Besides, the whole problem is here. What impact can a vintage 2005 RPG have in the middle of 2007, in the midst of the transition to the new console generation? Even if everyone is aware that the case of Sony is a little more complex, as its now legendary PlayStation 2 will take time before giving up, the question is legitimate. And the comparison with Final Fantasy XII no less! Against all odds, these two role-playing games seem to be linked by an interesting parable, so much so that the Level 5 game contains enough to drive nails into some delicate members of Square Enix's game, which made the heart of a person bleed with disappointment. significant portion of players. In fact, prefer Rogue galaxy à Final Fantasy XII amounts, as an adult, to favoring cartoons on television news, or comic strips on daily news. Seen from a distance, it looks like an immature and improbable delirium. Seen closer, it simply looks like the primacy of a certain innocence and the return to favor of a term sometimes set aside: fun.
Final Fantasy XII Jr.?
If the huge Final Fantasy XII tried to flourish through the accumulation of restrictions (Licence Board) the escalation of preparations (Gambit System) as well as in a culture of political conflict, Rogue galaxy relies on similar systems but with a warmer and more accessible dimension. Thus we find in the system called “Revelations” a bastard offshoot of the Spherier and the License Board. To discover new abilities, each character has their personal table, where each group of boxes represents as many skills to reveal. With what to fill these famous boxes? Simply with various objects collected here and there during the journey! When an object in your possession can be used to complete a table, the menu flashes and you just have to validate your choice. Intrinsically ingenious and very progressive, this system provides common abilities but also others specific to each character, so as to make them all very specific. That the characters are not identical seems fundamental, but after the License Board of Final Fantasy XII, it is better to point it out...
Big chapter of any good RPG, the fights of Rogue Galaxy pull Sony's production upwards from the start. First imagine completely free movements and actions, as in a Star Ocean. Here, the parallel with Final Fantasy XII moves away. Don't look for an AI takeover Allied Gambit System way, any abyssal customization (even superfluous) has no place in this RPG which compensates with an ingenious system of suggestions. The player necessarily handles only one individual at a time (possibility to switch) the interaction with his compatriots is only played on very few details, but the latter will, depending on the situation, spontaneously offer you solutions you just have to confirm or deny with the triggers. Is it useful to use a healing potion like Kisala suggests, or is it better to get it over with a good special move like Steve encourages? It's up to you to decide. If we can regret not really having an influence on the tendencies of the suggestions, this ingenious principle allows the characters controlled by the CPU to enjoy a certain free will. Neither too simple nor too deep, this little detail tends to make the balance and the rhythm of the game incredibly well balanced. Add to that a very varied movement capacity: the character jumps, can parry an attack, or even nab opponents. Are we in a beat'em all? No, a small anti-nag restriction has nevertheless been thought out with the action gauge which, once empty, forces you to catch your breath. But this is only for a short time, not to mention that successfully parrying a blow will have the effect of filling it up! Have you ever seen an RPG in which you first have to jump on an enemy in order to reveal their weak point? This pure RPG that is Rogue Galaxy is therefore a hybrid with an Action RPG like Kingdom Hearts. If in addition I speak to you about the special gauge which, when it is full, makes it possible to trigger an exit of fury based on a series of buttons to be validated in rhythm, we will easily reach the same conclusion: dynamism is the key word Rogue Galaxy fights, a term that was rather difficult to use about a Final Fantasy XII with passive offensive hints. And as if to put the odds on its side, Rogue Galaxy surprises with small ergonomic details such as the instantaneous use of an object. The fight is interrupted by opening the menu, and the use of a good healing or resurrection potion is immediate, as long as the action gauge allows you to draw the object! Does the absence of the specific turn-based strategy cause a repetition of the action? To tell the truth, Rogue Galaxy is not more repetitive than any other RPG, but the frequency of the fights is certainly consequent, and its level design planned so that the player has time to make a good package of meetings. Moreover, it is a global alchemy: the fact of constantly nesting new objects in the Revelations tables gives the feeling of constantly evolving.
