- RPG.
- Hardware Platform: Playstation.
- ESRB Age Rating: everyone.
Product Description
-------------------
A strange mist blankets the world of Legaia. It has brought
madness and rage to all it touches. To survive, the people live
on the outskirts of civilization. They thought they were safe
from the Seru creatures, which have been changed into killers by
the mist. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Still, there is hope.
In the town of Rim Elm, a young man named Vahn has bonded with a
food Seru. With the help of some new friends, Vahn sets off to
restore the seven genesis trees--the only hope left for Legaia.
From the Manufacturer
---------------------
A tale of betrayal and self-destruction. Abuse derived from the
greediness of man. the powers of a magical creature betrayed.
Will man realize his mistakes before irreparable damage is done?
Armed witha magical and the will to durvive lead Vahn and
his cohorts to the redemption of man. Pursue a quest to save the
world and discover place where legends are born. New combat
system bases on fight games. Discover special combinations for
more effective attacks. Beautiful realistic graphics with ull
polygons. 100s of 3D enemies that react with a full range of
motion.
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Review
------
Early last year, Sony released an RPG that would likely have
made more of a splash had the world not been waiting for Square's
epochal RPG, Final Fantasy VII. Sony's RPG, Wild Arms, featured a
lengthy, involved quest with three distinct characters to play
as, cool 3D battle scenes, and familiar old-school gameplay that
fit like an old glove to the many RPG fans who bought it. While
there's no sign of a Wild Arms 2 on the horizon, SCEA has
released the next best thing, the Legend of Legaia. Developed by
Contrail, an internal development team headed by Wild Arms
producer, Takahiro Kaneko, Legend of Legaia bears numerous
similarities to its spiritual predecessor, while taking distinct
steps further into the genre.
The storyline focuses on a trio of adventurers (Vahn, Noa, and
Gala) whose mission is to stop the ever-present danger that
threatens the land in the form of a mysterious mist. This mist
mutates whatever living being it touches into something entirely
more sinister and dangerous. In order to quell this threat, Vahn
and company must seek out the numerous Genesis Trees that are
scattered throughout the land and revive them. The trees in turn
will radiate a magical aura that causes the mist to dissipate.
Like Wild Arms, the trio of playable characters is made up of two
males and one female. Unlike Wild Arms, the Legend of Legaia is a
fully 3D RPG, completely rendered in polygons. Aesthetics aside,
the most significant feature in the game is the battle engine.
Instead of the typical menu-based scheme, Legaia focuses on an
almost fighting game-style interface. While not exactly Tekken 3,
the fight scenes feature large, detailed characters and cool
special effects. Think of the battle scenes in Xenogears and
you're more than halfway there. You trigger commands and other
inputs by using the directional pad to indicate item use, fight,
escape, and so on. Assuming you choose to fight, the D-pad then
dictates things like high-attack, low-attack, kick, and special
attack. While some might wonder why Contrail didn't just make a
simple fighting engine, it actually works out very well this way,
and it's engaging enough to keep from getting stale. As you
progress in the game, you'll learn more powerful attacks called
"Super-Arts." You will also need to find something called a
"Ra-Seru" for each character. The Ra-Seru is an incorruptible
creature that each character wears like a symbiotic companion.
Each Ra-Seru acts like a weapon and adds to each character's
attack options.
When you're not in battle, you'll be traversing the countryside
in search of, among other things, the Genesis Trees. During your
travels you will, naturally, have to interact with the various
townspeople you meet and occasionally upgrade your inventory
(weapons, armor, and so on). The cool part about upgrading your
inventory is that you actually see the changes the next time
you're in battle. The attention to detail in the game is
thoughtful and welcome indeed.
Graphically, the game lookss competent, if not spectacular.
Everything is adequately realized, yet a touch on the blocky
side. The textures can be grainy, but the graininess is
counterbalanced by a substantial a of gourad-shading, which
helps the characters stand out from the backgrounds, which are
comparable to the overhead in Xenogears. The music is the
standard fare you find in your average RPG, which is unfortunate,
because Legaia is better than your average RPG. While not
necessarily poor, the soundtrack definitely takes a backseat to
the excellent gameplay.
On the downside, your progress on the overhead moves kind of
slow, and, as a result, you'll find yourself in a lot of random
battles as you try to go from here to there. Of course, you can
always choose to run away from the fight, but then your levels
won't go up as fast. Faster movement on the and increased
level advancement would have helped Legaia a bit. Additionally,
the battle engine, around which the game revolves, can also drag
the pace down, with all the loading and whatnot. Overall, the
game feels a bit sluggish, but this shouldn't be a problem with
patient gamers.
Despite the flaws that keep Legaia from being the world beater
that it could have been, it still remains an engaging RPG for
anyone who likes to play RPGs. After having obtained all three
characters, you'll find yourself entertained for hours upon
hours. Point blank, this is an ambitious RPG. Unfortunately, with
all the RPG attention being paid to Square's Final Fantasy VIII,
it seems as if Legaia might get swept under the rug, much in the
way Wild Arms was overshadowed by FFVII. That would be a shame if
it turned out like that. The Legend of Legaia is a worthwhile way
to spend your time. --James Mielke
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot
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