An Unhinged Look at Vagrant Story | KBash Game Reviews
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2024
- bum chronicle
After over a year of refusing to pick the game up again (longtime viewers will remember the infamous Sword of Etheria incident that destroyed my original playthrough recordings) we're finally back thanks to the patrones, who voted that I cover Vagrant Story in my first major single game review of 2023.
Vagrant Story is an incredible experience, at least in terms of aesthetics. It's inarguably artisan-tier, especially for its time, and represents the culmination of a design gauntlet ranging from Ogre Battle to Final Fantasy Tactics. Yasumi Matsuno knows drama, and that's the soul of Vagrant Story. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of thing you casually recommend to the modern game-appreciator. Thankfully, I like throwing myself in woodchippers for fun, so here's one of the PSX greats, in review!
Vagrant Story is the tale of Assley Riot, a "riskbreaker" with an uncanny knack for survival. He battles through the streets and catacombs of magic city Lea Monde in search of fellow agent Callo Merlose, and the cult-leader Sydney Losstarot. But look out for the folks with the cross in their bio, Ashley!
HEY FRENCH SPEAKERS. I WATCHED A VIDEO ON HOW TO SAY IT SO IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY PRONUNCIATION SHOVE IT UP YOUR MARIO SOUND EFFECT HOOOOOOOO
If you'd like to help support the show, I'm here: / kbash
Hey! I just did Samurai Shodown: • A Samurai Shodown Retr...
0:00 ENTER
2:56 "play"
5:53 Art tho
7:14 An Exhausting Look at Combat/Gameplay to Mimetically Instill the Game's Vibe in the Viewer of This Video
16:59 Plot Breakdown
28:58 Finding the Value
#kbash #vagrantstory #retrospective 
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![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm stunned by how good-looking those cutscenes are, holy shit.
Graphics may change but art direction does not.
Gud luck cn em on real hardware
If it weren't for the low resolution of the textures, it ALMOST looks like a PS2 game. Dare I say, this looks better than MGS. It really is the best looking PS1 game.
@@deejay3297 I do, it looks gorgeous on my Bang & Olusen MX7000.
@@deejay3297 ah yeah find old CDRW or DVDRW drive and burn a blank disc, play it on PSX.
This one game has two of my most favorite quotes in a videogame, EVER:
1. "I AM the Reinforcements." - Ashley to Merlose near the beginning of the game; and
2. Sydney's "A Tyrant Dies Alone" speech to Guildenstern.
3. "God is stronger." - To Grissom to Rosencrantz when told that his foe is stronger, after chasing Ashley into the snowfly forest
"Those who crave the dark, cannot control the dark!"
I love how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's names are directly from Hamlet.
Oh hey, one of my favorite games of all time. Still got my save with everything unlocked and dozens of completions.
This game filtered me so HARD 20 years ago. The traps, weapon durability, the crafting, I just couldn't wrap my child head around it. I didn't know there was a town because I never made it out of the first area. Animating the hair motions is a nice touch that makes the characters so apparent and life like compared to say Metal Gear Solid. Much like Nier, this could use a remake. I have a greater appreciation for this one.
same, but something about it kept me coming back over the years as i gained more experience with gaming. it's fascinating
Not only animated hair, but individual fingers. Visually, this is honestly art in it's purest form, while also being a tech demo with the full 3d environment using dynamic lighting and highly detailed textures.
It needs a sequel and a remake!!!
First game that characters blink too
@@floatinabyss i believe there are many 3d games with blink animation on faces, like Mario 64, released in 1996.
This is one of my favorite games of all time and it is fucking criminal that this game has never gotten a remake.
Despite the funny-looking models, the cinematography and editing tactics these cutscenes use are honestly really impressive, especially considering the age of the medium at the time.
I call myself a JRPG fan and yet I’ve never actually touched this one…to the backlog it goes, I suppose!
This game easily deserves a remake. FFXVI gave me Vagrant Story vibes from its art direction already.
100%. And considering Yoshi-P is a massive Mastuno fanboy, I don’t think it’s on accident.
Please no! Square is dead since 2003 right after the merge with enix.
@@u_Fcknuggets_Get_Back_Dislikes
nah they are alive, FF14 With multiple masterpiece expansions, beeing the worlds most successful mmo, FF7R also beeing a masterpiece with more & better parts to come, FF16 looking like one of the most promising games EVER & a handful of really good experimental spin offs and remasters
@@akiinmoonlight79 😅🤣😂
@@u_Fcknuggets_Get_Back_Dislikes such an eye opening anwser thx 🛐❤
Thank you for covering this polygon painting of a game man. I played the game without an emulator and all that waiting in combat made me so patient as a person, specially whenever I have a rock hard constipation.
mental image of risk gauge rising and damage being dealt and it's just a man on a toilet
Here's a hot take for ya: when Merlose is seeing a child phantom, she's not reading Joshua, she's reading Sydney. There's a few hints of this in the script, but it's been awhile since I've played so I'd have to go read again to find them.
