How would you rate/review Legend of Legaia?

[Zup]

but most of the people on this site are too lazy or don't have the time.

Mane what's with your blanket judgements with little justification.

Maybe some peeps don't feel the need to seeing as how we all already like the game.

[JCTC]

Soo... You're not lazy?

[GoldenPower89]

Maybe we'd just rather play the game than write a review.

[TheRavenfreak]

How would I rate LoL? I'd probably give it a 8 out of 10. The game is wonderful and is my favorite RPG on the Playstation. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have it's flaws. Let's start with the music first. What can I say about the music? It's wonderful, and my most favorite track of all time from any game that I have ever played is in this game, The Young Nobleman of the Mist. (Minus the intro, it's great but his battle theme is just amazing.) I have no complaints with the music, and I think every track fits the current situation that it plays during. Really the only thing I wish they could possibly change if a remake was to be in the works is the voices during battle. I would love to have a English dub because I always wanted to know what they were screaming each time they performed an art. (And I don't know Japanese so... xD) Some grammatical errors should be fixed as well if there was to be a remake, but hey that's understandable when it comes to translating a game from Japanese to any other language. Plus no one is perfect so... The battle system is unique and awesome. I have no issues with it, except for in some cases you might have to defend a lot to actually perform any decent moves and sometimes the action gauge may look like it has enough space for one more command but it doesn't... That always did annoy me a bit and it still does sometimes as well.

[Sephirothansylar]

Legend of Legaia has the best story out of any game I have played in my opinion. It is creative, lengthy, and just fits the game so perfectly. Beyond all it is unique. The game length is superb...I always remember wondering how they fit the whole game on 1 disc when it really felt like a 4 disc game to me. The gameplay is amazing from battle, slot machines, and especially fishing. The fishing minigame in it is probably better than actual fishing games and trumps any fishing minigame I have ever played. The difficulty level is extremely nice. It doesn't feel too grindy like some games but it does have an adequate amount of difficulty.

The graphics aren't the greatest but considering how long ago it came out it is definitely a good graphics game for its time. I loved the voices both japanese and english. I remember thinking what zora said was japanese but now I know she says darkness typhoon in english it just sounds weird, yet cool because of the accent. I loved almost every boss in the game for the most part although was disappointed in the difficulty level of the final boss...doesn't even compare to my favorite boss Lapis. The sound and music were great for the time. The hidden intro at the start game page was epic and I kind of wish there were more cinematics in the game but then again some games have too many cinematics. The intro where you can't skip and have to sit through the words scrolling on the screen is annoying they should have made that bypass-able. Gala feels weak for a huge chunk of the game and I wish he was just a little stronger in ways. The seru magic system was intense and I'm glad I experienced it although getting a full level 9 magic run is extremely hard and I have yet to do it. Also getting to max level is quite grindy even with crimson books. Seems like the time I got to max level I didn't even use 3 crimson books because I didn't know you could get more than the one but that was a long time ago.

If they were to make a remake I would hope that it could either be almost the same game just with better everything to meet today's standards or a very nice sequel/prequel with equally amazing storyling, gameplay, music and everything else it has going for it.

I give Legend of Legaia a 10/10 for how strongly it has influenced me and that even today I find it quite re-playable. However I rate the prima strategy guide for this game 6/10...The stupid guide went as far as having the wrong combo for a few arts...and didn't have any mention on how to get the war god icons except in the item list "War god Icon Location: Buma fishing hole".....ya that misses the one at muscle dome and that's not even where the fishing War God Icon is located 'dizzy.

[GoldenPower89]

The intro where you can't skip and have to sit through the words scrolling on the screen is annoying they should have made that bypass-able.

It is. Press Start (or Select, I forget) while the intro is playing. You're welcome.

[JCTC]

Press R1, i think, i skipped it somehow

[Sephirothansylar]

Ya I think I got Legend of Legaia and Legend of Dragoon's intro mixed up, Dragoon is definitely unskippable.

[Zup]

I'm important, so here:

Certified 4 outta 4 yoooo. Game is hella good.

The music is bangin'. The battle theme has that ill-こし drum roll in the beginning that really takes advantage of that blip in time of transitioning from the field to the battle, and then it keeps the mood for the rest of the battle as pretty upbeat and active. The fact that the combat itself is decently involved and very action-oriented (in its animations anyway) also benefits from the beat itself.

