RGT Nostalgia Society #2 - Vagrant Story

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

Hoo boy; I don't know if I have a "favorite game", per se, but my old memory card from high school still has a save file with about 270 hours of Vagrant Story on it. (Or it did, who knows if that thing is still working now).

Lotta good points already made, I'll just say a bit: Perfect preparedness and following exacting guides WILL burn you out before you get close to the end. You can specialize a weapon for each class of enemy, in each variety of edge type, to say nothing of crafting/training perfect armor sets - all of which takes multiple playthroughs if you want the highest tier of items in the ideal material type. So....don't sweat it, truly!

A good way to start VG is to think of each weapon you find as having a job, or a given role; everything can be combined and worked on in a workshop, with stats mostly retained, so don't worry about "I might replace this later". For instance, I like to use the initial sword, "Fandango" on Humans exclusively, switching to the first hand axe for Beasts, and the first crossbow for ghosts. (Makes dealing with their teleporting a little more painless, though they're a handy option for bats too). A mace for undead skeletons, a spear for dragons because that's just The Only Choice for dragonslayers, in my opinion, etc.

Remember that improving against one enemy type worsens the blade against the two types below it on the menu; I'm going off of memory here, but I believe that means a Human-killer will be bad against Beast/Undead; a Phantom-killer (exorciser?) will be bad against Dragon/Evil. That does mean you can double up most weapons without worry, like a Human/Phantom edge, a Beast/Dragon spear, and a Undead/Evil mace. That last one is going to max out it's Light affinity REAL quick...

...which is a good opportunity to mention elemental affinities! In short; don't worry about it! There are gems to be slotted that boost those, and they're not a big focus till later on, as you fight more powerful elemental Phantoms, and different varietals of Dragon. Specifically training elements is pesky, and it's tough to do perfectly because there's an odd number of them, but really, this is what Gems are for. Don't worry about it.

Oh, something that can go missed? Break Arts. Special attacks that are unlocked by killing enough enemies with each class of weapon, these can give you access to a specific element to exploit an enemy weakness (which, by the by, is part of why you should Analyze freakin' every enemy, you'd be surprised at some of the details and weak points). Maybe more importantly, you can get consistent ailment effects like Paralysis from them, and a lot of enemies will waste turns undoing effects.....

...which reminds me, opposite effects don't cancel out, they overwrite. If an enemy buffs their strength or equipment, smack 'em with the debuff to waste the effort, and vice versa when they try to weaken you. Also, Herakles and Prostasia make sense for every fight once you get them, you do more damage and take less!

You *can* go for a magic-caster build, but it's probably not a first playthrough option, and it's still usually working a lot harder than just punching them in the face. OH, also, Punch Things in the Face!~ That's a viable attack when you don't hold a weapon, and you *do* have Unarmed Break Arts! (You can't train fist stats or use your armors, though, so it'll always be a bit weaker than typical weapons. Still, if you need a blunt attack....)

That's all the rambling I got in me right now, going off of twenty year old memories. I know this, though; nothing else in the 90's, save for Metal Gear Solid, had the kind of storytelling - with an eye to thoughtful cinematography inspired by movies - that Vagrant Story did for the time. The plot has some nuance, and the characters become more interesting as we learn about them throughout the game. Ashley is a kind of old-world James Bond, but more akin to the version we got years later in Casino Royale; a dispassionate troubleshooter for the state, who steadily remembers the soul he once had before he became The Job, and just The Job.....there's more to that comparison I want to make, but I shouldn't start spoiling things here! I hope y'all have fun with it, and I look forward to reading what ya think.

 

[moonbits]

the presentation of this game is light years ahead of it's contemporaries, even without voice acting.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

the presentation of this game is light years ahead of it's contemporaries, even without voice acting.

I was gonna say the presentation is off the fucking chain. Who needs voice acting with those hyper stylized dialogue boxes and the great character design helps a ton.

Still not 100% on all the mechanics yet but I'll get there lmao

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

I am once again reminded how much better the dialogue is in this than The Legend of Dragoon.