I had to play it multiple times to get it and it made sense, especially the end.
I loved breaking this game's combat system. I loved that without even using gamefaqs back then I was able to figure it out somehow without being a super mega video game player. I dunno how but it worked out for me.
I remember it feeling so hard and just persisting and being like I'll try something else until something works.
Honestly, thank you for offering a more nuanced take on this game. A lot of people don't like to admit that the pre-PS2 JRPGs were often detrimentally experimental. Yeah, nothing offers a similar mechanical flavour to a lot of those games, but it's because a lot of those systems need to be polished to be less cumbersome now that so many things these days vie for our time.
You've summed up why I'm the only person I know who can stand Star Ocean 2.
@@milkweedreflections Among my IRL social circle.
The issue is not ones polishing them or iterating on them. Brilliant systems left to rot.
Vagrant Story would look nice with an HD remake/remaster in the FFXII art style. It would fit so well aesthetically since it's all within Ivalice. Instead of hyper realistic outside of cutscenes it would be a great stylistic choice. Speed up the combat animations a bit and it could hopefully find its way into new fans.
and make a better tutorial so players actually KNOW stuff
Speeding up the animations would change the Chaon timing and it's hard enough already lol. An HD release would be awesome tho.
Speed up combat animation?? Please dont. There are way too many RPGs with DMC hack and slash style already.
@danthovict381 no speed up the actial animations of the character movement not necessarily change it to action/dmc combat. Just making the animations smoother rather than the sluggish limited movement from the psx era. It was more than likely just slow fps like some of the FFTactics.
You can keep the combat the way it is just make it more fluid in appearance.
Matsuno made a point of saying that this was not a game for everyone, that it was for a specific sort of person. I loved every minute I spent with it when I was 18-20, probably played through 15 NG+ runs, and have played through it on a new game quite a few times over the years for nostalgia's sake. I can't expect everyone to love the gameplay, but I feel myself fortunate to be/have been the kind of person Matsuno made it for.
12:40 I'm gonna be that guy and say I MISS the KBash theme song more than anyone else would care to admit
You aren't the only one fr fr
RIP
It was iconic
It still plays at the end at least.
Why did he stop adding it? It was iconic :(
Hell yeah. Probably the greatest cutscenes camera work in a game.
Enjoyed your concluding thoughts at the end on working through trauma and personal growth.
This game looks so good to me I'm hoping we get a remaster or remake or at least a re-released. Love all the other works from these guys.
I really have enjoyed these amazing videos you have been putting out lately....Thank you
OH FUCK IT'S MY FAVORITE PS1 GAME. I love this weird RPG so much, and the story is one of the best video game stories ever imo. It's a meticulous chore sometimes, but so are most of the games I love. Stoked to hear your thoughts on it, KBash!
Yep. Even as someone who adores this game, literally every criticism is valid and important to point out. While those things land for me, some are a slog to deal with, especially on first playthroughs before you unlock NG+ and can burn through a lot of those early areas.
Great review, and I appreciate the nuance and honest appraisal as always.
Vagrant Story to this day looks amazing, one of my fav Square title on PS1 besides FF9, FF7, Einhänder and FFT
Mm, Einhänder? I thought I've played all their games.🤠
Einhander reaaally good, great graphic for ps1 era.
I think the menus are pretty even if they're a bit clunky
Parasite eve is my fav psx game and one of my fav media changing franchises.
Also the kbash theme is my ringtone. 😅
Your videos really have me by the balls by playing the Fable soundtrack consistently throughout them. Please, never stop doing that.
Dude you gotta review Tactics Ogre now since you’re covering this, your channel rocks
People (including myself) constantly ask "Do we really need people reviewing the same game, wouldn't everything that needs to be said be done by the 10th video on the same exact subject?"
And then you throw the line "Hit that yoinky-sploinky as your enemies watch in horror" and I gotta respond with yes, this IS worth it.
Man imagine if a possible next installment of Vagrant Story went be a different name, had the same characters, but played like The 3rd Birthday?
if you know, then you know
Now I wanna know
I remember grinding and beating this game while not really understanding the story at all 😅
It’s like FFX, but with Matsuno level intrigue.
Religion sucks.
And more specifically, the mindless obedience of tradition…
Kbash covering the best looking game on the PlayStation 1, sign me up. Seriously though, the presentation in this game is crazy for the time.
