Legend of Legaia (Sony PlayStation 1, 1999)

Sony made an awesome game. This has everything a RPG is suppose to have and more. This and Legend of Dragoon were put out to go up against at the time Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series, and it sure did.

Legend of Legaia is the game that you rented and forgot to play because you were in suspended animation for the soon-to-be released Final Fantasy VIII. It's probably coming back to you now - the promise of a new combat system based on fighting games, the graphics that looked to blow you away, and so much more. It's possible you've seen LoL lying around a friend's house and a spark of remembrance may have flickered if for but an instant... and it's also a possibility that this amazing game somehow slipped unnoticed across your radar, just like another Contrail creation, Wild Arms.

The somewhat immense world of Legaia is plagued with Mist, a thing that can only be defined as a dark and secretive presence that strikes fear into the hearts of [just about] everyone. Vahn, the main character, lives in a town called Rim Elm whose high walls have kept the dreaded Mist out of the residences for a good 10 years.

Vahn lives with his broken-down father, Val, and his little sister, Nene. He even has somewhat of a love interest with a local girl, with long, green hair and all, named Mei. She's a weakling, though, and is too sissified for my tastes... Seems all good and well, I know, but before you can get cozy, your rinky-dink estate is attacked by Juggernaut (after some other things happen in a quick manner), a gigantic monster that is in need of a serious attitude adjustment. From there, Vahn sets out to rid the world of Mist by awakening a certain number of Genesis Trees that have the ability to destroy any Mist in the area, which in turn kills off the Seru.

Ah yes, Seru. They used to be worn about the wrist and forearm by virtually every inhabitant of Legaia until the Mist came along, which somehow manages to immediately transmogrify these creatures from their original jewel-like material to hideous beasts that have this knack for practicing genocide on humans.

But some Seru are capable of resisting the Mist. This form of Seru is known as Ra-Seru - there ain't an abundance of these. Of course, the three main characters - Vahn, Noa, and Gala - are all equipped with them. Vahn finds his right in his own hometown and his/her name is Meta, making this young lad the pyro of the group. Noa's Ra-Seru's name would be a spoiler to bring up, but she is of the Wind element. Gala, the brute of the trio, is the resident bug zapper with his Ra-Seru, Ozma. There are other Ra-Seru to be found, but they cannot be worn. Instead, you can harness their offensive/defensive capabilities in, and sometimes out of, battle.
Musically, Legend of Legaia is no jukebox. There are about ten, maybe twelve different tracks throughout the entire adventure. However, what's given is worth having the volume up for. The battle music in particular fits right in to the violent situation - it's upbeat, not cheesy, yet remains catchy. No musical piece in the game is something that you should waste your time petitioning for worldwide recognition, but then again, it's your time - by all means, squander as you see fit.
Legend of Legaia is a the gaming equivalent to an extended one-night stand. It's a good one-time-only 40 hour drive through a single disc game filled to the brim with an intoxicating way of kicking ass.Besides, Contrail put the detail where they intended.

(Is it just me, or does the eBay synopsis miss the point?)

In the beginning, man was created. However, man was weaker than the beasts and unable to live in their harsh environment. For this reason man was then given the Seru, stone like creatures able to join themselves to humans. A new age began, and man with his new abilities prospered.

Then the mist came from nowhere, spreading over the land. When it touched the seru it drove them mad and they began attacking the humans they were created to help. Even the humans joined with Seru became monsters, killing all that they could find. Mankind was driven back to it's primitive roots, living in isolated pockets without Seru aid.

That's where the main character comes in. Joined with a Ra-Seru, which is unaffected by mist, you must awaken the genesis trees which drive the mist back. The quest is dangerous, difficult, and moving. You will encounter both the bitter humans, driven to the brink of extinction, and those that have been twisted by living in a world populated by monsters.

This game really stood apart for it's story, graphics, and battle system. The graphics, imo were ahead of their time and showed good detail when in battle. The battle system truly stands out as different. Aside from your usual spells and items, your attack commands allow you great flexibility. Input right, left, right and your character will give them the ol' 1 2 3. Throw in a down or an up kick and certain sequences unlock special techniques. This makes the battles much more entertaining, and also much flashier. On a more technical note, I was also impressed that every piece of weapon and armor equipped changes your character's look in battle!

Highly recommended, one of the best for PS1!

Legend of Legaia is a fantastic and sadly forgotten RPG for the original Playstation, a system that certainly had no lack of excellent games in that genre. Yet Legaia stands alone due to its innovative and still-unique battle system.

The plot, though slightly stereotypical at first, is actually quite interesting. The world is covered in a Mist that causes creatures called Seru that populate the world to go mad. The main character lives in a small town that is protected from the Mist by a huge wall and a sea breeze. He leads a normal life with the peaceful townsfolk until one day something changes all that and he finds himself on a quest to stop the relentless advance of the Mist. He gains allies on his quest and as they fight and slowly begin to uncover information about their enemies and the mysterious origins of the Mist itself. Especially towards the end of the game the plot becomes quite interesting. Certain cities (like Barron Monestary and Sol Tower in particular) have very interesting cultures and histories of their own as well. I really enjoy the oppressing feel of the Mist-filled land the game conveys so well. The soundtrack really helps in this department too.

