Rogue Galaxy's characters are all pretty likable
While Level 5 are not the most famous of names in the Japanese gaming industry, they are moving up very quickly, and it's likely you've heard of some of their games, like Dark Cloud for PS2, their recent Japanese hit Professor Layton and the Curious Village for DS, and perhaps most notably Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King which they produced for Square Enix. Rogue Galaxy is an original action-RPG that uses a modified version of the excellent Dragon Quest VIII engine, with real-time hack-and-slash action in place of the traditional turn based combat. It tells the story of Jaster Rogue, a small time hunter with a mysterious past who lives on a remote, desert-like planet and dreams of space travel. Through a series of events involving an enigmatic bounty hunter and two robots, he leaves his home for adventure over many different planets with a troupe of space pirates. Rogue Galaxy wears a Star Wars influence right on its sleeve, while still retaining the anime look and feel of its JRPG brethren. While most of the main characters are still pretty typical of the genre, and the plot is still somewhat predictable, the different setting and stunning art design make Rogue Galaxy stand out from the PS2 crowd. As usual for JRPGs it can get still get a bit overwrought in the story department, and often tries too hard to be 'grand' and 'emotional', but this is balanced with a generally lighthearted tone and some genuinely amusing moments. For fans of Star Wars, it's also pretty fun to see how many of the characters from that universe have homages to them, and to see them 'anime-ised.'
The battle system will initially feel great to anyone tired of turn based combat in their epic-storied Japanese games. Combat is action based and in real time, and takes place in the same game-space as exploration, although in most cases battles are still random, with enemies spawning periodically as you make your way around the area. You move around in a party, but in combat you'll only control one character, while the others will follow commands you can pre-set, such as 'hold back' or 'defend'. You can shoot, slash, defend and jump in a manner akin to a hack-and-slash action game, but it's still an RPG at the core, with all the battle tactics, equip menus, potions and resurrection spells you've come to expect. Unfortunately the action part is pretty simplistic, playing somewhat like a low enemy Dynasty Warriors title without the speed, and even if you get into the various reasonably well thought-out upgrade systems, actual combat doesn't change too much, and all the menu swapping and button mashing becomes a chore after a while.
After feeling fresh to begin with, the combat starts to grind
On the other hand, there are quite a few neat features that streamline the experience. The save point system is particularly well done – there are not only a lot of them, but you can also instantly warp to any one you've passed so far on the planet you are currently on, cutting out a lot of backtracking. And there's no need to swap out characters to level them up evenly, as characters all receive experience from fights irrespective of their contribution, even those not in your current party. Overall, through the action interface and streamlined design, Rogue Galaxy does a lot of work to make the core RPG grind more tolerable. So much work, in fact, that we simply wonder why Level 5 bothered adhering to the RPG standards at all.
Graphics are perhaps Rogue Galaxy's greatest asset. Not only do the cell-shaded characters and detailed, colourful 3D environments look stunning on a technical level, but the art design is absolutely fantastic. All characters look stylish and visually appealing, and thanks to the Star Wars meets anime theme there are no bare chested girly-men in sight. There are some visual problems - the infamous PS2 jaggies show up in force, and areas with a lot of straight geometry (such as the opening area) can be half-ruined by this annoying visual issue. The framerate is generally solid when exploring, but can drop sharply when fighting begins, and the fighting animations of both enemies and allies are pretty stiff. But the in-engine and pre-recorded cut-scenes are really well done, and overall, even though its on the old PS2 (and indeed, is actually an older game) Rogue Galaxy is one of the best looking games of its type released this year. The musical score is also quite good, fitting the 'grand' theme well, and while the dialogue ranges from decent to cheese, the voice acting is surprisingly cringe-free, although incidental dialogue by party members can get quite repetitive.
The PS2 can still surprise us graphically
2007 was almost certainly the PS2's final big year, but after a remarkable run it has gone out respectfully, at least in PAL territories where delayed games have kept great releases flowing. While truly being a game from 2005, the fact that Rogue Galaxy has held up so well proves that a good game remains a good game irrespective of release date. It doesn't truly re-invent the RPG, but with an original (for the genre) setting, great characters, streamlined gameplay and many great looking places to explore, it's as compelling as any game of its type. If you're after a long quest over a vast and interesting universe and don't mind the repetition inherent in the action-RPG combat design, then Rogue Galaxy is definitely worth firing up the PS2 for.
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