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Square's recently announced Vagrant Story captured a slot on Legend of Mana's demo disc with a four minute long, unplayable movie preview of the final title -- and left us breathless for more. Quite simply, screen shots do not do the game justice. Easily matching the real-time polygonal cinematics of Metal Gear Solid, Vagrant Story uses camera angles and dynamic perspectives brilliantly in a dark, gothic atmosphere. Mix in some of the best -- if not the best -- textures the PlayStation has seen to date, and you've got a visual tour-de-force. Unlike Metal Gear Solid, dialog in the game is carried out through comic book style balloons, with spiked edges to represent more intense moments. Surprisingly, with the exception of subtitles during transition scenes, all of Vagrant Story's text is written in clear, fluid English. The game's rich musical track sounds nearly identical to Final Fantasy Tactics' score, and with good reason -- Hitoshi Sakimoto, one of Tactics' original composers, returns to orchestrate Vagrant Story. Perhaps even more surprising is the revelation in the ending splash screen that Hironobu Sakaguchi has taken the role of executive producer. Currently involved with the Final Fantasy movie and undoutably involved with Final Fantasy IX as well, one can't help but wonder if Sakaguchi is spreading himself too thin with projects. Regardless, if gameplay holds up (only story cinematics are visible in the movie), Vagrant Story looks to be one of the hottest games in Japan this year. Thanks to funkmeister Jeremy Parish for the fantastic movie capture. If the 25 meg download seems a little hefty, don't miss out on 57 screen shots we've put together as well.
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