Legend of Legacy is being developed by some of the most well known names in RPG history. Illustrator Tomomi Kobayashi (SaGa series), composer Masashi Hamauzu (SaGa, Final Fantasy XIII ), writer Masato Kato (Chrono Trigger), game designer Kyoji Koizumi (SaGa series), and Masataka Matsuura (999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors). Although the SaGa series took a strange turn with Unlimited SaGa for the PlayStation 2 and an even stranger turn with Emperor’s SaGa being only released as a cell phone game in Japan, I feel that a fresh start for Kobayashi and Koizumi on a new IP would do them some good, and it seems like I could be right.
Playing through Legend of Legacy at E3 2015 was something that I have been looking forward to. There are some interesting game mechanics that I should note, though. As you run through dungeons, your map will begin to reveal itself on the lower screen of the 3DS. These completed maps can be sold for a profit and provide special items that I won’t reveal here for the sake of being a spoiler. There are points of interest on the map as well that can be checked, and doing so will reveal more about the land and complete more info on your map. As I traversed through the dungeon NPCs, enemies, rocks and trees popped up like a story book around me, giving me the feeling that I was playing through an actual story brought to life.
In battle, I was given three choices, Protector, All Attack or Run Away. Using Protector was encouraged by the Atlus staff and proved to be very helpful in gaining victory. Switching players from the front line to back is almost seamless and allowed me to change my battle strategy on a whim when trying to cause more physical damage. I learned that keeping a stronger character up front is crucial, while using the block command which protects allies in the back row when they take damage.
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Legend of Legacy suffered some criticism from Japanese players, but Atlus has announced that the West will be getting a new, more balanced version that should fix some of the issues that the game had. We are waiting to hear back if this will be patched into the Japanese version of the game. Legend of Legacy has all the mechanics to be an amazing game, and I can’t wait to spend more time with it.
Legend of Legacy comes out this Fall to the Nintendo 3DS.
