Tales of Legendia

"If it wasn't for all the nitpicky details, this game would be 10/10"

Before I begin this review, I'm going to say that I will keep the “Tales of” comparison to the lowest amount possible.

Anyway, when I heard that Tales of Legendia was coming out, I was very excited. After watching a trailer I was even more sure that I wanted to play this game.

Story 8/10:
I absolutely loved the story for Tales of Legendia! The game is divided into chapters, something I've never seen before and actually liked, though others didn't. The game dives right into the story (in a good way might I add), starting with brother and sister, Senel Coolidge and Shirley Fennes on a boat adrift at sea. It seems that they're being chased by a monster which Senel is able to ward off for at least a few moments. Afterwards, Shirley comes out of the cabin and asks if he's all right, and Senel tells her she shouldn't be outside, because the salty air will make her sick. Then out of nowhere, a golden light starts to shine and what seems like a giant bow of a ship collides with Senel's boat and the two wake up to find themselves on an island, and Shirley with a high fever from the salt water. A man named Will Raynard shows up and tries to help the brother and sister, but Senel runs off with Shirley before Will can do anything and catches up to them and finds Shirley underwater, with Senel watching over her. Before Will can stop Senel from drowning his sister, Shirley's hair glows blue. Will suspects that she might be a person who people call the Shining One, the Merines. Almost right off the bat Shirley gets kidnapped and Senel has to get her back. Of course, that's not all the game's about. It turns out that the island you're on is actually a ship called the Legacy and Tales of Legendia is about finding out how the Legacy exists and why exactly everyone seems to want Shirley.

The game is actually divided into two different stories: The Main Quest and the Character Quests, though the Main Quest is obviously the more important one. The Character Quests are like a strange sequel to the Main Quest, featuring a completely different story but able to fit in character development that wasn't able to happen during the fast paced Main Quest. The story as a whole (Main Quest and Character Quests) is very enjoyable, everything fits together, even in the smallest ways. The biggest problem is that it's not easy to see HOW everything fits together, which gets annoying and confusing very quickly. But if you think hard enough, you should make the connections. Another annoying thing about the story is how Shirley is barely ever with you throughout the main story. The first few chapters of the story are spent showing you as you try to rescue Shirley and also what's happening to Shirley as she spends time at the hands off the enemy or escaping by herself.

Gameplay 5/10:
I definitely didn't like the gameplay. The game features a real-time battle system, just like all the other Tales of games. But Legendia's battles are fought on a ground view, giving me the distinct impression of very little fighting space. That aside, the battles are pretty fun though at the start, the battles seem ridiculously easy you find out that they're not going to stay that way and you'll soon be cursing at people on the TV. You'll spend a lot of time getting mad at the AI's because they are just plain stupid. Two good examples are how they'll use the same attacks on an enemy, even after they say it's not working, and how they use up their skill points quicker than they get them back.

And Tales of Legendia has random battle encounters which can get even the most patient person frustrated. Sometimes you barely encounter monsters and other times you fight every five steps.

One good thing about the gameplay though, are the ducts. These are genius. Basically outside every town and most dungeons there's a strange round… thing that will transport you back to the main town and from there you can go to any town/dungeon that you've been to. No more endless walking! Oh, it's beautiful!

Music and Sound 10/10:
It's a good thing the music is good, because it makes a huge impact on the scene. The music is sad when it has to be, boosts up a funny scene and can really get you into the scenes. I've spent a few hours just listening to the soundtrack by itself. Some tracks tend to be repeated though, like how Grune's theme and the background music for the inn basement is the same.

English voices for the characters are great. The voices suit every character, from stupidity to coldness. Sometimes they seem a bit out of it, but that's the director's fault for not telling the actors what their characters are doing. Anyway, the voice actors are good, don't over act their lines and do a pretty above average job. My only complaint is how every single time Shirley said Senel's name, it came out so whiny I felt like killing her.

The sound effects aren't great, but Tales of Symphonia's were worse, in my opinion. And if you really hate them, you can always turn them as low as you want.

The most annoying thing about the sound effects is it also includes the characters saying something. Some characters, like Senel, can use 3 normal attacks in a row, but you have to deal with them saying something after the third attack. For example, Senel hits the enemy and says “Eat this!” and with Shirley you have to deal with “Excuse me!” “I'm sorry!” Not easy to deal with.

Graphics 9/10:
The graphics are so purty. Well rounded, smooth 3-D is a real pay-off in this game. Water going through the town, characters movements, the whole thing is great. However, the game doesn't take great pride in showing off the graphics. Almost every cutscene is shown at a slight bird's eye view, and when it finally is at a close-up it looks really weird because you're not used to the camera being so close to people.

Dungeon design might not fit into graphics, but this is my review so I can do anything I want. The actual dungeons look nice, sometimes making me stand still for a few seconds just so I can take it in. But the design is not so good. The dungeons are long, mostly maze like, and just a big huge pain in the neck. And then there's the puzzle booths. These things were created for pure evil. They consist of a room with blocks, some you can pull and others you stand on, and later on, a mirror and a crystal used to activate the other port so you can get out. The worst part is that they're not even worth anything, so there's about zero point in doing them in the first place, unless you either want to feel really smart or feel like an idiot.

I think that just about covers everything. And my final score for Tales of Legendia is…. 8/10. Now, you're probably thinking I'm crazy, considering I was ragging on this game throughout this review. Well, that was for your sake, so you can know everything that this game has to offer. I, however, loved this game even with all its faults. How, exactly, I'm not sure, but I found the game fantastic. But then again, the end made me cry and anything with a good, well-thought out story that can do that is great in my book.

The least I can say is rent the game and play for a few hours. And if you're not getting into then you haven't bought a game you don't like. But like I said before, the game is great once you get over the little things.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/06