The Vagrant

Hello Friends,
Today I will review the game THE VAGRANT. First off, this is meant for teenagers and adults. This game is not for children. It is a arcade style game with side view of the characters. The main character also has a big chest. This indicates the game was made probably by a guy. In fact, many of the characters have big chests. Again, this game is not appropriate for children.
The storyline is pretty basic. It tells most of the story thru still images with different screens explaining different story elements. The main female character must find out her past from clues thru the game and doing quests. Eventually, the main female character explores many new places and it leads her to different places to explore. The art style is also nice, and looks like painted backgrounds and character models. The game is really like a classic VANILLAWARE game. Anyways, here is my PROS and CONS list.
PROS:
- A game with a female protagonist.
- A nice artstyle that looks like painted characters and backgrounds.
- Use of controller is very recommended. It will not work well with Keyboard and Mouse.
- Upgradeable abilities.
- Some side quests and hidden areas.
- A bonus dungeon in the last area of the game. It can be found on the map next to a save teleporter.
- New game plus mode.
CONS:
- The game is not good to use with keyboards and mouse, so it basically is only good with a controller.
- Opening the map in game does not pause the game, so players can still die from opening it if near enemies.
- Unskippable cut scenes.
Do I recommend this game? Yes, if you like side scrolling action fighting games. The closest style to this would be the old golden axe games. The character basically explores a map with light metroidvania style in it, and artistic stills for the stories and painted backgrounds. The post game stuff is nice like the new plus game and the bonus dungeon that explores more of the story. I suggest getting it on sale as I do not recommend buying it at full price as it is not a very long game.

Fun game, lots of bang for your buck.
For a dirt-cheap indie-game this had plenty of content and I enjoyed it.
The storybook art style it has straight down to the large men and busty women is a tribute to Vanilla Ware games.
The gameplay itself is a metroidvania, you can collect armor and swords that you can level up and place runes on to change their stats, and you also have a leveling system where you spend mana to increase your abilities.
The game encourages exploration, some maps have high ceilings that hide loot and need some abilities to reach, other maps have hidden sections that attach. The game has 2 true endings, multiple false endings, and 5 difficulty levels.
Plus you get to play as a buff muscle mommy.
The only issue I really encountered was that as a forign indie game, some of the text translation is off, but you can still tell what they mean. It's mostly just clumsy wording or grammar and primarily just in popups and tooltips, the story dialog is fine.

I have to give the developers credit for the effort. They had an interesting concept and lots of potential. However, the game is linear, repetitive and it is more “inflated” than the protagonist’s massive chest.
Since I’m going to criticize a lot I will start with the “conclusion”.
Despite all the flaws and repetitive gameplay, I enjoyed the game for what it is.
Is it worth the price? Absolutely
Is it worth your time? Probably not, if you have other games to play.
If you want to pass time after a hard day’s work, enjoy the beautiful art and just trash monsters left and right, then go for it.
Maps
Most of them are filler maps making the game look bigger than it is. There is little side-tracking. You just follow markers. In some areas you find keys to unlock doors and special chests. The maps are very similar, with a bunch of traps here and there and little platforming (thank god).
Combat (normal difficulty)
Combat is – despite the RPG elements – very rudimentary. Hack-and-slash turns into button-mash. The boss fights are fun and require strategy. Pretty much all of the other enemies can be steamrolled.
Controls
In addition to attacking and jumping you can dodge, do aerial attacks, special attacks, use potions in combat. However, throughout most of the fights it’s more than enough to just spam attack.
RPG Elements
There are abilities you can unlock. There are skills – special attacks – to choose from. Armors and weapons can be upgraded. It doesn’t feel rewarding though. You just get a stronger, tougher and whatnot and you will be able to plow through enemies even faster. The one ability you need is double jump.
Unlocking abilities is grindy. There are two currencies, gold and mana. Yes, mana is a currency only, used for unlocking abilities and upgrading your gear. And you need A LOT. Money is mostly useless, since you pretty much get all your gear as drops.
There are notes about the story, some tutorial information and even a “monsterpedia” which I quite enjoyed as an RPG fan.
Oh, and there is cooking for the sake of having it. You can learn recipes from NPCs and use them at campfires to get permanent buffs.
Art Style
Very beautiful, inspired by Vanillaware games. Can’t go wrong with that.
Music
There are some tracks that might be a bit on the generic side, but they fit the whole feel and style of the game. Then there is rock music, some techno stuff and maybe some other tracks which don’t fit the game at all. They are also a bit too loud for my liking.
Story
It’s a reason to go from checkpoint to checkpoint.