MY GUY what a good game, I was so enthralled by the games weapon types and upgrades. Despite the convoluted combat I was so addicted to this game.
Everyone's appreciating the graphics here while I must admit that the music is top notch and is one of the best fitting into the game, scenery and the feels it does emit up to this day.
My favorite ps1 games are in order: fft, xeno, vagrant, and valkyrie. I may or may not be a broken person but hey someone's making content for me. Thanks bashy
great video! you always manage to make me laugh while still making such great points. the ending was hilarious this time!
Your videos are seriously so well made. I'd never heard of Vagrant Story and knew absolutely nothing about the game -- this video was an excellent look at it and you invite enthusiasm with your writing and presentation! Fantastic work.
I unironically love navigating menus in JRPGs, it's half the battle
Then you missing the point.
@@danieladamczyk4024 No I don't believe I am
@@Panther-kid Your religion is out of the question. You dead wrong. But still right. That how you love play games so play them that way.
@@danieladamczyk4024 No idea what you're talking about , thanks for sharing
If you told me this was a PS2 RPG I'd believe you. Vertex colors used to aproximate shading is so brilliant yet underused.
Love your content dude. A great mix of comedy and analytics. Encore!
Damn, KBash has been on a damn reviewing tear. We all love to see it.
One of my favorite games of all time. I would love a remake, but I do worry that they would be tempted to modernize its systems in a way that would break what makes it so special. It's obtuse, complex, but beautifully unique. The only updates I would want are a snappier interface and faster load times.
I just love the videos you make about obscure RPGs they are the reason I am on RUclips lately love to see more
(Please find some time for growlanser next)
God, I can't wait for Growlanser 1 to get translated. We're so close to having the whole series in English.
I just found your channel and I love it bro!
I remember asking you about this game on twitter months ago, you said you lost the video footage, but now here it is, thank you so much!
33:09 that's such an excellent take that really puts my views on getting through life into words far better than I ever could have. And I certainly didn't expect to be blessed with something like that at the end of a video about Vagrant Story. This is why I love your videos!
Vagrant Story is, to this day, still my favorite RPG of all time. There was nothing even remotely like it at that period - it was easily a decade or more ahead of the curve. I still extoll its virtues to my friends . . . Even if I also tell them they definitely shouldn't play it and should probably just watch the story on RUclips.
I'd love a high quality remake that addresses the gameplay issues. (The same with Parasite Eve.) I don't know if modern Square is up to it, and I *absolutely* don't trust them to both do the work and not include some fuckery. I can't think of any modern RPGs that hit any of the same notes. There have been some quality stories, certainly, but nothing in that same grim dark fantasy vein.
I remember. This game was sooo good. You had to beat it like million of times to craft the best equipments.
hand of light was ridiculous :D
About the sydney tattoo. Remember that one fan in poland did one on his back :D
@KBash what platform or Emulator did you play this on (sorry if I missed it in the video)? I would love to play it again as clean as it looks on this video. Thank you, in advance 🙏
Great video as usual. :) I’m loving the JRPG coverage.
The graphics were beyond the time, I habe played it over 10 times already and mastered the gameplay, every single run is as exciting as the first one
Videos like this one make me happy to be subscribed and be a patreon, high quality work as always Mr. K
i think this game inspired way more games than anyone will actually admit
strats and stats
>ability to scry through other people's eyes at random
This is a pretty cool power. I wonder if Square will ever make like an entire MMORPG based on this premise.
My personal GOAT (well anything Matsuno, really).
Dreaming of a scenario where after Square-Enix's NFT garbage fails, Yoshi-P is elevated to even greater power and he gets Matsuno back on board with the old team fully reformed.
I also like to imagine an alternate universe where FF12 wasn't a Final Fantasy game, thereby not being such a high-profile, high-pressure project, allowing Matsuno to stay on and continue making Matsuno-style games. Though this scenario might erase Crimson Shroud from existence, which I also love.
@@wiremesh2 Imma be honest, as much as SE messed with it, FFXII still reeks of Matsuno a big deal.
I love it too.
If it makes you feel better, I like your little theme song before videos start. It’s part of the experience I enjoy
Never played this before but as a male named Ashley I appreciate the MC having that name, can't say I've ever seen that before lol
It’s none of my business, but I hope you are feeling better mentally these days. I can only imagine the toll this level on content takes on a creator, but you continue to pump it out. Kudos, best regards
Since you briefly mention Castlevania Judgment's art, here's a fun fact: the character designer for that game is Takeshi Obata, aka the guy who drew Death Note.
