Back To The Shelf: Rogue Galaxy.

Pictured: Not my shelf.

So, I decided that I'm not going to keep playing Rogue Galaxy for now. This is unusual for me, because I like to finish everything I start, and it annoys me to have to put a game down. But this is one of the rare instances where a game really isn't doing it for me, and I have to put it away and do something else.

It's not that I think Rogue Galaxy is a bad game. On the contrary, I had some fun with the ten hours I sunk into it. It's just that, for whatever reason, the game wasn't able to hold my attention. The last time this happened to me was with the intensely dissapointing Final Fantasy XIII-2. Despite some redeeming elements that made my time with the game bearable, it just doesn't seem worth putting in the forty or so hours necessary to complete it. For all of Rogue Galaxy's positive elements, what I experienced wasn't enough to make me want to finish it. That's what this new column, 'Back To The Shelf', is about; a sort of mini-review for games I give up on, allowing me to put down exactly what about the game turned me away from it.


It's important to consider that my distaste for Rogue Galaxy is in part due to the questionable condition of my disc. I bought the game used at a local store which has been convenient in the past (it's where I got my copies of Dark Cloud, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Dragon Quest VIII, all games I love), but for some reason, the game's opening cutscene would not play. I had seen an opening for the game online, but my copy skipped straight to the (rather boring and sterile) title screen. Not the best first impression for a supposedly breathtakingly gorgeous late-era PS2 game. The game also advertised a lack of load times, and while I took this with a massive amount of salt, the games performance seemed to stutter frequently (particularly on the second planet, Zerard), and I began to wonder if the condition of my disc was to blame for performance issues on a Playstation 2 game. Rogue Galaxy is a very pretty game, but nagging suspicions that I was missing something plagued me during my initial foray into the game.

Still, the main problem for me was the story. Level 5 is not a company renowned for great storytelling, but rather for charming and whimsical characters and gorgeous watercolor-esque visuals. Rogue Galaxy has both of these, but the main story seems very lackluster to me. The main character is mistaken for a famous bounty hunter by a group of space pirates looking to recruit this 'Desert Claw', and like a complete idiot he plays along with it. The main plot didn't really go anywhere during my time with the game, but I did get to suffer through awful dialogue, telegraphed character behavior (one would-be plot twist is revealed early in the stupidest way possible), boring characters (except for Simon. Simon rocks)., etc. The story is one of the most important parts of an RPG for me, and Rogue Galaxy gave me no reason to see its tale through.

Level 5's games usually make up for their lackluster stories with fantastic gameplay (see the Dark Cloud games for the perfect example of this). Rogue Galaxy has many of the things one would expect from a Level 5 game, including great weapon and item creation systems and a boatload of optional content. Like I said, Rogue Galaxy isn't a bad game, and I perfectly understand why so many people love this game. However, by the end of the Rosencaster Prison/Daytron Factory dungeons (two back-to-back lengthy dungeons), this game's combat was driving me insane. Rogue Galaxy's combat is pretty much the same as that from the Dark Cloud games, althoug it incorporates elements from the then-recent megahit Final Fantasy XII to limited effect. The problem with Rogue Galaxy's combat, for me, is the sheer amount of micromanagent required to survive even the most basic of random battles. You're constantly having to pause the game to heal and revive your brain-dead teammates, constantly casting buffs and activating abilities, and this constant stop-and-go kills the pacing of what should be a fast-paced action combat system. I know I've enjoyed games with similar features, such as FFXII and Xenoblade, but these games leaned more towards the turn-based than the action-heavy. Rogue Galaxy's combat simple wasn't very good, and it's not that the enemies were particularly hard (except Mimics. Seriously, screw Mimics), just ridiculously tedious to fight. I only got a game over once, on a boss fight against three walkers (it was actually more of a miniboss, the dungeon's actual boss was an annoying three-stage fight), but normal enemies were ridiculously cheap, turning every dungeon into a lengthy slog.

I'm disappointed in Rogue Galaxy. Like I said, I don't think the game is bad, but I had a very frustrating time with it. In any case, I'm much more hesitant to try White Knight Chronicles, Level 5's next big RPG for the PS3, now. Rogue Galaxy could very well be a better game than I'm giving it credit for, and perhaps I will go back and try it again later, but that's why I'm not reviewing it. It's just going back on the shelf.