Legend of Legaia

"Tedious and boring gameplay, yet still a decent game"

Introduction
The role playing game genre has always been my favorite genre, so I have been known to play a lot of quality role playing games over the years. One of my friends shares a similar interest for the role playing game genre, so I asked him one day for advice on what role playing games I should play next. He asked me what console I wanted to play the role playing games on, and I told him that since I had only played a few role playing games on the Sony Playstation video game console, that maybe I should play a few more role playing games on it. He recommended a few games for it, but one that stood out in my mind most was a game called Legend of Legaia. I had heard a lot about the game in the various magazines and web sites around the internet, so I figured I would give the game a shot, especially since him and especially his stepfather were such big fans of the game. A few weeks later, I finally defeated Legend of Legaia, and was really let down by the whole experience. Now, I am not going to lie to you and say that it was a horrible game, because it wasn’t, but it just was not what I expected. The story line has flaws, the battle system is a little on the wacky side, and overall I did not feel that the game lived up to the potential.

Story Line (2/10)
Before you decide to flame me for giving the story line in the game only a 2 out of 10, hear me out. I was not a big fan of the story line in the game, at all. It was very disappointing, and I will explain to you why I feel this way. One, there are only three main characters in the game. Vahn, Noa, and Gala. Vahn is a simple kid from the countryside who is out to avenge a slaying in his family. Noa was raised by a wolf, and has no real sense in life. Gala is the descendant of an ancient warrior, and a martial arts expert. Now, with only three main characters to focus on, you would think the writing staff of the game would have an easy time with the character development of the game. This does not turn out to be the case. In fact, the character development in the game is very disappointing, for the most part, as the game instead focuses on so much other stuff, like Seru and Genesis trees. I am all for trying to focus the story line on one basic element, but come on, you still have to work out the other parts of the story line! And this is where Sony and Contrail come up a tad short. I did not like the story line in this game much at all. Overall, the story line in the game disappointed me, as I expected a game with only three main characters to deliver some great character development, but it did not, and the writing and dialog was sometimes funny but never too good.

Graphics (8/10)
When you first turn on the game for the first time, you are treated to a wonderful full motion video that rival anything that Square Soft could put out. This is possibly the best part of the graphics in the game. The full motion videos are simply incredible, and some of the best full motion videos I have ever seen in a video game. Sony and Contrail really took the time to make some quality full motion videos, and their time shows and paid off because the full motion videos in the game are excellent and top notch quality! Now, after hyping the full motion videos of the game, let me talk about the rest of the game’s graphics. The first thing you will notice about this game is that it is, for the most part, a 3D game. This means that you can never control the camera too much, but can do it enough so it never gets confusing. Most of the game has you in an overhead view, so you can always see the action below. Think of it like the camera system in Final Fantasy 7. Another great things about the graphics in the game are the quality backgrounds. The backgrounds in the game are incredible, as they are well detailed and well varied. Some of the over world map stuff is a little disappointing, as your character tends to walk at very slow speeds, but the graphics are still pretty good. Battle graphics are awesome, as the menus are designed nicely, the enemy designs are sharp, and the character designs look just like they do in the actual game! I really did like the graphics in the game, as these are some of the best graphics I have ever seen in a role playing game! The full motion videos are the best part of the graphics, but everything else looks great also. The only reason they get a 8 is because of the the over world graphics, they really don’t look that good, and your character walks very slowly. Overall, the graphics in the game are still awesome!

Music and Sound Effects (7/10)
One of the top things you must consider when reviewing and grading a role playing game is the quality of the music and sound effects. Music and sound effects are always an important aspect in terms of role playing games, but music is especially important. And the music in Legend of Legaia definitely does not disappoint, for the most part. I really did like the music in the game, as I felt it was well varied and sounded amazing. The first thing that I really noticed about the music is the fact that several instruments are used in each theme. While themes in some role playing games are played with only one instrument, some of the themes in Legend of Legaia have drums, guitars, etc. all rolled into one. This is definitely a very good sign. Now I will talk about the individual music of the game. The battle theme in role playing games have always been important to me, because you will not want to get disgusted with the battle theme of a game quickly, because once you do get annoyed by it, the game will become a total annoyance. I am pleased to inform you that while the game play may turn you off, the battle music will not, because the battle music in the game is very good! I like how there is a variety of instruments in the battle theme, and it sounds awesome. The boss theme is superb also and really gets you into the flow of the action. The final boss music is cool, as well. Another thing you may notice is that there is no victory music, once a battle ends it keeps on playing the same battle theme. Some of the music in the game can tend to be a little annoying after a while, however. Now, I will talk about the sound effects in the game. The sound effects in the game are awesome, although most of them only take place during battle (I like the Japanese voice acting during battles when spell arts are done, it sounds really cool). I wish there was good voice acting featured in the game but it is no big deal. Overall, the music and sound effects in the game are awesome, the music can get annoying but it is good for a while.

