Rogue Galaxy Review
Story 7/10
Soundtrack 8/10
Graphics 9/10
Gameplay 9/10
Controls 8/10
Overall 7.5/10
Rogue Galaxy is an Action Adventure RPG that was made by the same company that made Dark Cloud, Level 5 Studios. The combat system at the time the game was released and popular was very unique and probably only done before a handful of times, if at all. But since this game we have seen many just like it which kind of takes away some of the magic if you ask me.
For the time I guess you could say the story of this game was also unique but now adays it feels like this concept has been rehashed time and time again. The fact that we've seen the story before and played a game that was similar before shouldn't dissuade you from checking out Rogue Galaxy though. I never said the game wasn't fun. It's honestly a total blast and the system in place to upgrade/customize your characters is completely unique and new!
Story 7/10
You start off as a nobody who has a dream to explore the galaxy. Stuff happens, his life takes many unexpected turns and his dream of becoming a space pirate becomes true! That's essentially how our story begins. I won't spoil the story for you so don't worry! The game has a few really unexpected twists in the story that come out of nowhere and really add to the game.
The characters you get to join you during your adventure are all really cool as well except two of them but luckily you aren't forced to use someone for very long during this game when you don't want to.
Soundtrack 8/10
The soundtrack fits the game well, it has a very space pirate feel throughout the entire game which fits with the overall story.
Graphics 9/10
The graphics for this game are really something, even taking into consideration it is on a PS2. The cutscenes are really beautiful and well done and the ingame graphics during gameplay are actually quite polished for a console of its time. At least I think even the newer modern day graphics critics wouldn't complain. There is a little bit of graphical lag in this game though or at least there was for me. Lower end computers or people running a lot of other shit while they play games may struggle at times during periods where there are a lot of particle effects.
Gameplay 9/10
This is the selling point for the game hands down. The Revolution Flow in this game that is the center of advancing your characters is a really interesting and unique system. It isn't something I would like to see again because it creates an inventory nightmare but it's something I honestly have never seen in a game before.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about this game is once your characters get rather powerful you can "Ability-spam" to win almost all non boss fights. The reason I enjoyed this so much is because it makes getting across the world map without using no random encounters enjoyable. With ability spamming most fights last 5 - 10 seconds so it really speeds up the monotonous time spent in RPGs just moving places.
The only thing I can see really frustrating players with Rogue Galaxy is the time spent in your inventory during battle. You will be going through items quite often during battles in this game usually having to rez your commrades 5 or more times for each boss fight. This game is a fair mix of action and thinking so if you're looking for a fast paced button masher for combat this probably won't be what you're looking for.
Controls 8/10
The controls for Rogue Galaxy are as you would expect from an Action Adventure RPG. I have a single complaint about the controls in the game, well two, first is having to use the Control Pad to switch targets. I get that you're usually immobile most of the time while switching targets but it would have been nice to have this also on a more comfortable place that didn't require you to sacrifice moving your character just to change targets.
My second gripe about the controls in this game, and this isn't entirely controls based, is the fact that you have to swap out weapons sometimes during combat when encountering specific enemies, in particular those with barriers. It's just a really crappy concept that does nothing but annoy the player.
Overall 7.5/10
Rogue Galaxy is definitely a fun game and is worth checking out for anyone who is looking for an action adventure RPG experience on the PS2. It's a very unique game to this console in both story and gameplay. That said though, the game was originally released as a title that was meant to compete with Final fantasy and the Dragon Quest series. This is where the game fell short. While a majority of the game is a lot of fun the Factory system and Insectron side quests were a total turn off for me and I know many others as it was difficult to find information out there on both of these things.
So, all in all, while Rogue Galaxy is definitely a fun game to play and has its moments overall it just didn't come close to the same quality you'd expect from a title such as Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. The company that created this game did a great job and put a lot of love into the game but ultimately a few of their ideas fell short of being "fun" (looking at you Revelation Flow).
Rogue Galaxy - Completion Page
Rogue Galaxy - Gale Boss Fight
Rogue Galaxy - Desert Seeker Upgrades/Earthbreaker ultimate weapon