/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.3350502]

I tried so hard to like it. But after 15 hours, I just can't do it anymore. This game is so frustrating.

I understand mostly how the system works. And in fact I specialized 8 weapons, 1 for every affinity (minus Physical). Maybe that's not the mlg pro optimal way to do it, but it worked pretty well since bosses went down very, very fast. But the way combat works can be very tedious, having to slowly and constantly go in the menu sometimes depending on the area. Going through normal areas became such a damn slog.

I respect the game (amazing graphics, intriguing story, and doesn't dumb things down for you) and can understand why a lot of people enjoyed it. But it's not for me.

[Anonymous No.3350510]

I hated this game when it came out. A few years later I bought it on the cheap after PS2 came out because it was one of the ps1 games that took advantage of the PS2's smoothing textures and I thought I'd give it another go. I hated it. I just didn't "get" how the game worked and hated games that I had to use strategy guides on.

[Anonymous No.3350514]

The problem is that you're trying to "respect" a video game. You either enjoy it or you don't, how hard is it to understand that?

[Anonymous No.3350516]

>>3350514

I liked aspects of it which is why I persevered, but ultimately I didn't like it overall which is why I stopped playing.

[Anonymous No.3350725]

Shit game. I've always hated it too. I hate how you only increase one stat after you beat a boss and it's randomly chosen to boot. I hate the healing items you get at the beginning of the game are basically all you're getting, because there sure ain't no shops. The worst crime of this game is the boner it had for its convoluted crafting system, and if you don't learn that system and take full advantage of it, you're punished for it for the rest of the game. Also I don't know if its the first game, but its certainly one of the earliest examples of the "beltanzippah" era of squaresoft's character design, so that's a big strike against it too.

[Anonymous No.3351069]

>>3350502
It took me about a decade to finish this game. One of the best i've ever played once i finally understood it.

[Anonymous No.3351073]

>>3350502
>1 for every affinity (minus Physical)
You already fucked up, Physical is by far the best affinity in the game, all the other elements can be boosted with spells so you don't even need to gem or grind your weapons, one single weapon with major Physical affinity boosted by one elemental buff can tear everything apart.
>having to slowly and constantly go in the menu sometimes depending on the area.
What? Do you even use the triggers shortcuts? You don't need to enter the menu unless you're in a smithy.

[Anonymous No.3351115]

>>3351069
>>3350725
>>3350510

Why does no one mention that 60% of the game is pushing fucking boxes?
I used to fool other game "nerds" in school by telling them its japanese title was "Push-A-Box Xtreme!!" and that it was made by the Bust-A-Move people, who wanted to make another puzzle game all along. Ruined the game for everyone who knew about it.

[Anonymous No.3351165]

>>3350725
Stats from boss fights are just bonuses. The only important stats are on your weapons, and the effects of buffs.
Your weapons being so important is why the crafting system is so intricate. As it's the core mechanic you should be punished for not utilising it properly.
You heal for free when not in combat, and there are chains which can heal you when you are.

>>3351115
The puzzles are fine, and break up the combat nicely. Makes the game even better if you liked similar stuff in Sokoban, Soul Reaver, Tomb Raider, Catherine, etc.

[Anonymous No.3351168]

I too have tried and failed to love this game. I mean it wasn't bad, but I really wanted to get sucked in and spend a week binge playing it, you know?

Probem is it really doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. I can't think of another game like it, and while that originality is often a good thing, in this case it's not- It's a confusing mash up of gameplay elements that don't really seem to have much logical connection.

The thing is, the Japs don't seem to understand that in an RPG, you're meant to have control over the way you decide to specialise and therefore play your character. That's fine in their normal storybook turn-based FF adventures, but when the game is trying to be more of a dungeon crawler or strategic affair (and which is this seriously) then you need to be able to tailor your character and play-style; not just figure out what the Jap-bots intended you to do to get the most optimal damage output or whatever.

