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Rogue Galaxy

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Rogue Galaxy
Developer(s)Level-5
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)Akihiro Hino
Artist(s)Takeshi Majima
Keiji Nagao
Jiro Morinaga
Writer(s)Akihiro Hino
Koji Mori
Composer(s)Tomohito Nishiura
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
Genre(s)Sci-Fi RPG
Mode(s)Single-player

Template:Nihongo title is a science fiction console role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was first released in Japan on December 8th, 2005, and later in North America on January 30th, 2007. The European release was initially expected in 2006 but after a series of postponements it was released in most European countries on 5 September 2007. Release in the UK and some other countries followed on 7 September 2007. A Director's Cut version of the game was also released in Japan on March 15, 2007. The Director's Cut included all the added features and improvements of the North American and European localizations.[1]

Rogue Galaxy enjoyed immense critical success upon its initial release in Japan, scoring a 36/40 in Famitsu and an 85 average in Dengeki, two of Japan's most popular gaming magazines. Sales were also very strong for an original IP RPG in Japan, with sales totaling over 350,000 units in just three months.

Plot and setting

Story

The story begins with Jaster Rogue, a young boy who was abandoned on the planet Rosa as a child. He was raised by a Priest named Raul, who is like a father to Jaster. His long time dream is to travel around space and be a space pirate. One day a huge monster comes and attacks the town; a man known as the Desert Claw, the best Bounty Hunter in the galaxy, shows up and helps Jaster defeat some monsters that outnumber him. After the battle, Desert Claw spots two pirates from the crew of Space Pirate Dorgengoa. He gives Jaster his weapon, the Desert Seeker, one of the Legendary 7 Star Swords, so the pirates will mistake him for Desert Claw. They soon help Jaster defeat the boss monster (the Flaming Alchemist: Mark VIII Salamander) that attacked the village. After the battle the two Pirates (Simon and Steve) tell Jaster that their Captain(Dorgengoa) wants to hire him on his crew. The next day Jaster decides to leave planet Rosa and join the pirates in their journey to find the Lost Planet Eden. After leaving the planet Rosa, Jaster meets up with the rest of the crew of the Dorgenark. Kisala, the captain's daughter, Steve, a robot, Simon, a space pirate and finally Zegram, a mercenary who agreed to join the crew. Dorgengoa, the captain, is after the legendary Planet Eden which is supposed to have vast amounts of treasure and the people that live there are immortal. As their journey continues Jaster meets new friends from different planets such as Lilika, an amazon, from the Jungle Planet Juraika, Jupis, a hacker from the Advanced Planet Zerard, and finally Deego, an Ex-Longuardian soldier from the Mining Planet Vedan. On their journey, they discovered that the Great Tablets are connected to Eden.

They also learn that they need Artifacts from Ancient Kings who ruled specific planets years ago. They also don't know that the president of Daytron is also after Eden, though as the story progresses the true motive of the Daytron president, Valkog is revealed. Jaster and his party search for the 3 relics of the ancient kings: one on Zerard, one on Vedan, and one on Juraika. After finding all three relics, the relics are returned to Rosa. Jaster fights Seed, an artificial human created by Daytron, and defeats him, by harnessing a mysterious power inside himself. Jaster then opens the gate to a labyrinth containing the secret to Eden, using this same power. While in the Rosa labyrinth, Jaster and Kisala discover that Kisala is actually the princess of Eden, known as Mariglenn. When the party leaves the ruins they see Valkog, Daytron's president, attacking the town Jaster grew up in. Raul, Jaster's foster father, tries to stop the attacking ship but is killed, but before he dies gives Jaster an artifact which points his journey towards the Kuje Desert. In the Kuje Desert they discover the town of Johannasburg. The party discovers that Johannasburg was frozen in time by a women named Johanna in order to protect it from a plague killing its villagers. In the town they meet the ghost of the women Johanna, who turns out to be Jaster's mother and also a descendant of the Star King, an ancient ruler of the galaxy. Jaster then fights his mother in order to unlock his own powers and wins. Afterwards, Jaster and the others run into Desert Claw again, who turns out to be Jaster's father and that his real name is Mizel. Mizel describes how he came to Johannasburg and met Johanna and that they fell in love and had Jaster. However, after giving birth, Johanna died from a disease, and Desert Claw left Jaster with Raul in order for Jaster to find his own destiny. Mizel knew Jaster would be the one to bring peace to the galaxy and save it. He tells them to continue to Eden to find the way to save the galaxy.

