Is it worth getting Vagrant Story: yes/no?

[Pete for President]

I remember playing this game when I was a kid and got completely owned by it. Traumatized by some giant Golem I just couldn't beat and seemingly endless backtracking I gave up. Maybe I didn't understand the battle system back then? Or missed some vital info on items or abilities? Either way, I do admit I was intrigued by the setting. Can't really remember the story, but I think back then I was too young to fully understand ye olde English.

Anyway, what's holding me back? Even though the game is only €5, without a credit card I need to buy a PSN card of €20 to get it (note that my purchases on PSN are extremely rare).

So the question is; will I get one of them €20 PSN cards and enjoy Vagrant Story, or will I be traumatized by some pixelated Golem once again?

[Iceglow]

It's well worth playing imho. Vagrant Story was rated as one of THE best PSX games in history. I still have my copy on disc and like to pop it in my laptop to play on my emulator now and then (my psx memory card being well and truly dead and them being impossible to replace these days) the reason you probably got owned is because frankly this game is god damn hard. There is no shame in admitting I got owned by it and still do. The item synthesis system is perhaps one of the more complex ones out there from it's era in terms of gaming mechanics and there was little to no explanation in the game as to how to go about getting it right. However the game is still one of the best written and most enjoyable if frustratingly difficult in sections Square games I have ever had the pleasure of playing and still playing to this day.

Will you lose out by buying a 20 euro card for the PSN to purchase this? No, though the game is only 5 euros and it'd be a lot more convenient for you to pay just the 5 on a card I personally don't believe that there is NOTHING else anyone would want from the PSN or XBL when it comes to buying points/psn vouchers. Pretty much all modern gamers play at least one game which has DLC they could live without but wouldn't mind owning. I feel this way about Call of Duty Black Ops, sure when playing with my friends its fine playing on the normal core game maps but I wouldn't mind owning the map packs so that they could show me around the newer maps too.

[Pete for President]

It's well worth playing imho. Vagrant Story was rated as one of THE best PSX games in history. I still have my copy on disc and like to pop it in my laptop to play on my emulator now and then (my psx memory card being well and truly dead and them being impossible to replace these days) the reason you probably got owned is because frankly this game is god damn hard. There is no shame in admitting I got owned by it and still do. The item synthesis system is perhaps one of the more complex ones out there from it's era in terms of gaming mechanics and there was little to no explanation in the game as to how to go about getting it right. However the game is still one of the best written and most enjoyable if frustratingly difficult in sections Square games I have ever had the pleasure of playing and still playing to this day.

Will you lose out by buying a 20 euro card for the PSN to purchase this? No, though the game is only 5 euros and it'd be a lot more convenient for you to pay just the 5 on a card I personally don't believe that there is NOTHING else anyone would want from the PSN or XBL when it comes to buying points/psn vouchers. Pretty much all modern gamers play at least one game which has DLC they could live without but wouldn't mind owning. I feel this way about Call of Duty Black Ops, sure when playing with my friends its fine playing on the normal core game maps but I wouldn't mind owning the map packs so that they could show me around the newer maps too.

Thanks for the advice. I guess any missing info on battle/item systems can be looked up in faqs nowadays. And you're right about the PSN card. I just realised FFVI is in the shop, so that's where the remaining credit will probably go.

[Shoeberto]

It is a really damn hard game, though. Just saying.

I bought it maybe back in '03, and I give it a shot every few years, and I'm still terrible at it. Which is a shame, because the game world is fascinating to me.

[champagne supernova]

Yes. Although I may have been better at it when I was younger. Easy games have made me lose my edge :p

Besides, you can always buy WipeOut HD and the Fury expansion with the extra credits. Best value for money ever and so awesome.

[Flying Arrow]

If you think you would like the game conceptually and mechanically, there is no reason not to get it. It really is one of Squaresoft/SE's last great games. Some parts can be hard, but once you understand the weapons/attributes/affinities systems, it becomes much easier and much, much more satisfying. I just get an unhealthy amount of pleasure from running into a tough enemy and realizing 'I have been building just the right weapon to smurf precisely you up.'

[Shoeberto]

If you think you would like the game conceptually and mechanically, there is no reason not to get it. It really is one of Squaresoft/SE's last great games. Some parts can be hard, but once you understand the weapons/attributes/affinities systems, it becomes much easier and much, much more satisfying. I just get an unhealthy amount of pleasure from running into a tough enemy and realizing 'I have been building just the right weapon to smurf precisely you up.'
See, I really tried, but I never really understood the system all that well. I always had a few weapons that worked okay, but it was never really clear to me how to get great weapons for different situations. Items I found in the dungeons and stuff just never really seem to be all that effective, nor did I get a grasp on making them. Just seems like it was never explained in-game very well.