It's basically on of those RPGs where I don't feel like there's any point in it actually being an RPG. The "RPG" element is, when you step back and critically examine it, just a layer of inventory micromanagement bullshit you have to do in order to progress- You do it because you won't beat the next boss without higher stats, not because you actually care about developing your character.

TL;DR They tried to do something new, but it's so incoherent it works against the game. The Quest Mode in fucking Ehrgeiz was better, and shows that the Japs actually CAN do an action RPG if they want to; so why did they fuck it up with this?.

[Anonymous No.3351170]

>>3351115
>Why does no one mention that 60% of the game is pushing fucking boxes?
Because it isn't?
>>3351168
Is this a pasta I'm not aware of?

[Anonymous No.3351187]

>>3351170

Why would it be pasta? I just spent 5 minutes typing it out.

[Anonymous No.3351190]

>>3351187
>Why would it be pasta?
Because it's dumb nonsense.

[Anonymous No.3351191]

>>3350502
Great game, the best on PS1 imo. Everything just gelled. The system, the setting, the music, the combat, the puzzles. Loved it.

Sounds like you're just playing it wrong

[Anonymous No.3351192]

>>3351190

Elaborate.

[Anonymous No.3351198]

>in an RPG, you're meant to have control over the way you decide to specialise and therefore play your character.
You do, your weapons get stronger the more you use them against a certain enemy, certain metals gives certain bonuses, like Silver being naturally good against Ghost and Undead types, handles give another boost to weapon damage type and let you put up to three gems.
Gems give you huge specific boosts against races or elemental bonuses, and there's also a nice counterbalance effect to those, not to mention stat raising gems.
You want even more control? Use buffs.
If you think the stat roulette is actually important you're deluded, you can literally steamroll the game with Raging Ache and Absorb Damage/Magic with no stat up, no gems, no blacksmith, fandango only if you so care, you just need to have good reflexes.
You want even more control?
Grind wines drops from Deaths or whatever.
>then you need to be able to tailor your character and play-style
That's what blacksmiths and a functioning brain are for, and again, weapons grow naturally stronger, chains have a load of different effects too and magic is another layer of customization.
>just a layer of inventory micromanagement bullshit you have to do in order to progress
Just like Wizardry, King's Quest, Brandish, Rogue, NetHack, Castle of the Winds etc.
>The Quest Mode in fucking Ehrgeiz was better
Ehrgeiz was NOTHING like Vagrant Story and it was even less of an RPG, it's Quest mode was a joke made worse by the shitty balance of a game with non existent difficulty.
If you seriously think that an arena fighter with stats and a random dungeon generator is a better RPG then Vagrant Story then what you want is that, an arena fighter/beat em up, not a RPG, or else I'll say that Guilty Gear XX is a better RPG because of the Survival Mode.

[Anonymous No.3351202]

>>3351191

>sounds like you're just playing it wrong

Case in point.

You have to figure out the "Right" way of playing it in order to succeed and "have fun". No room for experimentation or player strategy, just the Right Way.

Perfect for mindless rice-autists. Disappointing for any other type of gamer.

[Anonymous No.3351205]

>>3351198

Specific strategies you can use in specific circumstances =/= control over playstyle. That's just playing a fancy game of Simon Says and deep down, you know it.

>lists a ton of games that don't have mandatory micromanagement but instead have an inventory for the storage and retrieval of useful items

>can't even read in order to see that the guy was specifically talking about the quest mode. Misses the whole point that he meant a bonus mode had more consistent mechanics than a full game.

Okay dude. I'm glad you like the game, but these are the reasons other people don't like it. You're not helping us appreciate it by trying to counter our opinions. How about you try and explain to us what it is that you enjoy about the game personally instead?

[Anonymous No.3351210]

>>3351205
>That's just playing a fancy game of Simon Says and deep down, you know it.