When they arrive on Mariglenn, they learn that the planet has been removed from the entire Wilhelser System to encase the ever growing Rune as well as Mother, an evil entity that is made purely out of Rune. Jaster and Kisala meet Kisala's father, the king, but he is mutated into a beast and is taken down by his own daughter and her friends. Before perishing, he awakens Kisala's Drigellum, an aura made out of the memories in people's hearts, and tells them they must awaken the other Drigellum inside of Kisala's friends to craft a sword and defeat Mother. When the sword is created, Jaster's grop faces Mother deep within her lair. She is defeated, even after transforming into her true state and the Star King revealing that she was once his sorceress named Ilzarbella, and the Rune is without a host. But as bad luck would have it, Valkog's ship appears over Mother's lair and the Rune drags Valkog, his two assistants Norma and Izel, and their ship down into the Rune and transforms them into the Demon Battleship, a gigantic monster that is the new host body of the Rune. Kisala's mother appears and gives Jaster the Drigellum of Hope and super charges his blade. Together, Jaster and his friends take down the Demon Battleship's weapons one after another and finally destroys it completely. Mariglenn returns to space after they leave and they go to see it. Unfortunately, Kisala decides to follow her mother's rule, becomes the new queen of Mariglenn and is separated from her friends. Everyone except Jaster, Zegram, Monsha and Dorgengoa return home as whatever is left of the group heads off to claim their "ultimate treasure" on the new Mariglenn, which can lead players to suspect it's Kisala. The final scene tells that this was the final mission the Dorgengoa Pirates ever pulled off as pirates.

Characters

  • Jaster Rogue

The main hero of the story and the first playable character. His home planet is the planet Rosa, a planet that is mostly desert and currently under Longuardian rule. His dream since he was a boy was to go out into space someday and help change the universe. Jaster lived in the town's church which is run by his adoptive father, Raul. One day, a giant beast breaks through into town and Jaster rushes out to stop it. He meets a mysterious man who helps Jaster until he meets Steve and Simon. Witnessing his battling skills, Steve and Simon mistake him for the legendary hunter "Desert Claw" since they spot him holding one of the seven legendary swords. With their help, Jaster slays the beast and is offered a chance to join the Dorgengoa Pirates. He and Kisala are heavily hinted to be romantically interested in each other. He accepts the invitation and joins the crew as they head out into space. His main weapon is a sword while his sub-weapon is a pistol.

  • Kisala

The daughter of the pirate captain, Dorgengoa, and the only female onboard the Dorgengoa when Jaster joins. While she has an innocent appearance to her, Kisala is a tomboy and doesn't mind being around space pirates. Jaster and Kisala meet for the first time when passing by the Rose Nebula. Most of Kisala's history is unknown until it is discovered that Kisala is the princess of the planet Mariglenn, known widely by all as "Eden". When Kisala meets Jaster, she too believes that Jaster is Desert Claw, but was uncertain as first since she pictured Desert Claw to be more rugged. She is suspected to be romantically interested in Jaster. Kisala's main weapon are twin daggers and her sub-weapon is her high heeled boots.

  • Zegram

An bounty hunter who joined forces with Dorgengoa long before Jaster came aboard the crew. Out of all the crew members, Zegram's home planet is never revealed (but a cutscene near the game's end could indicate that it is Zerard). When Jaster joins, Zegram has his doubts that Jaster is really the famous "Desert Claw". But he ignores the facts and starts to bond with Jaster like the other crew members do. While Jaster and friends are often winding up in trouble or need Zegram, he is often seen mysteriously alone communicating with someone. It's revealed later on that Zegram was in leagues with the Daytron company since the start and causes a fight between him and Jaster. But when they meet again on Rosa, Zegram re-joins them just as they are battling Seed for the final time. Zegram's main weapon is a sword while he wields a throwing star as his sub-weapon.

