Media: Video Game (Playstation One, available on later platforms as well, released in 2000.)
Approx length: 24 - 30 hours playtime, or two hours to watch the cut scenes.
Where to find it: Watch all the cut scenes as a movie, or Playstation (discs or download). See the concept art here.
What is it, in summary?
Would you like:
An iron woobie, one man army with memory/identity tropes and, it must be said, assless battle shorts?
A sorcerer prophet with metal limbs, claws, and a magical tattoo that binds him to The Dark, a supernatural force that may or may not be sentient? And telepathy powers that let him play on the woobie's memory issues? And, it also must be said, leather pants with a butt cape that do not do up at the front?
A loyal lieutenant to the sorcerer, who will follow him anywhere?
An evil Templar on a mission to steal the supernatural force for ~~his church~~ himself?
A small supporting cast of mercenaries, agents and knights who all get enough story to be interesting?
An abandoned magical city in ruins?
Dragons, zombies, creepy dolls, animate suits of armour, minotaurs, zombie minotaurs, and monsters of all kinds?
Vagrant Story is an RPG style dungeon crawl with a focus on weapons, the creation and use thereof, with a pretty cool story.
Riskbreaker Ashley "I am the reinforcements" Riot, is sent to deal with a situation at a politically important Duke's manor. Cult leader Sydney "I am the hart and you are the hunter" Losstarot is searching for a grimoire there, but when he doesn't find it, escapes to the ruined magical city of Lea Monde. You play as Ashley, fighting his way through Lea Monde's denizens and Sydney's mind games while building better and better gear for yourself.
Meanwhile Romeo Guildenstern commands the cardinal's Crimson Blades, sent to seize the grimoire for the church, and - yes - Rosencrantz is an amoral rival Riskbreaker there to steal Ashley's thunder and play more mind games. Blade officers Tieger and Neesa are a delight.
There are three female characters who get lines. Inquisitor Callo Merlose should be working with Ashley but he's not cooperative, so she's doing her own thing, and she's really cool. She gets superpowers by the end. Lady Samantha gets a terrible storyline, but she has excellent potential. Commander Neesa of the Crimson Blades is a total delight and I wish we got more of her.
The ending is ambiguous enough to leave a lot of room open for post-canon directions.
A warning, if you decide to play this: working out the Snowfly Forest on your own is not worth the trouble. Go look up a map for it. It's a stupid level and every single person who has ever played this game agrees.
What do you love about it?
This game is just visually beautiful. I mean, the in-game graphics are twenty years old, the resolution is pretty horrible, but the concept art gives you enough to go on.
An enemies to allies mind games ship, an iron woobie, and a snarky metal armed sorcerer with claws. CLAWS. Sydney gave up his arms (and possibly his legs, it's a debate) voluntarily in order to become the Rood Bearer, the person who wears the Blood Sin tattoo and therefore is the avatar of The Dark. He can, as a short list, summon creatures, heal himself but not without pain, and use telepathy-like powers to push Ashley into his memories and talk to him there.
Ashley is kind of mentally disintegrating as he fights his way through the game, thanks to Sydney's forcing him to question his memories, and that plus his obsession with catching Sydney to see his mission through is my catnip.
By the end, Ashley, a brute-force fighter, has magic he has very little idea what to do with. It hits my love for "I'm dangerous to other people, I need to go off by myself, oh no, here is my old enemy here to help me" tropes so hard.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it? Likely comics, and maybe fic too. Monster fighting, Ashley and Sydney working together, post-game mentor/student magic learning, Idk, sex magic maybe.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests? See links to cut scenes above.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): There are zombies, and zombies who know they are zombies and are sad about it. There is an instance of betrayal and murder of a female partner by a male character. The violence is not graphic but when there are death scenes they are drawn out.
Vagrant Story
Title: Vagrant Story
Media: Video Game (Playstation One, available on later platforms as well, released in 2000.)
Approx length: 24 - 30 hours playtime, or two hours to watch the cut scenes.
Where to find it: Watch all the cut scenes as a movie, or Playstation (discs or download). See the concept art here.
What is it, in summary?
Would you like:
An iron woobie, one man army with memory/identity tropes and, it must be said, assless battle shorts?
A sorcerer prophet with metal limbs, claws, and a magical tattoo that binds him to The Dark, a supernatural force that may or may not be sentient? And telepathy powers that let him play on the woobie's memory issues? And, it also must be said, leather pants with a butt cape that do not do up at the front?
A loyal lieutenant to the sorcerer, who will follow him anywhere?
An evil Templar on a mission to steal the supernatural force for ~~his church~~ himself?
A small supporting cast of mercenaries, agents and knights who all get enough story to be interesting?
An abandoned magical city in ruins?
Dragons, zombies, creepy dolls, animate suits of armour, minotaurs, zombie minotaurs, and monsters of all kinds?
Vagrant Story is an RPG style dungeon crawl with a focus on weapons, the creation and use thereof, with a pretty cool story.
Riskbreaker Ashley "I am the reinforcements" Riot, is sent to deal with a situation at a politically important Duke's manor. Cult leader Sydney "I am the hart and you are the hunter" Losstarot is searching for a grimoire there, but when he doesn't find it, escapes to the ruined magical city of Lea Monde. You play as Ashley, fighting his way through Lea Monde's denizens and Sydney's mind games while building better and better gear for yourself.
Meanwhile Romeo Guildenstern commands the cardinal's Crimson Blades, sent to seize the grimoire for the church, and - yes - Rosencrantz is an amoral rival Riskbreaker there to steal Ashley's thunder and play more mind games. Blade officers Tieger and Neesa are a delight.
There are three female characters who get lines. Inquisitor Callo Merlose should be working with Ashley but he's not cooperative, so she's doing her own thing, and she's really cool. She gets superpowers by the end. Lady Samantha gets a terrible storyline, but she has excellent potential. Commander Neesa of the Crimson Blades is a total delight and I wish we got more of her.
The ending is ambiguous enough to leave a lot of room open for post-canon directions.
A warning, if you decide to play this: working out the Snowfly Forest on your own is not worth the trouble. Go look up a map for it. It's a stupid level and every single person who has ever played this game agrees.
What do you love about it?
This game is just visually beautiful. I mean, the in-game graphics are twenty years old, the resolution is pretty horrible, but the concept art gives you enough to go on.
An enemies to allies mind games ship, an iron woobie, and a snarky metal armed sorcerer with claws. CLAWS. Sydney gave up his arms (and possibly his legs, it's a debate) voluntarily in order to become the Rood Bearer, the person who wears the Blood Sin tattoo and therefore is the avatar of The Dark. He can, as a short list, summon creatures, heal himself but not without pain, and use telepathy-like powers to push Ashley into his memories and talk to him there.
Ashley is kind of mentally disintegrating as he fights his way through the game, thanks to Sydney's forcing him to question his memories, and that plus his obsession with catching Sydney to see his mission through is my catnip.
By the end, Ashley, a brute-force fighter, has magic he has very little idea what to do with. It hits my love for "I'm dangerous to other people, I need to go off by myself, oh no, here is my old enemy here to help me" tropes so hard.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it? Likely comics, and maybe fic too. Monster fighting, Ashley and Sydney working together, post-game mentor/student magic learning, Idk, sex magic maybe.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests? See links to cut scenes above.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): There are zombies, and zombies who know they are zombies and are sad about it. There is an instance of betrayal and murder of a female partner by a male character. The violence is not graphic but when there are death scenes they are drawn out.