Yasumi Matsuno was cooking with this game. One of the few true auteurs of gaming, up there with Hideo Kojima.

Also, this is one of the best English localizations in a Squaresoft game. All thanks to Alexander O. Smith. His Shakespeareian style localization is truly inspired.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Are there any recommended stats to try to get after a boss fight?

 

[DanCalibur]

Hoo boy; I don't know if I have a "favorite game", per se, but my old memory card from high school still has a save file with about 270 hours of Vagrant Story on it. (Or it did, who knows if that thing is still working now).

Lotta good points already made, I'll just say a bit: Perfect preparedness and following exacting guides WILL burn you out before you get close to the end. You can specialize a weapon for each class of enemy, in each variety of edge type, to say nothing of crafting/training perfect armor sets - all of which takes multiple playthroughs if you want the highest tier of items in the ideal material type. So....don't sweat it, truly!

A good way to start VG is to think of each weapon you find as having a job, or a given role; everything can be combined and worked on in a workshop, with stats mostly retained, so don't worry about "I might replace this later". For instance, I like to use the initial sword, "Fandango" on Humans exclusively, switching to the first hand axe for Beasts, and the first crossbow for ghosts. (Makes dealing with their teleporting a little more painless, though they're a handy option for bats too). A mace for undead skeletons, a spear for dragons because that's just The Only Choice for dragonslayers, in my opinion, etc.

Remember that improving against one enemy type worsens the blade against the two types below it on the menu; I'm going off of memory here, but I believe that means a Human-killer will be bad against Beast/Undead; a Phantom-killer (exorciser?) will be bad against Dragon/Evil. That does mean you can double up most weapons without worry, like a Human/Phantom edge, a Beast/Dragon spear, and a Undead/Evil mace. That last one is going to max out it's Light affinity REAL quick...

...which is a good opportunity to mention elemental affinities! In short; don't worry about it! There are gems to be slotted that boost those, and they're not a big focus till later on, as you fight more powerful elemental Phantoms, and different varietals of Dragon. Specifically training elements is pesky, and it's tough to do perfectly because there's an odd number of them, but really, this is what Gems are for. Don't worry about it.

Oh, something that can go missed? Break Arts. Special attacks that are unlocked by killing enough enemies with each class of weapon, these can give you access to a specific element to exploit an enemy weakness (which, by the by, is part of why you should Analyze freakin' every enemy, you'd be surprised at some of the details and weak points). Maybe more importantly, you can get consistent ailment effects like Paralysis from them, and a lot of enemies will waste turns undoing effects.....

...which reminds me, opposite effects don't cancel out, they overwrite. If an enemy buffs their strength or equipment, smack 'em with the debuff to waste the effort, and vice versa when they try to weaken you. Also, Herakles and Prostasia make sense for every fight once you get them, you do more damage and take less!

You *can* go for a magic-caster build, but it's probably not a first playthrough option, and it's still usually working a lot harder than just punching them in the face. OH, also, Punch Things in the Face!~ That's a viable attack when you don't hold a weapon, and you *do* have Unarmed Break Arts! (You can't train fist stats or use your armors, though, so it'll always be a bit weaker than typical weapons. Still, if you need a blunt attack....)

That's all the rambling I got in me right now, going off of twenty year old memories. I know this, though; nothing else in the 90's, save for Metal Gear Solid, had the kind of storytelling - with an eye to thoughtful cinematography inspired by movies - that Vagrant Story did for the time. The plot has some nuance, and the characters become more interesting as we learn about them throughout the game. Ashley is a kind of old-world James Bond, but more akin to the version we got years later in Casino Royale; a dispassionate troubleshooter for the state, who steadily remembers the soul he once had before he became The Job, and just The Job.....there's more to that comparison I want to make, but I shouldn't start spoiling things here! I hope y'all have fun with it, and I look forward to reading what ya think.