  • Simon

One of the first Dorgengoa crew members to meet Jaster on planet Rosa. Steve's home planet is Zerard and he is seen as a sturdy short man with a mask covering his face. His true identity is never revealed until towards the game's end when it is found out that his real identity is Shu, an employee who had a major accident that cost him his face. He joined the Dorgengoa Pirates after that, while at the same time leaving his wife and daughter behind. Simon accepts Jaster right away when he is mistaken for the "Desert Claw" and speaks with a heavy Scottish accent. Simon is sometimes a good addition to the party because of his widespread attacks. Simon's main weapon is a flamethrower and his sub-weapon is a multi-missile launcher.

  • Steve

Steve is an android robot designed by Dr. Poccachio from planet Zerard and the navigator of the Dorgenark, the Dorgengoa Pirate's ship. Steve is first met on planet Rosa along with Simon and joins the party with him. Like the others, he too believed that Jaster was "Desert Claw" due to him carrying Desert Claw's legendary blade. Steve, out of all of Dr. Poccachio's inventions, is considered his favorite since Steve was the first android of his kind to care for others as well as his creator. Steve secretly carries a data replica of Mark, his creator's deceased son, which can only be seen when on a virtual transmission with the doctor while in Sleep Mode. Steve's main weapons are his robotic fists and his sub-weapon are two laser bits.

  • Lilika

An amazoness from the planet Juraika, Lilika is the only other female crew member to join. She meets Jaster, Kisala and Zegram when their ship crash lands on Juraika after engine trouble. Although no one from Juraika will listen to outsiders, Lilika sees Jaster and his friends differently and helps them get into Burkaqua Village. She is the only crew member to have a little sister, who lost her sight after a vicious beast attacked and killed their mother long ago. When Lilika must sacrifice her sister for the Star God, she discovers that their "god" is really the same monstrous beast that attacked them when they were children. Lilika joins Jaster and Kisala in killing the beast and is banished from the village for "interfering with the ritual of the Star God". Finally free, she joins the Dorgengoa Pirates after the ship repairs are complete. Her main weapon is her bow and arrows while her sub-weapon is a hatchet.

  • Jupis Tooki McGongal

Jupis is the only playable character that is first fought as a boss in the Starship Factory. Jupis is a strange lizard like alien that comes from Zerard. A while ago, he was a great scientist and genius who devoted his entire work to science. His assistant, Tony, got him involved in an accident while working on a theory that could revolutionize time space energy. But his data was lost when coffee was spilled on the system and Jupis took his entire frustration out on Tony. He was then fired and went slightly insane, probably from all the coffee he drinks. He later takes over the Starship Factory and gains control of all of the machines within the factory. It was only through the combined efforts of Jaster, Lilika and Steve that he finally is defeated, even when fighting with his giant robot Johnny. He tries to make his escape when the police come in to capture Jupis. With nowhere to go, possibly since he is going to be on the "most wanted" list, Jupis stows away on the Dorgenark and becomes a crew member. Jupis' main weapon is a spear while his sub-weapon is a disk shooter.

  • Deego

The final playable character to be recruited to the team. Deego comes from the planet Verdan, which is a large industrial planet where most of its productivity comes from the mines. Deego is an ex-military man, in the appearance of a well muscled bull dog with robotic arms and legs, who retires from his army days and is usually seen hanging out at Angela's Bar, owned by one of his friends Angela. His other friend, Gale, had joined up with the Morarty Family, a crime organization that seems to practically control all of the city of Myna and burnt down Angela's bar after Deego joins Jaster and Kisala's party. With each passing day, Deego seems to be slowly losing his true self. With his help, the team manages to reach the inner most cavern of the mines and he confronts Gale in a final showdown. After the battle, he discovers that Angela is trying to leave Myna. He manages to catch her and reveals how he really feels about her (she wanted to leave so Deego could learn to stand on his own two feet again). With Angela remaining in Myna and his friendship restored with Gale, Deego joins the Dorgenark crew. His main weapon is a giant axe while his sub-weapon is an arm-mounted machine-gun.

