An epic adventure of tiny proportions

If you are looking for a well fleshed out story that most RPGs have, The Legend of Legacy is not the game for you. While this is a beautifully styled game, the intense combat, and EXP grind can make this game pretty tedious for the casual gamer.

Game Name: The Legend of Legacy
Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS
Publisher(s): Atlus USA
Developer(s): FuRyu
Release Date: October 13,2015
Price: $39.99

The Legend of Legacy starts with a number of characters to choose from with each having their own back story, which will have you end up in Initum. Initium is led by a man who as been exiled from his former land. He is protected by many bodyguards and calls on adventures to explore and uncover treasures in the local ruins. While this does give replay value, the story aspect may be a deterrent if you are thinking about playing again. Aside from this, the main story is pretty vague and not very memorable in my opinion.

Exploration is not linear in any way. By venturing out, the maps that are created can be sold to the shop at a high price with the prices varying with the completion status. This makes mapping out every area of every section very lucrative. There is also the option to buy maps from the store in Initum to areas not yet discovered. You are never told where to go so I found myself running around in circles trying to find the correct path quite a few times.

Although it is obvious that the story was not at the forefront of the developers’ minds, the combat is a completely different story. Combat is very complex and can take a while to begin to form any solid attack formation of your own. Sadly there is no tutorial for this which can make combat 10 times harder. Outside of combat, there is always a monster patrolling in every path you decide to take. It is hard to fully enjoy defeating your opponent when you haven’t figured out the system used to beat them. Since it is possible to see where the enemies are while outside of battle, you may find yourself wanting to dodge them after a while but the cost is losing valuable EXP to strengthen your team and having a football team of monsters following you to the exit.

Every area inside of the ruins is controlled by one of four elements. Those elements being fire, water, wind, and earth. There is the possibility of these changing at any moment which can strengthen you or your opponents. So again, it is best to grind the EXP for your team and learn some strategies before moving on to the big guys.

Bringing back the retro feel of past RPGs, The Legend of Legacy pays homage to those that came before it. Chibi looking characters and hazy undiscovered land that pops up as you travel makes you keep your eyes open for enemies or hidden treasure. This design can hide enemies behind trees that will lead to being ambushed and pop up scenery can block your path, so if you are trying to be stealthy (which is not advised), you should be aware of your surroundings. After a while of running around, getting caught should not be a problem.

Along with this retro style, the soundtrack is a great addition to the nostalgia feel. Great tempos and smooth transitions when switching between combat and exploration keeps you engaged where other aspects fail to do so. I, personally have not encountered and sort of frame rate drops and which meant having having my character moves around like butter in hostile territories when I was just trying to complete a map.

In conclusion, The Legend of Legacy is a beautifully retro-styled game but is not the for you if you are just looking for something light. What this game lacks in story, is made up in team building, strategy, and atmosphere. If you decided to play this game, you should dedicate sometime to figuring out the basics and your own strategy as there will be no hand-holding.

* Copy of game was provided by publisher