Blue Sky in Games
If it borrows parameters from Final Fantasy XII a version “junior”, Rogue galaxy stands out fundamentally thanks to an identity that gives pride of place to the desire for adventure and exploration. Far from any political intrigue, it is thematically closer to a Skies of Arcadia, which we necessarily think of for flying boats, with an additional galactic dimension since in Rogue galaxy we travel from planet to planet. Change of scenery and contrast guaranteed, because even if there are not a very large number of stars, their bio-diversity and their different technological context cause pleasant clashes of cultures. The most unexpected being probably the planet Vedan, mining star where the sun never rises, city of eternal night, where around the hard work of the miners, a nocturnal city teems with its gangsters straight out of the Chicago of the Capone generation. Tender story, starry sky, vaporous atmosphere illuminated by the neon lights of the city, piano bar atmosphere and dark characters are on the menu of this particularly elaborate chapter. Eclectic is also the fine team of eight that makes up the tribe Rogue galaxy. If Jester meets the specifications of the classic young man lost in his sandy countryside who has always dreamed of reaching the stars, his compatriots are not stung worms. Kisala and Lillika are the two charming assets of this team, the first is the indispensable cute heroine and heiress daughter of the captain of the ship, while the second is an Amazon warlord of her primitive tribe, a statuesque counterpart of the Viera of Final Fantasy XII, Frank. The kind of character you like to have on your team just to watch it evolve from behind. But a large part of the adventure, however, prohibits you from choosing the characters. This is to better make them react with the environment, depending on the chapter. Dynamism always with the aftershocks that they drop everywhere during the movement phases. Rogue Galaxy thus seeks to include life and movement in its universe, despite a certain linearity, in the sense that the layout is classic, with particularly long dungeons to explore, and whose nature is quite close to a Dungeon- RPG. The game is not particularly difficult, as long as you manage to manage your stock of potions well. Despite very long dungeons, the presence of many restorer save points allow you to move forward without too much fear. In addition, they also act as a corresponding teleporter with all the other points on the same planet! With regard to these teleporters, therefore, they are part of a desire for fluidity in progression, the game developed by Level 5 is intended to be more focused on fun and accessibility than on long level up sessions and long trips. -returns. Which clearly means that in the middle of the dungeon, if I want to get out of the maze to go to the local grocer, Hassan Cehef, it's possible.
Level 5 Completed
What humor, huh. Besides, that's good, Rogue Galaxy is in this spirit, parodying geeks from the first part of the game as individuals socially excluded from the mass, fanboys and silly idols. Very Japanese and light in spirit without pouring into fan service, Akhiro Hino's game upsets a lot of conventions with playable and secondary characters that really come out of the canons of the usual aesthetic. Playable from the start of the game, Steve is, for example, a tense robot like C3PO, and to quote a secondary character, Dr. Poccachio seems straight out of the imagination of a Tezuka, for example. We add to all this a very correct US dubbing and we obtain, in addition to a well thought out and dynamic game, a team which is gradually becoming very endearing and with which it is a real pleasure to progress. A team ultimately made up of 50% human and 50% diverse. A plurality of genres in a world of fantasy that directly evokes Star Wars sauce (which still offers us a common point with Final Fantasy XII) but after having evoked Skies or Arcadia from a thematic point of view, it can also remind us Dark Cronicles because of the excellent grain of the superbly cel-shaded image. So no, Rogue Galaxy is not metaphysical-tragic, but neither is it futility incarnate. When he is humorous he hits the bull's eye, When he wants to be serious he must fly too. It's a balanced balance, concocted by a studio that has already reached maturity (Level 5 had already produced a certain Dragon Quest VIII, just that).
Rogue Galaxy also wants to bait the relentless with sides that are not necessarily original, with the exception of the Factory, whose really advanced design allows you to create very useful objects if you give it a try. the penalty. The insect tournament (to be captured then fed and raised) or the weapons fusion frog appear less important, but underline that Rogue Galaxy is indeed a real RPG with its many secondary tasks highlighting the main thread. To all those who would tax it too quickly because of its limpid progress, Rogue Galaxy responds with the Factory, a confusing exercise in complexity for those who don't bother to go into it as it is a real small built-in Factory Tycoon. He will also respond with his Gladius Towers, a dungeon located at the end of the adventure which joins the Tower of Lezard Valeth (Valkyrie Profile) and the Pharos (Final Fantasy XII) in the category of the longest mazes of the RPG.
