Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 2

Genre: Action RPG

Number of Players: 1

A long time ago in a galaxy . . . .

Ummmm . . . .

Space, the final fron . . . .

Okay, as I’m sure most RPG and PlayStation 2 aficionados are aware; Sony has a new role-playing game that is charting to take you to distant worlds. The idea of a science fiction RPG isn’t really anything out of the ordinary these days, especially with games like Xenosaga and Star Ocean having become favorites, but it’s still a concept that isn’t quite relied upon as much. Instead, the premise of some medieval setting combined with some interesting reinventions of modern technology is the norm, but Rogue Galaxy is trying to take things just a little further.

Our tale begins on the planet of Rosa where no time is wasted in introducing our hero, Jaster Rogue (yes, Jaster does sound a bit like Jaxter, but that’s a different game.) The young orphan has but one dream and that is to leave the only planet he’s ever known and explore the galaxy. As luck would have it, when a dangerous monster attacks the residential district, Jaster finds himself aided but a mysterious hooded man, but he’s soon left high and dry. The man claims that Jaster can handle the foe himself, but he does leave him with a more powerful sword; the Desert Seeker.

What Jaster doesn’t know is what this weapon signifies, but he soon starts to get the hint. As soon as his mysterious companion is out of the picture, two more new friends arrive to assist him, and they claim to have been looking for him. Jaster however isn’t sure who this “Desert Claw” person is, but he takes on the identity. It turns out that his new companions, Steve and Simon, have been seeking “him” out on a request by their captain, the pirate Dorgengoa, and they want him to join with crew. With the chance to leave Rosa finally in his grasp, Jaster agree and keeps up the guise of Desert Claw, but the treasure hunt that Dorgengoa has prepared soon turns into something much greater.

Rogue Galaxy comes from the minds of the team at Level 5, a company that isn’t even a decade old yet but has really made some big waves in the world of the action RPG. You may recall some of their other titles such as the Dark Cloud series and even Dragon Quest VIII, and Rogue Galaxy takes on a similar look to these games, but with some new features that you won’t find elsewhere. Whereas DQ8 was a traditional RPG, though one that benefited from advancements in the gameplay, Rogue Galaxy stick true to the action RPG element that has been more and more popular with developers these days.

This means all the action takes place on the screen, though unlike Dark Cloud, you won’t see the enemies onscreen, so there’s no avoiding combat. Instead, the battle system is like a mixture of classic and modern gaming. Enemy encounters will be random, and any NPC’s you see will suddenly disappear, but there aren’t any of those annoying splash screens to deal with. Each character you manage to enlist has two weapons types that can be used in combat; one bladed, one ranged, and you can attack with either as well as jump when necessary.

Rogue Galaxy isn’t a mindless hack and slash game however and players must keep an eye on the action gauge. Once this is depleted, you must block in order to build it back up, though getting hit while blocking will build it back up faster. Your ranged weapons also have “ammo” which is the same type of meter. When it hits zero, you must let it recharge (or I guess, reload) before you can use it again. The action meter also will have a bearing on your special skills and the use of items, something that can make battles more difficult if you’re not paying attention.

Your special skills are easy to access and just like items; they can be found in a sub-menu. This will also give you control over how the party fights. However, you can’t do everything yourself, and during any fight, you may have your party members suggesting attacks that they have or they might want to lend a hand by using an item. You will see the choices which will correspond to the L1 or L2 button, but there is also a timer counting down, so you will need to act fast. Occasionally you will also find yourself in conditioned fights. Before the battle starts, you will be given your target objective. Some battle may have you defeating the enemies in a certain amount of time, you may need to achieve victory without the use of items, and some battles may even have only one character allowed to fight in order to succeed. Finishing these will give you a valuable Hunter’s Coin which can be spent at a special shop where you’ll find a universe of rarities.

Defeating enemies might give you the usual experience and such, but there’s something more as well. Rogue Galaxy features a number of teleporters scattered across the universe, something that will quickly allow you to get from A to B on planets without needing to do a huge amount of backtracking. You will also notice that besides saving and teleporting, there is an exchange points option. Many of the monster types will reward you with points, but there also are a certain number you must defeat. Once this is accomplished, you will gain ranking points to increase your standing among 99 other hunters in the galaxy. Don’t be fooled however. You’re rivals are no slouches, so one minute you may find your ranking has increased while your next exchange finds you falling a rank or two.

The experience of battle doesn’t stop at these things however, and there is still more that you will be working with. Victory will also give your weapons a bit of elemental boost until they are maxed out. You may want to simply buy the next weapon that you find and equip it, but that’s not necessarily wise. Early on in your travels you will find a strange toad like creature that has the ability to analyze your weapons. The reason behind this is quite simple, and somewhere along the way, he’s managed to gain the ability to eat two weapons and spit back out one which is more powerful. However, you’ll need to have used them in battle in order for him to get a better understanding of them, and they also will need to have their skills maxed out otherwise things just won’t work correctly. He can do the same with armor, and he will tell you during analysis what weapons can be merged, though there are some that he simply can’t do much with.

Synthesis of weapons is one thing, but gaining skills for your characters is something completely different. There are a number of items that you will run across and they may not seem important, but they are. In the sub-menu, there is a revelations chart. This gives your characters more abilities, some defensive, others that can be used in battle. Each has a number of items that you will need to use in order to bring them into existence. Luckily, you won’t always need to be on the hunt for them, and some can be purchased in shops, but what if start to collect too many? Well, you can sell them or the other option is the to store them at the teleporters for access later. The revelations that you gain also do different between the characters, and these will be used in combat, another suggestion that they make, as well as a deadly combo move, though you will have to grab the necessary items to charge it.

The past year or two, we’ve seen yet another drastic change with the RPG genre, and instead of being stuck with a given path to follow and only one view, there has been en evolution that lets you explore to your hearts content. While Rogue’s Galaxy does still have areas where there is only one true path to follow, the areas are enormous and can take a good length of time to completely explore. Even when you think you may have been everywhere, there are still sections that you couldn’t access the first time around promoting a return visit later in the game.

Level 5 has gone with an anime look to their games since Dark Cloud 2 (or Dark Chronicles) and that hasn’t changed a bit. With Rogue Galaxy however, the game outdoes what the company has done in the past. The cutscenes are nothing short of amazing and blend in seamlessly with the rest of the game. They’ve even gone to the extent where not only will the weapons your characters are holding change when you equip them, but the armor and overall look of the character as well, something that was missing with Dragon Quest VIII (save for Jessica.) Every character, every location, and every monster in this game is memorable in part due to the looks, but the fantastic story also helps a great deal. If the look and feel of the game weren’t enough, there are plenty of bonus missions to take on so this is a game that’s going to keep you busy for quite a while.

The games that Level 5 has designed really have been nothing short of spectacular, but the days of the sixth generation consoles are going to begin to fade. Whatever the company has in store for the next generation, such as the PlayStation 3, the one definite thing is that it is going to be just as amazing and I’m sure they will outdo themselves. Rogue Galaxy is a stunning action role-playing game that is going to quickly gain a huge fan base, and those individuals are undoubtedly want another game in the series. Everything needed to make a successful RPG is all here, and Rogue Galaxy easily can rival some of the bigger names in the industry. But, why are you still reading this? There’s a galaxy out there just waiting for you to explore.

-mike-