[Madame Adequate]

Yep, get it. It's great. But also hard as balls, I certainly didn't understand what I was doing at first either.

[Rocket Edge]

I bought it months ago, and I still don't have an idea what I'm doing in the game. I should probably give it more of my time.

[Chris]

Worth getting if you can get it relatively cheap, but definitely not worth shelling out some extra cash for.

I think that it is quite frankly repetitive to put it mildly. Not only that, I remember every single location as being the same brownish, colorless, and boring, dungeon-sneaking, that I did not find too much joy in. :(

[Pete for President]

I have decided to accept the challenge and bought it. For my own safety I spent most of the first hour of gameplay reading the tips and guide provided in the menu.

One question though. In most RPG's if things get difficult you just grind some and get back to it. Isn't that an option in Vagrant Story?

[champagne supernova]

I have decided to accept the challenge and bought it. For my own safety I spent most of the first hour of gameplay reading the tips and guide provided in the menu.

One question though. In most RPG's if things get difficult you just grind some and get back to it. Isn't that an option in Vagrant Story?

Don't think there are levels in VS, so grinding isn't really helpful in that regard. You "level-up" attributes like max health, strength etc through wines. You can also get items.

However, it does get you items which you can use in the workshop to make better items. Weapons will also gain an affinity against a certain type of enemy if you kill the same type (hence why people tended to have certain weapons for certain creatures).

[Pete for President]

I have decided to accept the challenge and bought it. For my own safety I spent most of the first hour of gameplay reading the tips and guide provided in the menu.

One question though. In most RPG's if things get difficult you just grind some and get back to it. Isn't that an option in Vagrant Story?

Don't think there are levels in VS, so grinding isn't really helpful in that regard. You "level-up" attributes like max health, strength etc through wines. You can also get items.

However, it does get you items which you can use in the workshop to make better items. Weapons will also gain an affinity against a certain type of enemy if you kill the same type (hence why people tended to have certain weapons for certain creatures).

Ah that explains some. Any more tips to help a VS noob out?

[champagne supernova]

Watch your risk, because it affects both your accuracy and the affect magic has on you. When you chain, I think you can combine 7 chains without dramatically increasing risk, but thereafter, it rises dramatically.

[Mercen-X]

If it was available on PS3, I'd buy it if I owned a PS3 and if I could convert my PS memory card data to PS3 readable data.

[champagne supernova]

If it was available on PS3, I'd buy it if I owned a PS3 and if I could convert my PS memory card data to PS3 readable data.

It's on the PSN. And you can buy a memory card converter I think :p

[Wolf Kanno]

Tips for noobs:

Element is another factor but their are ways around that, like using gemstone attachments, and magic spells to temporarily alter element affinity.

As stated above, RISK affects things as it goes up. Your accuracy drops so you stop landing strong blows and you take more damage. On the other hand, your critical hit rate skyrockets and your healing magic is more effective. RISK reducing items are very few and far between so use them sparingly.

Use the Map! Lea Monde is a dungeon cralwers dream come true. You will get lost.

Offense Chain attacks have different attack animations that require different timing to chain together. Several use a very slow an awkward animation, but some are actually just a quick hit so play around until you get a good combo pattern that you are comfortable using.

Do not ignore the elemental defense chain abilities. These items will restore half your health from the right elemental attack, and certain game mechanics don't go into affect until after these abilities been factored in. What this means is that an elemental attack can actually kill you but if you time the defense move correctly and regain enough health to put you back into the positive HP range, the game doesn't count the attack as fatal.

Weapons 101:
Weapons are broken down into three areas: Type of damage, Monster Affinity, Element affinity.

Type of damage is broken into three: Blunt, Edged and Pierce. Most weapons are obvious what type of damage they do but its possible to affect the type by switching out certain hilts, gemstones, or merging types blades. For the most part, Edge is the universal type, with very few creatures having a heavy defense against it. Pierce is a close second.

Monster Affinity rises the more you slay a certain type of monster. For instance, if you keep using your sword against humans, your weapons' affinity towards them grows so the weapon will eventually cause more damage to human type foes than other types of creatures. If you start killing more of another type of monster, that affinity grows but the human affinity will begin to lower.

Due to the way affinities work, its usually best to have three different weapons to use, one for humans/beasts, one for undead/spirit, and one for Dragon/Evil. It takes a lot of time to build a weapon that has high affinity against all creatures and its best not to try to use one weapon cause once you start fighting different types of creatures, you lower your weapons effectiveness to fight other monster types.

