Videogame (2005). Level 5. Designed by Akihiro Hino, Koji Hori, Takeshi Akasaka. Platforms: PS2 (2005); rev vtRogue Galaxy: Director's Cut PS2 (2007).

Rogue Galaxy is a Console Role Playing Game (seeComputer Role Playing Games), much influenced byStar Wars, but with the tone of aYoung AdultAnime. The game's somewhatCliché-ridden plot featuresAliens,Robots, and aSpaceship whose first mate is a talking cat, all within an essentially linear structure to which various optional activities and peripheral missions have been added (seeInteractive Narrative). The spine of this story takes the form of a galactic odyssey in which the primary character – the eponymous Jaster Rogue, a mysterious orphan from a desert world – is mistaken for a famous bounty hunter and recruited by a pirate captain who is looking for a legendary lost planet. Eventually, the player can rescue this world, which is trapped outside time, and bring about a state of universal peace, while discovering various characters' true identities as hidden royalty. There is a great deal of well crafted swordplay, which the player participates in using a fast paced combat system in which points must be expended to engage in actions in real-time, as well as sophisticated mechanics for creating new types of equipment and weapons, either from scratch or by combining existing items. Ultimately, the nature ofRogue Galaxy's milieu suggests not so muchScience and Sorcery as epic fantasy in space (seeFantasy). Notably, the player's starship resembles a naval galleon which has been equipped with rocket engines and aFaster Than Light drive in addition to the more traditional sails and rigging. The overall effect is somewhat reminiscent of theDungeons and Dragons setting ofSpelljammer, in which magically empowered ships sail through Aristotelian crystal spheres, though theRole Playing Game's background seems better rationalized. [NT]

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