The legacy of Yasumi Matsuno

I couldn't believe my eyes. When I logged into Playstation Network after being disconnected from the net for 3 weeks what should I find waiting for me but the digital re-release of my favourite ever game, the often sadly overlooked PS One masterpiece Vagrant Story and the game that gives this blog its name (the protagonist, Ashley Riot, is a Riskbreaker knight). It’s the perfect time to talk about one of the great auteurs of video games - Yasumi Matsuno.

Vagrant Story is quite simply exceptional. Released in 2000 when games were just starting to come into their maturity it boasted an orchestral score (by the equally legendary Hitoshi Sakimoto) worthy of the great classical composers and the kind of intricate and deep plotting that was a revelation. Furthermore it was created within a company, Square Enix, known for its serials (Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest) rather than original IP (intellectual property), and yet in many ways it is utterly unique; mixing RPG stat crunching with real-time combat, platforming and puzzle elements.

Set in the long abandoned and mysterious city of Lea Monde, which was architecturally modelled on the medieval vaults of Bordeaux, the plot sees Valendian Knight Ashley Riot descending into the ruins to rescue the Duke’s kidnapped son from a religious cultist. Whilst most RPGs feature villages filled with shops and non-player characters with which to interact, in Vagrant story you are utterly alone; forced to scavenge rare potions from the corpses of the slain and forge your own weapons in abandoned workshops, scattered throughout the city’s echoing, haunted streets. The result is an incredible atmosphere of desolation, which is accentuated by the game’s exceptionally dark and unique art style. A fitting setting given that Ashley discovers his greatest threat is not his enemy but his own past.

Actually Vagrant Story isn’t as isolated a game as it seems, given that it takes place within the larger world of Ivalice, which was created by Matsuno during his time at Square and is still used by them today (their current crop of releases are under the banner ‘Ivalice Alliance’). In this world he set his two other masterpieces: Final Fantasy Tactics (which was just remade as War of the Lions for the PSP), with its jaw-droppingly complex sweeping storyline, and Final Fantasy XII, the game that signalled a massive departure from the staid traditions of the series. In both titles Matsuno completely overhauled every aspect of the Final Fantasy universe, making it completely his own in way that hadn’t been done since Hironobu Sakaguchi loosened his grip on the series. Even though he was removed from the project in its late stages for his perfectionism (the official line was health reasons) the game’s complex world and narrative is still pure Matsuno, despite the last minute addition of the unbelievable wet-blanket protagonist that is Vann.

An interesting aside: After Matsuno left the project the developers of FFXII added an optional boss named Yazmat (formed from the compounded first syllables of his first and second name) into the game. Whether this can be seen as an affectionate homage or a sly dig at the man’s controlling nature isn’t certain, but one thing that is clear is the respect his colleagues had for him, after all Yazmut has entered the Guinness book of records for being the toughest boss in any game – the average time taken to defeat him is 8 hours continuous fighting, a feat only achieved by a handful of the most hardcore gamers (amongst whom I sadly do not count myself).