Legend of Legaia

"One of the three best RPGs the PlayStation ever saw."

Legend of Legaia is the game that you rented and forgot to play because you were in suspended animation for the soon-to-be released Final Fantasy VIII. It's probably coming back to you now - the promise of a new combat system based on fighting games, the graphics that looked to blow you away, and so much more. It's possible you've seen LoL lying around a friend's house and a spark of remembrance may have flickered if for but an instant... and it's also a possibility that this amazing game somehow slipped unnoticed across your radar, just like another Contrail creation, Wild Arms.

The somewhat immense world of Legaia is plagued with Mist, a thing that can only be defined as a dark and secretive presence that strikes fear into the hearts of [just about] everyone. Vahn, the main character, lives in a town called Rim Elm whose high walls have kept the dreaded Mist out of the residences for a good 10 years.

Vahn lives with his broken-down father, Val, and his little sister, Nene. He even has somewhat of a love interest with a local girl, with long, green hair and all, named Mei. She's a weakling, though, and is too sissified for my tastes... Seems all good and well, I know, but before you can get cozy, your rinky-dink estate is attacked by Juggernaut (after some other things happen in a quick manner), a gigantic monster that is in need of a serious attitude adjustment. From there, Vahn sets out to rid the world of Mist by awakening a certain number of Genesis Trees that have the ability to destroy any Mist in the area, which in turn kills off the Seru.

Ah yes, Seru. They used to be worn about the wrist and forearm by virtually every inhabitant of Legaia until the Mist came along, which somehow manages to immediately transmogrify these creatures from their original jewel-like material to hideous beasts that have this knack for practicing genocide on humans.

But some Seru are capable of resisting the Mist. This form of Seru is known as Ra-Seru - there ain't an abundance of these. Of course, the three main characters - Vahn, Noa, and Gala - are all equipped with them. Vahn finds his right in his own hometown and his/her name is Meta, making this young lad the pyro of the group. Noa's Ra-Seru's name would be a spoiler to bring up, but she is of the Wind element. Gala, the brute of the trio, is the resident bug zapper with his Ra-Seru, Ozma. There are other Ra-Seru to be found, but they cannot be worn. Instead, you can harness their offensive/defensive capabilities in, and sometimes out of, battle.

I remember my reaction when I first entered the fight scene in this game - "What, the, hell?" I had semi-questioned myself. At the beginning, I disliked the fighter-esque battle system in Legend of Legaia, but after I started learning just how much depth this bright star had, I couldn't help but enjoy it.

Called the Tactical Arts System (TAS), it allows you to input commands in a bar that will correspond to the actions that the character in question will perform. For example, say you input "Up (High), Left, Right, Down (Low)." On screen, your character will kick the enemy as high as his/her leg will go, then fluidly flow into a jab with the left immediately followed by a right and finish with a swift kick to the lower portion of the opponent. In a short period of time, that "High, Left, Right, Low," will transform into "High, Arms, Ra-Seru, Low."

As for the T in TAS, you can bet your uncle's secret stash that it holds true. There is a heavy strategic presence in Legend of Legaia. It's not stressed so far as to bore you, but it's more easy to feel than in most other RPGs. Point in case, doing "Low" attacks on a floating enemy will cause you to miss entirely and vice versa. There's the common elemental weaknesses, too, of course... But there's also this little option in a battle menu that says "Spirit." Think of it as charging up because that's really what it is. Using Spirit will boost your attack gauge to hold more action inputs and it will also raise your Art Points (AP).

Art Points are consumed when you use Arts, Hyper Arts, Super Arts and Miracle Arts. There's a vast number of Arts altogether for each character and the techniques of the former half can be combined in the attack gauge. For instance, Vahn's "Somersault" Art is "High, Low, High." If you want to seamlessly integrate two Somersaults, simply input "High, Low, High, Low, High," and watch the madness ensue. Of course, you can combine more than two Arts and they don't have to be the same to work correctly, which leaves a wide open battlefield of combo opportunities at your disposal.

However, each type of Art is different. Hyper Arts are activated only by finding Books for each of your Ra-Seru (three in all for each) and using them via the item menu, out of battle, to learn the attack. Super Arts are really longer versions of regular Arts, and much more powerful. The two drawbacks to Super Arts: They don't appear in the learned Arts list and they can't have any commands before or after the Super Art input. Now, Miracle Arts are the most devastating version of Arts in the game. They always need pre-Spirit boosting before use and they consume a whopping 99 Art Points to use successfully. But it's worth the consumption.

