Tales of Legendia

"Not worth the pain of watching this series go down hill..."

After the stellar performance of Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube I lunged at the opportunity to play the newest installment in the tales series. Little did I know I was in for something I didn't expect, boredom.

One of the problems with this game is the way it presents it's self. It puts us on a giant ship called the legacy and acts like we should know a great deal about the world outside of this ship, keep in mind that you never leave the ship at any point in the game, which is ridiculous as the politics of the nations around it play a role in the story. Not that the story would be much better if I did let you see the world you were saving.

The second major problem is the battles; this game takes a huge step in the wrong direction when it comes to battles. They play out like your standard fighting game or brawler with standard RPG elements thrown in. Yes I know this is the traditional Tales battle system, but why revert to something that is inferior when a superior system has already been created. Button mashing can get you through this game. No strategy needed. Not to mention that this is an over simplified version of the traditional system, meaning that it's not even on par with some of the older games in the series.

The game tries too hard to put the characters in humorous situations, only to make the same character (Norma) the butt of every joke, which are usually poorly executed and immature. The characters show a little depth after the main quest, but to tell the truth, there isn't much reason to play after that, and they never show any qualities that separate them from our standard, by-the-book RPG heroes.

The only thing this game excels in is the anime cut scenes, which are pretty good. Overall this game is pretty bad when compared to other RPGs on the market today. It simply isn't worth your time; there are 3 superior games in the series available in the U.S. and dozens of games like Shadow Hearts, Suikoden, and Shin Megami Tensai around that make this game irrelevant. There is just no reason to buy this. If you want a Tales game Tales of Eternia, Tales of Phantasia, and Tales of Symphonia are all available for the U.S.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/06