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| Vay Publisher: Working Designs Release Date: June 1994 Genre: Turn-based RPG     |
 At its core, Vay is a very traditional turn-based RPG. The battle system is reminiscent of the Lufia series and works well within the framework of the numerous random enemy encounters. Leveling up is also an important part of the Vay experience and is quite necessary if you expect to have any chance at all against some of the bosses in the game. What makes Vay such a terrific RPG is the storyline the game takes on. The land of Vay is in danger after an army of ATAC robots begin decimating the land with their unparalled firepower and it's up to you to solve the mystery of these powerful beings and put a stop to their destruction. As the story begins, you, the prince, are in the process of marrying your new bride when the attack on your kindgom commences. In all the commotion, your bride is kidnapped and your father and mother, the king and queen, are killed. This begins your quest to find your bride, and avenge the deaths of your parents. Graphically, Vay is probably somewhere in the middle between an 8-bit and 16-bit game. You'll come across parts of the game that look quite detailed and vivid, but other areas seem bland and uninspriting. The anime cutscenes are nice to look at, but are few and far between. The many monsters you'll do battle with all have a great amount of detail to them, there's just not a lot of animation or movement to them. While this all might seem a llittle desparaging, the game has more than enough visual quality to carry the game along, it's just not anything overly special, and a slight step down from Working Design's previous release of Lunar: The Silver Star. Musically Vay really shines at times, especially the spot-on voice acting found in the game. The game sports a wide variety of tunes that all go a long way in carrying the many moods of the game. The battle music was one I found especially good, and did a great job of making the many, many battles you'll be fighting in much more bareable and enjoyable. If you talk to anyone that's played Vay, the first thing you'll probably hear is how the game features an inordinate amount of random enemy encounters. While this is true, it's extremely important for you to spend some time leveling up your characters, especially when you hit new areas or dungeons and these numerous encounters make this task a lot easier and faster. Believe me, when you hit the very first boss in this game thinking you're ready, that's when you're going to understand what I mean by the need to level up. But in truth, this is one of the things that makes Vay such an enjoyable experience. As with most of Working Design's games, the first question most fans have is, "what is the translation like and did they Americanize another one?" Well it's a little yes and a little no. The translation is very good, actually, and features an outstanding storyline. It's worth noting that as with most WD games, the dialogue is a little cheesy at times and maybe just a little "too" americanized for some who don't care for the way Working Designs normally translates their RPGs. I certainly wouldn't say it took anything away from an otherwise steller and epic story and one that RPG fans of all nature will have no trouble digging into. At the end of the day, Vay is yet another great reason to own a Sega CD system. Granted, there weren't many reasons, but the 4 Working Design RPGs are reason alone to own one, and Vay stands proudly with the other three games and easily holds its own. Don't expect the type of visual eye- candy you'll see in most of today's RPGs, but Vay proves that you don't need a lot of flashy graphics in order to make an outstanding RPG. If you don't have a Sega CD, Vay is one damn good reason to get one, and if you already have a Sega CD, then you really need to put this one on your RPG wish list. |
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