Legend of Legaia

"Underated, But one of the best for a cluttered system."

Introduction - This is a great game. It is not the best ever made, by any means but it stacks up with most of the consoles biggest hits. This is by no means a Final Fantasy killer, but unlike so many games these days, it is certainly not a clone either. It brings to the PS1 Table a unique Style of RPG that was much needed by a console stale with copycat games. The Story is, like most the save the world kind. Where it differs is how it actually delivers this to the player. With the best of both Style and Flair.

Game play - The game play is simply great. The Area maps are easy enough to navigate. The over world take to way too long to cross on foot however. Where this game really excels is in battles, despite the length of most battles, they are quite engaging. You actually get to choose how your character attacks., no not like a fighting game, but none-the-less fun. You use a simple interface up, down, left, right, to determine how your character will attack. Another plus, unlike darn near every RPG out there this one actually lets you see different Armor and Weapons when you equip them. Easy in battle and out of battle menu setup makes it easy to understand how your character works. The most innovative feature of the game is the arts system. Basically depending on what order of attacks you put in you may or may not get a special move. The only drawback I found was that some of the boss battles border on Hard. If you always plan ahead and stay well stocked on items, you'll probably never lose. The only other thing that sets it apart from any other game out there is magic and how you acquire it. As you go through the game you will encounter Seru, the Ra-Seru you acquire very early on has the power to assimilate with these Seru and gain their powers. These powers range from devastating lightning attacks to simple healing. Your basic RPG magic with a bit more style. Then there's the thing no RPG can do without:mini-games. This game has a plethora of them. From a entertaining fishing game to a tournament. It even has slots! This is truly where this game makes its mark, few if any errors and a great way to spend your time.

Game play 10/10

Story - Simple save the world story really. Start out in a small village and end up savior of the world (sound Familiar?).The best twist to it is the Seru, Ra-Seru and the Genesis Trees. Due to unfortunate events the once calm natured seru have become crazed beings of destruction. This transformation is a direct result of the emergence of a evil mist, which brings out the evilest of natures in seru. In order to stop the madness you must set out on a Journey to rid the world of the cursed mist. It really, though better than many, lacks here most. There just isn't enough Originality in it. Though there are quite A few very funny scenes worth seeing.
Story 7/10

Graphics/Sound - out of battle graphics are slightly below average, there is I think a total of maybe 5 minutes of CG, very well done CG, in this game. In battle the graphics really are amazing for a ps1 game. The character models are better than any ps1 Final Fantasy game except maybe 9.There is no sort of glitches, at least not to a noticeable effect. Art skills, magic and various other abilities are well Animated. The sound, in battle sound effects are cool. Only 1 maybe 2 Battle music tracks though. Out of battle wise every city has its own track. Sadly nearly every, if not every, dungeon or cave or castle has one of 2 tracks. Great sound just repetitive. None of them are all that memorable either.
Graphics:8.5/10
Sound:8/10

Play Time/Replay ability - its not that long of a game, less than 40 hours if you don't rush, but miss a few things, no more than 60 if you do everything except a few of the longer optional quests. It has quite a few mini games that are quite fun, but beyond that and maybe relieving certain scenes not much worth replaying.
7/10

Final Recommendation - it really is a great game. I would recommend renting it somewhere and seeing if it fits your style, that way you wont lose much money either way. It really is one of the consoles most underrated RPG. Very good game, I haven't found a none Final Fantasy fan boy who has had any real problem with it. It isn't final fantasy, but if you want an original and creative game for a cluttered system check it out.

9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/05