Legend of Legaia

If you've read any of my other reviews, then you know that I am by no means a writer. And like many of us non-writers I find it very difficult to start writing. Often when I feel stuck, I turn to my good friend Borgman.

Me: "How do I start a LoL review?"
Borgman: "With a woot woot this game is great?"

So taking that advice here's my review of Legend of Legaia...



Woot! Woot! This game is great. I think that was the best review I've ever written. Ok, ok, now let's get serious. Stop me when this sounds familiar. Legend of Legaia is a Japanese RPG created by Contrail where you play as 3 kids trying to save the world. Sounds familiar right? Well, it is. In many ways it's just your run-of-the-mill RPG. You explore, navigate through dungeons, fight bosses, save the day, yada yada yada.

What separates this game from other RPGs has to be its battle system. Again, it's a turn based system where you input your commands and then begin. You've got the options of using an item, magic, attack, or spirit (blocking and restore AP). Items are just like any other game. Using magic is also the same, but to use magic you must first absorb the spirit of an enemy by defeating it in battle. You don't always absorb it on the first try so sometimes you'll find yourself fighting over and over just to get the magic. The magic will be absorbed by your Ra-Seru which is basically, well I'm not sure how to describe them so I'll call them guardians of sorts.

The Attack command is really were this game sets itself apart. You have a command bar that can contain a certain number of commands, up, left, right, or down. Using these commands you have to find and discover different combinations for strong attack moves or arts. There's a guide that stores the moves you've already discovered. Each move will consume AP (Art Points). As you level up, the command bar will lengthen to allow you to enter more commands and find stronger arts. You also are allowed to string together multiple moves which on occasion equal a super art. You can restore AP by using the Spirit command or by attacking without using an art. This to me really made the game fun.

I admit the story is a bit predictive, but does get interesting at the end when more things are revealed. The cut scenes in the game are absolutely gorgeous and rival that of Final Fantasy. Actually this game probably would be a lot more popular had it not been for the release of FF7. Legend of Legaia was completely overshadowed by FF7 and really makes it a great hidden gem of the Playstation. Another great thing about the battles that I forgot to mention above is when you acquire new armor and weapons, your character in battle also changes. Your Ra-Seru will also evolve as they level up and change in appearance.

You'll also find a lot of humor and some mini games thrown in. The mini games do have some pretty good stuff so it's definitely worth it to try them out. I think I've covered all of the big things I wanted to and this review has gotten very lengthy so I will leave you with my final rating. I give Legend of Legaia a Gamegasm and Buy Now (if you can find a copy that is).