Gameplay

The game's engine features a continuous environment with no load time and battles taking place in the overworld in real time. The graphics bear a resemblance to other Level-5 RPGs, most notably Dragon Quest VIII and Dark Chronicle.

Combat

File:Rogue-galaxy-20060425025407253.jpg
Battle screen from the U.S version of Rogue Galaxy.

Combat is handled very much like in a Western RPG; enemies roam the playing field and there is no transition between battle and exploring the game world. The player controls a single character, but can change the other party members attack patterns using the team command function. In addition the player can switch characters and access their skills on the fly.

Some of the Combat's features are as follows;

Revelation Chart
Each character has his/her very own revelation chart. The chart has unlockable AP commands and upgrades. Each character starts out with an empty box with an outline of an item. Completely fill the certain slot with the correct item, you can now use that AP command. When a slot is filled, another one or more opens.
Tech Attacks
These are team based attacks in which two or more team members combine their abilities into one devastating attack. They are unlocked on the Revelation Flow for each character and are unique for each one with various requirements for who must be present within the active party to be enabled in combat (á la Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross).
Burning Strike
In the Japanese release, these special attacks would occur at random, but this was changed in the U.S. release so that the player may activate them manually by collecting enough Burning Chips dropped by foes during combat to fill a special gauge. Once filled, the player may activate this ability at which point they must follow a series of prompts onscreen to string together attacks in order to generate a great deal of damage to a targeted enemy.
Throwing Enemies
The player can throw an enemy into another enemy to cause damage. Various obstacles and items also appear within the combat area for the player to use in like fashion in most instances.
Special Conditions
Several enemies are immune to damage unless made vulnerable through various means; some must first have their barriers destroyed by one of Jaster's guns. Others can only be harmed at very specific points to deliver any damage. Others must be jumped on to lower their guard. Still others must have their guard broken through the use of a strong attack. Players must be aware of this, as such enemies are invulnerable to even the strongest attacks in the game until made otherwise.

Dungeon exploration

Keeping in tradition with Level-5's Dark Cloud series, some areas contain puzzles. These can range from the mundane fetching of a key that matches the lock to more exotic ones, such as freezing a waterfall and then using created platforms in order to climb it. Unlike Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle, the dungeons are not randomized.There are many different enemies that can be encountered in a dungeon.There are also treasure chest that can give loot or steal your money hurt you and more.Some treasure chests may include mimics which is a strong enemie.

Many of the puzzles encountered involve "Thinking Circles" - areas with a question mark where the player directs the characters, is informed of a situation there, and then attempts to select the right item from the inventory to address the situation. Doing so unlocks other parts of the dungeon, summons important bosses, and so forth.

Dungeons in Rogue Galaxy are notably long affairs, and may have odd and specialized enemies in them requiring the player to determine the best way to deal with them.

Insectron Tournament

The Insectron Tournament is a completely optional mini-game where the player pits up a team of his collected and trained bugs against opponents in a chess-like board, turn-based combat. Bugs can be acquired in each of the worlds by setting up traps and using food items as bait. Some are more powerful than others. A good source of bait is the sticky gum. You can buy this by the Insectron area from the man that sells more traps and rearing cages. The sticky gum catches the small bugs easily. The insect system is almost identical to the fish tank system found in Dark Chronicle, however there is a longer time period in which insects mature.

The Factory

At a certain point early in the game, the player's characters get access to a reconfigurable factory. They then are able to find blueprints by talking to others in the game (who have orange or blue icons over their heads). Using the blueprints, the player can set up factory equipment and raw materials to make new items. Upon completion of the item, the party gets a "sample" and the item will be available in some stores in the game.

The factory layout is essentially a 2D flow-puzzle where the player lays out equipment and conveyor belts, hooks up power cables, and attempts to make sure the right materials are processed properly, and combined at the right time in the manufacturing process. Consideration of the materials used, how they are processed, and the time it takes is required for success. However, the materials used are not lost if the player sets the assembly incorrectly.

Weapon synthesis

The game also features a Weapon Synthesis system similar to the Dark Cloud series, albeit in a simplified form, which can be used to create powerful and effective weapons.

