Vagrant Story 25th Anniversary

Yasumi Matsuno has never made a bad game. I like everything he directed. And Vagrant Story is, especially given that it was made for the PS1, a fucking masterpiece.
On some other, more worthy timeline than ours, Matsuno is one of the most successful auteurs in the gaming industry instead of burning out.
 
On some other, more worthy timeline than ours, Matsuno is one of the most successful auteurs in the gaming industry instead of burning out.
In my utopia, we would've gotten another mainline Final Fantasy set in Ivalice. It's genuinely my favorite setting Square have ever put out. Just... this time without teenagers like Vaan and Penelo in the main cast.
 
Yasumi Matsuno has never made a bad game. I like everything he directed. And Vagrant Story is, especially given that it was made for the PS1, a fucking masterpiece.

He is GOATed.

FFXII is my fave JRPG ever.
Vagrant Story my fave dungeon crawler ever.
FFT and TO both share best SRPG ever
 
What a blast from the past. I played the hell out of it on the PS1. Great writing and overall grown-up, sombre tone to it. Wonder if or how much Miyazaki was inspired by this thinking out his own ideas. Dark Souls always reminded me of it, aesthetics and tone.
 
My #1 favorite PS1 game, have beaten it twice. Once when it first released, then again 15 years later. It's a masterpiece I'd like to see come back remastered, but only if Yasumi Matsuno could helm the project.
 
This might be one of the first games I play on my shiny new SuperStation one when it comes in.

EDIT: Still working on convincing the waifu to let me take someone's old CRT.
 
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Absolute banger of a game. Bought it day one back then, and was confused for a bit but once you had it down.. excellent.

I always found it a bit odd that this game never really held or exceeded its price like Vandal Hearts or Suikoden back in the day. It was just as good and from the shops I went in back then, just as rare

I have a feeling the gameplay never really caught on and made it the hit it really was.
 
Fantastic game, amazing art and sound, cool style for the storytelling. Sadly I never finished it back in the day.
 
I would love if they ever did a remaster or remake. I've tried this when I was a wee lad, and confused AF.

I love the art style and world so I hope they do something with it. Even a shitty port to play it on PSN.
 
This game is so fucking amazing in the art department, the OST by Okamoto is equally impressive and full of emotion. I am not in love with the gameplay but I messed with it as little as possible, as long as I was able to beat the enemies and bosses I carried on without overcomplicating my life, I finished it like 3 or 4 times. I started a run a few months back didn't complete it. I will revisit it once I have some time.
I remember it was called a Metal Gear Solid RPG or something along the lines, but MGS inspired Matsuno's team to include facial animation on the characters.
AI could be used to remake such gems, and just spend money on voice actors if needed.
 
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Am
PSX era Square was incredible.

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Amazing!

EviLore EviLore brother, this game is one of the greatest games of all time.
 
Great game but the mechanics were quite off-putting for many, I remember being supppppppeer hyped about it but it just fell flat compared to other RPGs. I don't think it was that popular. The script/translation was also a bit too melodramatic and clumsy.

Still the game deserves a re-release like Tactics Ogre that changed quite a few things between releases but still maintained its quality.
 
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I would love if they ever did a remaster or remake. I've tried this when I was a wee lad, and confused AF.

I love the art style and world so I hope they do something with it. Even a shitty port to play it on PSN.
 
I've had this one sitting on my shelf for about 25 years. I feel like this thread was timely.

I didn't understand the mechanics for it when I rented it originally in 1998 was it? But I absolutely loved the visuals and the battle system was much different from the traditional turn-based stuff we were getting at that time. PS1-era Square is my favorite iteration of the company. They haven't been back to those heights in a long time now.

But I will say this, I don't want this game remade. Everything that makes it so unique, I am convinced it would get lost in translation with current developers. It just comes from an era when game devs were still gamers. I have no doubt a remake would fuck everything up entirely.

That all being said, I will be moving this to the to play pile now. Thanks EviLore EviLore
 
I played the ever loving shit out of this growing up.

If ever a game deserved a remaster/remake, this is it. Would easily be a day 1 purchase for me.
 
That was an holy trinity of games, holy shit, when square was still good, it was super fucking good.
Back then, Squaresoft was on FIRE.

Bushido Blade, Ehrgheiz, Einhander, Threads of Fate, Parasite Eve, Final Fantasy Tactics.....shit man you were in for a fucking good time.

Edit: HOW COULD I FORGET SAGA FRONTIER 1 & 2?
 
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I would love if they ever did a remaster or remake. I've tried this when I was a wee lad, and confused AF.

I love the art style and world so I hope they do something with it. Even a shitty port to play it on PSN.
I bought it again on PS3 - but I dont know if it plays on PS5?
 
He is GOATed.

FFXII is my fave JRPG ever.
Vagrant Story my fave dungeon crawler ever.
FFT and TO both share best SRPG ever
You speak the truth.

FFXII: Zodiac Age elevates it from a 9/10 to a 10/10, imho. The ability to speed up stuff via button press is awesome.
 
You had my hopes up there for a second. I thought a remaster or remake was coming.... no such luck. boo!!!!

Really this being locked on the ps1 is ridiculous (can say the same for tons of other games, parasite eve, musashi, mega man legends, alundra, road rash 3d, etc....) Sony doesn't care, but they don't own the rights either so why isn't square celebrating this game with an aniversary re-release on the switch?
 