You can get away with this setup cause affinities only begin to drastically declined based on where they are on the type tier (which you'll see in the weapon display) so for instance, if your weapon has a high Human affinity and you start to kill beasts, while the human affinity will begin to decline, it will be minor and slow, so both affinities may still remain high. This is because beast and human are next to each other in the tier list. On the other hand, if you have the human affinity weapon and started attacking dragon type enemies, your human affinity will drop quickly. That's cause Dragon types are on the bottom of the tier while humans are on the top.

You can also raise affinity by merging material together, say you have two different blades with high human affinity, in the blacksmith shops you can merge them together and make a blade with higher human affinity, the best part is that merging doesn't have as much of a dramatic affect on multiple affinities, which is how its possible to build weapon with high affinity for every enemy type (though this is very time consuming) . This is a good way to remove negative affinity and raise affinity against multiple types of monsters and elements. Remember this when you are building armor.

Blacksmith 101:
Weapons can be disassembled into three parts, Blade, Hilt, and Gemstone. Blade deals with most of the affinity crap I mentioned above. Hilt, affects damage type and whether or not you can equip gemstones. Blades can be fused together to affect their stats but hilts can't so make sure to remove the weaker hilts from your inventory so you can maximize your weapons potential. Gemstones directly affect affinity. A Salamander Stone will raise your weapons fire affinity while lowering its water affinity. They give pretty big bonuses and since some hilts can hold two or three gemstones, you can temporarily boost a weapons without dealing with the blacksmith shops.

Shields also can equip gemstones so keep that in mind as well, since several gemstones are shield only and grant bonuses against magic spells, and status effects.

There are several materials in the game that weapons can be built from adn these materials also have natural affinities. Wood, Bronze, Iron, Hagane, Silver, and Damascus for weapons and Leather, Bronze, Iron, Hagane, Silver, and Damascus for armor.

Wood and leather are the weakest material but they do have good affinity against spirits and undead so don't knock them. Bronze, Iron, and Hagane are mostly neutral. Silver and Damascus are the rarest material and have high affinity against powerful uncommon enemies like Spirits, Dragons, and Evil. You can actually make some of these materials just by merging different types of material. For instance, you can combine a bronze and and iron item to make Hagane, and you can merge Hagane and silver to make Damascus. Leather and wood can't be merged with anything else, except themselves. Also, due to factors like affinity and merging bonuses, its possible to build strong weapons with even shoddy materials. A well crafted Iron sword can be more effective than a Hagane axe you won from an enemy drop.

Another thing to remember is that there are several blacksmith shops in the game and only one them actually allows you to work with all the materials. The first one you find will only let you work with wood and leather materials, so if you have gained some iron equipment, you can't work on them in this shop, so be careful about that. The shop will usually tell you when you enter what materials it will allow you to work on.

[Pete for President]

Wow thanks WK! That should keep me on the right path. And props for taking the time and effort to write all that!

Also, I took some advice from a guide and mashed a dummy with my sword for about 45 minutes right after the Minotaur boss fight. The sword has 18 Human Affinity now, so that should help here and there.

Currently using the crossbow to kill some undead. I'm guessing this must be nothing more than a fraction of the tip of the iceberg in weaponry and such, but I want to get as much of a head start as possible so I can ease on difficulty peaks later on. From now on the guide goes out the window so nothing gets spoiled story wise and I will rely on EoFF knowledge and my own creativity only.

That said, I think I'll update my progress every now and then and any tips along the way will be much appreciated!

[champagne supernova]

I think you should get a silver knife very soon which has great affinity against evil and phantom. And if I remember, it also chains very well. Useful against the ghosts you find in the catacombs.

[Saber]

I am playing VS right now and I will try not to just repeat what WK said although he is correct.

When making a new equipment you will find that Hagane and Silver/Damascus can not be combined in the game until new game plus when the last black smith shop is accessible. You will want to keep a weapon with certain affinities so you got something that for all enemies. I know a silver dagger is great for undead, evil, and phantoms. You will find that some of the classes will work better then others so it's not necessary to have 1 for each enemy Example: 1 for only humans, 1 for only beasts. You want to try and group them without ruining the weapon completely. So Human and beast work well, and I have another for just dragons. Those are my three weapons.

If you are in a dungeon where you are collecting treasure and you have 8 weapons already you should go ahead and dismantle them in a certain way. You will find that some weapons when dismantled will hold two or more items. Some weapons when dismantled make a weaker blade. This can not be reversed when you put it back together how it was. So say you have a short blade when you dismantle it you get a rapier. You need to not do that and find another weapon to dismantle so it stays the same weapon. That has worked well for me in the past.

