Rogue Galaxy

Rogue Galaxy
European box art depicting main characters Jaster, Kisala and Zegram
Developer(s)	Level-5 SCE Japan Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment Japan
Director(s)	Akihiro Hino
Producer(s)	Akihiro Hino Yasuhide Kobayashi
Artist(s)	Takeshi Majima Keiji Nagao Jiro Morinaga
Writer(s)	Akihiro Hino Koji Mori
Composer(s)	Tomohito Nishiura
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	OriginalDirector's Cut
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player Limited multiplayer

Rogue Galaxy (ローグギャラクシー, Rōgu Gyarakushī) is a science fiction role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was first released in Japan on December 8, 2005, and later in North America on January 30, 2007. A European release was initially expected in 2006 but after a series of postponements it was released in most European countries on September 5, 2007 and Australia on September 30, 2007. A Director's Cut of the game was also released in Japan on March 15, 2007. This version includes all the added features and improvements of the North American and European localizations.

Rogue Galaxy enjoyed 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 in Japan totaled over 350,000 units in just three months.

Plot

The story begins with Jaster Rogue, a young boy who lived on the planet Rosa as a child. He was raised by a Priest named Raul, who is like a father to Jaster. Jaster's longtime dream is to leave Rosa and explore space. One day a huge beast appears and begins attacking Jaster's hometown of Salgin. Jaster, being an adventurous youth, runs after the beast. He is ambushed by a group of smaller beasts and is aided by a mysterious hooded man. After the battle, the hooded man spots two space pirates roaming around town. The hooded man then gives Jaster his weapon, the Desert Seeker, one of the legendary Seven-Star Swords. The man then runs away along the rooftops. With the Desert Seeker in hand, Jaster is mistaken by the two space pirates as a legendary bounty hunter named Desert Claw. The two soon help Jaster defeat the giant monster attacking the town.

After the battle the two pirates—a robot named Steve and a dwarfish masked man named Simon—tell Jaster that their captain, Dorgengoa, wants to hire Jaster as a part of the crew of the pirate ship Dorgenark. Jaster decides to leave Rosa to join the pirates. On board the ship, Jaster meets up with the rest of the Dorgenark crew: the captain's daughter, Kisala, and a mysterious mercenary named Zegram. While passing the Rose Nebula on their way to Zerard, the Dorgenark is attacked by beasts and is forced to crash on the jungle planet Juraika. After examining the damage of their ship, the crew agree that they must find gather an ingredient for Booster Oil in order to leave the planet and continue to Zerard. As their journey unfolds, the crew meet new friends from different planets such as Lilika, an amazon from Juraika, Jupis, a hacker from the advanced planet Zerard, and Deego, an Ex-Longardian soldier from the mining planet Vedan.

Eventually Dorgengoa reveals his true intentions: Finding the legendary phantom planet Eden, said to contain vast amounts of treasure and the Immortal Soul, which grants immortality. On their journey, they discover that artifacts known as the Great Tablets are connected to the planet of Eden, along with the Keypieces from ancient kings who ruled specific planets years ago.

Secretly, the president of Daytron, Valkog Drazer, is also searching for Eden, his true motive is revealed as the story progresses. Jaster and his party search for the 3 relics of the ancient kings: of Zerard, of Vedan, and of Juraika. After finding all three, the relics are returned to Rosa. Upon arriving, the crew are confronted by an artificial human created by Daytron, named Seed, whose sole purpose is to open the gate to Eden. During the heroic battle, Jaster unleashes a mysterious power that he has been harnessing inside himself, thus defeating Seed. Jaster uses his newly discovered power to open the gate to a labyrinth containing the secrets to Eden.