To me, this seems like a great forgotten RPG metroidvania. I don't see it cited as one of the greats in metroidvania lists, but it certainly should. And it's not quite an old game, perhaps it's kinda easy for hardcore players or people barely consider it a metroidvania? Anyway, I don't mind that, I liked the story and gameplay, the graphics influenced by Vanillaware games that give it a unique aspect and the soundtrack fits good the atmosphere.
Verdict: Great game
Linux: Works fine on Proton
Para mim, esse jogo é um ótimo RPG metroidvania esquecido, não o vejo citado como um dos grandes nas listas de metroidvanias, mas certamente deveria. E nem é um jogo tão velho, quem sabe é meio fácil para jogadores hardcore ou mal o consideram um metroidvnia? De qualquer forma, nem ligo para isso, eu gostei da estória e jogabilidade, os gráficos influenciados pelos jogos da Vanillaware que dão um aspecto único e a trilha sonora se encaixa bem na atmosfera.
Veredito: Ótimo jogo
Linux: Funciona bem no Proton

Being a big fan of Vanillaware’s games, I must recommend this criminally unknown title.
Unfortunately at the date of this review, we don’t have VW games on pc, which is unfortunate, and probably the situation will not change in the future.
This game really tries to be a classic VW adventure. It’s like a fan game but done by competent people. The devs surely did a very good job on style, characters, backgrounds and general “feel” of the game, and you’ll have a lot of déjà vu over some characters if you’ve already played some VW games.
Of course people must understand this is a (probably) five man job (on the opposite of the fifteen men of VW) and you can’t pretend it’s on par over quality. It’s not a flaw, it’s just how it should be.
Nevertheless the game has the correct vibes if you are hungry for VW games and you don’t want to emulate some of their stuff. This game is worth the few money they ask you for it, that's for certain.
The only flaw I have to address is a very bad sound compartment especially the sound effects (not the music, that’s good). Swings and weapons in general (your and enemy’s) hit very weak, there are a lot of missing sounds (footsteps, some attacks on some bosses etc.).
It’s surely a big flaw for a game this good, I don’t even know if is a polish problem or just lack of resources but it’s not enough to call it a bad game.
It also lacks map % which is incredibly needed for this game unless you write down eveyr single chest or dubious area. This is a staple of the genre, no excuses. There are a lot of secrets and unseen areas in this game, it's pretty frustrating.
Clearing all achivements requires a lot of grinding and rng but there is a NG+ with difficulty choice so you can do it at your own pace.

This is the 4th hidden gem I have found. I agree with other reviews that say 75% Odin sphere with 10% price, this is a good Vanillaware inspired game with low budget, quite rougher quality, but cheap price.
Positive:
1. Vanillaware inspired art, although quite rough, it is still good.
2. Price is cheap compared to its content. I played 16.5 hours in normal mode to get True ending. I think higher difficulty and 100% completion may give at least 20 hours.
3. Gameplay is quite fun. Many combos and skills upgrade.
4. Story has some interesting plot twists, not straight forward.
5. Overall OST is ok but this might be the weakest positive part. Game is set in fantasy medieval but few OST use guitar which I think not suitable.
Neutral:
MC is an attractive girl with big jug and....bikini armor. I like it but I think dev should give clothes option since it can give wrong impressison as dirty adult game or akward playing it in front of family. Even better, if each armor change mc sprite appearance in game.
Overall I would grade this as 8/10, I received more values compared to its price. If you still hesitated, please get this on sale, the price becomes dirt cheap.
PS: I wish developer continue making fantasy medieval game with Vanillaware art inspired in future.

A good game with VanillaWare SOUL but no big budget.
Takes inspiration from MURAMASA and Princess Crown.
Buy it on a sale.