Vay

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As we dive into my favorite genre for the first time in this newsletter, I found myself going back to a JRPG I haven't played in over 30 years.

When I first saw an advertisement for Vay in one of the gaming magazines from my youth, I knew I had to have it.

It came out after Lunar: The Silver Star, another Working Designs game that became an instant classic. From the publisher of Lunar the ad said? Take my allowance!

Revisiting Vay as an adult has been a fascinating journey, revealing a flawed but important piece in gaming history.

Returning to Vay thirty years later reveals a game that's unapologetically old-school.

In Vay, a young prince sets out to rescue his bride after an invading alien force crashes his wedding and kidnaps her, just like the 80s cult classic movie Krull. It blends fantasy and sci-fi with a familiar "save the princess from space invaders" setup.

This is classic JRPG design in its purest form, and I’m all for it. World map, towns, dungeons, cutscenes, recruiting characters and grinding.

Oh, the grinding.

The grinding is relentless and unforgiving. Something I did not remember from my original play through as a kid. But oh boy, did I feel it as an adult.

You'll spend hours leveling up before each boss, then grind more hours for the next area you just unlocked. Experience points trickle in at a glacial pace, slowing your progress to an almost standstill.

The status page that reveals how much XP is needed for the next level seems to always display a number that feels so far away, you think you could easily watch Godfather and Godfather 2 before leveling. Maybe even Godfather 3… but don’t do that to yourself. We always skip Part 3.

What makes this grind harder is the economy. Healing items barely restore any health, spells cost too much MP, and everything in shops feels overpriced that you’ll also be grinding for gold for hours to upgrade your gear.

While the grinding can be a turn off for modern gamers, there’s still a lot of charm here to appreciate and experience.

The story is engaging and well-told, full of twists and a few shocking moment, including one that actually predates a certain Final Fantasy VII event (if you know, you know).

There’s tons of little details to admire as well. I love that Sandor’s shield always stays on his left arm and that the developers didn’t just mirror his sprites when walking in the other direction.

Equipping a new class of weapon will change the battle sprite of the character. Common today, but pretty rare back then.

And I absolutely love that you can pretty much save anywhere in the game. Inside a dungeon, on the world map, in a town. That definitely helps with the amount of experience and gold grinding you have to do.

Where Vay truly succeeds is its soundtrack. The music remains genuinely excellent, with memorable melodies that elevate every moment.

It's the one element that has aged gracefully, creating emotional connections that transcend the game's grinding mechanics.

Working Designs' translation presents a fascinating time capsule. What felt hilarious and edgy to my teenage brain now reads as immature and dated at times. Pop culture references that were current in 1994 now pull you completely out of immersion. 

The "Un-Working Designs" fan movement exists specifically to restore the original experience, suggesting many players prefer the untouched version.

Vay isn't a bad game, but it's not the epic experience I remembered either. And that’s okay.

The grinding might scare away most modern players. Thankfully fan updates, mods and a new release on Steam help fix some of the complaints of the original Sega CD version and make it a more enjoyable experience with quality of life improvements.

The game occupies a unique niche as a Sega CD RPG, part of a small library on a niche system for a passionate but limited audience. 

Compared to other Sega CD RPGs, it falls short of the mark. Yet there's value in experiencing how JRPGs transitioned from cartridge to CD-ROM technology and Vay is an important piece in that history.

The music alone makes Vay worth playing, and the Working Designs localization, for all its flaws, represents an important moment in gaming and is worth experiencing. 

Some lines will make you laugh, some will make you cringe, some of it will go over your head if you’re not familiar with Bush Sr. era politics. 

Vay is comfort food from my childhood, familiar, a little strange now, but still warm. It tastes different when you're older, but sometimes that’s exactly what makes it interesting.

Not every game needs to be perfect to be meaningful. The fond memories I had as a kid? They’re still there. Nothing changes that.

Vay is a product of its time and the hard work that went into it shouldn’t be forgotten like so many games from this period have.

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