ROGUE GALAXY----INTRODUCTION
It's a Rogue Galaxy we live in.........the universe sucks---or so I'm told....perhaps by the black holes that inhabit various places in our solar system, or perhaps by other forces we can't see.

Either way, Rogue Galaxy has a sucking power all its own.

So, already taking into account what you already know about our vast planetary expanse, bunches of booty (or treasure) are supposedly spread throughout the Universe. Each planet has its own natural resources to help it sustain itself. Mars is purported to hold water, the most sustainable element of planet Earth, which obviously means life on other planets is possible. Rings of ice and ice debris surround Saturn, some as small as real-life ice cubes you'd twist out of your old ice tray, other as large as houses.

So what?

So.....I decide to play a video game based on the galaxy. So..... I want to know everything about said galaxy. Obviously not all at the beginning, as I prefer dramatic events to be slowly simmered to perfection, like a pot of my mother‘s old-fashioned chili, building up to a large crescendo of sensational bliss. Mom’s chili was awesome. You say everyone’s mother makes good chili? You don’t know what you’re talking about.

In fact, I wish she were still here to make some chili---I miss her cooking and everything else about her... :(

And, in fact, a little side story for you.

My grandmother made a pot of chili sometime back. While I don't know the full details of the story, my grandmother had already created this magnificent stew ahead of time........an apparent stranger had come to her house, and stopped by for a visit.

When he came in, my grandmother had chili ready for the eating. When he sat down at the table, and sampled a taste of this soup, he looked up to her, with tears in his eyes, and said, "You know, this chili tastes just like what my mom used to make."

Knowing this was passed down to my mother, and knowing how well a great bowl of chili tastes, I knew that my mother and my grandmother both were well aware of how to make a great combination of ingredients come together to make a lasting impression upon the soul that partook of it.

So, isn't that what we ALL long for----to know, realize, and come to a reverential discovery and respect of said interest? This is especially true of the scope and magnitude of anything we come to learn about or become acquainted with----chili, good conversations, and heck, maybe even the solar system!

So..... when a video game---something that obviously ISN'T real or as near and dear to my heart as my mom‘s wonderful cooking--- is thrown onto my television screen, I expect something to catch my senses (you know, my eyes and ears mainly) more so than what's already been discussed on our nightly news, or slapped across the face of those important-looking Popular Mechanics magazines. I need something that will feed my soul and my brain and make me realize the true possibilities of what it’s like to enrapture myself in a grand experience.

Alas, this is the only thing I wanted out of Rogue Galaxy---but it is not what I received.

Where are the brilliant minds in today's gaming industry? They're definitely not working for Level 5 on this outer-space odyssey---oh, and I bet they can’t make a good pot of chili, either---but I’d still be happy to take them up on the offer.

All technicalities aside, I really don't have much care for when a video game is released, or who produced it. Although this is the first Level 5 game that I have played, and while a lot of other people might look to particular companies for gaming credibility, this is not my deciding factor in a video game purchase. What I'm more interested in is what is presented to me on the back of the video game case. This is especially true of games like Digital Devil Saga, produced by the Atlus corporation, which apparently has a reputation for creating lackluster video games. I bought the game, liked it, and still swear by it to this day, even if hardcore "company fool-owers (fool-followers)" continue to embrace such a biased viewpoint. Ultimately, a video game I experience is eventually judged on its own merit, not on what a company's previous record indicates.

Having never heard of Level 5, I bought the game from my local GameStop and set out on my trek home to plop the game in the old PS2.

Oh..by the way, if you've ever heard of Level 42 (the 80’s band,) they're much better in quality and lasting appeal.

ROGUE GALAXY----STORYLINE
The storyline of a game is always the toughest area to write about, because there's always numerous facets involved when it comes to explaining an RPG story. You've got the cookie-cutter stuff, i.e exceptionally strong loner guy or girl has a big mission to accomplish to save his/her world and restore peace.

This game is no different.

You control the main character, Jaster Rogue, a youthful, adventurous desert wanderer-boy in an attempt to restore peace to an otherwise turmoil-filled galaxy. The forces controlling the world are somewhat sketchy at first, what not, with you being thrown right into the heart of action at the beginning of the game, fighting a winged creature that threatens to overtake the town of Salgin, in Jaster’s home planet, Rosa.

Two new friends come to join you, and they hail you as their new God. Apparently you're Desert Claw, the legendary beast-slayer from ancient times that's still only seen in the shadows. So Simon (a guy dressed in kitzchy garb appropriated for the outer-space type) and Steve, (a stereotypical robot who holds a few key secrets), the two pivotal characters you'll meet at the forefront, will invite you back onto their grand ship, the Dorgenark, in a quest to obtain innumerable treasures and eventually embark on a somewhat anticlimactic quest to Eden---a planet promising the Christianized gift of Eternal Life.