The boss theme also has that really good gear-up, only the tone shifts to a much more negative and dire one, which is very necessary. Songi's punk-こし gets a fitting cool guy song that, at least to me, fits his whole goin' crazy thing. The variety of sounds and sorta evily bounciness in it really gets the point across. Cort's track is great, although I feel that, comparatively, the end boss theme is the weakest of the bunch by far.

Out of battle it's really nice too. Got the wonky flutey song playing while at Usha's crib (that indeedly doodly fits the bizarro science man theme), the Biron song is simultaneously diligent and hospitable, the Baka Fighter track is groovy and reminds me of arcade beat 'em ups.

Graphically and artistically, the game is juicy. It's very colorful (which I always love), the battles play around with lights a lot, the animations are rad and pretty 野菜 fluid, Lu Delilas's thigh and buttcheek are wonderful, the models themselves are doooope, and that armor/rock look to the Seru is really great, the battlefields themselves feel pretty organically-bounded, and most of 'em have some pretty cool backgrounds to them. All the towns and dungeons convey very well the tone they're going for, and most of them are visually really interesting (although Juggy's Gutties gets kinda bland, and Mt. Letona and Dhini are pretty eh by the time you get to those points in the game).

The character designs are great. Normally, I'm not a big fan of a lotta anime character designs, but I think this game's never get too ridiculous save for one or two here and there (Lu you're my boo but that hair tho). Got a pretty good grounded-in-reality/not-too-spiky-or-zippery-or-pretty-or-wish-fulfillmenty look with dudes like Gala and Tetsu and Che. The chibi, blocky look out of battle is a bit meh in all honesty. I dig the facial expressions and the decent amount of animations for 'em (particularly Noa's), but the look is pretty mediocre, especially compared to the in-battle models.

Also the armor-changing feature is sexyyyy. It does suffer a bit from having a few pieces look kinda samey, but there are a good number of evolutions in the linear line of 'em. Still a sick feature. I also really enjoy the fighting-game-esque numbers and hit sparks.

The battle system itself is pretty orgasmic. Most of the time. I love fighting games, and having a turn-based RPG system based on that is wonderful to me. Conceptually, turn-based is not my cup of tea, but Legaia's system has a great way of making it infinitely more engaging with the Tactical Arts thing. It's a lot of fun to watch, very cinematic, the voices add tons of flavor, etc. It adds a hugely important "HYPE" factor that will always reel me in. It's similar enough in concept to Xenogears, but I think it's ultimately better, even though you're choosing the commands and then watching them play out as opposed to choosing how to smack enemies up while in their faces. Learning Arts can be a bit of an UGH time if you don't have a guide though.

That being said, it can also get a bit slow at times. Seru animations can get pretty ridiculous, especially since they're unskippable and you likely will be seein' only a small handful of 'em repeatedly, particularly in boss battles. They really shoulda made it optional to skip, or go with how they handled the NEW ARTS!! thing and made it so that it plays out extra long at the start, but it becomes more condensed and focused on just getting the function of the spell itself across from then on. Maybe use the animation if it's a killing blow or just every _ amount of uses in case people do wanna see it again. BUT WHATEVER. MOVIN' ON.

Sound design is also amazing, particularly in battle (battlebattlebattlebattle). The sound effects when you smack somebody's jaw with a cold right (#ChinChilla) are satisfying enough, but the voices. It is mind boggling how much of an impact excellent voices in combat have. They make every battle much more interesting to watch (....and listen to), and they ramp up the hype levels so much more. I mean, look at friggin' Final Fantasy VII and VIII and Legend of Dragoon. The former two ain't got nothin' while the latter has vocal garbage. Ain't none of them three touchin' Legaia battles in hype, and the voicing has so much to do with it. AND IT AIN'T EVEN IN ENGLISH. And it WORKS. Like I ain't even a Japanese dub purist or nothin' (hayle naw gimme wifey Tara Platt and husbando Troy Baker in every game pls), but I have NO objections to there being no English. The Engrish and the HWUH HA OHYAH is good enough for me.