Always make use of the container. Throw all equipment you aren't using in so you have room for more. You can pull them out once you reach a shop and then combine them.

While you attack someone and you miss on the first go, DON'T attack anymore. Having this happen you will then only take 0 on the first chain, 1 on the second, 2 on the third and so on when you successfully hit. This builds up risk fast. Instead always chain the direct hits and keep on your toes.

[Mercen-X]

If it was available on PS3, I'd buy it if I owned a PS3 and if I could convert my PS memory card data to PS3 readable data.

It's on the PSN. And you can buy a memory card converter I think :p

I will now buy a PS3... in three years...

[Shattered Dreamer]

To shock you all, I really didn't like Vagrant Story. I gave the game 15 hours & just couldn't bring myself to play on any further. The control system annoyed me & I didn't really like the visual style of the game. That was 2 years ago so maybe I'll give it another go at some stage but I felt it just doesn't live up to it's reputation of being one of the best PSX games ever released :(

[Pete for President]

I think you should get a silver knife very soon which has great affinity against evil and phantom. And if I remember, it also chains very well. Useful against the ghosts you find in the catacombs.

Found this one! Very helpful. Also, just reached the first workshop. I took some time to experiment with the weapon system, but there wasn't too much to benefit from yet except for 1 combination making an awesome human killer.

[champagne supernova]

I think you should get a silver knife very soon which has great affinity against evil and phantom. And if I remember, it also chains very well. Useful against the ghosts you find in the catacombs.

Found this one! Very helpful. Also, just reached the first workshop. I took some time to experiment with the weapon system, but there wasn't too much to benefit from yet except for 1 combination making an awesome human killer.

It's quite funny, because I remember also doing something similar in my first play.

[Pete for President]

Saw my first game over screens today. Died once by a Golem, and a few times by the Dragon boss.

Both fights made me realize just how fragile you are when you're slacking in concentration or equipment.

[Dreddz]

Its an acquired taste but I guess its worth buying on the basis that so many people like the game. I personally found it boring and nearly everyone accuses me of simply not figuring out how to play the game but I can assure you that isn't true. Just not for me.

[Pete for President]

Currently at the Wyvern Boss. Had to use a guide here. Seriously, I'm still a bit lost in the enemy department. I can't seem to figure out their weaknesses. I have this analysis spell, but I'm having a hard time actually noticing any info. Does anyone have a tip or two?

[Saber]

yes use your enchantment spells to give your weapon a element they are weak to. This will help a lot when you are having trouble hurting them. In the end you will just have to level up your class for certain types as previously mentioned. The gems you can equip will also help raise your "Affinity" or your "Class" as well as boost your stats. The object of the game is to use the menu for every encounter. Sooner or later you will get use to the game. I'm down to the last five bosses before I get to new game plus.

[Pete for President]

yes use your enchantment spells to give your weapon a element they are weak to. This will help a lot when you are having trouble hurting them. In the end you will just have to level up your class for certain types as previously mentioned. The gems you can equip will also help raise your "Affinity" or your "Class" as well as boost your stats. The object of the game is to use the menu for every encounter. Sooner or later you will get use to the game. I'm down to the last five bosses before I get to new game plus.

Thanks! The enchantment spells have only recently made their entry. Very helpful though!

However, I still have a problem with actually finding out what enemies weaknesses are. Example; at the Wyvern boss, how was I supposed to know his tail is weak to Edged weapons? I just don't see how I could've known that other than good old trial and error. Any info on this?

[Saber]

There are some places where you will be completely unprepared. A good option is to use the defense break arts that reflect damage back. During some boss battles I would do no damage at all even on their weak spot. My advise is to raise risk as high as possible so your heal spell is the most powerful. The higher the risk the more you cure for. Then time it right and reflect the damage he does to you back on him.

As for knowing what a monster is weak for, unless you skim ahead in guides you will most likely not know.

[Pete for President]

As for knowing what a monster is weak for, unless you skim ahead in guides you will most likely not know.

You know I'm absolutely no expert, but I found this hard to believe and did some searching. I came across this tip in a very helpful guide and it might be what I've been looking for (haven't tested it yet though);


Whenever you enter a new room, call up the Status screen and use L1 & R1 to cycle. All of the monsters in that room are
instantly revealed and displayed. If you wish, you can immediately check the items they're carrying by using the CIRCLE button. Successfully using the Analyze spell merely fills in the ??? entries with firm details, enabling you to check creature status info on elemental / type rating defences with the SQUARE button, or individual equipment info with the CIRCLE button followed by status info cycling.