I don't know if this is a warning or a recommendation but you're making me want to suffer through this just for a slice of ASSLEY
Vagrant story was awesome, I remember going to blockbuster like 3 times to rent it so I could finish it.
The patreon shoutouts at the end look so incredibly fun. Just flinging em out there.
When it comes to comparing this games gameplay to something else I've always told people "it's kind of like Hybrid Heaven only running away is more viable" and maybe 15% of people will know what I'm talking about.
I've been covering it's spiritual sequel prequel in another universe, Tactics Ogre, for years now. Constantly talk about how cool this game is. I've legit been just lost trying to find out where the ending is for two years. Pick it up every month or so, get blown away by how much made it to the Ogre series later...promise to finish it....and oh hey, I wonder if I can beat Tactics Ogre with just throwing rocks this time 😮
Oh holy shit it's that room with that diagonal jump that takes 50 attempts, thanks for the nightmares, man.
I liked even before watching the video because this work of art (really) is one of my favorite of all time. Cheers!
Still to this day one of my fav games of all time. Menues, and slow combat and bullshit forest that lies to you all together. Man, if they ever remake this game I hope they changed alot of this. I'm one of the hardcore fans of this game, and even I can see this game would not survive in todays day and age on visuals alone. Still a masterpiece.
Still my 3rd favorite game of all time.
One of my favs to this day!!! The weapon creation system and monster bestiary were sooo good. 😊
I didn’t realize the theme song was gone, nor that I kinda missed it, until it was mentioned.
Alright, listen, the video was brilliant and I appreciate the pain you went through to bring it to us, but I really just wanted to say this was the first video ever where I didn't skip the patreon supporter reading at the end because it instantly caught my attention and remained entertaining the whole time.
Oh, look...something so strikingly similar to how I love Yggdra Union. Sounds like a game I wanna pick up :D
For all the talk of gameplay tedium, cruelty, convoluted menus and the like... i imagine it's intentional. I think i read this in an interview, albeit in different words, and i have to respect that. Matsuno does indeed know what he wants.
He does make the player work for it. Vagrant Story is for hardcore gamers and I threw myself into the game farming all of the most powerful weapons, shields, and armors. Good times.
what is that sound at 28:56?
Loved this game back in the day and finished the hell out of it (like 7 or 8 times at 99+hrs each playthrough) and in all the videos about this game I have yet to see anyone talk about the training dummys at the safe rooms, with which you can grind up weapons to max in any type/affinity stat if you want to spend the time. sure typically each +1 to a stat causes adjacent stats to go down like your supposed to be tuning the weapon to specialize in countering one or two enemy types at a time so you end up having a bag full of answers for each of your problems. Loved the endgame boss hallway to time trial your boss kills. Damn I want to get out my old memory card and see if it still works now.
this game was great but the graphic didnt aged well would love to see this getting a remake
Just started playing this on my Ps3 and Digital Devil Saga 1. The game is awesome. I like the combat, customization, music, story, art direction.
Just finished* my first playthrough, and your video was very cathartic. I'm glad you don't hold back on the game's bullshit, because this was such a tedious and frustrating game. But you spend more time in reverence of its story, and that's appropriate. I think the highlight of my playthrough was finally learning how to use Analyze 16 hours in.
*I didn't truly finish. Made it to the last boss, spent literally 2 hours trying to figure out how to do more than single digits of damage, and finally got my hits up to about 20 dmg. After whittling his health for another hour, I slipped up and died on like his 5th super attack--I had full health, but 4 RISK. I think if I tried again, I could beat him in less than an hour, but I watched the ending on youtube instead. I don't want to play this game again, but I probably will some day.
Actually, it unironically isn't an accident that Akihiko Yoshida characters have thick thighs and big buttocks! He's been on record saying that, when in doubt about a design, he'll just start by drawing a character's butt and then going on from there.
Anyway, I love Vagrant Story. It's an absolute mess of systems over systems over systems which are not well tutorialized AT ALL, and I had to give up on it, like, four times before it "clicked", but... damn. That's one fine game. It made me even more of a Matsuno mark.
As the young folk says, "it be like that sometimes". Great video, KBash! Keep it up.
This is one of my greatest gaming regrets.
The gameplay, plot and equipment system are still splendid, yet it requires so f***ing much minmaxing I grew weary of it even when I had time to grind as much as I wanted.
Now I don't have time for two full time jobs.
oooooooooow that ending monologue hit me right in the Pathos
I literally thought the game only took place in that intro dungeon because that was all the gaming mags at the time showed, and I never finished getting through it. 😅
I'll never forget the intro cutscene in this game or how many times I bashed my head against that damn knight to get that super cool sword...
