Complex and strategic battle systems along with a beautiful dark ambiance give VS depth and weight few games deliver.
Much has been made of Vagrant Story in the 10 years since it's 2000 release to the Sony Playstation. A decade later, it's easy to see why: with a battle system that's more high strategy than twitch, that evolves throughout the entirety of play, it's still one of the most engrossing tactical experiences around. Combine that with the dark artwork and a metaphysical storyline that doesn't give in to cheap and shallow sequences, and a moody dark dungeon crawl, and you've got an experience of play that stands the test of time.
Despite it's greatness, it's strange to see VS categorized as a role-playing game of any sort, much less an "Action RPG". Rather, VS is much more akin to a strategy game. As leveling happens (virtually) for you, the only residue of RPG here is the ability to equip items, learn new skills through experience and encounters, and the standard dungeon crawl. Don't let that get in your way, though, because regardless of what you call it, VS is astounding.
Room by room, VS proceeds through it's 20-30 hour campaign by taking the play of previous encounters, building upon it through the ability for weapons to evolve through their use, and then requiring you to use this accumulated "experience" to meet each new challenge. Thus, instead of utilizing one all-powerful weapon, you carry up to 8 in tow, and if you hone each one well, you'll have the correct "tool" for any given "job". Every enemy, therefore, and every threat requires that you meet it with the appropriate strategy: blunt/edged/piercing, fire/air/earth/water/light/dark, and human/beast/undead/phantom/dragon/evil. The evolution of play through, similarily, gives VS great weight, since each action builds upon itself over and over. The combinations here are astounding, which in turn gives VS a complexity that most other games of this type sorely lack.
Of course, the moody art design, set-piece battles, and surprisingly compelling story arc all serve to give this weight a place and purpose. And on top of it all, VS has some of the best musical scoring that I've ever heard in a game after all these years. Each environment has its own musical theme, and all of them are really quite phenomenal. Taken together, it's easy to see why VS is considered by some to be a high-water mark in the genre, especially for its time.
More thoughtful and plodding than gratuitous and slick, VS packs in more depth than most games could dream of touching. If you own any playstation console whatsoever, you owe it to yourself to play Vagrant Story, and see 10 years of gaming evolution melt under the the play of this masterpiece.
9.5/10