While exploring the Rosa labyrinth, Jaster and Kisala discover that Kisala is actually Princess Irieth of Eden, truly named Le Marie Glennecia or Mariglenn for short. As the party exits from the ruins, they set eyes on Daytron's president, Valkog, attacking Jaster's town Rosa. Raul, Jaster's foster father, attempts to stop the attacking ship but is severely wounded. Jaster runs to his injured guardian, but it is too late. Raul, slowly dying presents a special artifact. The item points him towards the Kuje Desert. While in the Kuje Desert, Jaster and the crew discover the illusionary town of Johannasburg, which was frozen in time and the memories of its inhabitants, changed by a woman named Johanna. The party learns that Johanna placed the spell on the town in order to prevent the villagers from dying of a plague that had spread long ago. Meeting the ghost of Johanna within the town, the party discovers that she is Jaster's mother and also a descendant of an ancient ruler of the galaxy, the Star God. Jaster is forced to fight his mother in order to release his true powers. After proving his worthiness, Jaster and the others run into Desert Claw, who reveals himself as Jaster's father, Mizel. Mizel tells of how he came to Johannasburg and met Johanna. The two fell in love and Johanna gave birth to Jaster. Shortly after, Johanna died from the plague after having left the protection of Johannasburg. Desert Claw left Jaster with Raul, so that he could be raised and find his own destiny. Mizel knew Jaster would be the one to bring peace to the galaxy and save it. Desert Claw tells the crew to continue to Mariglenn, where they will find the answers to saving the galaxy.

Arriving on Mariglenn, they learn that the planet has been removed from the entire Wilhelser System to encase the ever growing Rune, as well as an evil entity made purely of Rune, known as Mother. Jaster and Kisala find the king, who is actually Kisala's father, has become a beast and put him out of his misery. Before perishing, he awakens Kisala's Drigellum, an aura made out of the memories of people's hearts. He tells them they must awaken the other Drigellums inside the hearts of Kisala's friends to craft a sword powerful enough to defeat Mother. When the sword is formed, the group enters Mother's lair where they battle her. Upon being defeated, Mother transforms into her true state, in response to which the Star King enters Jaster. The Star King tries to reason with Mother by reminding Mother of her past deeds of when she was a sorceress named Ilzarbella, which was when she worked side by side with the Star King. Mother leaves the Star King no choice and is defeated at the hand of the legendary Drigellum sword.

Valkog's ship appears over Mother's lair after the fight. Needing a new host, the Rune drags the ship along with Valkog and his two assistants Norma and Izeland into the lava. With the power of the Rune the ship transforms them into the Demon Battleship, a new host for the Rune. Kisala's mother appears and gives Jaster the Drigellum of Prayer, making a new sword for him. Jaster and his friends split up abord the Demon Battleship in order to take down the ship's weapons, after the final section of the ship is destroyed, the crew escapes from the lava filled plain. The planet Mariglenn returns to its place amongst the other planets within Wilhelser System. The crew and Jaster then parts with Kisala, who has made the noble decision to become the new Queen of Mariglenn. Jaster, Zegram, Monsha, and Dorgengoa sit aboard the Dorgenark after the rest of their friends had returned home. The group then heads off to claim their "ultimate treasure" on the new Mariglenn. The final scene tells that this was the final mission the Dorgengoa Pirates ever pulled off as pirates. Whether or not they took back Kisala is unknown as that is where the story ends, and it is up to the player's imagination to come up with their own ending.

Once the player completes the game, there is a new unlocked area called the Ghost Ship where the crew heads to find a secret treasure lost aboard the empty vessel. Inside, Jaster and the others must fight against their old bosses again before facing the strongest boss of all at the end. It's possible this part of the game follows the end of their battle on Mariglenn, hinting that the Dorgengoa Pirates are all together again, however this can be contradicted by the fact that the player can repeat the final bosses of the game after the events on the Ghost Ship.

