Everything about this mist infected world is perfect, it puts all other RPG's to shame!
Graphics:9 BEAUTIFUL, some places seriously just make you keep your character in place so you can admire the Legaia scenery. The FMV's in Legaia are truly beautiful and are something you would see in PS2, and even better than alot of PS2 FMV's!!!The graphics for Legend of Legaia are truly stunning for its time. The in-game battle sequences are where the graphics for this game truly shine. It would be like a playstation 1.5. Just between PS1 and PS2. Unlike many other RPG's, in Legaia when you equip different armor and weapons, you can actually see the change in FANTASTIC detail. All of the art moves are very swift and look excellent. Many of the moves have a matrix effect to them and the graphics show all of the crazy art moves in perfect detail. The only reason I gave a 9 is because if you run into a battle on the field map, the backround looks very plain. A few gray polygons in the backrounds and flat golf course type grass are the only things for background. However, if you are in a forest, town, or dungeon the backrounds are very detailed. The graphics give this game a very eerie feel to them and quite honestly, makes Legaia a very creepy game at times.
Story:10 Basically, the story starts out with "god created everything and the humans were close to dying out, so he created Seru to aid them" The Seru increased the humans' strength many times and obeyed them. But one day out of nowhere, the mist covered the land and turned the Seru into evil beasts that attacked humans at will." That is all I will get in to because more of the story is revealed in the game. Sounds like a mediocre story, but during the middle of the game you realize that there is MUCH MUCH MORE to the story. The story is a basic save the world type. Nevertheless, there are fabulous plot twists that aren't so wacky that you're like WTF? But keep the spice to the game. Now just to let you know, Legaia is a VERY GLOOMY game. Everywhere you go is pretty much desolated and in most places the music is dark and depressing if you haven't completed your mission. The beginning of the game starts out slow as it starts with introduction of characters and talking to people mostly. But after a few hours into the game the story unfolds very nicely. There are alot of religious references in Legaia and the story takes a nice turn. That's another thing about Legaia, the MYSTERY. Not everything is thrown in your face and you are kept guessing in places. What was also great were the characters. The playable characters weren't some ultra super special force agent or someone thats a known warrior or hero like most other games. The characters are children and are basically normal people. Seru were a great idea as well. Also, something about the Legaia world is so much cooler than other videogame worlds. The idea of a world being seperated in to continents, and each part having a certain feature it is famous for is great. Legaia also brought the Legaian people to life even more by using religion as a major theme in the game, taking lots of biblical references. Legaia is also a very depressing game for the most part, and isn't all happy cheery at the end, it's a bitter sweet ending, which I love.
Characters:9 Well, in Legaia the main character Vahn doesn't really talk much, at least out loud. There are questions that some people will ask you and a list will sometimes pop up and give you a choice of what to say. The lines don't come up for his name, but the characters respond so you know that he has spoken to them(except no lines come up). Some people don't like this, however, I think this is great because it gives the feel that the main character Vahn is actually YOU in the adventure. Don't worry, he has a back story and reasons for fighting the mist which you see during the game. All other characters speak though. The two other main characters in your party are Noa and Gala. Noa is a girl who was raised in a cave by a wolf, and Gala is a warrior-monk. Both have strong character development and rivalries and relationships with other characters(especially bosses) become apparent. Unlike most RPG's where there are 7 through 9 main characters in your party, Legaia does the smart thing and gives you only 3. There is much more development of the characters and you build a better relationship with them. Many times you will find yourself almost crying while playing this game when you see how your characters react to the sad sequences. However, there aren't that many outside characters which gives this score a nine.
Bosses:10+++ Legaia has THE GREATEST bosses of any game whatsoever. Every boss has a backround story that is revealed later in the game and most have a relationship with the main characters. There is a boss character that you meet multiple times and also battle. In most every other RPG the villian is just some douche who is bent on world domination In Legaia, it deals with the main villain being good at first, but being tainted by an evil power, which is fresh and new. The villains were seen as having a whole dictatorial form of government where each bad guy had there job and assignments to do. A great concept... the idea of another main villain seemingly trying to take power over another villain. The two main baddies both seem to have a relationship of using eachother for their own bidding, bringing a very interesting story.