Speaking of consumption, magical attacks seem to play a lesser role in Legend of Legaia than in most of the RPGs that I've played. I found myself using Ra-Seru most for healing purposes and hardly ever for an offensive strike. There's good reason for that, though - the summoning sequences of the Seru which must be absorbed into the Ra-Seru through combat tend to take a bit longer than necessary. Though continuous use brings offensive benefits such as decreasing strength, agility and defense of the victims, the only thing that happens with defensive spells is that the healing becomes stronger, which is something that has to be due to the fact that, as in any RPG, your total HP and MP become larger because you're leveling up. I wouldn't have minded being temporarily invincible or something, but alas, that is not the case.

As in the majority of Role Playing Games, there's a plethora of weapons and armor to find. Almost all of them are more accustomed to one character than the either, which in itself is a double-edged sword - if Vahn and Gala have their best equipment and Noa does not, the latter will be a sitting duck which will waste your [very] hard-earned money replenishing your stock of revival items. There's a lot of needless searching to be had, believe you me.

As far as accessories go, LoL allows you to equip not one, not two, but three of them to each character. Getting the right stuff can and will make your party a lethal powerhouse, which is something you need to be to beat the game..

Contrail, being the hit-and-run developers they are, made damn sure that you won't run through this game with ease. Actually, they put a variety of obstacles in your way, 99% of them being interrelated with the storyline. The only two things that could be considered a side-quest is the entertainment center that you'll come across in a towering... tower... and fishing. The finding of the mightiest spells in the game, the magic of the Ra-Seru, is really a necessity for beating the last boss. Chances are you won't make it past level 50 unless you really put your heart into it, so the repetitive offensive magic sequences must be suffered through extensively - a requirement that should not be.

Since the inception of Legend of Legaia, I, like countless others, would rather the game never left the battle scene. Well, when it comes to the pleasing of the eyes, anyway. Outside of the fight sequence I found myself counting the polygons on just barely two hands. The characters are incredibly blocky - sometimes, I swear Vahn's arms were just three tanned diamonds connected together and attached to the semi-rectangular upper body. The architecture is done well, though - buildings are easily distinguishable from one another (though that is due also to the easy layout of each civilized area - there are no cities that actually feel like cities in Legend of Legaia) and they don't look like they were coughed up from the slums of Final Fantasy VII. The same can be said for the world map - every location is like a landmark; you can tell which is which just by glancing at it.

Now, on the battlefield, everything looks, for lack of a better word, beautiful. The detail is amazing and each character, opponent or not, is exquisitely presented with great attention to specific features like facial animation and body flow. Every Art commences, plays through and finishes without any spasmatic result. The spells are gorgeous, and with the touch of sci-fi/fantasy, it makes the whole experience more worthwhile tenfold, even though the awe-effect tends to wear off near the end of the game.

Musically, Legend of Legaia is no jukebox. There are about ten, maybe twelve different tracks throughout the entire adventure. However, what's given is worth having the volume up for. The battle music in particular fits right in to the violent situation - it's upbeat, not cheesy, yet remains catchy. No musical piece in the game is something that you should waste your time petitioning for worldwide recognition, but then again, it's your time - by all means, squander as you see fit.

When it comes to sound effects, I say you this - crispy. There be not a lot, but like the music, it's all good, albeit the sound gets extremely irritating quicker than need be. I don't know about you, but having to hear an array of screams and battle-cries every damn time a character assaults an opponent is simply annoying. I went to sleep a few days ago with "Tornado FLAME!" echoing in the back of my mind. Lemme tell you something - only nightmares can accompany something so vile.

Legend of Legaia is a the gaming equivalent to an extended one-night stand. It's a good one-time-only 40 hour drive through a single disc game filled to the brim with an intoxicating way of kicking ass that tends to drag on only near the climax, a clichéd though modified plot that's got its share of interesting twists with four different endings and a way of keeping you chained to the game till you finish it. The characters have very shallow personalities, however, and that leads to some of Legend of Legaia's bittersweet moments. You may make it a habit to play some CDs instead of listening to the in-game music and sound, but that is understandable. Besides, Contrail put the detail where they intended and that is obvious - never before or since have I played an RPG that was so traditional yet such a breath of fresh air. And a damn good breath it is.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/09/06