Video Games That Need Sequels #1: Vagrant Story

When I used to work in a video game store I once estimated that about 55% of the console titles on the shelf at any one time were, in some way, shape or form, sequels. Some of these were hits; I'd never begrudge EA for making a new Madden game each and every year even though I don't play the game. Others, like the Ratchet & Clank series or Soul Calibur were great games that warranted further iterations. Then there was the crap. Does the human race really need another Dance Dance Revolution? Is humanity going to cease to exist if we don't get a 45th Medal of Honor title? But what was worse that the metastisizing sequelitis infecting the lymph nodes of the video game industry were the genuinely great, innovtive and fun games that were forgotten in favor of the encroaching dreck. Today I come not to bury these games, but to praise them. First up on the hit parade: Vagrant Story.

Vagrant Story was a bit of an abberation in many ways. It was an RPG from Square Enix (then just Square Soft) that wasn't bogged down with long winded cut scenes. The protagonist wasn't a whiny effeminate pretty boy (even if his name was Ashley Riot). The art was subtle and slightly gothic with a very earthy palette, unlike most Square games which look like they were colored by the irradiated crayon box from hell. It also managed to deviate from the traditional Japanese RPG party and battle structure, instead featured a single character and action heavy gameplay. Vagrant Story also had a great item system, basically your weapons evolved with use. Whack a lot of animals with your spear? Eventually your spear became strong vs. animals. Weapons and armor could also be combined into newer, more powerful iterations. Honestly it was like nothing seen on a console game, much less on a Japanese game. But alas, what made this game great also doomed it to failure. Short, succinct in-engine cut scenes were dead in the water. Xenosaga style bloat-fests were all the rage. Action and puzzle elements in an RPG just couldn't hold off the fishing and dancing mini-games. Gamers in 2000 just weren't ready for a console RPG that was as different as Vagrant Story was. That however is why now is the perfect time for a sequel. The traditional J-RPG just doesn't have the stranglehold on the industry that it did in 2000. Short, interactive cut scenes are in vogue. Oblivion and World of Warcraft have shown that making and modifying weapons can be fun. I know this pean will likely fall on deaf ears over at Square Enix, they're too busy working on a new poofy hair physics engine for Final Fantasy XIII, but this blog isn't for the companies, it's for the fans. (Unless the companies pay me, because I'm a money whore)