Sound:10- Legaia has many tunes that fit the mood perfectly. In dungeons or certain towns, the music is incredibly dark and eerie. It gives you a feel of...oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, or makes you depressed(but in a cool way lol). Although, there are many cheery themes that makes you instantly happy. The world map music is EXCELLENT. It is the most perfect adventure music for a game. Especially when you free an entire kingdom, the music on the world map changes and makes you feel like you're a hero with its beat. Also during battles Legaia has voice overs for the characters. Amazing for a game that came out in 1998. The voices are a mix of Japanese/English and sound awesome. Because of the mix the voices sound incredibly warrior like and never get annoying. All of the bosses have voices too and sound very cool. This only gets a slight minus because the main battle theme gets not too exciting after a while, however in many dungeons you get the dungeon music during battle, which keeps the intensity up :D
Gameplay:10 PERFECT battlesystem. Unlike the basic turn based press a button and attack combat, Legaia uses a "Tactical Arts System". You have High,Low,Left,Right(Ra-Seru). There is a bar on the screen that fills with those symbols when you move your d-pad. The more you level up the more arts you can use as the bar becomes bigger. Or you can select "spirit" which increases the amount of moves you can do, and raises your defense. Legaia is very realistic in this sense. If you do a low kick against a flying enemy the attack will completely miss altogether. Or if you are facing a short enemy and use high kick, the attack will miss also. Arts cost certain Attack Power and there is an attack power bar on the screen from 0-99. Every time you perform an art you lose attack power. If you go low on AP and you do an attack with more AP required, you won't do the "special attack" but still attack. Once you learn an attack you can press triangle and a list will pop up showing the attacks that you have learned and the combo and AP required, so you don't forget it. There are Normal Arts,Hyper Arts(learned from books),Super Arts,and Miracle Arts. All arts stay on the list with the exception of Super Arts, which you do have to memorize.There are also accessories which you can equip that do different things like gaurantee escape from a battle, raise attack,defense,speed, or give you more gold at the end of a battle. You can equip three accessories in Legaia, instead of the usual one. There is no dodging in Legaia so noone ever actually 'evades' attacks. Instead there is blocking and when you block a certain colored barrier will quickly form and disappear to know that you have blocked, also no damage is taken.
Attacking is very fun in the game and all of the moves have a matrix type look to it. Before an art the camera angle zooms in and does a close up of the attacker. The arts moves are very fast and will make you want to go through all of the different combos to see how they look. There is also magic in Legaia. Magic is obtained either by certain amulets or by absorbing a Seru. You will know if it can be absorbed if there is an element symbol next to the monster. Absorbing takes a couple try's but eventually you will absorb them. Even the magic has levels. The higher the level the bigger the damage and side-effect on the monster. Such as a speed,attack,agility,or int decrease. The weapons and armor also add to the gameplay. Some weapons only a certain character can equip, while some weapons everyone can equip, but won't be able to use as well or deal as much damage with. Each character has their own expertise as far as weapons. Vahn is best with swords/knives, Noa is best with Ferals/Claws(like Wolverine or Vega from SF.) Gala being best with clubs/maces/axes. The weapons are excellent in appearence, and some are very wacky! Armor will also increase attack power and defense, and also looks very detailed. The armor and weapons that you can aquire increase in attack and defense throughout the game. The ultimate weapons/armors looking the coolest out of any game I have seen! Mini-Games/Side Quests:10 Legaia has an interesting mix of mini-games that add to the fun, especially if you just want to rest from a quest. At a certain point in the game there is a city you can go to that has most of the mini-games. There is a disco club where Noa can challenge the dance queen for the dance title. It is similar to PaRappa. There is a bar with the triangle,square,X or O signs that move on the bottom of Noa while she is dancing onstage, and proper timing while pressing the button combos results in a cooler dance move. There is also a Fighting Arena where Vahn can battle previous enemies and bosses. There are three courses Beginner,Expert,and Master. Beginnner is even very hard and takes some strategy to win. Each increased level adds a handicapp. In beginner you can use magic,accessories,and armor, but not items. In Expert your armor is taken away along with items but u can use magic and accessories. However in Master you have no items, no accessories, no armor, and no magic. You get tokens whether you win or lose(though the amount of difference is substantial) and you can use those tokens for prizes, even an awesome hidden prize!There are also slot machines in different cities that you can use to win tokens, which u can exchange for prizes. There is a mini-game in Sol which you can play called "Baka Fighter" which is basically an arcade game in Legaia. You can use a different colored version of your characters and fight enemies that have been previously seen in Legaia. There is a maximum of 14 Rounds in it, one of the rounds being a secret round. You attack with O,Square,or X. Each round the enemy has a specific pattern. One button will beat the other and so on. Ex: O beats Square, X beats O and so on. Outside on the world map there is also a fishing mini-game where you can use your rod and fish,fish,fish! The more points you get, the more prizes. There are a few secret bosses which add to the fun, one of them being the hardest boss in Legaia, or possibly the hardest boss in any game.
Challenge:10 Legaia is a game that takes some practice to get good at. Good strategy is essential to playing Legaia. Regular enemies can put the smackdown on you with their many many status effects that they can inflict. Bosses are perhaps more challenging in this game than most any other RPG. A few bosses will want to make you put Legaia on the shelf for a couple months at a time. However, this should please many hardcore RPGers looking for a challenge. Leveling up is also a task because it takes many experience points to boost a level. Replayability:9 Legaia just has a certain charm to it that will make you want to play again and again. After beating it, a certain sadness may come across you in the realization that thet game is over. It is a truly magical tale that will make one play over and over, although one might put it down for a bit just because it is a bit lengthy.This is my FAVORITE GAME of all time, and I'm including all videogame genres. It's that damn good. And bosses are the best in the game! Boss fights are more fun in Legaia than any other game I've played because each boss requires a seperate strategy. It isn't like many RPG's where you can just attack and expect to win. It's also probably the saddest most depressing game out there, which I like because I'm sick like that lol.