[Pete for President]

Getting the hang of it now. Haven't seen a game over screen for quite a while and I've noticed the benefits of combining equipment. Figured out how to beat a couple bosses without any help (including Earth Dragon), so I'm getting confident. About my whereabouts; I just made it through the Snowfly Forest. Which was a pain to navigate. Argh.

[Pete for President]

Finished it, loved it. Once I got past the first few tough bosses (like the first Dragon) and the Fusion spells were available the game wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. The cutscenes could use a slightly faster pace, taking into consideration the many hours spent in the workshop slows your progress story wise dramatically.


Anyway I loved the ending and how Sydney actually turns out to be the good guy and gets easily (and tragically) defeated by Guildenstern. This in contradiction to what the cutscenes make the player believe at first, picturing Sydney as the bad guy with powers unmatched, unaware of the much stronger hidden powers of Guildenstern.


So yeah, loved it. Might go back for a new game+.

[Wolf Kanno]

Congratulations, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. Most people never finish VS which is a shame cause the story is awesome and its ending is beautiful. Go ahead and tackle New Game +, you will unlock the Iron Maiden section of Lea Monde where the strongest bosses in the game are located and its possible to acquire the best Great Sword in the game (which conveniently has the best Gemstone in the game that grants high affinity for all types and elements). You can also try to finish up the achievement section or try to acquire some of the games rare item drops like the Minotaur Mace and Sydney's Sword. :D

[Big D]

New Game+ is definitely worth it. I finally started truly getting on top of equipment and combat on my second playthrough, and the extra explorable dungeons and secrets are brilliant.

Remember encountering doors that you couldn't pass in your original game because they're "sealed with the rood inverse"? Well, thanks to the ending, Ashley's now wearing the Rood Inverse on his back so you can now get into those new areas and encounter some truly phenomenal super-bosses and labyrinthine passageways.

Plus, you'll have the chance to start finding and hoarding all the best equipment and magic, till you're strong enough that you're one-shotting even the toughest storyline bosses.

[Bolivar]

If it was available on PS3, I'd buy it if I owned a PS3 and if I could convert my PS memory card data to PS3 readable data.

There's a cool little block you can buy for that. Also works for PS2 games if you got that kind of BC model. Not sure if Sony still makes them since taking PS2 BC out but you can probably get it pre-owned for cheap.

[Pete for President]

Congratulations, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. Most people never finish VS which is a shame cause the story is awesome and its ending is beautiful. Go ahead and tackle New Game +, you will unlock the Iron Maiden section of Lea Monde where the strongest bosses in the game are located and its possible to acquire the best Great Sword in the game (which conveniently has the best Gemstone in the game that grants high affinity for all types and elements). You can also try to finish up the achievement section or try to acquire some of the games rare item drops like the Minotaur Mace and Sydney's Sword. :D


New Game+ is definitely worth it. I finally started truly getting on top of equipment and combat on my second playthrough, and the extra explorable dungeons and secrets are brilliant.

Remember encountering doors that you couldn't pass in your original game because they're "sealed with the rood inverse"? Well, thanks to the ending, Ashley's now wearing the Rood Inverse on his back so you can now get into those new areas and encounter some truly phenomenal super-bosses and labyrinthine passageways.

Plus, you'll have the chance to start finding and hoarding all the best equipment and magic, till you're strong enough that you're one-shotting even the toughest storyline bosses.

I wanted to start the new game+ yesterday but noticed all the misc items were gone, so I reloaded my Atrium save and used up all the grimoires I had left. Afterwards I dug into the equipment box and started combining just about everything I had left, forging some powerful blades like an Hagane Halberd and an Hagane Destroyer.

Glad I did that, cause that means I'll be using different weapons on the new game+. Can't wait to beat the final boss using an overpowered great sword/axe.

[qazw]

yeah, it well well worth getting

[Pete for President]

Flying through the new game+, already past the Snowfly Forest in just 4,5 hours. A lot of the dialogues make more sense this time around.

[Pete for President]

Ran through the Iron Maiden B2 and B3 using a guide and reached the 100% treasure chest count. Now I'm on a 94 map percentage with still some areas left in the Iron Maiden, Snowfly Forest and ofcourse the time trials (if they count). Haven't beaten any of the harder 6 time trial boss fights yet, but I might give it a try soon.

Also forged some awesome stuff like a dread shield and jazeraint armour pieces. After the time trials I'll see how quick I can kill that final boss using a Rune Blade. I still have some questions storywise though, like:

Why was de duke's sone kidnapped in the first place? Was this an excuse to lure in Riskbreakers as well as the Crimson Blades?

And why was Sydney looking for a successor? And what had hiding the key to do with it?