No you delusional retard.
I can play however I want because unlike you I know how the game works.
Do I want to play as a mage? Better farm those grimoires, put the right gems on my stave and use the appropriate buffs.
Do I want to play ranged?
Crossbows with the right bolts and magic.
Do I want to use weapons?
Better learn what metal does what and use the right grips and gems.
Oh shit, I'm not doing enough damage right now what should I do?
Learn to chain and counter.
Do I want to cheese the game?
Raging Ache.

I clocked more than 300 hours in Vagrant Story, I know much more about the game than a lazy moron like you can possibly understand.
You're only complaining because the game doesn't serve an easy win like all the other garbage you play and you actually need to learn shit in order to play like you want, learn to play the game and inform yourself before criticizing it you pleb.

[Anonymous No.3351216]

>>3351210

>I'M AN EXPERT AT WHAT IS AND ISN'T FUN. I'VE SPENT OVER 300 HOURS HAVING FUN SO HOW DARE YOU SAY IT ISN'T FUN

>L2P FAGGOT, NO WONDER YOU'RE NOT HAVING FUN

Typical rice-autist logic

[Anonymous No.3351223]

>>3351210

Soyou spent 300 hours figuring out the obscure as fuck mechanics and you think that puts you in a better position to say it's flawless than somebody who spent 15 hours trying to figure it out and in the end decided it's not enjoyable enough, in their opinion, to continue putting in such effort.

Great job buddy. I bet you're the kind of guy who defends FFVIII's poorly thought out mechanics too.

[Anonymous No.3351226]

>>3351216
So you're literally complaining you have no fun when you have to learn how to play a game and call other autists.
You've said you couldn't tailor a character in VS and you've been proven wrong, you've said you hadn't control over your own character and you've been proven wrong, then you resort to calling other autists and saying the game isn't fun because you got your ass kicked like a little bitch and it was somehow the game's fault.

Better off as an autist than a mouthbreathing retard with the mental capacity of a single peanut.

[Anonymous No.3351227]

>>3351223
>Soyou spent 300 hours figuring out the obscure as fuck mechanics
There is a fucking IN GAME manual that explains EVERYTHING to the most insignificant detail, RTFM.

[Anonymous No.3351240]

>>3351223
>FF8's mechanics
>poor

What?

Junction is dead fucking simple.

You also get like 2 or 3 tutorials and can access the tutorial whenever the fuck you want

You can use auto-junction and largely ignore it and play it as a standard final fantasy for most of the game. That's what I did my first playthrough.

Vagrant Story is flawed. It's not the 10/10 masterpiece people claim it to be. I think it has some cool elements, it's almost like a survival RPG because you have very limited resources and you have to scavenge a lot.

Grinding affinities is stupid. You basically just want to get a Hagane weapon asap and socket it with the appropriate stuff for each encounter (only bosses, regular enemies should just be damage)

>>3351227
The ingame documentation is robust but it's dry as fuck. In my first playthrough it took me like 19 hours and I would frequently look at the manual and get bored and just give up.

Fuck the snowfly forest though. That's terrible.

[Anonymous No.3351243]

>>3351240

Balance in FF8 is totally fucked and I think that shows that they just kinda didn't think about it when they were putting it in.

People give Squaresoft's dick way too much for the games they released in theis period; nearly all of the have some pretty glaring flaws. Don't get me wrong they are good games, and some of them are comfy as fuck (FF7 and 9 for example) but they still have negative points that some people (like Mr 300 Hours over here) just can't accept.

[Anonymous No.3351245]

>>3351202
I didn't say there was 1 right way of playing, just that OP doesn't seem to grasp how the system works.

I was all about using chains and taking anti-risk potions, rarely even bothered to look at affinitys or craft weapons, made my way through the game no problem.

[Anonymous No.3351249]

>>3351243
>but they still have negative points that some people
like?

