Most non-Asian gamers probably only know Falcom as the maker of the Ys series. I played one of the early Ys games, but I didn’t enjoy it very much as the action rpg
genre didn't suit my taste. However, a few other games made by this Japanese company make up the majority of my favorite PC games. Most of them are not popular except in Japan and China due to the lack of English translations, but a fortunate exception, Vantage Master Online, a turn-based strategy game, is available in English, and even free to download (for Windows).
Simple, Traditional, Yet Complete and Innotative Battle System
The basic ideas in the battle system are a little clichéd, and you might want to just try the game and discover them yourself. In a battle in VMO, two summoners fight on a grid map. The goal is to reduce the opponent’s HP to zero, but the process involves more. The summoners can attack and use magic, but their main weapons are, of course, summoned spirits, called Natials
by Falcom. There are 24 natials, categorized into four elements. The relationships between the four elements make it important to choose what to summon based on what the enemy summons. Within each element, natials also differ by properties such as attack and defense powers, speed, moving range, etc. Summoning natials costs mana, and each natial also costs some mana per turn, so you need to capture and defend magic stones
, strategically placed on the map, to keep up with the expenditure.
An important feature is complex interactions between natials’s properties and the environment. For example, different terrain types might affect the movement for a natial, if it's land, water, or air borne. Natials with projectile attack have different launch angles, thus their range will be affected differently by height. In some maps there are transitions from day to night, while in others there is a fixed lighting level; accordingly there are daytime and nocturnal natials that will perform better or worse depending on the lighting. Summoners can use spells that alter the environment, e.g. switch day and night, or raise and lower water level, to make provide advantage to themselves.
Three Modes of Gameplay
There are Scenario, Expert, Free Battle and Network Battle modes. In Scenario mode, you start with only the basic natials, and after completing each scenario, you get one of the natials or a spell, and some stat increase. There are a few alternative maps at a time for you to attempt, and after beating all of them, new ones open up. As you progress, the enemies will have higher stats, and are able to summon more natials or cast more spells, and may have advantagious positions in the maps. In the Expert mode, you and enemies will both have all the natials and spells, but the maps require a lot more strategy.
The free battle mode allows you to pick any map, any character for the two opponents, and either or both can be played by human or computer AI. You can also configure which natials and spells each has.
Network Battle mode obviously allows you to play with someone else on another computer. It doesn't require a public server, and it’s pretty easy to set up as long as you have a modern version of DirectX. I’ve only used this once with a friend; although he wasn’t very interested in the game, it was still a fun experience. I’ll be very happy to match wits with anyone interested :)!
Playable and Useful Features
Besides boasting a network mode, VMO has many features that improve the playing experience. You can select any unit—your summoner and enemy, and any natials— and use a context menu to see its move range, attack range, and attack-after-move range, and all kinds of stats. Hovering on any tile will show its height and any influence on defense, etc. The main interface is similar to your famililar Windows applications—with scrollbars, menus and buttons, reducing the need to adjust to unique control methods.
Aesthetics
For a 25MB download, VMO’s graphics is very impressive. The bitmap tiles and looping animations are very well used, making the battle maps look 3-D. Most of the maps have unique styles, making it easy for you to have a mental picture of the fantasy setting. The background music of each scenario also compliments the graphics and the pace/difficulty of the battle, and I’ve always liked music in Falcom games—as you can see I listen to them very often. Each natial requires an artifact–like item to summon; the descriptions of these items are also very artistic. There is some story in the game, in the form of simple animation clips with subtitles after the completion of some scenarios. Unfortunately the English version didn’t translate the subtitles, and you might only see garbage code on a non-Japanese computer; however they're not necessary at all to enjoy the game. In the beginning of scenario modes, you need to take a quiz
to determine your attributes and your class
. That is pretty fun too, and I heard that many of the characters come from previous games by Falcom.
Vantage Master Evolved: VM Japan
VM Japan, released more recently, is a much more decorated version of VMO. It has a more involved story, and the graphics and music are no longer mini-game
level. There are more natials, and all of them originate, or seem to, from Japanese folklore. More variety is introduced; for example there’s a spell only mastered by one character, and a natial is very powerful, but can only move on one special type of terrain. These changes might be too few and disappointing for some VMO fans, but it’s still nice to see Vantage Master evolve into a full-sized
game. I think there are two volumes of the VM Japan series already, and it’s also available for PS2. Unfortunately, I don't think there are English versions yet.
Summary
I think VMO deserves much more attention, especially among strategy gamers. It makes excellent use of its small size, and beats many bulky games in terms of playability. I hope you will try it out, and hopefully be interested to VMO-duo with me :)
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