All weapons gain EXP from battles until they reach a level where they are "Maxed" and can be synthesized along with another similarly-developed weapon to create an even stronger one. This is accomplished by the use of "Toady", a strange froglike creature whose exposure to the mysterious substance Rune has given him the ability to swallow weapons and regurgitate a more advanced one. Toady can also analyze weapons and make suggestions for combinations, and will helpfully warn if a combination he's attempting to digest will give useless or negative results. He can only combine two weapons of the same kind.

After a weapon is "Maxed" on its experience, it continues to gain additional damage in specific "elemental" categories - fire, ice, lightning, wind, and holy. These can improve to a limited degree. When the experience and the elemental damage is at maximum, a weapon is considered "Mastered" and cannot be improved further. Improving these stats can mean a more powerful weapon is produced when Toady is used.

All playable characters possess two weapons: primary and secondary. The majority of the characters have a close-range weapon set as primary, while long-range weapons will be their secondary. However, Lilika has the opposite set up, and Kisala has no ranged attacks. Combining weapons is no different among characters.

Audio

Soundtrack

Untitled

Composed by Level-5's chief composer, Tomohito Nishiura, Rogue Galaxy's OST is reminiscent of games such as Skies of Arcadia and Star Ocean. The title's ending vocal track, "Dreaming My Way Home", is composed by Nishiura and written, arranged and performed by Barbara Kessler.

A 10-track arrangement album entitled Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange was also released in early 2006, and featured contributions from quite a few popular video game composers including Yasunori Mitsuda, Kenji Ito, Yoko Shimomura, Motoi Sakuraba and Noriyuki Iwadare.

English voice cast

Japanese voice cast


Localization improvements

Due to its success in Japan, Level-5 opted not only to localize Rogue Galaxy for North America and Europe, but to add a significant amount of new features and content, and address any complaints concerning the original version. These improvements, which feature in both the North American and European versions of the game, and the Japanese Director's Cut, include:[2]

  • The game now uses a dual-layer 8.5GB DVD to play instead of a standard 4.7GB DVD the Japanese version used. This allowed smoother, better looking graphics and additional data to be added into the game.
  • A fifth planet, the water world of Alistia. While it is separate from the main story arc, the planet includes its own sidequests and special items, and helps flesh out some of the characters. However, it is only available after obtaining a key item in Chapter 8.
  • Toady's Analysis of weapons, which became much simpler to use.
  • The Burning Strike system. Players now collect Burning Chips during battle, which allows them to store power and execute their Burning Strike when they want to.
  • The layout and visual design of several dungeons and planets was altered and improved, making them more visually appealing. Affected areas include Rosencaster Prison, the Gladius Towers, the Daytron factory, Rosa's desert town, and Rosa's Labyrinth.
  • Additional content within the Insectron Tournament sidequest. Main difference is that two species of Insectrons, the Bomber Snail and the Spidan, have been added, each with 8 types of Insectrons per species.
  • Each character (except Jaster) has two new types of weapons, thus increasing the number of weapons in the game by 140.
  • Each character has 5 bonus costumes, except for Kisala and Simon, who gets 6. The difference in defense is small, but each character's clothing changes according to the costume they wear, even in cutscenes and in battle (except during the pre-rendered cinematics and, oddly enough, when in the Dorgenark).
  • Improved and expanded battle animations.
  • Over 2000 lines of additional voiced dialogue.
  • Making it easier to damage enemies, as the formula for attacking has been modified.
  • Every character gets three extra abilities to their Revelation Flow, except for Lilika, who has 4. Some characters also come with abilities that only work if certain characters are in the main party with them. Lilika and Kisala have an combination ability called "Star-Linked Venus", and Jupis and Steve get a combination ability called "Black Hole". Jaster has two called "Supernova", which works when he, Kisala and Zegram make up the party, and "Eternal Passion", which is for him and Kisala and is considered the ability born from their "love" between one another.

See also

References

  1. ^ Winkler, Chris (Jan. 10, 2007). "Rogue Galaxy Director's Cut Announced". RPGFan. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |accessyear= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ Vore, Bryan (Oct. 16, 2006). "U.S. Version Of Rogue Galaxy To Include Loads Of New Content". Game Informer. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear= and |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
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