Another Great Game in the Tales Series
The first and most important thing to look out for in a RPG of course is the quality of the story. There is no mistaking that the story can be clichéd at times, however, not only is it able to present the story well despite this, the originality and uniqueness of the characters is able to make this a negligible point. What surprised me the most about the story is the amount of comedy that is put forth. Sure, the other games had some of it, but not nearly as funny as what’s shown in Legendia. It may seem like this would contradict the seriousness of the main story; yet, the game is able to balance it out and keeps things from getting melodramatic. It was refreshing to play a RPG for once that was able to be serious without being too serious and was able to laugh at its characters and itself at times. The character development that is presented is astounding. As I progressed through the game, I began to connect with characters like Norma, Senel, and Chloe and I really cared about what was happening to each of them. The character side quests do a great deal too as they really flesh out each individuals back story which was nice as I was able to get a better feel from where the characters were coming from. One thing I would have liked to have seen however would be some different endings or at least different character endings added. Still, the new game plus feature is great, and along with scores of mini-games, side quests and others, it gives Legendia a ton of replay value.
Some would say that the graphics are the weakest point of the game, this I would have to disagree with most passionately. Yes, the characters are not ultra-realistic looking; however, the level of detail that was put into the sprites is well done. Not only that, but the backgrounds are simply stunning. The artistic flair with which this game utilizes will make you sit back and admire for quite sometime. So while it may not be the best graphics game, it is the one of the most beautiful and artistic games to have ever graced the Playstation 2 console. This is also not even mentioning Kazuto Nakazawa’s amazing character designs which rival other greats such as the legendary Tetsuya Nomura and Kosuke Fujishima who worked on Tales of Symphonia.
The battle system is undoubtedly the first thing that comes to most peoples minds when they think of the Tales series, and while this does neglect that great stories that the series has told it is true that it does have an addictive battle system and Legendia is no different. There isn’t too much that is different from the battle system in Symphonia, but the ability to throw characters, going back to the 2D feel after utilizing a more 3D looking one in Symphonia, and the improvement over the Unison Gauge known in Legendia as the Climax Gauge. I found the Climax Gauge to be far more interesting than the Unison one from Symphonia since not only were you able to rack up huge combos with it, it still allowed you to be able to use a combination attack featuring all four of the characters in your party known as a Climax Combo. It would have been nice however, if new Climax Combos could have been used depending on either what level your characters were or even which character you were in control of.
Tales of Legendia most assuredly lived up to the expectations that lovers of the Tales series have undoubtedly put upon it. This is a game that should not just be enjoyed by fans of the Tales series, or even fans of real time battle systems, but instead should be enjoyed by all RPG fans. Though it may not be the first RPG to launch this year, it is definitely is an early contender for best RPG of the year despite the notable games coming out later this year. If you like your RPG’s to have a great story, well developed characters, amazing artwork, an awe inspiring score by Go Shina, and an awesome battle system and you haven’t purchased Tales of Legendia yet, do so immediately, you won’t regret it.