Hey.
Vagabond is a Japanese epic martial arts manga series, but that's NOT what we're talking about here. Vagabond (*this* Vagabond) is RPG Maker XP sandbox action rpg by RPG Maker XP.

In this game we play as Drymnir, a... vagabond or wanderer that wakes up on a grave near the Dead Man's Hollow, a beggar's camp. But no, he wasn't revived, he is just a homeless guy that suddenly decides to to something about his life. What he will do is your choice!
In Vagabond in fact there is no plot besides the fact that we must gather gold and experience performing quests, and the choice is between being a lawful citizen or a lawless brigand. You can hunt, fish, trade, steal and perform quest for various characters.

The game is set in the continent of Fallkirk, even if this can be just defined as a small island since there are two towns, a farm and some locations of interest, but nothing else. There are also some dangerous zone where you can meet hostile creatures, some are normal (and they do respawn), others are elite monsters that are stronger and are also target of bounties (and they do not respawn). At lesst there are no random encounters, and you can also save anywhere (except in dungeons, that luckily are quite small), a welcomed choice.


I've always wanted to be a Dragoon! I mean, you are paid just to walk around town!

What surprised me is that there is no turn based or Atb combat, but all works in real time. While this is apparently a good idea (even if it makes casting spells a bit of a nuisance), I noticed a weird behaviour of the opponents: some attacked me as soon as I saw me, converging on the poor Drymnir like a squad of well trained individuals, others ignored him. Well, not even annoying or beating them with a sword made them react. and they could be killed without problems.
Uhm ok. Anyway even against the opponents that react, combat is simply a click fest where you have to pause and use some consumables to heal (or cast a healing spell, but that's the same). So there isn't a lot of strategy involved, clearly levelling up and buying better gear will make things easier.

Another problem of this game is the reduced interaction with the characters: there are not many important characters and most of them have few lines of dialogues, since this game includes no story it's a bit bare bones. This means that the games becomes a bit repetitive soon, few quests are repeatable and these are the ony way to progress besides fighting increasily difficult opponents on the different zones (each one has a level that determines how strong are the enemies).

Gold. Yes, gold is what you need, not only to buy better equipment and consumables, but also to get some books that improve skills (like the percentage of successfully pickpocket people) or let you learn new spells. That's it.
Oh and I forgot that there is a fishing minigame, but I did not like it so much, I mean it's a bit weird since you have to increase the tension of the wire of the fishing pole without exaggerating and breaking it. Uhm ok.


These bad guys apparently one-shotted me with a deadly stare! Thery're undead, and I am dead!

And this is more or less all the game. Yes, you can join the guards after killing the bounties, you can learn to summon zombies, but hey there is not a lot of variety. If only there was a bigger world, more characters and quests this could have been a really interesting game.

Visually it's not too bad, it uses the Inquisitor tilesets (rtps for sounds and music) and the look is unfortunately ultra generic (I mean, for example the representation of the protagonist on the inventory/stats panel is your average RmkXP armored warrior character, that isn't exactly what I expect from a beggar, nor it looks like the charset at all), and thisnlack of character doesn't help to makes this game more interesting, but maybe it's my fault since I do not like the RPG Maker XP charsets and tilesets. But I admit I'd have liked less limitations, for example the possibility to enter the wizard's tower or the peasant's farm. Not extra quests, just some more maps and characters (to pickpocket or talk to), some more lore and more details to make the game stand out and make it less generic.

Final Verdict
Vagabond isn't a terrible game, and has some neat ideas and concepts, unfortunately as a short/small game its open world sandbox nature becomes repetitive pretty fast. It's a pity since for example the rivalry between shop owners or the story of the old beggar and his son could have spawned an interesting adventure, but no. Also the game with no deep, real story may have worked well, in a bigger and more complex setting (with different towns and countries, etc... just to give a sense of realism). Ok now you will probably say "but RpgmakerAddict, you always say that small games can be good!". Yes, but for example here I found five dungeons so far, ok? Well three of them need at least level 10, and this means grinding in the other two. A lot. Ugh!
Another thing: the game says that one activity is fishing, ok? Well how many fishing spots did I find? ONE! And... well consider that most other games (even those not focused on survival like Pirate Rush, but take Notes From Province, for a similar sandbox experience) have three or more spots with different rewards. More variety means more enjoyable experience (and I this case also more believable).

Pity. In the end, not a totally bad game (in fact rating takes in account that this a good concept and also a game with no errors, bugs and issues of any kind), but one that need more to be an enjoyable game. And also some fixes for what concerns the combat system. Now, being a vagabond myself I will leave.
See ya!