Legend of Legaia

"A very fun and innovative RPG"

I have read quite a few reviews for this game, and I have to ask myself. Are we playing the same game? Many people seem to dislike this game and sure they are entitled to their opinion, but I think people are too hard on this one. Just because Square-Enix didn't make it shouldn't automatically fail it. I found it to be a very enjoyable game. Read on to find out the truth:

Story: 6/10

Ok so the story is not the greatest out there, but its not too bad. You control Vahn who is the silent protagonist of the game. You live in a world that is filled with a vile mist that turns people into monsters if they come in contact with it. Fed up with this way of life Vahn befriends a Ra-seru to help him revive the genesis trees. A Ra-seru is a type of creature that is impervious to the mist. It fits on the characters arms like a type of gauntlet weapon. They are actually pretty cool and much of the story is told by the Ra-seru. I will admit the mist and genesis tree part of the story is a little gooberish, but learning about your characters is pretty good. You will also befriend Noa who is a girl that has been raised in the woods by a wolf, and Gala who is a monk. Each has their own troubles they need to solve and there is some character developement here. All in all this is a story you can at least sit through. I would take this anyday over the crapola story in Breath of Fire III.

Graphics: 7/10

Well now these are a mixed bag. The battle graphics are actually really good, your characters do all sorts of sweet moves and they are captured very well. There are also alot of nice spell effects from your summoned seru. Its out of battle where we have the problems. You control a deformed looking character, and all of the other characters/townfolk just look pretty bad. There are facial expressions however which I liked. It just seems some of the characters are not very detailed. They also have the ball shaped hands with no fingers which looks pretty odd at times. The environments are pretty decent I guess, but some of the dungeons are just pretty bland and undetailed. Good thing you will spend alot of time fighting and seeing those much better graphics.

Gameplay: 10/10

Here is where this game really shines. Unlike almost every other rpg out there this game made its own battle system without straying too far from the mold. You can imput combos for your attacks and there are alot you can learn. Most of them look pretty cool too. Later you will be able to link more and more moves together to do some serious damage. You can also use "Spirit" which will increase your move gauge. The battles are pretty fun and are refreshing since you wont just see your character swing their sword in the same way 9 million times. There are a couple puzzles here and there, but none of them are too bad. Also there are quite a few different minigames including: fishing, taking pictures, gambling, playing a rock paper scissor type fighting game, and there is a battle arena. All of these are a blast to play besides the fishing which is merely average. Mainly because you must earn so many points just to buy an item. It will take forever to get the good stuff. All and all this game is full of rpg gameplay that will definitely tickle your fancy.

Sound: 9/10

I thought the sound was pretty good, when your characters do moves they spout out kung-fu type stuff. This is always welcome for me. I loved it in Xenogears and I love it in this game. It really just adds to the battle when you can hear your character squeel in pain when getting hit or shout out japanese when kicking some butt. The music is pretty good too, the random battle music is decent the first million times you hear it then it really starts to get kind of annoying. On the bright side some of the boss music is some of the best I've heard. I don't know how people can't like this. Overall the sound is really good.

Replay: 9/10

This is one of the few rpgs I've played through more than 2 times. Its still fun to pick up every few years and take it for a whirl. It will probably take you about 30-40 hours to beat. Probably longer if you want to get all the good stuff in the game.

Overall: 9/10

Overall Legend of Legaia is a very very good game. Not perfet by any means but very good. If you can look past the ho hum story then I'm sure you will enjoy it for its fun gameplay. Take a chance and try this one out you'll be glad you did. Its a definite buy in my opinion I believe you can get it on ebay for less than 20 bucks in some instances.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/27/06