Rogue Galaxy

Reviewed by John Burrell Jr.
March 4, 2007

Developer: Level 5 Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Website: Click Here Platform(s): PS2 Players: 1 ESRB Rating: Teen

Screenshot from Rogue Galaxy. Courtesy of SCEA.

One of the most fantastic games to ever grace the Playstation 2 last year was the addictive and lovable Dragon Quest 8. That game came to us thanks to Level 5. The pure genius that made that game a hit in the States and in Japan has brought to us another RPG, entitled Rogue Galaxy. I was instantly intrigued as to how this game was going to stack up next to its Square Enix older brother. The end result of all the waiting was not in vain; Rogue Galaxy could very well be RPG of the year. The main character, Jaster Rouge, gets mistaken for a world famous hunter when he is spotted carrying his sword. The two men who mistake him for the wrong guy are space pirates who need him for their captain, who is searching for tablets that hold the secrets to finding Eden. This leads to Jaster’s journey into the unknown, and you on one great experience.

The game’s strongest point is that it doesn’t have loading screens, except when there is a cinematic. This enhances the realism of Rogue Galaxy, compared to other games where you load every new area you enter. I particularly enjoy the battle system. It’s a real time battle system where you can run from attacks, jump away from danger (and sometimes onto your enemy), or use your secondary weapon to keep distance between you and your enemy. The battle mechanics in this game allow for many different approaches to defeating enemies. Your weapons level up and gain different parameters depending on how much you use them. This also effects how they can be combined in an item alchemy system, much like the one in Dragon Quest 8.

The biggest gripe I had about this game is that when fighting near water, if I fell into water that was deep enough to swim in, I would get beat down by the enemies. Also, the comments made by your characters while running through the environments is a neat little insight to how they feel about something going on in the story, but after the maybe 10th- 15th repeating of the same comments, it gets to be a bit irritating. Thank God for the ability to turn those little nuggets of wisdom off whenever you want (do so before they burrow themselves into your brain and you find yourself repeating them with your characters in unison).

Honestly, I can’t give Rogue Galaxy anything less than a 9 and a high Evo Factor simply because it’s one of the most polished RPG’s I have ever come across. From the story to the little things thrown in for the heck of it (Pokemon-like creature raising, or hunting creatures to gain rank on the Hunters top 100 list), this game’s 100+ hours of truly great gaming is deserving of a sequel and a must have for any RPG nut.

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