Arrr! There be stardust in my boot! (Rogue Galaxy review) (Rogue Galaxy (PS2))

Member Name: Zack131

Product:	Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
Date:	19/10/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Deep, gameplay, graphics, mini-game, story

Disadvantages: Repetitive dungeons, fiddly factory system

The saying goes 'don't judge a book by its cover'. But does that apply to a video game with a cover art suggesting space pirates? I knew this was an RPG, I knew this was a game from Level 5, I knew the game involved space pirates, I knew where my money was going. With little to no information about this game, not even the back of the case, I requested it as an upcoming birthday present. I was completely sold on the idea of space pirates. I'm not sure if the concept was original but it was original to me. I'm reviewing this game which I must have last played almost 3 years ago so my memory might not be entirely up to scratch.

Jaster Rouge is a young man living on the desert ridden planet, Rosa. Jaster has dreamt of travelling into space since childhood with ambitions of changing the universe to free his home planet from the Longardians. Being mistaken for the galaxies legendary and mysterious bounty hunter, DesertClaw, Jaster sets sail on an adventure of his dreams. Jaster joins the space pirates who travel the universe in search of the phantom planet home to rumoured riches and the power of immortality, Eden. Rogue Galaxy has a very varied and interesting cast of characters for everyone's taste. Humour, love, sorrow and hatred are all present in this story and truly is one to be remembered.

The cel shaded graphics that are becoming increasingly more common these days work wonders for Rogue Galaxy. The visuals are an absolute blessing with beautiful CGI scenes and real-time rendered scenes. Dungeons are often large, have many well hidden goodies and contain interesting puzzles to tease the mind. Save points are frequent enough and act as teleporters to each other making dungeon travelling more convenient. Unfortunately the dungeons are a copy and paste job to an extent such as a dungeon looks the same for the majority of the dungeon. The ability to jump adds more complexity to the dungeons along with using items such as the freeze gun which can freeze water or the platform gun which can create platforms to land on.

The gameplay is really where Rogue Galaxy shines for me. It isn't a turn based RPG but a real time action RPG where pressing a button performs an attack. Each character has the ability to use a primary weapon and a sub weapon. In most cases the sub weapon is a ranged attack such as a pistol and acts as a support. Battles are randomly encountered whilst patrolling maps and can be exited by running away the the enemies. Parties consist of 3 members in which you control 1 character while the others attack. However you can switch your character at any time and also suggest attacks for your allies to use from the prompts that appear. There is no magic points, attacks use up bars. From attacking, to using techniques, the character is unable to attack when this bar is depleted. The bar however does increase again allowing you to attack. Attacks and techniques use up a certain proportion of the bar so you must watch what you are doing carefully. Something that I really like is the combined attacks (maybe it is my nostalgia for Chrono Trigger )is that there is something about combined attacks that just seem motivating and deadly. Deadly indeed they are in Rogue Galaxy allowing 2 or 3 character techniques which much be learned in order to be executed.

The skill acquiring system is known as revelation flow. By having the correct items in your inventory, your team can learn new skills which unlock paths to another set of skills. Every character has their own revelation chart. I thought this was a system that worked well since it forced you to obtain rare items found in optional and more difficult dungeons in order to get the top skills. This effectively increases the play time of tens of hours. Tens of hours? Yes. Rogue Galaxy is a game that seems to consume your time. Even before heading to the final dungeon I'm almost positive if you haven't already done any optional stuff then you'll feel the urge to go hunting. A typical play through of this game may last 50 - 80 hours depending on how you play the game.

Customisation of weapons plays a large role in Rogue Galaxy. By using a weapon until it has been maxed out (defeated X number of enemies with it) you can choose to combine it with another maxed weapon, this is known as weapon synthesis. With the help of Toady (a purple haired frog who can combine weapons in his mouth) you can create a wide range of weapons good and bad to your needs.

A very unique aspect of Rogue Galaxy is the factory you gain access to. Once you have obtained it you can pop into your factory as you please. This is used to create new items by combining items. You actually need to follow a blueprint for the creation of certain items and design the factory accordingly placing down the correct amount of conveyor belts, machinery and hooking them up to a power supply. You must make sure that if 2 materials are to be combined that they arrive in the smelting machine for example at the same time. As much fun this can be in early stages it becomes far too tedious and frustrating. There is a limit to the amount of power cable you can use. Wires cannot cross over each other. Although it can become an interesting puzzle, it can quickly become ridiculous when you have 20 or so machines to hook up to the limited amount of sockets available. It is time consuming and rather irritating if your design either doesn't work or isn't laid out properly.

Every RPG needs a good mini-game. Rogue Galaxy has one my favourite mini-games I have ever played. You collect bugs called insectrons from around the galaxy and battle them in a chess like field. It is far more complex and deep than that however. You must choose what kind of trap, what kind of bait and where to place the trap such as in the sun, near the water. Different kinds of bug can be found on different planets and each have their own skill. By feeding your insectron you help them grow into an adult and become more powerful. Different foods give different attribute increases. When an insectron reaches an adult, age you can mate 2 adult bugs of the opposite sex to produce a new bug which will have its own skill and will be represent the highest levelled parent. There is also a tournament where you can battle the bugs for prizes. This is a very addictive mini-game and after the end of a few battles on the main game you will keep thinking to yourself that you better check on the bugs in case they are hungry. You could spend up to 30 hours playing this good mini-game.

Rogue Galaxy offers so much to do on various planets that will keep you entertained for hours and hours. Personally I enjoyed trying to obtain the many alternative costumes for my characters. Not only do they look different, but they also have attribute improvements. Another optional thing to do is do the hunting quests. You will be given bounties to carry out and may involve killing several of an enemy or fighting larger and powerful beasts. You gain hunter points which rewards you with new items upon certain rank increases. Some battles prove to be difficult which adds to the enjoyment. By rethinking your strategy, possibly equipping different gear and your party members then giving it another shot.

If it is battling monsters, creating items or generally travelling planets you need a good soundtrack to keep you going. With that in mind, Rogue Galaxy delivers. Although it is difficult to describe a soundtrack in words, there is a nice blend of motivational and more depressing music which is used appropriately. Although I find some songs to be slightly boring, it has a great selection of music to contribute to game and story as a whole.

Rogue Galaxy is an absolutely fantastic Role Playing Game which slots itself into my top 10 games of all time. I've felt like playing the game through again many times but the length of the game can be quite daunting. I finished my first play through with around 85 hours. If I remember I didn't do all the bounties, nor did I obtain the best weapons. I have also yet to journey into the secret dungeon after completing the game. For the price of a ps2 game these days you really can't go wrong with Rogue Galaxy. For me it certainly saw the end of the ps2's era right to the very end. The story is excellent, the game play brilliant and the graphics are very appealing, Rogue Galaxy is a purchase you won't regret.

Summary: To put it short. Buy this now.