You have enemies along the way that will hinder your path, as always is to be expected. But what really irks me is we NEVER have any face-to-face combat with any of the main players. Instead of having a full-force storyline that pits "us" against "them," I ended up playing a game that left me dangling in many directions, with no real sense of cohesion or purpose. In fact, I do remember Valkog, a horned-up rear-end of a guy, who wants to have something to do with the big thingamajigger that connects the current world to a time-warp of another world, and yadda yadda yadda. The whole fact that I can't think of the name of this great Crest, or whatever it is, at this point, even after beating the game within two weeks, should give you a sense of how unimpressed I felt about the whole thing.

I wish for the "if only" in video games. But I still don't have it!!
I feel like Michael McDonald on MadTV---ohh COME ON!!

Anyhow, perhaps things sound like a broken record by now, and thus my ranting is somewhat complete.

ROGUE GALAXY---GAMEPLAY
If there’s anything worth mentioning, it’s that the actual gameplay is more action-oriented than the storyline. Some older RPGs force you to do turn-based action, but Rogue Galaxy actually makes you fight all the bad guys at once, while your supporting characters do their own butt-kicking offstage. It’s just too damn bad that we don’t have a rocket launcher to kick all the bad-asses at once. I truly take delight in watching blood splatter from idiotic monsters’ heads, arms and legs. But there is no true brutality here. Instead, when you kill an enemy, they simply disappear into an amalgam of blue and green orbs. Ooooooh---pretty! Pretty stupid, that is. How about using dust next time----dust to dust, right? It makes sense, doesn’t it?

Basically, Jaster and his friends hop from planet to planet to get the next mission done. In most cases, you’re usually looking for an item that needs to be obtained from a large tower or a small town in order to advance the storyline and move further. While this sounds vague, in actuality, even the details of the story don’t give me a desire to jump right into the next mission. Instead, I just mosey on around to the next place and hope something fun will jump in my face. But instead, I’m greeted mainly with deserts to traverse through and mundane situations where I hope I’m lucky enough to get out physically unscathed and with my mentality still intact.

Another thing that really irks me is character voice implementation. Let’s say you’re just running around a random town or dungeon for a minute, and everything’s all quiet except for your footsteps and the background music. All of a sudden, Jaster or Lilika or one of the other party’s characters will say, "Are you sure we’re going the right way?" "We’re not running in circles, are we?" "Ohhhh, when are we gonna get there?"

While this makes the game feel more true to life, where is the enthusiasm?!. If this is a chore to my guys in the party, why in the HELL am I playing the game? Is this mission really that much of a problem? Come on, stop complaining about your own production, Level 5! Geezus!!!

There are a few lines that are definitely helpful though. Sometimes Kisala will mention, "Shouldn’t you save soon?" or "We should really get some rest." There are even a few points where Zegram, the eye-patched handsome pirate we all dream about, will say, "Let’s keep going!" This is the kind of stuff I want to hear. I want my guys to feel like they’re doing big time stuff--not toying with my intellectual capabilities. I’m not stupid, and neither are you. If you’re lost or stuck and trying to find something, or maybe even going on a side quest, it gets EXTREMELY annoying to hear complaints from your characters over and over, as if they don’t want you to take the time to get other things done. In fact, there are many instances where I actually felt rushed to get the main storyline completed, because my supporting characters kept urging it, as though it was the top item in the priority list. Let me do what I want to do without feeling like an idiot, Level 5, for the love of God!

Now…

No offense to those of us that are Christians…..but you get a big taste of Christianity in the game, too. No, I’m not talking about the taste of going to church and taking offering and getting drunk on the grape juice, or getting woozy from unleavened bread. What a fun thought!

Instead, your characters go through their own spiritual reveries through the game. Each character comes with his or her own "Revelation Flow." Basically it works like a large grid that comes with slots where items fit inside. No, you won’t have to read Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges or Ezekiel to get there, but you will have to commit adulterous acts and partake in sin (by way of murdering monsters) to get there. But hey, if it’s all for the Lord, there’s no wrong in it, is there?

Regardless, each character (and you’ll have eight main characters to use this ability for eventually,) has his or her own Revelation Flow. As you fill up each area with items you’ll get from enemy drops, you’ll use those to fill your Revelation Flow, and in turn learn new abilities that assist you in the heat of battle. Gee, this is easier than riding a bike! Really, it is…..I can remember trying to go down the road with a bag of popcorn in my hand. Eh well--sometimes you’re the bike, and sometimes you’re the telephone pole.

As your characters learn more areas in the revelation flow, they’ll get stronger. ‘Nuff said.

