One of my most favourite games. When I first finished Vagrant Story, I immediately replayed it. That’s a good sign. As much as I like the gameplay and how weird and layered and obtuse it is mechanically, the crushing atmosphere, as well as the still great cutscene direction (it’s funny to think that this game that came out in 2000 has better cutscene direction than a lot of games that would come out over the next 10+ years), my favourite thing about it is the writing. I’m a big fan of Yasumi Matsuno’s games and especially his writing. They’re often devoid of a lot of the melodrama/anime-ness that you expect in a JRPG. Vagrant Story’s script (brilliantly translated by Alexander O. Smith) features very little exposition. This is the key, I think. It’s saved for when the characters themselves need something to be explained to them. It helps it feel so much more immersive. You end up having to piece together a lot of the finer details yourself. As such, it probably has some of my favourite video game writing ever. Unfortunately, it’s not all so amazing. Menu navigation sucks, level design is pretty repetitive and it feels like there isn’t much flexibility in regards to builds given how vital it is to exploit enemy weaknesses. Maybe I just need to experiment more? Excellent otherwise, though.