Outside of battle the game has all the typical RPG fare: money, shops, inns, people, menus, items, weapons, armors, accessories, experience, dungeons, towns, etc. but it is the battles themselves where the game really shines.

Once in battle you will see some very impressive (for the time) 3D animations of your characters. You can fight enemies by either using magic (which interestingly needs to be "caught" and "leveled up") or attack. But attacking in Legend of Legaia is unlike attacking in any other RPG, and is much more like a fighting game. While still turn based, you actually get to choose exactly how you want assault your foe, be it left arm, right arm, high kick or low kick. In fact as your characters level up you can choose to use more and more of these moves per turn. For example, at the beginning of the game the main character can choose three such moves, say, left-up-down, as his attack for the turn. A quick and brutal animation sequence will follow as your character advances to the enemy and executes the moves you have indicated. This isn't the half of it though. Where is really gets interesting is Arts. Some of the aforementioned combinations are actually secret moves, ranging in power from the short but potent normal Arts to the ridiculous and unstoppable Miracle Arts. Some can be unlocked (and then looked up during battle) by simply executing them once in battle (by random experimentation) and some must be located in game. My personal favorite is the main character's signature move, Tornado Flame, which is activated by the right-right-left combination. Later in the game, when you can enter in many different commands, you can actually start to superimpose multiple arts into one powerful string of attacks. Combining this with the fact that certain enemies are weak to certain hits leads to an amazing amount of battle strategizing and thinking of cool new combinations to pummel your enemies with is why I love this game.

Legend of Legaia is a great game for all the reasons mentioned above and I highly suggest that any RPG enthusiast give it a chance.

Legend of Legaia is probably one of the most over looked and under-rated RPG's on the Playstation. This game was essentially Sonys Final Fantasy killer. Unfortunately it became more of a cult classic then instant hit. The graphics of this game may be dated as far as todays standard, but it was beautiful for it's time.

I would have to say my favorite aspect of this game was it's combat system. Aside from the PS2 sequel I have yet to see a game with a similair style of combat. It's like a blend of turnbased rpg with fighting game style attack input. I love the fact that combat itself is fully voiced between your characters delivering blows or recieving them. Also you dont get that stail same old press the X button and watch the hero swing his over sized sword combat. Your characters execute combos and special attack arts to deal damage.

While I'm not a huge fan of using magic as I'm the brute force type player the way you cast spells is pretty interesting as well. You must first capture a Seru in combat when you defeat it. Which is unfortunately a completely random event so you may spend an hour trying to get the one you want, but every spell is acted out almost like a summon from Final Fantasy. When you use a spell the Seru emerges and depending on it's function it either heals, cures status ailments, attacks your enemies, and in some cases instantly kills your foe.

The story line is pretty well done as well. I dont want to get into it as I dont want to possibly spoil anything however.

This game has pretty epic boss fights as well. Don't expect to breeze on through them. Most of the bosses have insane health pools and dish out massive damage. This is an old school RPG to the core.

There's not really anything I can think of that I dont like about this game aside from the fact that I wish Sony would've made a more direct sequel or updated it for todays audience on the PS3.

I hope you find this review helpful. I am clearly a fan boy of the game, but theres good ground basis on that. This game is just simply fantastic. Along with Legend of Dragoon this game is by far one of my all time favorite Sony games.

How in the world, do you come up with the brilliance of using the d-pad as the attacks,and still come up with a great game?!

If you even heard or seen this game, find a way to get it. This game has one of the top notch graphics for Ps1 games, wierd sounding but good voices, and the martial arts are all very cool. This is a turn based game, yet it is quite imaginative; like your Agl(agility) and speed determine whether to go first or second etc.! The voices are all good and if you hear it when the blue-haired dude(Vahn)uses tornado flame, and actually says it, it is hysterical. It doesn't stop there for voices, each attack of martial arts has 2 or maybe 3 different voices behind it.

Now the martial art names are basic to some but others remained nicely named. Creation of such moves is very compelling and nicely made.You have: Hyper arts (Your regular advanced moves), the magic arts(Where the art is based on the characters elemental type), super arts( Bigger, badder, and more advanced on the hyper arts moves), and Miracle arts (where their is a combination of some of the best hyper arts moves and 1 magical art). These are fun and brilliantly made.

The Ra-Seru is a great asset, and provides more depth. The elemental enemies can be "absorbed" when beaten and thus used against the enemy. The attributes for these enemies or monsters are leveled up and have added effects; graphically it is very inspiring how the creators made it.

Items, weapons, armor, accessories, and items are all designed well. The armor and weapons you have equipped are shown when you fight, which is what a lot of other games are missing.

PRO'S: all of the above mentioned

CON'S: enemies can seem a bit stupid, ruthless, and unfair at times.
bosses are well designed but can be a nuisance and trouble some.
Little bit more enemy variations/types.

P.S: i agree with the guy who gave it a 4/5 and wish that all can pick up this game. Please don't rate my review "nonhelpful" because i didn't list all of the cons you found or different PRO'S about you found too.

GREATLY APPRECIATED,

Cakeman1968