Reviewed on:
PS2
The Good:
Almost no load times(!), highly streamlined game play, and plenty of value for moneyThe Bad:
The plot really is terrifically clichéd, the dialogue often stilted, and battles can be, at points, irritatingly clumsyThe Verdict:
Rogue Galaxy is the kind of solid, playable RPG that should have launched with the PS3; on PS2 it's unmissable
One of the worst things a film critic can do to a movie is to walk out in the middle of it; it's a condemnation of a work that they consider so awful that it's not worth staying until the end to see, at least, if it gets any better.
It's this kind of thought that weighs heavily on my mind when I decide to review a new Japanese RPG; not because they're awful, but it's very rare that a film critic will have to review a film that's longer than a couple of hours, but your average video game numbers in the tens of hours, and the last RPG to come from Rogue Galaxy developer Level 5, Dragon's Quest VIII, required hundreds of hours to see everything the game had to offer.
It's therefore an unfortunate probability that I'm going to have to "walk out" on the game after a number of hours, without having seen it to the end. The question is, of course, is if I want to run back to it the minute the review is finished.
A New Hope?
Rogue Galaxy was a surprise hit in its native Japan when it was released over a year ago, scoring rave reviews and strong sales for a game not attached to the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest franchises (the developer's familiarity to the Dragon Quest franchise not withstanding) and the title has, in the intervening time, been updated and improved for the North American release, with more dialogue, weapons, costumes and special moves.
The plot of Rogue Galaxy concerns a young man called Jaster Rogue, a slave on a dusty desert planet who dreams of traveling into space (hang on, this sounds familiar…) Who finds himself mistaken for a great hero, the "Desert Claw" by a short, cheerful character and a tall, painstakingly polite robot (this seems to ring a bell, too!) And embarks on an adventure that takes him across the whole galaxy.
It's hard to argue that the plot of Rogue Galaxy isn't terrifically clichéd or heavily inspired by Star Wars. Even sections of design that seem slightly inventive, such as space travel being performed on giant sailing ships, have been seen many times before (such as legendary Disney flop Treasure Planet.) However, while the game never reaches the lovable heights of Sega's celebrated Skies of Arcadia (despite many suspicious similarities) and as by-the-numbers as the plot may be, it progresses with such a warm cheerfulness that it's easy to be swept along with it.
No Load Times
Not that the plot progresses with any speed. It takes what feels like an age before the main plot even appears, and the leisurely place, frequent side quests (and occasionally stilted dialogue) make the game feel like an extended anime series. It was perhaps part of this vision that the game does its best to be as quick to pick up and play as possible.
The game possesses an incredible amount of features that streamline the playing experience, it's almost amazing that any RPG gamer could have lived without them. For example, the game highlights the next location that should be reached to progress the plot, ensuring the player is never lost, and although the game does feature the irritation of set save points, every save point restores the player's team health and power/ And even better, allows the player to teleport to any other save point in the location.
It's this kind of attention to usability that makes the gamer never a struggle against the game itself; indeed, one of the best features of Rogue Galaxy is probably the one you'll notice the least: the almost complete lack of loading times. This is a revelation and one that ensures nary a second spent with the game is wasted.
Streamlined Battles
Rogue Galaxy's battles are similarly streamlined. In the style of the current vogue in Japanese RPGs, the battles are real time, not turn based, and the player controls one character of their choosing at a time, taking an active part in the battle. These battles are clumsy hack-and-slash affairs, and while the game does allow you to pause the battles to heal, perform special moves and organize attacks, you never quite feel fully in control leading to (in my case at least) the computer controlled allies often needing to be revived.
Despite the flaws of the battle AI, the battles are tremendously exciting and fun, as long as you can bear to spend most of your hard earned cash on vital health restoring potions.
Worth Exploration
I'll admit it. Rogue Galaxy is a game I've had to walk out on. But it was my own fault; the tens of hours I've spent with it were spent enjoying each section of the game to its fullest, rather than rushing to the end. It's a rare RPG that will excite me to the point where I'll run down a monster infested hallway (in the opposite direction of the goal) just to see what's down there, but Rogue Galaxy is that title.
I'll see the end of the game, but in my own time.
