Legend of Legaia

"A True Legend Indeed"

Introduction
Legend of Legaia - A true Legend indeed
Legend of Legaia is an ordinary RPG upon first impression. When you start playing it though, you will find out that it is an RPG that is extraordinary. In addition to that, Legend of Legaia might just be one of the best non-square RPG available in the market. Yep, non-square, you heard me right. I also heard it was the 1998 or 1999 RPG game of the year. I'm not too sure about whether it's true or not but during that time, I think this game deserves that spot. Well, let's begin the review now shall we?

Gameplay: 9
The game is above average, but not perfect. Some flaws and there are present. However, there is much stuff in the game that puts it different from many RPGs of its kind. First thing is that there's an ART commands available during battling. The ARTS are basically combination of attacks, which you can choose from. You'll have a lot of fun trying to find out new ARTS to aid you in your many battles ahead during your journey around the world reviving trees. The ARTS are mainly initiated with the up, down, arms or Ra-Seru button. Now, what's a Ra-Seru? Well, Serus are mainly objects that help the humans with their work. However, a strange mist soon envelope the world, turning Serus into hideous beasts upon contact of the mists. Soon, the powers of the Ra-Serus emerge! Find out more when you get the game!

Audio: 9
The background music, battle theme is simply excellent! Each of them clicks to the environment. One example of it is during battle, there's a kind of inspiring music played. Whatever it is, it kinda of livens up your spirits. In addition to that, your characters also yell out when they are performing some special moves called the Hyper Arts. These moves are exceptionally powerful but they eat up your energy like popcorns as well. The different places also have different music, obviously. I simply love the boss battle theme, as the music was fast and furious. Also, the music clicks around with the surroundings. In lonely dark places, you hear music that is slow and scary...kind of keeping you in tension. It was quite good listening to these tones.

Graphics: 8
Graphics are good, but not top grade. In ordinary dungeons and towns, the people are basically those kind of cartoon-like characters. In battle, the details are added in, and that makes it look better. In rare FMVs, the graphics are totally excellent. However, due to the lack of FMVs in this game, it doesn't help much. Also, the characters seem to have a tendency of repeating the same move in towns and dungeons. A clear example can be seen with Noa. She has this annoying habit of flapping her arms as if she's a chicken sometimes. And it happens very often, it annoys me. Other than that, it's very well done.

Story: 9
The story is original, and very catching. To make a long story short, a strange mist has enveloped the world and Serus are attacking your hometown. You don't have much to do as everything just falls in place later. But I liked the idea in which those sacred Genesis Trees can be revived to clear the small portion of the mist. Once the entire region of the Genesis Trees has been revived, it's up to you and your gang to destroy the Mist Generator of that region. Along the way, you'll meet characters of all kinds, which may request for you to do a quest for them. Mainly, it's just visiting a town you are bound to meet up with and checking it up. Occasionally, you'll have to deliver stuffs here and there. However, there aren't many plot twists, it's basically the same old storyline throughout the game. Simple and sweet, I like that.

Replayability: 5
The game itself has nothing much to unlock. However, there are many unknown characters and objects to acquire. Besides that, there's apparently no reason to restart the game over again. It's kinda boring, and nothing interesting to do. If you really love the game and have nothing better to do, you may find yourself booting up the disc and playing Legend of Legaia all over again.

Buy or Rent?: Buy, more than rent.
Well, you should buy. But if you really hate RPGs, then you should rent it. Because I cannot really guarantee this game rocks and all that kind of stuffs, but for me, I liked it a lot. So, it's all up to you. If you really love RPGs and this game appeals to you, buy it. If not, rent it and see. But don't ignore it; it really isn't a game to be ignored. Even if you are a serious Square Soft fan, you should get this non-Square game for a change. It would provide you with a few more additional hours of fun gameplay.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/02, Updated 03/01/03