The Legend of Legacy

I'm going to start this review off by making something clear. As of writing this review, I have not *technically* finished the Legend of Legacy. And too be honest, with a good 5-10 hours played, I have no desire to continue. For those unaware, I'm a huge fan of Jrpgs. As in classical Jrpgs. You know like Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, even more Radiant Historia or Bravely Default. I'm the type of guy who will put up with turn based combat, random encounters, and even grind if I feel like there's enough to keep reinvested. This game was made for people like be, so the fact that Legend of Legacy is one of the most boring games I've played this year, speaks volumes for how much this game falls flat, because this is the type of game that people cite as why they say they don't like Jrpgs.

PRESENTATION

As I sit here, I find myself very unsure of how to approach explaining the plot. Not because it's terribly complicated or deep, but because it basically doesn't exits. Even with all the hours I have put into this game, I still am unable to explain what exactly happened or why. Only the most basic back story is given at the beginning with the church hiring mercenaries to investigate some strange goings on the island of Avalon, there, under the direction of the local king, however that works, and are sent to uncover the reasons behind the islands recent awaking.

And that is the extent of the story. There are interesting developments or clever twists, and the whole thing in the end feels inconsequential. This isn't like in other Jrpgs where the story is too cliché to care about or too convoluted to get invested in, the problem here is that there might as well be no plot with how little actual happens. And this type of thing is incredibly frustrating for those like me, since the story is essentially the reason to play these game. As fun as the combat may be, with how long these games tend to go one, if there is no compelling story or characters to latch onto, then the whole journey ends up feeling tedious and a waste of time.

Speaking of the characters, there don't fair much better. Right up front the game allows you to select for several different characters to begin your story as. However, this is also serves no purpose as you'll just end up recruiting the remaining characters anyway and each of them is as bland and forgettable as the rest. There are no arcs, or character development, betrayals, romances or even the slightest thing to give any of them, meaning or purpose. There characters are their stats. Nothing more. And that is a major problem. Because if I do not care about what I'm doing or why I’m doing it, then I really have no reason to continue doing said things.

GAMEPLAY

I will give Legend of Legacy this. The spin it puts on it's battle system is rather interesting. Instead of the traditional “Attack/Defend/Skills/” menu, each character is granted a specific set of skills based on what weapons and magics they currently have equipped. Additionally, instead of learning a set selection of skills or allowing the player select every skill they want to learn, this game goes for something a little in between. The longer a specific character uses a specific weapon, the more abilities they will unlock for that specific weapon. In addition, each character is able to equip up to two weapons at a time. This system is great, allowing for a lot of experimentation to find a suitable setup for each character, while not having to fear being completely demolished because they were unsuited for a specific weapon they wanted to try out.

The downside to this is that the game becomes very grindy. And be very grindy, I mean, OH HEAVEN'S MAKE IT STOP grindy. This is the other major problem with Legend of Legacy. As if a lack of investment in the plot wasn't enough, the spikes in quality make this game require so much tedious and repetitive battling that it can drive a man insane. A non-existent story, and excessive tedious grinding are enough to kill the interest of even some of the most hardcore Jrpg fans.

VISUALS & AUDIO

Honestly the only other merit to legend of legacy is the art direction. While not any too unique when placed along side similar 3DS rpgs like Bravely Default, the character designs do have a sort of charm to them, and the map and environment paintings are absolutely gorgeous, at least for the most part.

The same unfortunately, cannot be said about the music. While I am glad that they did not decide to opt for a cliché generic rock or metal theme used in so many of these types of games, I cannot think of a single track for the battles, fields, or scenes that stood out. And the lack of extensive voice acting in was also not something that I was happy about, but again with a story this bare bones, I really don;t even think it was worth bothering.

FINAL THOUGHTS

And that’s the problem with Legend of Legacy. It's not an awful game or even particularly that bad. But as I thing about it now there isn't a single thing about that comes to mind that would make me recommend it to anyone, really. The story and characters might as well not exist, the combat, while fun, isn't enough on its own to hold your attention, and the amount of grinding necessary to progress from area to area will make it hard for anyone stick around for very long.

It's actually rather disappointing considering this game was released by Atlus. They have a track record of putting out some really great unappreciated games. If you haven't already I strongly STRONGLY recommend you check out Radiant Historia, if you want an example of how great a JRPG from Atlus can be, because this is sadly not it.