Game: Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment
by aaronddbowen

Publisher: Kanomi
Format: XBLA
Price: 1200 MS Points
Genre: SRPG
Completion Time: 5-6 Hours
Difficulty: Easy-Moderately Easy

Intro:

I love the original Vandal Hearts in the way that some love their first car, intensely and eternally. Perhaps it is because this game was one of the first I owned for the original Playstation. Or, it could very well be because I was unemployed the summer I bought it and had nothing else to do but play video games. Still, it was probably because Vandal Hearts was the first Strategy Role Playing Game (SRPG) I’d ever encountered. Despite the reason (though I hazard to guess it’s a combination of the three), Vandal Hearts stands out in my mind as one of the greatest SRPGs ever created. With its fast paced battle (a bit of an oxymoron for SRPGs but this will soon make sense), intriguing story line, and easy yet complex battle system, the original game is still one I play. The sequel, Vandal Hearts II, suffered from the same issue that many SRPGs faced in the wake of Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT), it tried to hard to be something it wasn’t. The battle system was overhauled, the battles elongated, and the overall feel of the original (the intuitive, fun, fast-paced action) was replaced with cumbersome commands, more stragetizing, and options,options, options. So, when I first heard that Kanomi was going to release a prequel to the original Vandal Hearts, I was filled with both a sense of dread and a sense of elation—happy there was to be a new one, but scared that it would be like Vandal Hearts II. I can safely say that on both issues, I’m fine. Further, when Kanomi announced that Flames of Judgment would be a blend of the previous two games, they weren’t lying. It is indeed a mix of the two.

Story:

As the prequel to the original Vandal Hearts, Flames of Judgment (FoJ) takes the player through the story of one of the characters mentioned in the “Prologue” to the first game in the series. You play as Tobias, a young student, caught up in the torrents of ensuing war. As you and your compatriots journey to discover the mysteries behind the recent attack on your town, and the artifact known as the Flames of Judgment, you will gain new allies (up to six total party members), visit familiar locations, and battle countless enemies. It is, to be honest, typical RPG fare. If you’ve never experienced such a story line, I promise you will find something there to like. If, however, you are an old hack, such as myself, you’ve probably saved the world countless times, rescued many a comrade from danger, and already fought unspeakable evils. That being said, FoJ is a short game (taking about 5-6 hours, depending on how much backtracking you do) version of a tale which has already been told a million times. As such, the story unfolds rather quickly buy predictably. Though this could’ve enhanced the pacing and the feel of the overall game, by combining many plots points so quickly, the disjunctive, trite, ludicrous nature of such a story becomes even more apparent. That is, in a longer adventure, you get to know the characters, feel them out (at times you even begin to long for a moment of story). This is not the case with FoJ, which hits you left and right with story moments. This is not to say that there are not some good moments, there are. It’s just that trying to cram a large story into a few minutes comes of as convoluted as would The Lord of the Rings, had Tolkien decided to make a 20 min film about the whole thing.

That being said, the writers did a good job of incorporating elements from the first game, including several “inside” jokes which, for me, became nostalgia moments filled with bits of laughter (and I’m looking at you Captain of the Vessel). Also, there are several moments which, if fleshed out more and over time, could have been rather touching, powerful moments. However, again, if you are getting into this for a story, you could spend your time better playing Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, or go find a copy of the original Vandal Hearts and enjoy.

Gameplay:

First let me say that the game play is about as solid as I expected it to be. Kanomi brought back a lot of the action, the traps, puzzles, and timed events which made the original so darn exciting. Though FoJ does not come close to producing the same intense affect as the original (how can you beat saving Kirya from the lava trap), it does do a good job of trying. To the specifics:

You command a party of up to six members, moving them across a grid like battle field, determining their actions by selecting options from a menu. Don’t expect this game to stray from SRPG conventions, as it does nothing to innovate the genre. But, that’s okay by me. I like the style and the feel. It’s nice to see that they’ve included an attack order at the top of the screen, as this allows you to move, decide, move, decide. Though this seems commonplace in SRPGs today, the original lacked this element of game play, forcing the player to make all of his/her moves, then wait for his/her turn to come up again. This is both good and bad. The battle feels quicker, but less intense. There is something about having to suffer through an entire volley of attacks whist you wait for your turn to heal and launch one of your own that gets the blood boiling. To this day I cringe when I think about moving froward on that stupid train.