[Anonymous No.3351252]

>>3351249

That the system is dense as fuck and takes about as long to get used to as many whole games take to finish. It's a legitimate criticism to say "that shit was way OTT, they could have implemented it in a way that made it less impenetrable".

Not all of us are neets who want to spend two days learning the mechanics of a game before we can really start getting into it. It's fine if you are that kind of person, andI'm glad you enjoy the game for that depth, but it's not for me.

I wish there was a game LIKE Vagrant Story but with a more traditional feeling action-RPG framework. I like the aesthetics and that typical Square storyline cheese, I didn't like dicking around crafting all the time, I'd prefer to be able to hunt for loot drops and go kill hard enemies to get swords with big numbers on them, you know?

[Anonymous No.3351254]

>>3351223
He never said it was flawless, you're putting words into his mouth. Read what he said and concede your argument he never even said anything about having fun playing it really.

He took the points you said about the gamesame system and showed you why you was wrong.

[Anonymous No.3351257]

>>3351252
>That the system is dense as fuck
No?
see>>3351245, you can beat and break the game however you want from the get go, no newgame+ required.
>takes about as long to get used to as many whole games take to finish
Not true, DQ VII and the average fifth gen FF take much more time to finish than VS, by the time you learn to play VS you're probably still at the first disc of DQ VII or barely at the second disc of FFIX.
And how is that inherently bad anyway?
>Not all of us are neets who want to spend two days learning the mechanics
>Hurr only neets have enough time to figure it out
Then you should stick to your Mario or DQ, complexity isn't equal to bad design and VS is far from being complex, you just need to learn how to play a fucking game you know?
And if you have time to shitpost on /vr/ you surely have time to learn the bare minimum required in VS.
>I didn't like dicking around crafting all the time, I'd prefer to be able to hunt for loot drops and go kill hard enemies to get swords with big numbers on them, you know?
Then the game is not for you, hardly counts as a negative point.
As I said, you want mindless, immediate fun and bitch about games that require more than two neurons, it's okay, it's your opinion and all, but personal taste doesn't give you the right to say that VS or any other game that requires a tiny bit of effort is a bad game.
Stop being an entitled manchild.

[Anonymous No.3351258]

Started it 3 times, never finished. It's not that the system is hard to comprehend, it's just that it's "menu-micro management: the game". They should have implemented a way to change weapons quickly without entering the menu, like the item system from metal gear solid

[Anonymous No.3351301]

It's a JRPG which makes it better than a WRPG by default.

[Anonymous No.3351376]

>>3351073
>You already fucked up, Physical is by far the best affinity in the game, all the other elements can be boosted with spells so you don't even need to gem or grind your weapons, one single weapon with major Physical affinity boosted by one elemental buff can tear everything apart.

Well, I have my eight weapons already so no point in using elemental gems beyond buffing the affinities I already specialize in or messing with the crafting system. I'm not using an FAQ.

>What? Do you even use the triggers shortcuts? You don't need to enter the menu unless you're in a smithy.

Of course I use the trigger shortcuts, but since I use different weapons I have to constantly switch them depending on the area. Some enemies just have one type (i.e. the city undead are all weak to light) but in that goddamn forest for example I switched between earth and air weapons. Earth for the flying bugs, air for the lizards. And of course water for the random fire phantoms there.

>>3351227
>There is a fucking IN GAME manual that explains EVERYTHING to the most insignificant detai

I wish that were true. It took me hours before I learned where my goddamn analysis of an enemy was when I used the Analysis spell.

>>3351191
>Sounds like you're just playing it wrong

Probably but from what I've gauged online that's not exactly a rare thing when it comes to this game. And as mentioned before, not using an FAQ.

[Anonymous No.3351442]

>>3351168
Old pasta

[Anonymous No.3351446]

>>3350510
>>3350725
>>3351115
Big time samefaggotry.
VS is fucking amazing you tasteless mutt.

[Anonymous No.3351449]

>>3351210
Fucking rekt
Nicely put, Anon.

