Characters like Sydney, Rosencrantz, Hardin, and Guildenstern all have distinct personalities and desires that make Ashley question which of the parties in LeГЎ Monde is a foe and which, if any, is a friend. ThereвЂ™s plenty of dialogue in the game, and most of it comes across as believable despite the fantastic setting. And though Ashley is certainly the focus of the story, the gameвЂ™s other characters are distinct, each with their own motivation for being in LeГЎ Monde and seeking out its dark powers. From a design standpoint, LeГЎ Monde is as well designed as the gameвЂ™s other characters. As a dungeon-based game, thereвЂ™s a lot of darkness and many torchlit halls to traverse, but thereвЂ™s also water, forest, and cleverly-designed architecture. The overall tone of the game is also quite unique, with the setting of LeГЎ Monde almost acting as its own character within the game. Most importantly, the pace of the story fits very well with the pace of the game thereвЂ™s always a new scene to see that pushes the story forward, and the game never drags on. While the narrative of the story can be a little confusing at times, with little in the way of solid fact and much in the way of hearsay from the many characters, overall the story is strong. Bits and pieces of his past come to light even as he gains in power and internalizes much of the magic of LeГЎ Monde. What he finds in LeГЎ Monde is a conflict between the powerful church of Valendia and SydneyвЂ™s cult over the magical power that flows through the city and gives unlife to the dead.ДЄshley RiotвЂ™s journey is as much internal as it is through the catacombs and streets of LeГЎ Monde. Along with another agent of the VKP, a young woman named Merlose, Ashley enters the forbidding city through an underground passage. Sydney demonstrates powerful magic (something unheard of in Valendia) and escapes with the DukeвЂ™s son, leaving Ashley to follow him to the abandoned and cursed city of LeГЎ Monde. When Ashley is sent to investigate a Duke and his connection with the cult MВЁllenkamp, he encounters the cultвЂ™s leader, the mysterious and powerful Sydney Losstarot. Riskbreakers are special agents, always working alone, skilled warriors on highly secret missions. Vagrant Story is the tale of Ashley Riot, Riskbreaker, charged with maintaining order on the continent of Valendia through any means necessary. But quality still remains, and this game certainly deserves a place in the library of most fans of RPGs. In fact, it suffers from many gameplay artifacts of the PSOne era: choppy graphics, less-than-ideal camera angles, and artifacts of an outdated save system. But thatвЂ™s not to say that Vagrant Story is a perfect game. All of this makes for a solid game from a holistic standpoint, and far more deserving of the title вЂњPSOne ClassicвЂќ than some of the other offerings on the platform. At its heart, Vagrant Story is a dungeon crawler with a robust system of weapon and armor crafting, couched in an ethereal story with an unreliable protagonist. Vagrant Story was something of a departure from SquareвЂ™s turn-based RPG roots at the time of its initial release. Even if Vagrant Story shows a few artifacts of its turn-of-the-century design, it still remains a dungeon crawler with enough complexity to make it addictive and fun to play eleven years later. Though SquareSoft (now Square Enix) released Vagrant Story back in 2000, the PSone Classic re-release of the game plays about as well as many contemporary action RPGs. Especially when itвЂ™s not a game IвЂ™d ever played before. IвЂ™m not what youвЂ™d call a вЂњretro gamer,вЂќ so itвЂ™s always a surprise when I can pick up a game from a decade or more past and immediately enjoy it.

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