It’s also nice to see that you have the option to change weapons without incurring an action penalty. This allows you to equip either melee or ranged weapons easily, which, considering that with the properly equipped weapon your character will counterattack, adds another level of strategy to the game. I will admit, however, that beyond the first three battles of the game I ignored this function, as I found that the enemy was no match for my characters beyond a certain point.

You will equip your characters in shops and through menus which desperately need to be streamlined. The list becomes cumbersome the further you progress, and often you will equip the wrong weapons, spell book, or armour by selecting the wrong slot when the “Which Hand” menu pops up. It also took me some time to figure out how far my characters were progressing, as the entire status menu in in dire need of a serious makeover. In all honesty, I spent more time trying to figure out the character menus than I did fighting, in the beginning.

I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the leveling system. For each action your character makes, he/she gains points which increase the characters skill in that area of expertise. This allows you to customize your character as you see fit, choosing whichever profession you would like. My archer, at this point, rarely takes a hit because her dodge ability is through the roof. The problem here is that I found little to no desire to advance my characters beyond a certain point, as they can handle just about anything. I only lost two characters throughout my play through—one of them twice because he is inherently weak, the other due to a plot point. That being said, if you’ve always found these games frustrating, give this one a go, you shouldn’t die often.

Apart from the mechanics mentioned above, the game throws very few curve balls at you (which is good or bad, depending on what you are looking for). There are several moments in the game which give you the option to choose a story path, but from what I can tell this amounts to nothing more than which love interest you pursue as the game progress (and, to be honest, I have little to no desire to play through it again to see what would happen if I chose a different option).

Graphics and sound:

Someone dropped the ball—seriously! It’s not just that the graphics are bad, they are atrocious, beyond the worst. Further, it’s not just that the modeling is crappy, the cut scenes look like bad flash movies from the late nineties, and the characters look like demented stand-ins for the eTrade commercials, it’s that the whole art direction should have been aborted long before anyone thought to begin the modeling of this shit pool. What is worse is that the loading screens show you the conceptional art, which is really not all that bad. It’s as if they threw that in at the last minute to assure us that they had a great idea at one time, but that Oedipus, post hair clips, led a team of epileptic monkeys pumped full of LSD in charge of bringing the game to life. Seriously, here is an example:

The sound is okay, but awkward. You will get tired of the themes quickly, but that’s not so bad. What killed me was that there are voice overs in awkward moments, battle cries which make no sense, and an opening song which tries to be the original opening them from Vandal Hearts, but fails miserably. On that note, some of the cut scenes make not sense. For example, there is a cut scene of the protagonists entering a city, not so bad. But then through text we learn of their escape, as heroic as it could be through text boxes. These two scenes should have been reversed. Let me read about them entering the city, but SHOW me the escape—though given that the characters look like radioactive babies, it still would have lacked a heroic element. I cannot say enough bad about the art and sound in this game. I would tell you to pick it up just for laughs, but I would feel like the doctors in Clockwork Orange.

Overall Impression:

I have some issues with this game. It starts off weak, builds too quickly from them on, and then resolves in a way which aggravated the living shit out of me (if/when you get to the end, which is meant to be amazing, you will feel the same way I’m sure—just let me do it with my party, damnit). In the end, if you like the genre, I recommend picking up. It’s not as bad as it could have been, and I do feel that supporting this game may bring others of the genre to XBLA. However, if you are looking for a solid game, one which will give you lasting appeal and a sense of excitement, don’t bother. It has no replay value, unless you want the 200 achievement points. The story, though it does flesh out some neat parts of the original story, does little to draw you in (in fact, there are a few moments which will just drive you bonkers with how stupid they are). The graphics are weak, the sound gets old, and I cannot say enough bad about the demented eTrade characters. Also, the game suffers from several glitches (most notably the battle in the swamp-like battle field with the ghosts, where you cannot see the ghosts but must kill them all—my turn meter literally did not show that there was one left, and I was getting hammered by the character which MUST survive the battle). Oddly enough, I liked the game, but I’ve always been masochistic and I’m a die-hard fan of the original. Having said all of that, I hate to say it, but:

Thumbs Down