I had followed Legend of Legaia (LOL) from early development to completion since it was made by the same people that made Wild Arms (a personal favorite of mine). I even picked it up despite the mediocre reviews it received. Well, after beating it, I have to agree with the other reviews I have read: The game is mediocre. Let me explain further.
The first thing that bothered me was the party you control only has three characters. I can hear some of you saying, "But Wild Arms had three characters and you say you enjoyed it!" That is true, but that is because Wild Arms had something that LOL does not: good character development. I find LOL to lack in this department quite a bit. The character you control seems to be there in flesh only; the other two seem to make all of the decisions and your character nods like a mute and follows along. The characters also seem to learn nothing along the way. Aren't RPGs supposed to be quests where the characters mature and change over time?
Another thing that bothered me was the characters' mannerisms during the in-game cinemas. Everytime the girl speaks she grins and flaps her arms like a bird. What the heck is that?!? She looked like a stinking Power Ranger. The martial arts guy always frowns and shakes his fist about everything. While the main character usually doesn't do much of anything. I know this may seem trivial but was it really that hard to put gestures that match what they are saying?
The graphics aren't too bad, but, then again, they aren't great either. The characters and enemies consist of a small number of plainly colored polygons. Things like the characters' clothes and hair are each made of one color with no real texture or shading giving them a very bland look. It looks a little bad when the camera gets too close. The characters do look better in battle scenes, however since they are a little larger and seem to have a few more polygons.
Speaking of battles they are pretty well done 3D affairs. The camera rotates nicely and characters become see-thru when they might obstruct view. The interesting thing about battles is how you fight. You don't just choose the word "fight" from the menu but you choose a string of commands such as "left hand", "right hand", "high kick" and "low kick" to attack. This sounds good at first but I found it boring after awhile to put in each command. Thankfully, there is an autofight option and you will be using it since overworld battles pop up every few steps.
The magic system in the game consists of absorbing certain creatures that you can later summon in battle to do attacks. Each time they attack, they earn experience to progress levels to do more damage but they can only progress nine levels. The problem I had with this system is that most of the creatures you absorb are rather worthless are never really needed. Also, the absorption of the creatures is purely random and it is really hard to get some of the ones that you could actually benefit from. The system is good in theory but lacks in actual execution.
My final annoyance is the dungeon design. They are far too linear. I am used to twisting, confusing, winding dungeons which some of you probably can't stand. I, however, like the challenge. In LOL, you may see four doors but upon further investigation, you will find that three of them lead straight into a room with a treasure chest sitting right in the middle of it. I except to spend a few minutes finding the correct path but it is practically handed to me.
In all, LOL is not a bad game but it is definitely not revolutionary. I played it through in its entirety, but I had to force myself to do it. It was just a bland experience overall.
Graphics - 6.5 -- Simple, chunky polygons get the job done but are far from impressive.
Sound & Music - 8.0 -- The music is nothing to write home about but at least it isn't irritating.
Controls - N/A -- I really can't give this game a score in this category, I think, since it is a menu driven RPG.
Replay Value - 5.0 -- RPGs really don't have much really value, but I would definitely not replay LOL since it was such a chore to beat the first time.
Overall - 7.0 -- Personally, I think LOL is a step back for the developers of the more entertaining Wild Arms but it is a decent RPG overall.
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