[Anonymous No.3351502]

>>3351446
Believe it or not, anon, but multiple people are capable of sharing the same opinion.

[Anonymous No.3353858]

>>3350502

Overrated piece of shit,my god how I hated the game and same as you I TRIED SO FUCKING HARD to like it but after 25 hours I just said fuck it.And I used FAQ-s and other shit but the crafting system is so fucking annoying,and fact that near the beginning of the game you have to farm enemies for ok materials,and the fact that I have to switch 3 weapons every fucking time ,just fuck off.And the combat is shit and the atmosphere is awful and depressing.Worst square game that I have ever played and it deservedly sold like shit.
Also because of the convoluted game mechanics it's probably the biggest example of Autism:The Game.

[Anonymous No.3353967]

>>3351170
It's not pasta, just a common opinion most people never end up hearing because this game is either unheard of or humped. To be honest, I've tried playing this game probably 10 different times and never really got too far in it because it just gets so bogged down by its own systems you never get to really enjoy being the character you are.

[Anonymous No.3354102]

>>3353858
hahah all these guys so mad becuase they have to get all autistic about "farming" and changing weapons all the time. Not sure how you guys managed to fail so epicly at this game.

[Anonymous No.3354110]

>>3354102
The fact that you acknowledge that we have to get all autistic about that is why the game is so shitty.

[Anonymous No.3354367]

>>3353858
>Also because of the convoluted game mechanics it's probably the biggest example of Autism:The Game.
>Vagrant Story
>Convoluted game mechanics

I'm terribly, terribly sorry but there are some videogames that lobotomized people such as yourself can't handle.

I know it's hard to read manuals and shit and not go full retard, I really know, that's when I stopped being a drooling retard and actually learned that simple logic and common sense might end up saving a lot of time and frustration.

I mean, who would have thought that monsters with high resistance to blunt attributes wouldn't be hurt by a mace with 20 points in blunt type damage? And here comes the best part, I would have never, ever known that in the status menu I could have found out all the weakpoints of monster and even things like my own stats.

But anyway, who has time to learn to look at an item's stats and decide whether its good or not against an enemy? I mean, FF doesn't even need half of that shit, it basically plays itself, who fucking needs a good game with entertaining and rewarding mechanics when I can play a movie and feel all proud about machinegunning the attack command? That's what good games are all about, a few hours of instant self gratification with no effort and cool cutscenes.

Like really man, it's not like the game can't be totally broken in the first two hours with a single chain command that requires basic reflexes even platypuses have, it's too fucking hard, I keep pressing buttons and I don't fucking understand what's going on.

[Anonymous No.3354394]

>>3354367
Look at all that butthurt over someone not liking a game you like.

[Anonymous No.3354395]

>>3354110
you dont have to though. I never did and had a great couple of play-throughs.

I suppose if you're autistic you're going to play like an autist. Us normies just enjoy the game and soak up the glorious atmosphere, story, setting and music

[Anonymous No.3354442]

>>3354394
Butthurt?
No my friend, the only feeling I have is pity for those who don't have enough neurons to play a children's game.
Hell, if you think Vagrant Story is convoluted I don't even want to imagine any of you poor suckers playing actually convoluted games, let alone tying your shoes every days.

[Anonymous No.3354508]

>>3350502
What kills this game for me is how slow it is in battle. You use an item and you gotta wait for ITEM EFFECT! HEAL! and it kinda breaks the pace a lot.

[Anonymous No.3354518]

>>3354508
no slower than any other RPG of the time. Compared to FFVII's rigid turn based system its practically fluid.

[Anonymous No.3354524]

>>3350502

That exactly how I felt to while playing it. I just couldn't get into it. This is a prime example where the gameplay ruined an otherwise potentially amazing game for me.