Characters

• Jaster Rogue

Voiced by: Hiroshi Tamaki (Japanese); Will Friedle (English) The main hero of the story and the first playable character. His home is on Rosa, a one of the legendary Seven-Star Swords. With their help, Jaster slays the beast and is offered a chance to join the Dorgengoa Pirates. He accepts the invitation and joins the crew as they head out into space. He and Kisala are romantically interested in each other although nothing actually happens romantically between them not counting their joint ability "Fated Passion". He will become the Star King. Jaster has to stop his nemesis Valkog Dranzer and his two assistants once and for all. His main weapon is a sword while his sub-weapon is a pistol. Jaster beheld the Drigellum of Dreams.

• Kisala

Voiced by: Aya Ueto (Japanese); Natalie Lander (English) The daughter of the pirate captain, Dorgengoa, and the only female on board the Dorgenark when Jaster joins. While she has an innocent and cute appearance to her, Kisala is a tomboy and doesn't mind being around rough space pirates. Jaster and Kisala meet for the first time when Kisala saves Jaster from desert beasts on Rosa. Most of Kisala's history is unknown until she and her friends discover that Kisala is the missing Princess Irieth of the planet Mariglenn, known widely as "Eden". When Kisala meets Jaster, she too believes that Jaster is Desert Claw, but was uncertain at first since she pictured Desert Claw to be more rugged. She is romantically interested in Jaster but never tells him her true feelings. Kisala's main weapons are two twin daggers and her sub-weapons are her boots. Kisala held the Drigellum of Kindness.

• Zegram Ghart

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese); Steve Blum (English) A 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. Despite being playable early in the story Zegram actually acts as an antagonist for most of the story as it's revealed later on that Zegram was in league with the Daytron company since the start and his actions caused 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. It is revealed in his backstory that Zegram's girlfriend, Jane, was killed while saving an innocent bystander from a monster attack, and he has been living with this inside for a long time. He was talked into working with Valkog only because Professor Izel promised him a way to bring Jane back from the dead. After defeating Seed, Zegram realizes that Valkog and Izel probably had no intention of ever bringing Jane back, let alone his pondering of the ethical conflict of reviving the dead. Zegram's main weapon is a sword while he wields a throwing star as his sub-weapon. Zegram's appearance has been described by fans as a combination of Auron, Xiahou Dun, and Jack Sparrow, or the character Ioz from Hanna Barbara's Pirates of Dark Water. Zegram held the Drigellum of Love.

• Simon Wicard

Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (Japanese); Greg Ellis (English) One of the first Dorgengoa crew members to meet Jaster on planet Rosa. Simon's home planet is Zerard and he is seen as a sturdy short man with a mask covering his face. His true identity isn't revealed until near the game's end when it is found out that his real identity is Sho, who was in 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". He speaks with a very thick Scottish accent in the English version, and a thick Kansai dialect in the Japanese version. Simon's main weapon is a flamethrower and his sub-weapon is a multi-missile launcher. Simon held the Drigellum of Compassion.

• Steve

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese); Yuri Lowenthal (English) Steve is an android designed by Dr. Pocacchio from planet Zerard. He is the navigator of the Dorgenark. Steve is first met on planet Rosa along with Simon and joins the party along 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. Pocacchio'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 is two miniature satellites. Steve held the Drigellum of Desire. In the English version, he is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.

• Lilika Rhyza

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English) An amazon 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 to 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 to protect her sister. After killing the beast and saving her sister, she is "banished" from the village for "interfering with the ritual of the Star God". In truth, the chief sent her out in hopes of her learning what path their people should take. Finally free, she joins the Dorgenark Pirates after the ship repairs are complete. Her main weapon is her bow and arrows while her sub-weapon is a hatchet. However, her bow uses her sub-weapon ammo. Lilika beheld the Drigellum of Courage.

