Vandal Hearts
PlayStation
To say that this is a game I had never heard a whole lot of hype about would be an understatement. If I didn't pick up a used copy of this game for dirt cheap (just a couple bucks) at a local Blockbuster when I was a teenager, I would likely have never even heard of Vandal Hearts, much less played it.
But luckily the fates aligned and I was able to avoid that unpleasant destiny. A world where I have never played Vandal Hearts is a world I don't want to live in.
I didn't expect much when I bought this game, but I was hoping for a pleasant surprise. If it sucked... oh well. It was only a few dollars. But as it turns out, the game didn't suck. Not in the least.
I had been a fan of RPGs, but not strategy games. Didn't like Final Fantasy Tactics. Didn't like Command and Conquer. Didn't like almost everything in the genre I had played. The one exception was Shining Force. I thought that game was quite gnarly.
I don't think I knew what type of game Vandal Hearts was when I bought it, otherwise I may have never bothered with it. I thought it was just a regular RPG, but I was wrong. It was a grid based strategy game.
My misgivings quickly went away after firing up this game. This wasn't like anything I had ever played before. This game was, for lack of a better term: bad ass. It was like Shining Force except with better graphics, a better story, and much more in your face action. And oh yeah, blood!
This was the late 90's. I likely played through this game a handful of times before it joined my collection of old games that I didn't bother to play anymore. I would say at least 15 or 16 years have passed in my life before I decided to pick the game up and play it again. I don't know what prompted me to pick up this game again, despite all the bajillion games in my collection, but I am glad I did.
I knew the game was fun. I knew I liked it and would likely have a good time. I remembered this much. But I did not know just exactly how much I would love the game.
Vandal Hearts really is a great title, and it still holds up after all these years.
The story can be a little overwhelming. Don't expect to just skim through it when you are playing. It is very intricate and detailed. Once you get the basic concept and start playing the game, it all becomes much more clear.
I am one who is easily distracted and has a hard time paying attention, but the basic concept is that this is a land that was once ruled with an iron fist by an old government regime. In the years leading up to the game, a rebellion happened and the government was succesfully overthrown. Now the rebels are in charge, but the power has gone to the heads of a corrupt few.
Your character Asher is in charge of protecting the people of this nation, and he sees how corrupt things are getting in the hierarchy above him. He is sent away on a mission to follow a general who defected, and is quickly caught up in a chase for mystical artifacts which, if fallen into the hands of the corrupt officials, can destroy the world.
You meet a ton of characters along the way, each with his or her own interesting backstory. Each character adds something different to your party. You've got archers, white mages, sorcerers, swordsmen, and all the usual fantasy type occupations. Each has their own unique strengths and weaknesses. As you upgrade characters through out the game, they each have different paths you can take them down. For example, you can turn your archers into dragon knights. These characters can't shoot arrows anymore, but they fly and can cover MUCH more ground than the average character. They can even hover over water and other obstacles that normal characters would have to go around. You can turn swordsmen into guardsmen. Guardsmen are big, lumbering, and can take and dish out a lot of damage. But they can't cover a whole lot of territory in one turn. These are just a few examples. Every character in the game has multiple paths you can take them down, each one very different and offering unique strengths and weaknesses to your party..
Combat is grid based. You take turns moving all your characters. Then the computer goes. Then you go. Back and forth it goes. Your main goal for each "stage" is to eradicate all your enemies. Sometimes it is a specific enemy you must destroy. Sometimes you have to protect things. Most of the time there is no time limit, but a few stages you must hurry up and finish in a certain number of turns.
The maps aren't just flat, boring battle maps. You have hills, rivers, bridges, boulders, all kinds of obstacles in the way. Treasure chests and other items are scattered throughout each map. You can either seek these treasures out, putting yourself at risk to enemy attack, or forget about them and focus on the mission at hand.
Like in Shining Force, if your main character dies, you die.
The main reason I loved this game is that the battles are flat out fun. Most of the time when I play RPGs I play for the story line, I could care less about the battle system (see almost every Final Fantasy game I've ever played). Battles are just a necessary evil you must deal with in order to advance the story. This game is the complete opposite. The battles are what drive this game.
They are addicting, they are fun, and no two battles are ever alike. So many times while playing this I would want to stop playing, but I would tell myself "one more battle, one more battle." And then I would end up playing five more. It is so hard to stop!
Graphically, the game looks good. Sure it is probably dated by today's standards, but the characters are big, colorful, detailed, and easy to tell apart. Your party and your enemies are all 2D sprites that are slightly pixelated, but the world itself if 3D. Each battleground you can rotate and adjust the camera according to your liking.
When you kill an enemy, he explodes in a shower of pixelated blood that I must admit is quite satisfying to see. It's hard to explain, but there is nothing like taking down that son of a bitch who killed your archer and seeing him explode in a red fury. It is quite awesome. Of course, the same goes for your characters if an enemy happens to kill one of them (which they will.... many many times). Then it isn't quite so bad ass. But I still like it.
The game shouldn't take too long to beat. I clocked in around 20 hours, but I think I actually played the game far less than that. There is no pause function so a lot of times I had to just leave the game running while I would do something else. This accounted for a lot of the time spent playing this.
Also, the game isn't too difficult. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I died in the game and had to restart a map. And most of those deaths were because I let my main character get too deep into enemy territory - and they ganged up on him. Asher is one of the most powerful characters in the game, so it seemed wrong to hold him back from the fray on so many occasions. I learned to be cautious with him. A lot of times if I wanted to flank an enemy I would have him lead the flank just so the focus of the attack wouldn't be on him. Also, make sure to cast protective shields on him in every battle. And always heal him when you get a chance, even if he still has 75 or 80% of his health left. One big time hit by an enemy and bam - Asher is dead and you have to start the battle over.
The music is nothing great but the battle tunes are catchy (especially when it is the enemy's turn to attack) and the sound effects make the battles seem even more intense than they really are.
Between battles, you are treated to dialogue heavy scenes that advance the story line. Also, you get the opportunity to visit towns and villages to buy equipment, upgrade your characters, and save the game. You don't actually get to control your character and walk around the town, you just get to pick what you want to do from a menu instead. At first I thought this was kind of lame, but you don't really play the game for wandering and exploration. Vandal Hearts' focus is all on the combat and story line.
I think I have said everything there is to say about this game. I would highly recommend it if you have never played it before. It is highly addicting, the story is just good enough to make you care about the characters, and it is a ton of fun. Even if you don't like these kind of strategy games, give it a shot. I didn't think I liked them either, but this ended up turning into one of my favorite games of the original PlayStation era. It is not a perfect game. It could be longer. It could be tougher. It could be more "complete" in terms of character development, making choices, or exploring your environment. But that really isn't what this game is about.
This game is about going into battle, killing people, and having a great time doing it.
Overall:
A-
No comments:
Post a Comment