[Anonymous No.3354627]

I've tried to get into it a few times, but I just cant seem to. The game looks pretty good and I love its ambience, but I couldnt understand how weapons worked, I thought a weapon would get more powerful the more you used it against specific enemy types, instead, I felt like weapons would just get worse the more you used them, by the time I reached the end of the very first dungeon, I was doing 1~5 damage to everything no matter what. I suppose its my fault for not trying hard enough to understand how shit works in this game.

[Anonymous No.3354746]

>>3354442
> I'm so better than all of you because I enjoy autistic games

[Anonymous No.3354974]

Everyone saying Vagrant Story has a barrier to entry is right.

People defending it vehemently are also a bit biased because they've invested a lot of time into it and know it's nuances.

It is complicated to learn. It's not "fun" or "good design" to have to sit and read the in game documentation every time a new mechanic shows up.

I've beaten it, without any real issue besides a few deaths on bosses. I almost beat the final boss while cursed but Bloody Sin 1 shotted me. So I had to go back and look up where to get a curse heal and try again.

I honestly think Vagrant Story tried to do too much. Theres weapon crafting and customization, weapon affinities, elemental attributes, etc. You can exploit a lot of these to "break" the game, such as using Raging Ache to deal reasonable damage to anything regardless of weapon types/affinities/elemental because it's based on your missing HP.

But it's not a good new player experience.

The game tells you to chain. So you chain and you build up your risk to ridiculous levels then get one shotted.

Break arts seem less effective than just chaining, and they damage you.


For reference: I started every battle with Heracles/Protasia and used a Hagane Sword the whole game except for a silver dagger towards the end. I barely touched Break Arts until the Final Boss and I basically spammed them on him.


I think part of it is just that you can get through it just spamming items. Spam breakarts, spam heal, spam whatever and you'll win.

Theres very little depth to the combat at it's core. You're often just trading blows or trying to maximize your damage and go for a one-turn KO.

Its good, but not great. The story is also nothing to write home about and it's poorly presented. 7/10.

[Anonymous No.3354986]

>Square games

[Anonymous No.3356043]

>>3354986
fu

[Anonymous No.3356079]

>>3354627
>instead, I felt like weapons would just get worse the more you used them
That's because weapons have durability points(DP) that decrease with each attack, you can replenish those by going to a smithy or using a certain chain.
>>3354974
Look, there's some people who actually like games with good simulations and strategy, VS is kinda like that.
It has more mechanics than the average game, but the vast majority of those are really, really logical and only require basic common sense to figure out.
There's a lot of SNES games that are much more convoluted and obscure than VS, Wizardry 4 alone is much more complex and convoluted and obscure than VS, there's a lot of PS games that are more complex and convoluted than VS, if you people think that it's anywhere near as complex or deliberately obtuse as games like TES or SaGa then I don't know what to tell you, you probably haven't played much in your lives besides casual games.

But don't come in here and say stuff like
>It's not "fun" or "good design" to have to sit and read the in game documentation every time a new mechanic shows up.
Because you don't need it, you don't need to read anything besides BASIC maths and use your brain a little to break this game, it's not complicated, it's extremely logic and straightforward, but it does ask you to at least know what you're actually doing.
>The game tells you to chain
The game doesn't tell you to chain also because there are bosses specifically built against Chains, the game tells you that chaining has its advantages, like rewarding reflexes and good chain setups.
>Break arts seem less effective than just chaining
Break arts deal safer damage than chains
>Theres very little depth to the combat at it's core.
Pretty rich coming from someone who didn't even understand the pros and cons of chaining or break arts.

You're all whining about having to read a fucking manual and making 2+2 and this somehow makes the game bad, not fun and badly designed, that's laughable.

[Anonymous No.3356108]

>>3356079
>That's because weapons have durability points(DP) that decrease with each attack, you can replenish those by going to a smithy or using a certain chain.

I did notice this, however, I thought the stats of a weapon would increase the more you used them against, lets say, human enemies.