• Jupis Tooki McGanel

Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese); Ben Diskin (English) Jupis is the only playable character who is first fought as a boss in the Starship Factory on Zerard. Jupis is a lizard-like alien known as a Granshee. Awhile ago, he was a great scientist and genius who devoted his entire work to science when working for Daytron. 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. 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 is finally 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, Jupis escapes aboard the Dorgenark and becomes a crew member. Jupis' main weapon is a spear while his sub-weapon is a disk launcher. Although he joins the party before Deego he is the last character whom the player can control due to the fact the story moves on to Vedan before Jupis can be controlled. Fans have likened Jupis to Jar Jar Binks from the Star Wars universe, as at first he seems like a bungling, gimmicky comic relief character...although he seems to shed this character stereotype as the game progresses. Jupis beheld the Drigellum of Pride.

• Deego Aegis

Voiced by: Yutaka Aoyama (Japanese); Ben Diskin (English) The final playable character to be recruited to the team. Deego comes from the planet Vedan, which is a large industrial mine planet. Deego is an ex-military man and he looks like a well muscled boxer dog with a robotic arm. He retired from the Longardian army and is usually seen hanging out at Angela's Bar, owned by his friend, Angela. His other friend, Gale, had joined up with the Morarty Family, a crime organization that controls all of the city of Myna. After Angela's bar is burned down by Junia, the son of Zax Morarty and lackey of Gale, Deego joins Jaster and Kisala's party in order to punish Gale. They manage to reach the bottom floor of the mines, where Deego 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. Deego is noted for receiving the Officer's Coin shortly after he helps the party fight Gale, which is an item that cannot be used to unlock an ability until almost the end of the game. Deego beheld the Drigellum of Friendship.

• Desert Claw

Voiced by: Koichi Yamadera (Japanese), Andy Chanley (English) Desert Claw is only a temporary character during the first part of the tutorial stage on Rosa who joins Jaster at Level 20. He is known as "Hooded Man" during this stage as Jaster doesn't discover who he is until after he leaves. Desert Claw just so happens to be Jaster's father (which you find out near the end of the game). Desert Claw cannot be played by the player, he has no Revelation Chart, he cannot have his weapons and clothing changed and he cannot be accessed after the tutorial.

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/Dark Cloud 2.

Travel

The game includes a travel system which is used to relocate to another planet. In order to advance to further levels or planets, the use of the battleship is needed. To do so, however, the player must get their Galactic Travel Visa renewed on Zerard. Until this is done, the player cannot choose which planet to go to. Once that is done, the player can return to the ship and use the "map screen" to travel to the other planets that are a part of the game. Using the teleporter will offer easy return to the ship.

Combat

File:Rogue-galaxy-20060425025407253.jpg

Battle screen from the North American version of Rogue Galaxy.

Groups of enemies randomly appear while the player roams around the environments. The player has the ability to run out of the battle zone to escape from the battle at anytime. 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 between characters and access their skills on the fly. The game is paused when the ability and item windows are opened during battle. Each character has a certain amount of points they can use until they cannot perform an action until the bar replenishes. This is represented by a blue bar at the top of the character icon. At the start of a randomized battle, the names and amounts of the enemies appear in the middle of the screen. When every enemy is killed, a window will pop up showing the player how much character and weapon experience was gained, what items were collected and how much currency was received for the battle.

Attacks

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.

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.

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. Least powerful of all attacks.

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, such as freezing a waterfall and then using created platforms in order to climb it. Unlike Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle/Dark Cloud 2, the dungeons are not randomized. There are many different enemies that can be encountered in a dungeon. There are also treasure chests scattered around the worlds, wielding treasures, booby traps or maybe a strong enemy called a Mimic.

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 (much like Dark Cloud's fishing 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. 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. In order to increase the attributes and level of the bugs, food and other items must be used. Each match costs a bit of money to participate in. The battle system during a match is set up somewhat like a chess game. Experience is gained when your team of insectrons are victorious and special items are given if all the competitors in the ranking are defeated. Though optional, it is a good idea to obtain these items, as they will assist the player in their adventure.