Some answers would be highly appreciated : )

[Wolf Kanno]

Why was de duke's sone kidnapped in the first place? Was this an excuse to lure in Riskbreakers as well as the Crimson Blades?

This is actually one of the loose plot threads in VS. The game never gives a real reason why, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was all an elaborate trap to lure a few people to Lea Monde. Though this is speculation, I figured that Sydney did this to protect his father by keeping Joshua out of harms way, cause if Joshua was loose, Parliament or the Crimson Blades may have kidnapped him and used him to force the Duke to hand over Sydney and the Blood Sin. It's also possible that Sydney did it to create a visible "cutting of ties" to his father, since it appears most of the villains know he was secretly funding Mullenkamp.


And why was Sydney looking for a successor? And what had hiding the key to do with it?


Both Sydney and the Duke saw the Blood Sin as a curse, especially when you've got people in the government and church who want it for their own schemes. After the Duke saved Sydney's life as a child by transferring the Rood Inverse onto his back, Sydney made a vow to his father that he would rid the family of the curse of the Dark. So he had to find someone who would not misuse the power and that's why he chose Ashley.

[Pete for President]

Why was de duke's sone kidnapped in the first place? Was this an excuse to lure in Riskbreakers as well as the Crimson Blades?

This is actually one of the loose plot threads in VS. The game never gives a real reason why, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was all an elaborate trap to lure a few people to Lea Monde. Though this is speculation, I figured that Sydney did this to protect his father by keeping Joshua out of harms way, cause if Joshua was loose, Parliament or the Crimson Blades may have kidnapped him and used him to force the Duke to hand over Sydney and the Blood Sin. It's also possible that Sydney did it to create a visible "cutting of ties" to his father, since it appears most of the villains know he was secretly funding Mullenkamp.


And why was Sydney looking for a successor? And what had hiding the key to do with it?


Both Sydney and the Duke saw the Blood Sin as a curse, especially when you've got people in the government and church who want it for their own schemes. After the Duke saved Sydney's life as a child by transferring the Rood Inverse onto his back, Sydney made a vow to his father that he would rid the family of the curse of the Dark. So he had to find someone who would not misuse the power and that's why he chose Ashley.

Thanks for clarifying. Also, gotta love Grissom's fate.

[Pete for President]

Beat the Asura time trial today. Hurray!

[Necronopticous]

I'm late to the party here, but I'm really glad you see that you picked up Vagrant Story and saw it through. It is an incredible game that is easily and often overlooked. Back when I was playing this game religiously I crafted a god sword with 100 points in all classes and affinities with the most powerful one-handed blade in the game (acquirable as a rare drop from some of the toughest enemies in the deepest sections of the Iron Maiden). The entire process took something like 25 hours of gameplay. The end result is amazing--It is incredible to be able to blow through the game and dish out 500+ damage on basically every enemy/boss in the game in a single hit. At one point in my life I considered pursuing the Grand Master Breaker rank, but that was back in my college days when I actually had time to sit around and endlessly grind in games.

[Del Murder]

Well I just downloaded Vagrant Story as well as Threads of Fate and Legend of Mana off PSN to add to my PSP library. I'm sick of waiting around for a neoclassic JRPG to come out so I'll just play some old school RPGs instead.

[Pete for President]

Well I just downloaded Vagrant Story as well as Threads of Fate and Legend of Mana off PSN to add to my PSP library. I'm sick of waiting around for a neoclassic JRPG to come out so I'll just play some old school RPGs instead.

Awesome : )

[black orb]

>>> I played it for 10 minutes and stopped, the battle system just wasnt my thing.. But I heard the story was pretty good or something, so I guess is worth getting..:luca:

[Big D]

It may take an hour or two - possibly an entire play-through - to get totally used to the combat system. It's probably not the kind of battle that can feel normal or intuitive after only ten minutes... wasn't for me at any rate. I remember being quite confused and annoyed by it for a long time before the pieces started falling into place, especially after enduring those long, early boss battles where you end up chaining dozens of attacks only to do 2 or 2 damage per hit.

[Del Murder]

I've just recently started this game and I don't really understand it. The biggest challenge for me is that the Circle button is confirm and X is cancel, when most SE games have been the other way around for years!

I also really suck at chaining attacks.

[Wolf Kanno]

Chaining takes practice and experimentation. Certain attacks have different animations and chain timing so definetly mix and match until you find a combination that works for your pace.

As for the buttons, I believe that was actually normal for the PSX generation because the button layouts are the same as the Japanese setup, I'm pretty sure both FFVII, FFTactics, and Xenogears at least used that same button setup.

[Del Murder]

They did! But then it changed and I got used to the other way. In most of those games you can change the button layout to match the contemporary way, but I don't see that option in Vagrant Story.