Once leaving the first dungeon, you got to fight 2 human guards and a boss, I had a hard time with these 3 because none of my weapons did any sort of damage to them, although I made sure to create weapons "effective" against human affinity, only one of the guards did take actual damage, which dropped with each turn. I suppose weapon types (blunt, slashing and piercing) might take a bigger role than affinity, but honestly, I simply have no idea, this entire post probably doesn't make any sense.

[Anonymous No.3356125]

>>3356108
>I thought the stats of a weapon would increase the more you used them against
This is correct.
There are two stats that increase by each time you use a weapon.
One of those is Affinity, that means elements and racial affinities.
The other one is PP, or phantom points, which basically "charge" the weapon, do note that PP decrease in real time when you're not using the weapon, which is why you should sheathe it if you're not fighting.

However, DP also provide a major multiplier, and DP decrease with EACH attack, meaning that if your DP reach 0 the weapon enters a "broken" phase in which the damage output is severely nerfed, which is logical, can't do much with a broken weapon.
>I suppose weapon types (blunt, slashing and piercing) might take a bigger role than affinity
That is also correct, damage type plays an overall bigger role than affinities, and it's also another reason why you'd like to have a Physical weapon instead of an elemental one, mostly because damage type plays a bigger role and is more universal than affinities, not to mention, elements are more important than racial affinities and the Shaman elemental buffs give you a huge boost without ever needing to grind for elements, and best of all, you don't really need to hard counter with elements until you get those spells since most of the bosses with the exception of the Earth Dragon are all almost neutrally attuned, and even then, chances are you got a few elemental grimoires by then.
That said, you could always specialize in a certain element by grinding, but it takes a lot of time and patience to do so, it's pretty good for certain elements though, like Light or Dark, mostly because the monsters weak to those elements tend to be the strongest and most dangerous around, but then again, Physical is still the best since you can also add elemental buffs to that but you can't do the contrary, there's no Physical affinity buff in the game.

[Anonymous No.3356183]

>They think the basic system is too hard

>They probably never even made it to snowfly forest

You dont know true suffering.

[Anonymous No.3358416]

>>3351376
Why is this guy growing turds in his head?

[Anonymous No.3358486]

>>3358416
shitty fanmade

[Anonymous No.3358532]

>>3350514
eh... I disagree with this perspective. obviously I can't say you are wrong, and I don't think an experience should never be sought out just because it is fun. I do think there is more to art than just pure, gut level pleasure. there are certain experiences that are meaningful and satisfying that are difficult as hell. art house movies, fine wine, even super technical fighting games seem impenetrable and miserable, on the surface. once you figure out the system, discover what makes the experience important or unique, it makes exploring more representations of that experience more meaningful.

I mean, you have to drink a lot of coffee to understand why someone would pay $30 a pound for some good coffee. you have to get the shit kicked out of you for a long time before you can realize how Street Fighter is a work of genius.

Like I said, if you don't like something because it isn't fun, that is certainly fine. I don't get tattoos because the process doesn't look like any fun. I don't think fun is the only ingredient that is important, however.

[Anonymous No.3358582]

>>3351168
>that the Japs actually CAN do an action RPG
They have been doing so since the fucking NES

[Anonymous No.3359110]

Yeah, I'm hopping on the bandwagon here too. I bought this game way back when it came out. I had seen a review in a magazine that praised it, and I was a fan of squaresoft games so I thought I'd love it. Since then, I've tried again and again and again to restart the game and see if I can get into it. I've read faqs and guides to understand the system. Ultimately, despite it's good qualities (graphics, art style, setting) it's just a tedious fucking game. It's so focused on creating a complex and original RPG system that it forgets to be fun. There's no other way of explaining it. It just doesn't have that raw, instinctive feeling of 'fun' when I play it. It has absolutely no soul.

