Had Vay been localized by any company except Working Designs, it's rather unlikely I'd have rated this game at anything more than a 5. I'll get to the reason why in a minute. But first, the strikes the game has against it. There is no gameplay here that hadn't been seen before, and apart from the cut-scenes, the environs are rather average-looking. So what sets this game apart from the numerous other 16-bit RPGs released in the early 90's?
The answer is in the translation. Whereas nearly all of Vay's contemporaries were brought to western audiences by translators who did little more than convert the Japanese text to English verbatim, Working Designs actually attempted to make the text more accessible to English-speaking players. Vay contains numerous pop-culture references and some rather off-color jokes, including a bizarre reason why one supporting character is called the "Wind" Fairy. Yet even with all of the goofiness, there are a few lines and scenes in the game that rank up there with some of Hollywood's finest sound bites. ("The game is *over*, puppet. Time to cut your strings!!")
If you still have a working Sega CD and can find an inexpensive copy of Vay somewhere, I recommend you snatch it up. Though the game is one of Working Designs' weaker titles, Vay still delivers enough fun and nostalgia to make revisiting it worthwhile.