Now the story is....okay. It's definitely pretty run-of-the-mill, what with it revolving around young kids being the only people in the world with the balls to challenge evil people who wanna rule and/or destroy the world and they get these sick powers that put them above and beyond things. Whatevs. I don't really have a problem with that fact, although it is a bit disappointing, considering how different and sorta evolutionary the battle system was (I can't get over how yummy it is). If the story was on the same level as the battle system, it would be phenomenaaaal.

It isn't bad though, as it has a number of likable characters and pretty good worldbuilding. There's this sorta horror-esque element surrounding the Mist and Seru and the dungeons that deal with those things that's very nice. It gets cutesy and bubbly at times when it's appropriate. The goal is established well-enough and you never really lose sight of it. Gaza is the greatest hands-down and transcends the game. Songi, while a total cornball, makes for a great "repeated rival" character. Always yukkin' it up and never shuttin' his mouth. Actin' like a punkier, snottier, pesterier Kanye West. With the ego and the attention whoring and the yeah. Some of the other NPCs unfortunately suffer from just being there to serve a role to push things along or support the cast. Kinda a bummer. Gala's a pretty cool dude, and they succeeded in makin' him the straight man who ain't takin' none o' this jerpeegee crap while not bein' a total buzzkill. Swagalicious poses at the top of Sol. Noa is an absolute adorbso and she's the second best character after Gaza. Very fun character, adds a lotta life to things. Vahn's cool and all, but silent protagonists are pud and that makes him the lesser of the trio, as far as "character" goes. Like there ain't even a decent number of fun dialogue choices or nothin'. C'moooon.

The difficulty level is very inviting, but....kinda only on your first time through. I find that after you beat the game....it's kind of a cakewalk from then on. Sure there're still some areas in which you can trip up (like Berserker or Che), but it loses that challenge. It just isn't "built" quite like, say, the SMT games that can still retain that difficulty in a decent enough manner, even after you've experienced an event once or twice before.

I will say that one sorta major/not-mentioned-as-often criticism I have is the lack of control. This is something that sorta purveys through a buncha games and particularly JRPGs. It's not that I'm askin' for a sandbox world in which I make my own dude (as fun as that would be with this game; especially as a way to mix up subsequent playthroughs), but at almost every level of gameplay, the player is not really allowed to do anything. The world is really only open enough to allow you to find a new spot to grind, as many locations are effectively blocked off until the story calls for them. Movement on the field itself is limited pretty much to just walking around and the occasional scripted jump, and the areas in which you can go are pretty limited as well, with not a whole lot to find.

Going back to Vahn and the silent protagonist thing -- there's not really a whole lot the player can do with the feature, which honestly makes the feature dumb as balls. Most dialogue choices are artificial and get you the exact same results, or loop until you pick the right one, and there's a lack of variety in them; there aren't a lot of options for personality. Where's my sass button? I NEED A SASS BUTTON.

Besides the wait times, this is the only real complaint I have with the battle system. Sure, it might feel as if you have plenty of control, but you kinda....don't. As wonderful as the battle system is, and as extravagant and hype and pretty original it is, it still falls victim to that turn-based pitfall of cycling. The Delilas fights in particular exemplify this tremendously (1-on-1 fights, as cool as they are to see in Legaia, aren't really suited for turn-based combat). You are still effectively just choosing to Attack, use a Special, and Heal. Now, this isn't too bad, because it is pretty much an accepted part of turn-based combat, and I get that. I also don't find this to be that much of a drawback anyway, as I thoroughly enjoy the combat. I think it "masks" the samey actions thing better than almost any other turn-based game that I've played.

There are still a few more minor issues here. I touched on Replayability earlier. Now, while I have replayed Legaia multiple times and thoroughly enjoyed it, it's not the best game for that feature. But it's aight. I don't care for having enemies repeat, just with better stats and different colors. The fact that Vahn, Noa, and Gala effectively play the same (shuddup don't come at me with technical differences I know shuddup) can be a bit eh as far as variety goes. There's not a huge wealth of lore to read up on or very many hidden areas and enemies and bosses. Lu is not in my arms. Just a few "weaknesses" that are very much there, but really don't drag the entire experience down at all.

Plus it holds up even today. Goin' back to its "peers" (FFVII, VIII, LoD), I can't really say the same overall. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of those in general, but whatever. Legaia rules.

Feel free to replace your old opinions with this one and have a friend tattoo it to your back.