
I mean, instead of Final Fantasy X-2 and all the egregious stuff that did, like turn Yuna into a 2 dimensional girly girl to be lusted over, and undermining the themes of the first game, why not just spin SPIRA into its own mini-series? Introduce some new characters and go wild. I know FF12 came along after Ivalice was formed and is so different to Tactics and Vagrant Story it may well be another world, but damn, what could have been.
Also, I’ve only seen the John Hurt film so I don’t know if this quote is from the 1984 book, but I’ve never forgotten when Richard Burton says something to the effect of; “Do you know what the future is? It’s a boot, pressing down on a man’s face. Forever.”
Chills
One thing I take some issue with is that you say several times that Guildenstern is rising in power just as everyone else in the city is but (and you may even say this in a later episode) it would be more accurate to say that he was _always_ this powerful as he he's been prepared for this for a long time by the Cardinal. He is not gaining power by being in Lea Monde, he is there to gain much more power by using the gran grimoire. As he says later the Dark does not exist only in Lea Monde and as theorised earlier he and his closest already have 'dark' powers before ever entering the city.
I also would not say that he is ever 'worried' by events, when he strikes Samantha he is _angered_ by Ashley's trespass but not worried by it. Guildenstern acts with extreme confidence throughout the game as someone with complete faith in his purpose. The most telling thing in that scene is that after he strikes his supposed lover with enough force to leave her bleeding he shows absolutely no regret in harming her or even pays any attention to her, he seems more insulted by Ashley than concerned for Samantha.
Huh, I did not know that 'milk of the poppy' was a term from A song of ice and fire. I simply intuited that it was supposed to be opium due to it being made from poppies and Sidney was comparing Samantha's faith to a mindless addiction
Only a really minor nitpick but I wouldn't call Guildenstern's slash at Sidney to be teleportation so much as it is, at best, 'projection'. He never seems to move from his original position so much as throw an image or his Will forwards, whether he could have actually harmed Sidney had he not dodged I could not really guess.
Yes, Guildenstern's line in the end of the game confirms that these powers don't come from Lea Monde only. That will be discussed next time.
Also, I don't think it's contradictory to say that Guildenstern has supreme confidence and faith in his purpose while also saying he comes across obstacles and conflicts that are "concerning" to him. It doesn't mean he's fearful, it means its a threat he has to take seriously and account for as he considers how to proceed. I never had the impression Guildenstern was "fearful" or "worried", but that he is "alert" or "concerned" by certain things that are going on, and that he sometimes has to pivot in order to address these problems as he encounters them.
It seems to me, some ideas that couldn't be done here because of technical limitations, were used in Final Fantasy XII.
Playing ff12 recently I agree. A lot of systems and gameplay feels directly inspired by Vagrant Story.
@@kaizakira To me, it’s a “Vagrant Story Lite”.
The spin being it’s an automated/create your own AI game.
@@genericsavings That’s a fair assessment
I tried so hard to get into this game and enjoy it when it came out, but I wound up throwing in the towel somewhere around half-way or so, when my weapons started doing extremely low damage and I didn't want to take the (tedious) time to find and upgrade the right weapon. Besides that, I did not care for Ashley's character model or the story much, though watching this podcast I've come to respect the game more as a whole, especially the writing and art style/cinematography.
I love it
What Hardin does is not the same as what Ashley has unlocked so calling him a full seer as opposed to Ashley not being one yet isn't quite right. Hardin is simply looking at locations, the restriction on which is likely only based on distance. Ashley is hacking into the consciousness of other people and merging their senses, his restriction is currently based on finding similar enough rhythms from other people, Hardin does not need rhythms because he is not connecting his mind to others.
Lambkin and Faendos. You do fight them but they are already zombies.
Not much point in commenting on _which_ truth is _the_ truth until we get further in so I'll leave it for the next ep.
Well to be fair Ashley is following Sidney because he has a hostage, not entirely due to his strange charisma. Asahley is really just letting all the opposing groups wipe each other out as he investigates.
It's the divisional round
Snowfly forest pissed me off so much. Let's make a game where our combat depends on you being able to see your character and then areas where no matter what you do you can't see your character. Bwahahhaa. Who let Kefka on the design team?
Wait! False memories? Whew, I'm glad he really didn't that boy wine.
59:31 immanence
24:47 what emu is ist¿?-
32:37 demon´s souls anyone?
I love your videos but you almost lost me when you started talking about sports! hahaha.
I hate sports so much!!. well, not the sports, but the obsessed fans that can't talk about anything else and their whole life is football. I have enough having to listen to coworkers talk about football 8 hours every day hahahahaha, when you guys started talking about a sports match I was like "noooooooooooooooooo!!!" hahaha.
Though I like FFXII, I honestly feel like Vagrant Story is a much better Ivalice-based story and even game in most aspects. Maybe it's just that Ashley & Sydney are a much better protagonist/antagonist pairing than Vaan (ugh..) and umm.. Vayne+Gabranth+whoever the villain-of-the-hour happens to be. Or perhaps the Shakespearian dialogue just works better in comic text format than with slightly hammy voice-acting.. In any case I would have taken a Vagrant Story sequel or remake over FF12 any day of the week! Still kind of hoping Square will revisit it in some way in the future, however slim the chance may be...
If the current Square Enix ever touch VS to "remake" it like they did with that travesty of FF7R, they would ruin it. I'd hardly call FFXII's superb voice acting hammy though. If VS reads like a pseudo-Shakespearean play, FFXII is more like a greek tragedy (see mom, my literature degree is paying for itself)
@@Tenpouin the fact you called the Remake a travesty unfortunately shows us we shouldn't take your comment seriously. The game was far from a travesty.
@@robardian3697 I'd go somewhere in the middle and say the uberplot and waifu-baitness of FF7R was a beached whale, but the small NPC moments and intelligent protag characterisation were scattered pearls on the same seashore
@@robardian3697 if you like that Kingdom Hearts fan fiction that obliterated the original story with nonsense then it's you that can't be taken seriously my man. Unless you never played the original. Or you are 12. This is why current Square Enix should never touch Vagrant Story unless it's a remaster 1:1
@@Tenpouin ruclips.net/video/Rfgw7iDZ-bo/видео.html
So I can you're a super fan of 7 and to me that's the worst kind of fan for the remake. But if you have the time I highly recommend watching the video I linked to. Pretty much echos my thoughts on the game and gives you a deeper look into it that a lot of people won't notice right away.
So many of these JRPGs you've covered have been my creative reference and just helps renew things if I'm not engaged in talking about it, others are. I wish I had the level of writing chops present in this game, though I try haha