Im glad the game got it's hooks into me back then, because I cant even imagine my current self playing this for more than an hour.
I would love a soft little remaster/remake of this. Keep the bones of the game, especially the graphics and the direction, but sand off some of the rough edges of the gameplay. It would be amazing.
I love this game, it's story and the way it looks. And i hate the battle system. If someone made a mod to straight up simplify the battle to "big sword does bigger damage" it would be definitely my favourite game of all time.
Still one of my favorite games. I think my fastest run was close to an hour and a half like 6th time through.
At the end of each run you can pick 1 weapon you’ve upgraded to carry into the beginning of the next run, so you can keep upgrading the same weapon across multiple runs and be god mode. So good.
I loved this game so much growing up. HOWEVER, Snowfly forest straight up beat me my second play through. I got lost in it and never found my way back out. My PS3 still has that save file, stuck in the forest forever…
Such a classic!! Breath of fire dragon quarter is the spiritual successor of this game, too bad it wasnt much successful either, you should really make a video about it, it shares some of the same team of vagrant story and you can imediatelly notice it in the art and gameplay direction
when I fought the end boss back in 2000, I was doing 1 HP hits. Bloody sin was the only move name I recall. Somehow, I wouldn’t go down. I kept this up until it died. 1 HP of damage at a time after some kind of combo hit. It was a cruel trick to play on gamers, especially if I’d given up because I thought the effort was futile. Thank goodness I kept at it. I haven’t played the game again since.
I played this game so many time and I was so addicted to this game. The part I love more of this game is be able to start a new game exactly with the same equipment and strength with the one you finish the game. My goal was to max out the character and hit 999 but I just made it to hit 700+.
Actually playing the game again and that what brought me to this video. Looking around to see what people think about this game.
For laughs, I choose to believe Ashley Riot's last name is pronounced as if it were French, like ree-YOH
I just want you to know, as someone who recently did his yearly replay of Vagrant Story, seeing that fucking puzzle from Iron Maiden B1 instinctively caused me to flinch and clench my fists. Good job, new subscriber earned.
Ashley Riot is the SOLID SNAKE of JRPGs.
*John Wick
@@MrDmoney156 Zoomer
This game is pure art! Despite some of its dated gameplay mechanics, it's good that this video recognizes the underlying masterfulness of this PS1 gem. A remake or good quality remaster would do this game wonders in modernizing some of the aged clunkiness! Come on Square!!
Why has this game not been remade? Imagine it with today's graphics, and open world, not just locked in a dungeon.
if i ever feeling sad, i just have to remember that KBash played Knights in Knightmare.
This remains one of my all-time faves. Back in the day, I spent at least half of my initial 50+ hour run crafting the best possible weapons (sitting beside a laptop with gamefaqs open) so I could enjoy the rest of the game without frustration... but it worked?! Such a gorgeous game, such amazing atmosphere, such brilliant writing and storytelling. Clean up the combat a bit (I'm not as obsessive about crafting as I was in my 20s) and I'd gladly buy a remake.
I always loved Ashley's line near the end, when asked to let go of the crimes he maybe MAYBE commited - he syas something to the extent of ' The past is the foothold to the future.' choosing instead to face the possibility of hating what he had done. Know your history or be doomed to repeat it.
What I loved about this game was that you could farm enemies for gear. Once I farmed a baddie for his halberd and once I got it I chain attacked my way to the end of the game. It was magical.
If I hear "evocative" one more time Kbash
the irate gamer deep cut reference fucking SCARED me bro
Still farming and working on that wooden Hoplite Shield....
The thumbnail really grabbed my attention.
I finished that game over 20 times as a kid. Part of it was because I didn't have money and only had one game per year so I played the shit out of them, but the other part is that I really enjoyed it. As for dealing little damage in the mid game : Weapons leveled up the more you used them against a certain type of enemies, BUT leveling against that enemy also made you weaker against 2 other types so you were expected to use different weapons against different types. Since there was like 6 types + many elements, you did have to switch weapon quite a lot in some dungeons (and menus were slow), even if you could have two types on one weapon without negative impact. When merging two weapons together, those upgrades would carry over, but so did the weaknesses UNLESS you capped it. A capped weapon would not go down. One kind of hack was to grind hitting the training dummies over and over, since each dummy had a different type, you could max all types them merge them together for one killer weapon fairly early... I tried to replay that game as an adult and as much as I am sure I could get a lot more out of story now, I unfortunately do not have the patience for this game as I did back then!
I always love seeing more people talking about Vagrant Story
It's absolutely due for a modern remaster.
God, imagine a Souls-style remake