ROGUE GALAXY----GRAPHICS
As is to be expected, the cel-shaded and cartoon-like environments of the game itself might distract some players, as it is a large step down from worlds like Final Fantasy XII. In fact, I had started this game no less than 3 weeks after I beat FFXII and I initially felt as though I was playing a cheapened-down version of an RPG.

Still, graphics don’t fail to please. My jaw never dropped to the floor, and when that happens it hurts, so I try to prevent that because it hurts like hell---but I never had a problem identifying where I was. The Gladius Towers did have me confused a few times, but I eventually made it out of that hellhole.

Deserts accompany you through at least a good 45% of the journey, and I really wished I could have gotten other environments in the game, even though I was supposedly traveling through space most of the time. In fact, there’s not a lot of alien-like terrain in the game overall. You’ll visit Juraika, a planet inhabited by warrior Indian-like tribes, and other civilized places like Zerard, a sprawling metropolis filled with factories and industrial buildings. Still, even though Simon tells me its "the most advanced civilization in our solar system," it didn’t feel like anything above and beyond 2008. Did the brains at work here have a hard time envisioning even twenty years into the future? Come on, I want more! Xenosaga does a better job at that than Rogue Galaxy ever wished it could do. God I wanna play that game so bad!! Maybe I should just get to it already, huh?

ROGUE GALAXY----SOUND QUALITY
The sound in this game is appreciable, but nothing extraordinary. No big-whoop amazing sounds or anything that’ll make you lust for more. It’s just run-of-the-mill music that passes the time. I can’t immediately think of a signature track for the game, other than what plays at the beginning when you start up your PS2 and listen to the introductory credits. More work could have been done here, but it was skimped on. Geeeeeez…

Anyhow, sounds work when and where they’re supposed to. I’m looking for greatness, however, and I didn’t receive it. It’s just normal and common---kinda like this review, I suppose. *sigh*

The standard stuff’s there---character’s footsteps traveling across various landscapes, and swords thrusting into the meaty flesh of your enemies---or bone, where applicable. Nothing really special.

Bleh.

ROGUE GALAXY----MAGIC MOMENT
There is a period in the game that did draw me closer to the storyline, however, and made me feel like I was somewhat important in drawing the game to a close. You’ll eventually come to learn that you are the blessed child of a long lineage of parents who have greater powers than you’ll realize throughout the game, even if the unfolding of events is a bit predictable. Just soak in these moments, as they’re fairly rare throughout the game as a whole.

You, Jaster, hold the power of the Star King, and have the ultimate power of bringing ultimate and final peace to the uncaring universe. Take it while you have it--and you might be able to feel the importance of this great gift. It’s a bit contrived and overused, but it still works in some places.

ROGUE GALAXY----OTHER AREAS
If you like to capture bugs, you can choose to purchase items in shops that will allow you to capture insects that can be used to participate in what’s called the "Insectron" tournament. After you get five of these bugs, you can choose to fight them in a side game, similar to the card-flipping side games of Final Fantasy. However, here you fight in a 3-D world on a chessboard style area. Fun! Well, maybe for the first two or three times.

Honestly, I never decided to work on the Insectron tournament, because the game didn’t place any overall value on it, other than that it was there for me to work on. Bleh again.

Give me some incentive ahead of time and I might decide to go for it. Otherwise, I’m going to pass it up like I do when I’m traveling through Ohio and the pig farms on I-75. It stinks and there’s nothing there worth digging my time into.

ROGUE GALAXY----FINAL RECOMMENDATION
Overall, Rogue Galaxy is not a bad game, but it is nothing special, kind of like this review. Good points hit you now and then, and you just might find yourself feeling an urge to kick some tail, but for the most part, you’re just there along for the ride. Instead of taking the driver’s seat, you feel as though you’re playing a game of Crazy Taxi where you’re just watching the scenery go by. I really would have liked more interaction between characters and a better overall cohesion to the storyline. Without delving too far, it suffices to say that the final boss battle of the game basically pits each of your characters separately against a greater portion of a machine that you really don’t know the reason for its existence. It’s all a bit contrived and underdeveloped.

While there are good portions to the story, like the character dialogue between you and Captain Dorgen, there’s not a whole lot to be said about the storyline, and that’s what I wanted to see more of. This game still needed several hours, if not tens of hours, working on and ironing out a sense of cohesion and bonding between the storyline and characters.

If you happen to enjoy traveling to other planets (or areas, like you can do in other great RPGS,) then you might want to pick this game up just for the journey it offers you; but overall, there are scores of other games on the market that promise better perks and value over Rogue Galaxy.

ROGUE GALAXY----FINAL SCORE
6.5 out of 10.

I hope this review has helped you in some way.

Copyright 2008 Aaron Coffey