Impressive! I've also finished this game in high school and the only thing I remember is Müllenkamp's belly dance and a guy with no arms

 

[ATenderLad]

Impressive! I've also finished this game in high school and the only thing I remember is Müllenkamp's belly dance and a guy with no arms

Thanks! The guy with no arms is hard to forget, being a slender, mostly-naked guy with a deep "V" in his waistband that borders on Dangerous. Like, he *must* wax, no doubt.

(Honestly, the teasing chase that he runs with Ashley Riot has some wild homoerotic tension....and I won't talk about where it ends this early into the thread, but it never really lets off the gas on that!)

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

The golem is down but damn if finding a save point in sanctum doesn't blow.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Hmm... "Knightly Weapon"
I know how affinities work. This dagger won't be good against all 3 of those enemy types for long.

 

[ATenderLad]

Hmm... "Knightly Weapon"
I know how affinities work. This dagger won't be good against all 3 of those enemy types for long.

Oh, that parts a little obscure in the game, I think, but there's titles for gear for every ten points or so of class and elemental affinity. Just cosmetic, though.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Is anyone else getting Devil Dice flashbacks?

 

[Crashbandi]

Are there any recommended stats to try to get after a boss fight?

From what I remember the stat wheel goes off your lowest stat before fighting the boss out of Str, Int and Agl. I would focus on Str as higher Agl can cause most mobs to not hit you when they attack and that's important for armor resistance if that's something you're interested in. Don't go with HP or MP as those items are easier to farm for later in the game

 

[KaiserMk7]

I'm close to having come farther than I've ever been. Just cleared the first boss fight in the city.

 

[Cantarella]

Hmm... "Knightly Weapon"
I know how affinities work. This dagger won't be good against all 3 of those enemy types for long.

yeah they update that dagger every 24 hours

 

[KaiserMk7]

Oh, hey, first "didn't walk directly under a dragon boss's head fast enough to avoid provoking its fire breath" death of the playthrough.

 

[diapered]

I assume there are reasons to target other parts of enemies, but so far I just smack or shoot to the head till it dies has been my strategy.

 

[ATenderLad]

I assume there are reasons to target other parts of enemies, but so far I just smack or shoot to the head till it dies has been my strategy.
View attachment 86157

Once you get the analyze spell, you can see a pretty detailed breakdown of enemies, similar to your own stats. The head is still *usually* a safe bet for enemies that have one, but depending on your weapons you might switch it up.

 

[KaiserMk7]

I assume there are reasons to target other parts of enemies, but so far I just smack or shoot to the head till it dies has been my strategy.
View attachment 86157

Highest displayed base damage numbers, highest hit chance, or highest damage per hit chance. Take your pick. Head isn't always the squishiest part, depending on the enemy and your damage type, but it's often harder to hit than the arms, especially at high risk.
I think the boss of the opening sequence was weakest in the neck.

Post automatically merged: Jul 2, 2025

Once you get the analyze spell, you can see a pretty detailed breakdown of enemies, similar to your own stats. The head is still *usually* a safe bet for enemies that have one, but depending on your weapons you might switch it up.

Is there more one multipart enemy that doesn't have a head?

 

[diapered]

What's this guy for?

 

[KaiserMk7]

What's this guy for?
View attachment 86163

Enemy type affinity training. There's one training dummy for each I think. You can just keep hitting it until it breaks and grind to specialize without having to deal with anything that dies fast or fights back.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

How long until we get the analyze spell?

Thus far I've felt like I'm running slightly blind against a chunk of these guys -_-

 

[KaiserMk7]

How long until we get the analyze spell?

Thus far I've felt like I'm running slightly blind against a chunk of these guys -_-

One of the Sanctum/Level 2 bosses I think.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

Whelp I made it to the wyvern. Taking a break to get over the 1-shot kill i suffered deep into the fight lmao.

I might need to change some stuff up before I try again.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Whelp I made it to the wyvern. Taking a break to get over the 1-shot kill i suffered deep into the fight lmao.

I might need to change some stuff up before I try again.

Did you back away to try to recover and end up getting breathed on?

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

Did you back away to try to recover and end up getting breathed on?

...maybe.

I'm gonna just take another run tomorrow and aim for the tail.