[Wolf Kanno]

You're just going to have to play the game raw baby. This is old school, the player has to conform to the game, not the other way around. :tongue:

[Del Murder]

We'll see if I'm still that kind of gamer. Currently getting capital P pwned by what I believe is the second boss. It's some suit of armor possessed by evil. I'm only doing 1 damage to it while he pounds me for 50 at a time. I understand the concept of building weapons to go against each type of enemy, but I don't think there have been any other 'Evil' type enemies left. So how do I build up power to beat this thing?

[Wolf Kanno]

You may either need to play around customizing your weapons in the workshop or play around with where you are targetting the boss cause some parts of their bodies are weak points while others won't take damage unless you have high affinity.

[Del Murder]

I'm not even at a workshop yet!

[Wolf Kanno]

You may have passed one then, cause there should be a workshop in the catacombs I thought. :confused:

[Del Murder]

I'm still in the Wine Cellar. I'm literally on the second boss in the game.

I just read online that there is a treasure in the boss room that has a spear in it and that's useful against him. Also, I forgot I have a cure spell. Those two things should be enough.

[Del Murder]

Yeah, that did it. Having a cure spell helps!

[Wolf Kanno]

How do you forget the cornerstone of RPG dungeon crawling that is the Cure spell?

[Del Murder]

I thought you didn't unlock spells until later because I didn't see them in the menu. I didn't realize that you had to use the spell as an item first for it to appear.

[Necronopticous]

Del! I am so proud of you right now.

[Del Murder]

For using my spell items? Yeah, I'm a big boy.

I'm into this game now. I can get level 2 or 3 chains pretty consistently, and I just got the silver knife that was alluded to earlier in this thread. I'll try and make that my undead weapon.

How do you know what type of enemy you are facing? I'm fighting hellhounds and I don't know if they are Beast or Undead. When I open up the fight bubble it says beast but a guide I am using calls them undead, and it appears that they give me skillups on the Undead part.

[Necronopticous]

Your fight bubble is correct. They are beast class. I don't know why your guide says otherwise. More likely, you are seeing your undead be negatively affected. Have you turned on the option that shows you when you get +/- class/affinity values? If not, you should definitely turn that on. I think it is off by default.


>-+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-<·
Gained pts. Human - Beast - Undead - Phantom - Dragon - Evil
>-+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-<·
Decreased pts. Beast - Undead - Phantom - Dragon - Evil - Human
Undead - Phantom - Dragon - Evil - Human - Beast
>-+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-<·

It is worth noting that affinity is quite a bit more important than enemy class in damage calculation, so while you should focus on using and building weapons for specific enemy classes, when you start enchanting/socketing your eqiupment to boost damage you should always prioritize affinity over class for the maximum benefit.

[Del Murder]

Does affinity mean elemental affinity? I've been going under the impression class is the best to focus on.

[Necronopticous]

The three things that matter most about your weapon as far as damage calculation is concerned are type (blunt, piercing, etc), affinity (water, fire, etc), and class (beast, undead, etc). The amount of points you have vs the amount of points the target defends against in each of these categories is going to determine how effective your attacks are, and they all matter, but some are more heavily weighted in the calculation. Type is the most weighted of the three, affinity is the second most weighted, and class is actually last. The reason why it is common to focus on class when building your weapons throughout the game is because it is by far the easiest of the three categories to continually modify (since you just use certain weapons on certain enemies consistently), and while not as weighted as the other categories, is still a very important piece. Later you will be using lots of buffs & debuffs, as well as socketing your weapons with gems that boost affinities--this is where you are going to shine in the elemental affinity category. Pull out your best weapon for whatever enemy class the boss is, socket it with gems that boost your elemental attacks on the element he is weakest against, and then use your buffs/debuffs to exacerbate the differential.

[Del Murder]

I am super addicted to this game now. I spend an hour in each Blacksmith upgrading all my stuff. I play this more than my current console game (Skyward Sword).

I see what you mean by affinity. I went up against a fire demon and did 0 damage to it and died. Then I went into the room before it and found a spell that increased the water affinity on a weapon. After using that I was able to do damage and kill him easily. I like how there are particular things that will give you an advantage in each boss fight, and that exploration around the boss room will yield you useful things for the fight.

[Necronopticous]

You are rocking it, man. Keep it up.

Based on what you said, it sounds like you recently made your first surface inside of Lea Monde. I always find that to be a particularly relieving and memorable scene in the game. Most of the time you are underground or in some sort of enclosed cavern or dungeon, which gives the game a very claustrophobic mood. The stark contrast of the brief outdoor scenes almost feel like coming up for a breath of air after being underwater. I especially like that first surface since they so quickly plunge you back into the underground. Very unsettling.