I bought it again on PS3 - but I dont know if it plays on PS5?
You can't , only sony first party games are on the ps5 and only a handful of them. They don't give to shits about backwards compatibility Jim Ryan said so himself. They used to, but that was when Ken Kutaragi, Kaz hurai and Jack Trentton were in charge of playstation. Back when they made games.

Thing is none of the games are sony first party anyway Why isn't square, konami and others releasing remasterd ps1 and ps2 games on the switch and pc. It's instant nostalgia cash. I don't get it. I'd buy them all.
 
Sensational game. I remember my first playthrough being bricked because I didn't fully understand the weapon affinity system and ended up in a boss fight doing 1 damage with every attack. Came back to it a few years later and absolutely swept the game, a sensational bit of gaming.
 
I always wanted to play this and just never got around to it. I had always hoped that there'd be a remaster or something. I should probably just get into it next time there's a lull.
 
I feel like this what FFXVI was trying to do aligns more with VS. make no mistake though, VS' combat is deeper
 
I tried a couple of times getting into it because it checks a lot of my boxes. Unfortunately the gameplay is too slow, combat feels just like mashing a button to get more turns than the enemies, and the jumping, climbing, block pushing puzzle aren't great. Of course it's a product of its time and that's how it was but playing it now instead of back then without any nostalgia making you look past that is difficult.
 
Never played it back in the day, but always wanted to because I hear such great things. I have it on Vita, need to prioritize it one of these days.
 
I used Duckstation for this replay, which lets it run in HD and without most of the warping. Still holds up graphically thanks to the great art direction.
DuckStation, when set up properly (sometimes a specific game needs tailoring to) is one of the best ways to enjoy these old games. I might sound like I keep repeating myself, here, but it really does breath new life into these games. Any form of retro gaming that enhances the originals without compromising the artistic vision is good in my book.

Vagrant Story is one of those games that seriously improved when playing through. Butter smooth, sharp and crispy looking textures without the polygon warping. Something about linear interpolation on ps1 hardware? I'm glad this Emu fixes that.. PS1 games can come off like improved ports with this fix applied.
Silent Hiill 1 and Xenogears had a lot of that warping, both felt like improved ports on this emu.
 
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Quite possibly the best videogame ever crafted.
I finished Vagrant Story at least 4 times in the past 25 years.
One of a kind gameplay, atmosphere, dialogue.
Matsuno is truly a genius.

Im currently playing Ogre Battle 1 on Sega Saturn. Another Matsuno masterpiece.
 
Never got to play it but it always looked interesting to me. It's just that back then I didn't have access to many games and I kind of remember looking at some pictures and knowing it was Square.

Kind of difficult to get a copy nowdays, right?
 
Great game. Crappy emulator shots, holds up better in low res super dithered low bit glory as God intended (that means every element fits rather than separate, models are as jagged as the unfiltered pixel art textures/faces/backgrounds - but I guess fixing polygon/texture warping + crt filter is ok).
 
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I've never actually finished the game, though my last attempt a few years back was a lot of fun. I respect that this game is so over the top with mechanics to manipulate. Someday, I'll finally conquer it.

Also, the game looks great visually. As someone mentioned a couple posts up, it really doesn't look great with smoothed out emulator shots, but piped through the Retrotink 4K with a proper CRT filter? Really impressive stuff.
 
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Also, give me Vagrant Story, Xenogears and Front Mission 3

FFVII, FF Tactics, Xenogears and Vagrant Story are all in my top 50 of all-time

No Vagrant Story, Alundra, Vandal Hearts, Front Mission 3 or a bunch of other classics I'd happily buy and replay again

Day 1, shoutout to Matsuno, give me Vagrant Story too.

1998 - MGS, Zelda:OoT, FF Tactics
1999 - Silent Hill, CTR, Soul Caliber (DC)
2000 - Vagrant Story
2001 - MGS2
2002 - Metroid Prime, Windwaker

To be clear, I want these PS1 classics with trophy support:

Vagrant Story
Xenogears
Vandal Hearts

the darkly magical Vagrant Story

Bring back Vagrant Story, Xenogears and Parasite Eve

As a huge Final Fantasy fan there are numerous Square games from that PS1 golden age I'd take before IX to get the remaster/remake treatment be it Vagrant Story, Xenogears, FF Tactics, FFVIII or Parasite Eve

The PS1 represents the Golden Age of Square, was hoping to see characters from FF VII-IX, Tactics, Parasite Eve, Vagrant story etc

where the fuck are my Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve, FF Tactics and Xenogears remasters Square?

Has anyone on GAF shouted out this game more than I have? Probably not lol. Stone cold classic, give it to me Square, overdue.
 
I finished this game 4 years ago and I gotta say it was good. I hated it when I was a kid but appreciated the game more now as an adult. TBH I don't think the kid in me would like this game back then because it's complicated and it can get hard.
 
That intro would be censored to fuck for modern audiences.
 
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That into would be censored to fuck for modern audiences.
True, otherwise folks would rage, what with the dude protagonist's name being Ashley and his asscheeks hanging out instead of Callo's. Also cos of the various men in skirts, corsets, catsuits and more unorthodox clothing choices alongside their apparent devotion to/obsession with other men 🤷‍♂️
 
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