Legend of Legaia

Games: Legend of Legaia

• Release Date: March 17, 1999
• Genre: Role-Playing
• Style: Third-Person 3D Action RPG
• Similar Games: Beyond the Beyond (PlayStation), Wild Arms (PlayStation), SaGa Frontier (PlayStation), Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation), Xenogears (PlayStation)

Game Description

After creating a massive world with vast oceans, landscapes and an infinite universe, God instituted human beings to keep his creation in order. Upon realization that man was mortally flawed with weaknesses and feelings, he created a mysterious force known as the Seru; these stone objects would aid humans in decisions and day to day functions. Worn as an apparel item, they granted the wearer many strengths and abilities ranging from the movement of heavy objects to flying capabilities. Thus, human life was made easier -- the Seru would forever obey their masters.

And then the Mist arrived.

Filled with destructive means and hatred, the Mist covered the human's cultivated lands and destroyed a seemingly eternal bond with the Seru. Instead of loyally helping their masters, the mysterious stones turned against the humans; they became maniacal tools of evil, controlling minds and ruining innocent lives. The human existence was reduced tremendously with few survivors fleeing to uncharted territories. Perhaps the Mist wouldn't find them wherever they ran.

With a dying passion of revenge and to reclaim what was rightfully theirs, the humans are determined to overcome the powerful force and evil Seru. Beginning in the desolated village of Rim Elm, you'll assume the role of Vahn, a young boy that lusts for justification and the destruction of the Mist. With his offensive and defensive martial arts attacks, he's joined by the intuitive Noa and a fighting monk named Gala whom thrives off the art of discipline. Together, they must uncover the mysteries of Mist and awaken a series of Genesis Trees; these trees will cleanse that section of the world.

Upon first glance, Legend of Legaia is a traditional third-person role-playing game with 3D graphics. With a wide variety of towns and townspeople in which to interact, you'll unravel the storyline by learning of important hints and clues. Located in each town is a series of commerce shops; item shops contain helpful potions among other things and weapon and armor shops contain wide variety of powerful swords, helmets, etc. Additionally, you can stay the night at an inn to completely replenish your party's hit and magical points.

Where it differs from the traditional role-playing game is in its battle system. The Tactical Arts System has your characters learning unique combination techniques to use against your enemy. Although the action is turn based, each character has a series of special arts and hyper arts to master; for instance, Vahn can execute a charging scorch by pressing down and right on the D-Pad -- the final button for the combination must be learned on your own! If you'd rather not worry about the fighting, you can set the game to auto mode. It will select a character's maneuvers for them and even learn new combinations.

You can also select an attack strategy including high kicks that work against floating monsters, a dominating Ra-Seru hand attack, a low kick used for smaller creatures and the arms attack for equipped weapons. You can also absorb Seru for summoning and magical abilities; monsters with an elemental icon over their head can be stored and summoned.

Legend of Legaia features over 100 different enemies and makes full use of the Dual Shock Analog Controller with vibration and analog support. A memory card (one block) is needed to save the adventure and any moves that may have been learned. Can you stop the destructive Mist before all hope is vanquished? The fate of the world is riding on your shoulders!

Roots & Influences

With a few puzzle and action RPG elements thrown in, Legend of Legaia was probably influenced a tad by Wild Arms (by the same people who created the poorly received Beyond the Beyond). Developed in Japan, it features 3D battle sequences much like the aforementioned game combined with fighting and martial arts maneuvers courtesy of Xenogears.

Review: Overall

With Wild Arms producer Takahiro Kaneko heading up the project, Legend of Legaia takes several characteristics from the aforementioned game and Squaresoft's role-playing epic Xenogears. While the overall package is well done, several things keep it from being a truly superb RPG.

The story revolves around three heroes (much like Wild Arms): Vahn is a young adventurer out for justification; Noa is an intuitive heroine from the Snowdrift Cave; and Gala is a warrior-monk. Their objective is to destroy an evil Mist that has devastated the world and destroyed the once sacred bond between Seru and their human masters. In order to expel the world's impending doom, they'll need to awaken a series of Genesis Trees vital to destroying the Mist.

Graphically, Legend of Legaia is a mixed bag. On the side of good, you'll notice slick looking gourad-shaded characters and a detailed graphics engine that shows weapons, armor and all kinds of upgrades. On the downside of things, textures are bland and grainy; they will, at times, provide for less than compelling scenery. While the game features a 3D engine that stands out from the rest of the competition, it seems like a disadvantage when compared to the pretty Final Fantasy VII.

The battle system is where Legend of Legaia really stands out from the rest of the RPG field. Featuring a Tactical Arts System, the battle system comes off as a cross between Xenogears and a fighting game. As a menu-based system, you're given a series of options including magic and items. Upon choosing the fight option, you're presented with a series of options including high kicks, low attacks, arms and the Ra-Seru. In addition to these regular attacks, your characters will learn advanced attacks known as Hyper Arts. You'll also come in contact with elemental Seru creatures that, if absorbed, can be summoned for magical use; you must use the powers of Ra-Seru to obtain the monsters. When you combine all these elements together, you've got an effective battle system -- a welcome addition to any role-playing game.

Legend of Legaia is lacking in the sound department, however. Any musical score in a given role-playing game will undoubtedly be compared to the Final Fantasy series; in comparison, this one really pales. Though there are some hum-along tracks and a few memorable moments, the soundtrack as a whole isn't very moving. Sound effects are textbook RPG sounds with nothing great thrown in; they're adequate, though.

There are some elements that plague Legend of Legaia, most notably slow gameplay. Whether it's from the 3D engine or a developmental choice, the game plods along at a slow pace. Although the battle system is nicely done (there is some slowness there, however), the world map feels sluggish; your characters move so slowly. Because the developers worked in random battles, it becomes rather annoying when you have to walk somewhere. Additionally, leveling your characters seems to take a long time -- this can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

Beneath these annoying problems, however, Sony Computer Entertainment America has a hit title with Legend of Legaia. Although it will most likely be overshadowed by the RPG conglomerate that is Squaresoft (much like Wild Arms), it has a lot going for it. If you're dying for a new role-playing game, this might get the job done.

Review: Enjoyment

Despite feeling a bit on the slow side, gamers who enjoy a decent storyline and RPG adventure will probably enjoy Legend of Legaia. This is especially true if you're between role-playing games with nothing to play!

Review: Graphics

With a full 3D engine, Legend of Legaia suffers from grainy and bland texturing. However, the character models feature gourad shading as seen in Final Fantasy VIII, which increases the overall graphical look.

Review: Sound

Nothing too spectacular in the sound department -- standard RPG sound effects with an unmemorable soundtrack.

Review: Replay Value

Once you beat it, there isn't much of a reason to play though it a second time. Like all role-playing games, it'll wind up on the shelf.

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual is quite useful in explaining the various gameplay elements, characters and storyline. It adequately details the battle system.

Production Credits