Vagrant Story is superbly written, with one of the best English translations of its era. Fascinating and varied characters, with an explorable environment which is stunningly beautiful and detailed by PS1 standards.

The combat system is a downside, but only at first. It'll make sense if you've read the instructions before playing, and the New Game Plus feature means you can build on your experience with each subsequent playthrough, while also discovering new areas and new snippets of story.

The game is nominally connected to the FF universe, Ivalice to be precise, though it stands on its own as an example of great world-building in a relatively short tale. Politics, religion, history, personal struggles - there's a lot built into the fine details, with some parts of the story told upfront, other lore hidden in the details, and some left intentionally mysterious so that you need to come to your own conclusions.

I've probably talked it up a bit much, but it's only because I really admire the game and what it meant to me. I'd personally rate it a "must-play" in the action/puzzle RPG milieu.

On an unrelated sociological note, it's significant as a rare example of what appear to be deliberately minimalist or sexualised costumes on male characters. Lots of low-cut pants with seemingly gratuitous ventilation, etc.