[Del Murder]

Yeah I thought the whole city was underground at first.

I hit my first chain 8! I can chain like crazy now. Though it's harder with spear since the timing is different (I use spear, sword, and dagger). What's the highest chain you've gotten?

What's the best chain abilities? I mainly just swap between the one that does an extra damage hit and the one that recovers MP (that one is pretty broken since it makes you pretty much invincible as long as you can do damage and chain).

[Necronopticous]

I tried for a long time to hit the 30x chain for the title you get for it, but could never quite get it. I think the closest I got was 24 or something, but it has been a long time.

For chain abilities I like the ones you mentioned as well as the one that restores DP to make my weapons hold out longer (important since repairing takes away your PP and your weapons do the best damage when they have DP and PP). Also, a little later on in the game you will probably want to start using chain abilities that add good status effects like disable/silence so you can get a handle on harder normal enemies (especially in groups) without your risk going through the roof.

[Del Murder]

Is Silver not better than Hagane? I upgraded some stuff to Silver and found that the strength and intelligence are actually worse than the Hagane equivalent. Is there a use for Silver?

[Wolf Kanno]

Silver is a specialty metal, it has high affinity against undead, spirits, and evil. Hagane is better for actual combat overall and works as the main metal type for everything until you get some of the rare stuff. Damascus is the material you really want but it's both rare and difficult to make.

[Del Murder]

This game makes me disappointed. Disappointed that I didn't discover it until now! It's been pretty awesome.

Just when I think the game is getting a little too repetitive, it throws something new at me. I was dreading having to go back through half the town to unlock those doors when I got the right key, but then I got the Teleportation spell.

[Necronopticous]

Had Yazmat given us the ability to cycle through weapons without menucrawling, Vagrant Story just might be a perfect video game.

Good to hear you are still playing, Del.

[Del Murder]

After I got the hang of things I was able to cruise right through most of the bosses in this game. But now I'm at the final boss and he's kicking my butt. I can barely do any damage to him and even after a good half hour of chipping down his HP with my 5 damage strikes, he kills me in one hit with Bloody Sin. Any tips?

[Necronopticous]

My best general advice would be to come packing 8 weapons all full on PP and hit him hard with Phantom Pain on all of them, then resort to your chipping tactics to finish him off. Blow ALL of your items. Keep yourself fully healed at pretty much all times to stay alive during his regular attacks. Keep your risk at 0. Keep Magic Ward on at all times. The best way to survive Bloody Sin is to not let him use it at all--it can actually be cancelled if you hit him as he flies above you in preparation. When you notice he is going for it, get in the middle of the platform and continually "pause" with your game with the L2 shortcut menu until you see him just above you, then smack him with your longest range break art. Go for it!

[Del Murder]

I read about hitting him with L2 before he does it. Problem is that I'm using a PSP to play this game and there is no L2 'button'. You have to use the analog stick to get to L2 and it's tricky. I'll give it another go tonight.

[Necronopticous]

How did it go?

[Del Murder]

I beat it! I was never able to avoid Bloody Sin completely but by keeping my RISK low it didn't do too much damage. At that point it was just a matter of chipping away and keeping Magic Ward active.

[Necronopticous]

Congrats man. Welcome to the shamefully small club. What are your final impressions? Are you going to explore New Game+? Do you have any other post-game goals?

[Del Murder]

This game certainly surprised me. At first glance it seemed kind of weird and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. I'm not really a big fan of dungeon crawlers in general. The depth of this game is what got me hooked. The armor system is very addictive and there's a lot of variety to it. I personally love when there are tons of armor slots and weapon types at my disposal and this certainly delivered. The battles are also fun, and I like that it combines action and platforming elements in real time with a menu-based battle system. That's pretty much ideal. The story appeared well written and well paced but I was pretty confused by it most of the time so I couldn't really get into it.

I'm currently sitting on 81% map completion so I'm going to try New Game+ and see if I can get 100%. Unless you start your map from 0% on NG+, in which case, smurf that. I'm sure I can spend a ton more hours building up an ultimate weapon and armor set but the game seems easy enough without having to do that so I probably won't bother.

[Pete for President]

I feel bad for not having checked back here. Apologies! And of course congrats to Del. I've been getting urges to dive back into Vagrant Story. It's just... so satisfying. And I'm not too sure why, but for some reason I want to hear the sound of a great axe rip through enemies again. Must be the exceptionally awesome sound design. Seriously, this game deserves a 10 for that.

Maybe I'll start a new game... :shifty: