Rogue Galaxy is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was originally released exclusively in Japan in December 2005; a director's cut of the game with enhancements and changes was released in 2007 for North America in January, Japan in March and PAL territories in September.

The game follows the adventures of Jaster Rogue, a young agricultural worker living on an isolated planet, who becomes involved in a galactic conflict, and learns the fate of the entire galaxy lies in his hands. At the time of its release, Rogue Galaxy was the largest game Level-5 had ever developed, both in terms of the number of staff working on it and the length of production (over three years). Both Level-5 and Sony had strong expectations for the game, hoping it would challenge the RPG market dominance of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises.

Rogue Galaxy received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the graphics, range of side quests and scope of the game, but some were critical of the plot and character development. Although the game went on to win several gaming awards, it did not sell as well as had been hoped, failing to meet Sony's expectations of selling one million units.

Gameplay Rogue Galaxy is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective in which the player moves through a continuous environment, with no load time between overworld exploration and combat. Battles occur as random encounters, a la traditional role-playing video games such as Square's Final Fantasy X or Level-5's own Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, but unlike such games, which feature turn-based combat, Rogue Galaxy uses a real-time hack and slash combat system in which the player fights with a party of three characters. The player has direct control over only one character, although which character this is can be changed at any time. The two NPCs fight independently of the player character, based on the strategy selected prior to the battle. Available strategies include fighting very aggressively, targeting a specific enemy, or not fighting at all. The strategy can also be changed at any time during the battle. Additionally, the player can issue specific orders to the NPCs during combat, such as having them use an item or activate one of their special abilities. NPC allies will also offer advice to the player character, such as suggesting they perform a special move or use a particular item. The player is given a choice of either ignoring the advice, or picking one of the available options. NPCs will not perform any special moves or use items unless the player tells them to, or has selected a particular strategy prior to the battle.

During combat, each character has an "Action Gauge", which decrease with each action taken. When it is empty, the player can no longer attack, and must wait for the gauge to automatically refill, or instantly refill by successfully blocking an enemy attack. Each character's secondary weapon has its own individual gauge, which depletes with each use, and must be automatically refilled before the weapon can be used again. This gauge is independent of the attack gauge, and during combat it can only be refilled a certain number of times before the secondary weapon is no longer available for use.

As well as fighting independently of one another, and performing their own unique abilities, players can also perform team abilities, although the correct characters must be active in the battle for a particular team ability to be available for use. The player also has a special attack, the "Burning Strike". In the original Japanese release, the Burning Strike occurred at random irrespective of the player's actions, but this was altered for the North American and European versions to allow the player to choose when to use the attack. Once enough "Burning Chips" have been collected from slain enemies, the player can activate the Burning Strike whenever they wish. The player must then follow a series of button prompts to string together combo attacks, which deal more damage the more attacks are successfully chained.

When the game begins, the storyline follows a linear path, but at a certain point, the game world opens up, and the player is free to move from planet to planet using the pirate ship, Dorgenark. In the overworld, the player can move around by walking, but can also transport from any activated save point on the map to any other activated point on that planet, although they cannot transport to a save point on another planet.

Revelation Flow

Character abilities and power-ups are handled via a feature called the "Revelation Flow". Similar to the "Sphere Grid" in Final Fantasy X and the "License Board" in Final Fantasy XII, the Revelation Flow is not based on a traditional experience point/leveling up system. Instead of characters gaining pre-determined statistical bonuses as they increase in level, they gain abilities and stat increases by placing items in the Revelation Flow. Once all of the prerequisite items have been placed, the particular ability/stat increase becomes available. Each character has their own unique Revelation Flow, with a different layout, different abilities and different item requirements.

Weapons The game features a "Weapon Synthesis" system similar to Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle, which allows the player to combine weapons. For every victory in battle, each weapon carried by active characters gains experience points. When a weapon has gained a certain amount of experience, it becomes "Maxed". After a weapon is maxed, it continues to gain additional experience in specific elemental categories - fire, ice, lightning, wind, and holy. When the experience and the elemental damage are both at maximum, a weapon is "Mastered" and cannot be improved any further. Once a weapon is maxed, it becomes available for synthesis with another maxed weapon of the same type. When two maxed weapons are synthesized, a stronger weapon is created, and must be maxed again to become available for subsequent synthesis.

Synthesis is carried out by a character within the game called "Toady", a frog who can swallow two weapons and then regurgitate a new weapon. Toady can also analyze maxed weapons and make suggestions for synthesis combinations. These suggestions are recorded in the "Frog Log". Toady will also warn the player if an attempted combination is going to result in a decrease in stats, or with a weapon for which the player's level is not yet high enough.

Sidequests The game features numerous optional gameplay elements beyond the main storyline. For example, early in the game, the player can begin to compete in the "Insectron Tournament". Similar to Dark Chronicles fishing mini-game, the player must capture and breed Insectrons (bugs), which can then be entered into a tournament where they fight other Insectrons, in a manner similar to a game of chess. Once an Insectron has been captured, the player can increase its stats by feeding it certain food or breeding it with another Insectron of the opposite sex. The Insectron Tournament awards prizes as the player move through the various ranks.

Another sidequest is "Factory". At a later point in the game, the player gains access to a reconfigurable factory. By talking to specific characters in the overworld, the player can acquire blueprints, which can be used to assemble specific equipment and raw materials so as to make new items, which then become available for purchase in the various shops throughout the game.

A further sidequest is "Challenge battles", which occur randomly throughout the game. In these battles, specific conditions must be met, such as finishing the battle without taking damage, finishing within a certain time limit, using only one character, or not using any items or abilities. If the player wins the battle and fulfills the condition, they receive a "Hunter Coin". These coins can be used to purchase different levels of "Hunter Licenses", which are required in some shops to purchase certain items. Additionally, the higher the player's license, the lower the prices for general items.

The game also includes a "Hunter Ranking" system whereby the player is awarded "Hunter Points" for killing a specific number of particular enemies. As the player's rank increases, prizes are awarded. Tied into the hunter system are "Quarries" - mini-bosses which award a lot of hunter points. Unlike standard monsters, quarries must be purchased before they become available. Once the player has purchased the quarry, they must locate it on the map and then use a specific item to initiate the battle.

The game also features a completion chart, which records the player's progress through various aspects of gameplay: "Hunter Ranking" (the goal is to top the league of hunters), "Rare Items" (collect all nine rare items in the game), "Quarries" (successfully defeat all available quarries), "Hunting Record" (attain maximum hunter points by killing all of the specified enemies), "Insectron" (win the highest tournament rank), "Revelation Flow" (complete every character's Revelation Flow), "Frog Log" (have Toady analyze at least one-hundred weapons and produce at least fifty), and "Factory" (produce all forty items available in the factory). When any single aspect is completed to 100%, an award is given, usually in the form of a new costume for one of the characters.

Story Characters Jaster Rogue

The game's protagonist and the main playable character. Jaster is seventeen years old, and has a distinctive birthmark on his cheek. He lives on the planet of Rosa with his adoptive father, Raul (Peter Renaday), where he works in the agricultural sector. Resentful of the presence on the planet of the Longardian army, he yearns to leave and explore space. He is given just such an opportunity when he encounters the crew of the intergalactic pirate ship Dorgenark.

Kisala

The adopted daughter of Dorgengoa (Fred Tatasciore), captain of the Dorgenark.

Zegram Ghart

A former bounty hunter who joined the Dorgenarks crew several years prior to the beginning of the game.

Simon Wicard

A member of the Dorgenarks crew. Cheerful and optimistic, he wears a mask and speaks in a heavy Scottish accent.

Steve

An android created by Dr. Pocacchio (Marc Graue), he is the navigator of the Dorgenark.

Lilika Rhyza

A warrior from the planet Juraika, Lilika joins the Dorgenarks crew shortly after Jaster.

Deego Aegis

A former elite soldier for the Longardian army, he has a robotic arm, and yearns for peace in the galaxy.

Jupis Tooki McGanel

A lizard-like alien known as a Granshee. Regarded as the greatest hacker in the galaxy, he is a former scientist who devoted his life's work to the spaceship manufacturing megacorporation Daytron.

Desert Claw

The galaxy's most famous bounty hunter. When the game begins, the crew of the Dorgenark are looking to hire him.

Plot