That said, I'd love for them to reboot this as a proper action RPG. Keep all the presentation elements intact, but just completely overhaul the 'game' side of things. As of now though, it's just one of those games that people keep insisting is great and praising all it's positive qualities while completely igoring the fact that it ultimately fails at being an enjoyable video game experience. To the average RPG fan, I'd say just don't listen to the people praising this game. If you do try it, expect the worst and you might actually be pleasantly surprised. If you're literally autistic however, I'd definitely try it out. And I'm not even joking when I say that.

[Anonymous No.3360303]

>>3359110
>tfw every game that every /v/irgin and /vr/fag says is bad is fun to me

[Anonymous No.3361260]

>>3350502
I agree. I gave the game an honest try about 10 years ago and just couldn't get into it.

[Anonymous No.3361371]

I don't know what you people are on about.

First of all, it's like someone forces you to like it, otherwise you won't fit in somewhere. You're already on /vr/ buddy, where the fuck are you trying to fit in right now?

Second, I am no JRPG guy. My favorite RPGs are Might and Magic VII, Contact (DS) and Earthbound. But Vagrant Story caught me from the first levels with its game system.

I actually wanted to finish it, but I'm afraid I lost a save file on my phone.

[Anonymous No.3364140]

>use gameshark to fix the affinity bullshit
>play it like a normal ARPG

[Anonymous No.3364991]

I bought it a few months ago on PSN and I've enjoyed the hell out of it, the only things that are really that hard to get are figuring out how to do chains and how to check enemy weaknesses after analyzing (protip: go to status and press R1), everything else is explained very clearly in the in-game manual. You don't even need to change weapons all that often, Break Arts are enough for most non-boss enemies.

>ctrl+f "action rpg"
>3 results
It's basically just a much more in-depth Mario RPG ya donuts, it's not supposed to be Dark Souls

[Anonymous No.3365061]

I thought it was really cool when I started. The proximity-based battle setup is cool. But once I figured out it was more dungeon crawler-y than actual RPG and weapon upgrades rely on synthesizing materials, I dropped it real quick.

[Anonymous No.3365483]

>>3354508
This is probably the only valid complaint in this thread.

In FF7/8/9 you can probably just mash attack and strongest spells and use supers for most of the game.

All Vagrant Story does is basically just task you to respond to the situation.

if your risk gets too high you can't do damage and you take more damage, and you become more vulnerable to status effects, but you also heal faster. So you have to lower your risk after a long chain.

This only matters if you use chains and aren't good at them, you don't have to use chains.

If you don't use chains your risk will always be pretty low, and you probably won't get hit for too much damage or a lot of status effects. Sometimes you have to do this on purpose because instant death is a thing, but that's not unique to Vagrant Story.

You have Break Arts. Break Arts are pretty strong and let you manually adjust your elemental damage output and even weapon penetration type (slash/blunt/pierce), so that you can use one main weapon type and just beat the game using break arts and buffing with spells to make them do more damage.

You can use gems to increase the elements on your weapon.

You really don't need to have multiple elements on your weapons. You can get a staff and use gems to activate the element you need and use spells. You can use gems and raise just one element really high, and then that element will always be the strongest one to use, which means it will always go up when fighting 80% of enemies. You can even use wind against the wind boss if you just use a spell to lower it's wind resistance and raise your wind damage. Then you can use a wind spell or wind break art to push it further, and it still does good damage even if the enemy used to absorb it.

You can do all of this with literally nothing other than the stuff you find in treasure chests. You never have to craft anything. Crafting just makes it easier and gives you more control, and might let you use your preferred weapon type more often.

[Anonymous No.3365563]

The main problems are that the game does next to nothing to teach you how to play it, and that most fights are won or lost in the armory,

[Anonymous No.3365578]

>>3365563
the game has a short novel's worth of text accessible from the in game menu that explains all of the in game systems to an extent that is really beyond expectations. you don't even need to read all of it, but it answers pretty much any question you could have.

true the game never asks you outright to read it, but its definitely there if you want to know