In an interview with game's producer, writer and director Yasumi Matsuno, found within the game's Ultimania guide book, he was asked what kind of story did he want to tell in the game. He responded:

"With Final Fantasy Tactics, I think I really wanted to create my own version of Final Fantasy. I saw Final Fantasy as a kind of “morality tale adventure story.” For Vagrant Story, my first concept was to have two hours worth of event scenes strewn throughout the game. My image wasn’t so much of a big Hollywood movie, as it was a two-hour Tuesday evening suspense drama. I wasn’t thinking we’d make something with all these heavy and pretentious themes… I wanted to make it more lighthearted and easy to digest."

"There was one thing I knew I didn’t want. Even though we were always going to tell a complete story, I didn’t want to draw the conclusion for players. I wanted to make a game where, from all the different experiences you have as the player/protagonist, you create the conclusion—what it all means—for yourself. I thought we’d try a more fragmentary approach this time, where players are simply presented with bits of information and they have to weave it together into a narrative themselves. In that sense, the question of whether Ashley’s memories are true or not—that is something I didn’t want to give an answer to, I just wanted to tell the tale."