Tales of Legendia

"Legend Legendary Legendia"

Tales of Legendia one of the highest anticipated RPG of 2006. Having played ToD on the PS One i looked forward for the release of this unique game.
<~Story~> 9/10
The story draws you in completely. Its like good is not really the good and the bad is not really bad. Its the story about Senel ( Main character ) and how he battle to protect what he cherish the most and how he develop through the story. There are also multiple side story events that are engaging and lame which you will either feel a cool wind blow by or stunned for a second. I would not touch on the story too much it is for you to go discover and over the mysteries.

<~Gameplay~>9/10
Alright here is what that is unique. The battle system is not like normal RPGs which is the turn-based type its is the battle system of the Tales. Up to 4 characters are available for use per battle and you can mainly control only 1 character while the others are AIs. There are 2 types of characters, the iron eres(Physical) and the crystal eres(Magic). The crystal eres characters are mainly for casting support spells and offensive spell while hiding behind the iron eres characters, while the iron eres characters are the power house where you beat up enemies or bosses until they wish that they never know you. During battle your will also have a climax bar (like a limit break) where once activated, time will freeze for a short period of time and the enemies are left to be at your mercy. The encounter rate is quite high but the battles will be over in a short while as in the main story part of the game the normal enemies are pieces of cakes waiting to be eaten. But beware the boss fight in the main story prove to be challenging and if you are not careful enough and obsess with just button mashing you will be in for a surprise.

<~Controls~>8/10
The control are fairly easy to pick up and you will be kicking the enemies ass in no time. Triangle is for menu to command other character to use a skill, use items, change equipments and run away from battles. X is pure attacking. Square is for blocking. Circle is to activate special moves withe the combination of up down left right or just the button itself. L1 and R1 is use to activate your own skill or AI's skill for convenience.

<~Graphics~>10/10
The graphics is absolutely stunning. Bright colours and characters expressions changes with their mood, details like the blinking of the eyes are also added in.

<~Sound~> 8/10
The music for the game is not very engaging for me but the voice acting for the NA version is great as you can feel the emotions of the character flowing towards you.

<<<<Overall>>>> 9/10
Its a great RPG for the start of the year and fans of tales should really buy it and for all those people who have never play any tales game before give it a try, you will like it. I am a RPG freak and for the past years many RPGs has disappointed me and some make me mood less to touch it halfway. Tales of Legendia is something you will not want to miss.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/06