Gameplay and Control (4/10)
This is where the game falls a little short, in my opinion. A role playing game could have good music, good sound effects, good graphics, but if it does not have good game play then I am not going to like it one bit! And this is where Legend of Legaia comes up a bit short, in my opinion. One of the most hyped features about this new game was the incredible innovations added to the battle system. It promised to be much more than just a normal turn based battle systems like most role playing games featured, and for the most part it was unlike anything ever seen before. But this is not necessarily a good thing, because there was some flaws with the battle system in the game. The first thing I have to discuss is the fact that there is a new spell arts system incorporated into the battle system. You have to input commands move by move into a meter by pushing up, left, down, or right.

You can pull off special moves, called Art Attacks, by inputting the right sequence of commands, but you also have to worry about two things. One, you need to have enough spaces to input every command in sequence correctly. Two, you need to have enough SP (Spell Points) in order to have enough energy to pull off the move. So, if you do not have enough of either one of these, you need to do the spirit command. This command does three things. One, it allows you to defend, taking only half of the damage you would normally take during an attack by the enemy. Two, it increases your SP by a bit, which is also important for doing the Art Attacks. Third, it increases the amount of slots you have to input moves. I do have a problem with this system, and it is the same problem that I had with the battle system in Legend of Legaia: the battles get really tedious after a while, because you have to input the commands over and over again and have to watch the attack animations. This means the battles do get rather long, and tedious. The battles can run rather long, and you get into battles every few steps, which means you will get fed up with the battle system very quickly. At least you have an auto attack command.

Now, I will discuss the magic system in the game. Once you get a Ra-Seru, you can gain magic. To gain magic, you have to kill an enemy that holds the magic. For instance, a Gimard holds fire magic, but the Gimard itself is the magic, because the Gimard is a seru. So, you have to kill the Gimard in order to gain its magic. You can raise magic levels by using the Serus over and over again. For instance, to increase Gimard’s level, you would use Gimard over and over again. Simple enough? The control in the game is solid, as it is easy to do all of the basic commands, and you can always resort to the instruction booklet if you have problems with the commands. Plus, the game does support both analog and digital pad control, which is always a good sign.

I will now explain why I did not like the basic game play of Legend of Legaia real quick before giving my final thoughts. I like some of the innovations added to the battle system, but I also had problems with them at the same time, because they tended to make battles rather long and tedious. Key word being long, because battles can run in upwards of 5 to 10 minutes sometimes, with all of the attack and magic animations. Couple this with the amount of random battles to be fought, and you will soon get annoyed. Overall, the game is somewhat fun to play, and is rather innovative, but come on people, it gets quickly frustrating as well! Am I the only one that got annoyed by all of the battling?

Replay Value: A Little Above Average
This is one of the most innovative games ever made, but just because it is innovative does not make it fun, and just because it is innovative does not mean it has good replay value. The game does have decent replay value based on the fact that it is one of the most innovative role playing games of all time, but otherwise it has little to offer in terms of replay value. Unlike most role playing games, there are little side quests to be found in Legend of Legaia. About the best side quest I could offer to you is trying to gain all of the Seru magic and raising their levels up to Level 9. That would take forever, but at least it would be something to offer in terms of replay value. Because besides that, I don’t know what else would keep you from coming back and playing this game. Granted, it sucks that there are no major secrets in the game. You can get some extra items and stuff, but one of them takes forever to get without a game shark, because you have to be on level 99, and it takes forever to raise levels. The game does have decent replay value alone, but I wish there would have been some sort of side quest to increase the replay value even more. Overall, the replay value is decent, but it could have been even better,

Challenge: Way Above Average
Woah, this is one of the most challenging games I have ever played in my entire life, and definitely the most challenging role playing game I have ever played. The basic elements of the game are not that challenging, but let me tell you something, the bosses and battles in the game are incredibly challenging. I know you have probably heard this before, but the bosses in the game are more challenging than any of the other bosses I have ever seen in a role playing game. The most challenging boss in the game, in my opinion, is the fire breahing dog, Xian, in the fire cave, that guy is really challenging. You really have to learn the patterns of the bosses, like when to use spirit, etc. to stand a chance against them, and I do recommend leveling up a lot, although that could get rather tedious after a while, because leveling up is a chore, a lot more than leveling up in most role playing games. Overall, the challenge level of this game is really high, especially when it comes to the bosses, them guys are tough.

Overall (5/10)
I really did expect a lot out of this game, after reading the various reviews on it and hearing such good things about it. And in all fairness, this is a decent game. I especially liked some of the innovations added to the battle systems and magic systems in the game, although I can say that I really did not like the battle system much at all. Now, there is nothing wrong with the actual system, but the battles in the game were way too long and tedious for my liking. It got really annoying to sit there and watch the same boring magic and attack animations over and over again, and the extreme amount of random battles you have to go through throughout the game mean that you are not going to be too pleased with it. You might even throw down the controller in frustration sometimes because of all of the battles. I think I am the only one who was completely annoyed by all of the battling in the game, so maybe you might find something to like.

Would Terra Branford buy this game?
Would I personally buy this game? Not really, because I was annoyed by all of the tedious battles. I would recommend for you, renting this game out, because a lot of people liked it, but some did not. So rent it, and if you love it, that’s great, go ahead and buy it. But you might not like it. Like I did not like it much at all.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/03/00, Updated 08/03/00