Vagrant Story is the kind of game the dungeon crawling AD&D fanatics have been craving for. With an advanced fighting system that allows you to target certain body parts and chain attacks by timing your button pushes, you'll start on probably the most complex and involving game to come in for the PlayStation yet.

Instead of the cavalcade of Square's usual monsters (Chocobo, Mog, Behemoth, etc.) this game is populated with classical creatures (Minotaurs, Basilisks, Liches, etc.). Also, you can take apart your weapons to mold and make new ones at any point (well, actually, you have to find a workshop to put your weapons back together.). To say the spells look good would be an understatement. In fact, just about everything in this game looks excellent. Great attention to detail on the backgrounds is almost lost in the mix after you see the beautiful in-game engine that makes characters move smoothly. The cut-scenes are run on the same engine and sport possibly the best written plot text ever. Kudos goes to the translation team for keeping the integrity of the story whole. Unlike many other games, the whole of the story is not lost in the poor translation.

Be forewarned though: This game is hard. Not because of design flaws, but because the enemy AI is top-notch. You are going to have to think hard to win most battles. There aren't any cheapy boss wins, or not at least until your second play-through, when you'll be able to inflict revenge with your super-powered character.

With hidden bosses and a hard dungeon to unlock, dedicated players will work their way through this game multiple times to get everything they can out of it. Also, the weapon and equipment system is deep. You can forge weapons together, take them apart to add different handles and hilts, and attach gems to make them stronger. Enemies are rated by affinity, monster type and elements.

If you never play another game again in your whole life, play this one. Casual gamers may find it too deep, but anyone who loves to be challenged will want to have this.

- - kinderfeld