The Factory

At a certain point early in the game, the player's characters get access to a reconfigurable factory. This Factory is a sort of successor to the Dark Cloud series' Georama gameplay. They then are able to find blueprints by talking to NPCs 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 certain 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 similar weapon to create an even stronger one. This is accomplished by the use of "Toady", a strange frog whose exposure to the mysterious substance Rune has given him the ability to swallow weapons and regurgitate a new weapon. 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.

Revelation Chart

Each character has his/her very own revelation chart. These charts are the key to leveling up the characters in the game. The chart has unlockable AP commands and upgrades that make the team stronger and allows them to gain more abilities. Each character starts out with an empty box with an outline of an item. By choosing the correct item needed, you will be able to fill the slot, thus unlocking the AP command. Once a slot is filled, one or more are opened up.

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 is 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 numerous popular video game composers including Yasunori Mitsuda, Kenji Ito, Yoko Shimomura, Motoi Sakuraba, and Noriyuki Iwadare.

Soundtrack listing

Disc One The Theme of Rogue Galaxy The Sandy Town The Omen The Crisis The Church Brave Heart A Hasty Man Hazardous Desert Timeless Town Severe Voyage The Jungle of Jyuraika Burkaqua Village The Ruined Castle A Road to the Ruined Castle Shadow of the Sun Swinging Planet Zerard Two Horns Sweet Memories The Galaxy Public Corporation Factory (In Editing) Factory (In Production) A Peaceful Moment A Hidden Insanity The Prison The Lost Gene Exploder1 A Childhood Memory Starship Factory Open the World Varkogu's Theme Disc Two The King of Legend A Masked Man Exploder2 The Misty Town The Bar "Angela" Overcome the Sorrow The Cave of a Mine Insectron (Strategy) Insectron (Battle) The Watery Relic Wandering Way Strain The Labyrinth Le Marie Glennecia Enormous Threat The Castle in the Air A Disquieting Atmosphere The Mystery Forest History Tells The Holy Valley Blue Tears The Valley of the Evil Lava The Mother The Relic's Song The Beast Battleship A Wish For Tomorrow The Ghost Ship Escape to The Victory Dreaming My Way Home ~ Ending Theme Dreaming My Way Home ~ Unrecorded Version <Bonus Track>

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:

• The game now uses a double-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 sixth 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. Also, the Burning Strike system in the Japanese version had a completely different layout. In the Japanese version of the game, it had a much smaller window that had a line to which people could input the commands for a Burning Strike attack, which is more reminiscient of the line timing system of games such as the Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution, and the Guitar Hero/Band Hero/DJ Hero musical games, among many other titles in this other video game genre. In the USA and other versions of the game (including the Japanese Director's Cut), there are full animations of each character as they perform each Burning Strike attack and they vary between their five-hit, seven-hit, and nine-hit Burning Strike attacks. Also, the buttons that are used to initialize the Burning Strike attacks now spiral into the bottom of the screen as opposed to merely being on a line as is the case in the original Japanese version of the game.
• 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 4 bonus costumes, except for Kisala and Simon, who each have 5. 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 when on board the Dorgenark). Some sidequests even require certain outfits.
• 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. For example, Lilika and Kisala have a 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 "Fated Passion", which is for Jaster and Kisala and is considered the ability born from their love for each other.

Reception

The game has received generally very positive reviews, scoring 83/100 on MetaCritic, indicating generally favorable reviews, which include an 8.0/10 from GameSpot and an 8.7/10 from IGN.

Rogue Galaxy was the top-selling video game in Japan during the week ending December 11, 2005 with approximately 237,631 units sold, barely beating out the popular Mario Kart DS. Famitsu reported that by the end of 2006, the game had sold 356,192 units in the region. The magazine also noted that Rogue Galaxy: Director's Cut was the 403rd best-selling game in Japan during 2007, selling 29,457 units.

External links

• Official website Template:Ja icon
• Official website at Level-5 Template:Jp icon
• Official website at Level-5 (Director's Cut) Template:Jp icon
• Official website (North America)
• Official website (Europe)
• Official soundtrack playlist